Clinic for short-muzzled dogs addresses specialized health issues
A specialist clinic for brachycephalic dog breeds – also known as short-muzzled dogs – such as pugs, English and French bulldogs, cavalier King Charles spaniels and Pekingese, has been opened by the RVC at its Queen Mother Hospital for Animals in Hertfordshire.
The Brachycephaly Clinic opened on Tuesday 1 July and is the first of its kind in the country exclusively specialising in the health of short-nosed dog breeds. This type of breed is one of the most popular pet choices in the UK, but the breeding of brachycephalic dogs has lead to a variety of health issues for the animals. These include problems with their bones and gait as well as eye, heart, ear (including hearing), skin, and breathing complications.
Brachycephalic dogs (for example the bulldog pictured below) have a compressed skull in the front and in the back, which results in the soft tissues being crammed within and around the skull. In severe cases it can even appear the dog has no nose at all.
This means the animals are at especially high risk of developing respiratory problems such as brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome (BOAS).
The clinical signs include breathing difficulties, noises during respiration, 'constant smiling', overheating, gagging and choking.
But it isn't just a dog's breathing that is severely affected by the condition. The short skull also results in the dog's skin folding over the front of the face, creating deep crevices which are a warm and moist environment that encourages growth of bacteria and yeasts. These bacteria can then attack the skin causing infection.
The flattening of the skull also causes the eye sockets to become shallow, meaning the eyeball protrudes significantly. Therefore the cornea is more exposed than usual, making it more likely to become dry, leading to ulceration or direct trauma. Other health issues can include heart problems, ear and hearing issues and complications with the animal's bones and gait.
If a dog was brought to a veterinary clinic with this complex set of clinical signs it may have to see several different specialists at different times. The aim of the RVC's new multidisciplinary clinic is to bring a 'transdisciplinary' approach to caring for brachycephalic dogs. This means bringing all clinical services together ensuring the animals get the best holistic and individualised patient care.
Senior Lecturer in Soft Tissue Surgery and the Brachycephaly Clinic lead, Dr Gert Ter Haar (right), said: "Veterinary medicine has been following in the footsteps of human medicine for many years. But as doctors specialise they can lose sight of the big picture, only focussing on their own area of expertise.
"This can lead to a patient being past from specialist to specialist with the root symptoms never really being found, or with inefficient use of time and money and the need for repetitive anaesthetic procedures. This can also happen in animal care, especially with animals with a complex set of symptoms, like those often associated with short-muzzled breeds.
"Therefore at RVC we have found the most effective way to treat an animal is our transdisciplinary approach. This means at our clinic we will have all the specialities under one roof so the patient and their owner can be rest assured they are receiving the best possible bespoke care, all during the same visit."
Provided by Royal Veterinary College