“A new lease on life†for Penny after laryngeal paralysis surgery
Penny, an 8 year old Lab, was suffocating because of laryngeal paralysis (“lar par”). She had surgery (tie back) to allow her to breathe better. Two months after surgery, her owner JP writes:
“Dr. Zeltzman, I just realized that last week was the one year anniversary of Penny's lar-par surgery, and so I just wanted to take moment to write and let you know how well she has been doing.
I don't know if she's at 100% breathing capacity, but if not, she's very close, and not since she was a puppy has she been using her nose so much to enjoy smelling the world around her. She is also back to running and playing joyfully on our 1-2 mile (daily) hikes.
You have given Penny a new lease on life, and I can't thank you enough for the wonderful job that you did with her surgery.”
A few days later, Penny’s other owner, MP, wrote this amazing comment:
“What a difference a year makes.
This time last summer we were pretty much housebound for 8 weeks, aiding our dog in her recovery from Laryngeal Paralysis surgery. When she was officially diagnosed with the condition a year prior, we struggled with the tough decision of putting her through tie-back surgery, which was the only option to fix her breathing problems. When we continued to watch her energy decline and saw how walks became progressively harder for her, the choice became clear for us, Penny needed surgery.
We began to read about her condition on the internet and after reading Dr. Zeltzman's internet article, Laryngeal Paralysis is not a Death Sentence, we finally had some hope. After speaking with Dr. Zeltzman we were impressed with his expertise with the procedure, as well as the many successful tie-back surgeries he performed.
He was very honest with us and told us that many dogs have success with the tie-back surgery and also made us aware of the possible complications of the surgery. We finally made the only decision we could make, to go ahead with the surgery, and felt confident that Dr. Zeltzman was the right surgeon for Penny.
Fast forward one year. We are currently at Penny's favorite vacation spot, Acadia National Park, Maine. We never thought we would make it back here with Penny. She just finished her first hike, and did amazingly well. Luckily for canines and humans, the temperature this week is only in the mid 70's, so I predict many more successful hikes in Penny's very bright future.
We are so grateful that Penny's surgery was a huge success and owe much gratitude to Dr. Zeltzman.
I only hope this post helps other dog owners with helping make a tough decision on whether or not to have tie back surgery.
Thank you Dr. Zeltzman for giving our dog a new lease on life and giving us all more time to enjoy the things we love to do with Penny, hike, play, and just enjoy having her a part of our family.”