A two-year-old bulldog had major facelift surgery – and now looks like a different dog.
Tuna needed the operation because her breed’s genetics can cause distressing breathing difficulties.
Flat-faced “brachycephalic” breeds – like English bulldogs, French bulldogs and pugs – can struggle to breathe because of the structure of their faces.
Tuna was rescued by the RSPCA in September as part of an animal welfare investigation and was taken in by vet nurse Katherine Maling, who works at Blackberry Farm Animal Centre in Buckinghamshire.
The young dog had many health problems due to being bred to have an extremely flat face and had to sleep with her head propped on a pillow to help her breathe while she was sleeping.
Determined to give her a good quality of life, Katherine booked for Tuna to have major surgery to help relieve some of her discomfort and help improve her quality of life.
Katherine said: “Tuna had facial-fold resection surgery – which is like a facelift – to remove some of the excess skin from around her face and muzzle.
“The ‘rope’ – or the roll of excess skin – around her nose was causing her a lot of issues, like sore skin and hot spots that often led to infections.
”The weight of it also pulled her eyelids down, which made her eyes weep. The ‘rope’ was causing her lots of issues.
“Facial fold surgery is a big operation but it was worth it for Tuna as it’s given her a new lease of life. Some owners like the ‘rope’ on their dog’s face because of how it looks, but there is no benefit to them having it.”
Before Tuna had the surgery, she used to snore loudly when asleep – something which Katherine said owners will think of as “normal” for their dog.
“People have fallen into the trap by thinking the loud snoring is normal, and that it’s cute,” she said.
“After Tuna had her surgery and was no longer snoring, I realized that it was never normal to begin with.
“When Tuna was really struggling to breathe, she had to lift her head up to the ceiling just so she could open her airways. It was distressing for her.”
As well as having facial fold surgery, Tuna had soft palate surgery, to shorten her palate and open up her nostrils – which, along with the facial fold surgery, helped her to breathe better.
Overall, Tuna’s surgeries cost around £2,500, all of which was covered by pet insurance.
Katherine said: “I made sure I got pet insurance which covered this type of surgery, because I knew from the start that she was going to need surgery.
”It has meant that the insurance is expensive – it’s currently £127 a month and Tuna isn’t even three – but I can’t afford not to have it because of her breathing issues.”
Thanks to her surgeries, Tuna is now a happy, active dog who does plenty of exercise – including obedience training.
“If she hadn’t had the surgery, then she would never have been able to do the training as it is very active,” said Katherine.
“Owners need to think before they buy a brachy dog because they might not think about how much it will cost to have one.
”If you don’t get the surgery done, the dog might suffer. There will be a cost to give the dog a good quality of life.
“We want to stop the extreme breeding of brachy ‘flat-faced’ breeds for this reason.
”But it’s important to know that if you have one, there are things you can do to give them a good life – keeping them fit and giving them a good diet are so important.”
Katherine added: “Tuna is as healthy as she can be for the breed, due to the way in which we look after her, keeping her fit and slim with lots of mental stimulation has shown she is keen to live a normal life, without her surgeries she wouldn’t be able to go for long walks and train in this way.
“It’s really sad to think she had to go through these surgeries just to be slightly close to becoming ‘a normal dog’.
”I also know she will suffer with joint issues in the future which is heartbreaking but we want her to have the best quality of life, now racing around the fields and enjoying her dog training sessions.”
The RSPCA’s Born To Suffer campaign encourages people to join the battle against brachys by pledging online to say no to extreme breeding, and yes to health and wellbeing.
The RSPCA is also urging political parties, as part of its General Election manifesto – to consider a better deal for dogs with legislation prioritizing their health and welfare in England.
Esme Wheeler, dog expert at the RSPCA, said: “We love all dogs at the RSPCA, but we can’t hide behind the fact that flat-faced breeds can suffer purely because of how they look.
”To put it bluntly, they are imprisoned in a body which is painful, inhibiting and prevents the dog from being a dog.
“The three breeds with the greatest health and welfare issues – pugs, English bulldogs and French bulldogs – have become increasingly ‘normalized’ and popular, and are routinely celebrated across advertising, promotion and social media.
“If you Google ‘cute dogs’, it is these breeds which often come up first. They are ubiquitous in advertising and social media and this relentless exposure has fuelled demand but it has also normalized what is totally abnormal – but behind the ‘cuteness’ there is a whole lot of suffering.”
Esme added: “We hope that our campaign will make people think twice before buying one – and when you see the ‘cute’ photos of a pug on Instagram, the reality behind the photo is very different.
“These breeds have been selectively bred for exaggerated features over the years and, sadly, the outcome is dogs cannot function like normal, happy, healthy animals. As we strive to create a better world for every animal, this is something we should all want to avoid encouraging.”
