Queso

Age: Adult
Sex: Female
Breed: French Bulldog
About Queso:

When Queso came to us we knew she would need to have her palate trimmed, we knew she had a very flat face and a very short neck, we knew that this would have to be addressed. What we didn’t expect was a sudden onset upper respiratory infection that would lead to her being unable to breathe and rushed into surgery to trim her palate.

What I also didn’t expect was a phone call telling me that they were unable to extubate her because she could not breathe…but that’s just what happened.

I spoke with two surgeons at Blue Pearl where Queso was rushed to. Queso was down near Houston because that’s where she went for foster because she was in heat. They told me that the surgery went okay but when they tried to extubate her she could not breathe so they intubated her again. There were lots of concerns and lots of decisions that needed to be made, they wanted to wait a couple of hours and try again later to extubate her and if she couldn’t breathe on her own then our only option was a tracheotomy and all of the consequences that would come from that.

I discussed with Dr. D, she discussed with our surgeon Dr. Wilkins here, and I discussed with 2 surgeons at Blue Pearl about what we would be facing with that.

First and foremost we are talking about a permanent hole in her neck where if she laid in a puddle she could drown, we are looking at constant struggles with pneumonia and daily meticulous cleaning of the hole. The outcome for dogs with this procedure are not very good, and for a Bulldog that has no neck the outcome is even worse. The majority of these dogs that recover from the critical care they must endure for weeks until it heals die at home from suffocation. The dogs lie down with their neck down and their air supply is cut off and they don’t know that they breath from there and they suffocate and die. Most of them have an owner who came home and found the dog dead.

The recommendation from all of the specialists I spoke to was to not put this little dog through this…I hate making these decisions, I hate that a 3 year old little mill mama that was bred multiple times forcing her body to undergo strain on her heart and her trachea and her larynx because they wanted to get money for her babies makes me scream…

Her heart in her chest had no room for it to even be there, her heart was pushed so far up in her body that it turned to the side to make room for it. This is what happens to dogs that are made to carry babies when their body isn’t designed for them to do that.

Having to make the awful decision to let a 3 year old little girl cross over the bridge it breaks my heart into a million pieces. I know that some people are going to say I know a dog who had this procedure and everything went really well. I also know that I have to make this decision for this dog, for this dogs body, for this dogs condition, and for this dogs quality of life, knowing full well that there will be critics for doing so.

I have to take the brunt of that pain and I have to stand firm in my decision that I did the right thing. She will not struggle to breathe anymore, she will not struggle with a tracheotomy, she will not be limited to having quality in her life because of this procedure.

I’ve cried my eyes out for this little frog girl, this adorable little girl who only got to be free for a couple of weeks, I have the memory in my mind of the picture of her laying across foster mom Mary’s lap getting holdy and that’s all there is left to hold on to.

I know tomorrow I’ll have to be better than today, but for right now all I can do is say goodbye to Queso and hope she knows that I did the best for her that I possibly could. She was cared for and loved for only a few days but she is in a better place now.

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She’s only 3.5 years old but as you can see the breeders have completely neglected her health. Her body shows just how neglected she has been. We will be sending her to see Dr. D for a thorough exam. She will need to be vetted before she’s up for adoption but she seems really happy just being free and loved at the Ranch for now.

Welcome to Dog Ranch Rescue, Queso!