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[RC] Dorsal Displacement of the Soft Palate (DDSP) - Dawn Simas
Do a google search for DDSP. There is a ton of online info as it is congenital defect to Thoroughbred lines and the racing people are all familiar with it.
My Amigo (Paint) has TB in his heritage and he has DDSP. His brother, Chief, did too. His brother's was worse and I had the surgery for him. If they do a lot of the choking, it gets inflamed and is more prone to displace, kind of a Catch 22. Chief was so bad that he couldn't eat without the food coming out his nose, so he had the surgery. It was pretty routine though, as far as surgeries go. Horse racing has a lot of $$ to put into studying this condition and there's a lot of surgeries done, and alternatives studied. I've even heard that racers use a special bridle to keep it in place.
Chief's surgery solved it for him. The dust in Amigo's hay causes him to cough more often, then it was inflamed, then that same Catch 22, we almost had surgery. But I treated the inflamation with a nasal spray/flush daily and I started soaking all his hay. The inflamation settled down in a month, and now I just manage his coughing by soaking all hay (he gets A's in hydration on rides). That was nearly two years ago and now he's fine. We've done LD's and two 50's and this year are shooting for Tevis. He will cough a bit at the onset of exercise, sometimes displace his palate for a minute or so, but that is all.
Dawn
Ms. Dawn Simas
Director - Wild About Cats
Wild Feline Conservation, Education, and Rescue
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