Unilateral hypoplasia of the soft palate in two dogs

A 4.5 months old male wire-haired Dachshound and a 13 months old female mix ed breed German Shepherd showed on inspection of the oral cavity an unilate ral hypoplasia of the soft palate. In addition, in patient 1 endoscopy of t he upper and lower respiratory tract was performed. History in both dogs re vealed coughing, dysphadia and dyspnea, mainly in association with feeding. The thoracic radiographic examination showed no signs of aspiration pneumo nia. The surgical treatment under general anesthesia included a careful pre paration of the triangular soft palate and the pharyngeal wall that were su tured with each other as a double layer. The patients received antibiotics for 5 days post surgery and were fed soft food. After 10 days all preoperat ive clinical signs had disappeared. Rechecks after surgery by telephone or personal contact proved an uncomplicated outcome of the surgery and a compl ete recovery in both dogs.