Disease Description: A trachea that fails to develop fully.

Inherit Mode: unknown

Disease Symptom: Since this is a congenital condition (ie dogs are born with it), problems are usually noticed by 5 or 6 months of age. The kinds of signs you will see include noisy or laboured breathing, and coughing. Your pup may become ill with bronchopneumonia (moist cough, lethargy, fever). Dogs with no abnormality other than a mild to moderately narrowed trachea may have no clinical problems; however hypoplastic trachea is frequently seen as one element of brachycephalic syndrome. Affected dogs have varying degrees of obstruction to their airways, which causes signs ranging from noisy breathing to collapse.

Disease Cause: -

Disease Diagnose: Your veterinarian may find this problem on routine physical examination, or because your dog has respiratory difficulties. She will take x-rays to determine the extent of the narrowing, taking into consideration that all bulldogs have relatively small tracheas.

Treat Method: There is no specific treatment to correct the tracheal malformation. If your dog does not have heart disease or brachycephalic syndrome, the condition may never cause any clinical problems. It is wise to maintain your dog at a healthy weight, as being overweight will worsen any respiratory difficulties. There may be occasional need for broncho-dilator therapy and antibiotics to treat an infection.

Breeder Advice: Dogs with this condition should not be used for breeding.

Disease Description Source: Link