Bulldog Health
Submitted by goatheaven on May 14, 2013 - 5:54amOur Annie is 9 and not in the best of health. Her allergies have really taken over as she has aged. We have even considered getting another breed of dog as the last 15 + years we have been taking care of sick bulldogs. I feel that I will truly miss the breed but would love to have a healthier dog sometimes. My question is how many of your bullies are allergy free? We are up most of the night keeping her from scratching and licking.
16 years owning bulldogs of my 6
all have been allergy free with the exception of Cleo and as long as she is fed prepackaged raw my sister doesn't have any trouble with her. She gets yeasty nose rope and licks feet if she's on kibble.
I do not have a dog in the house with allergy issues, never have had one that licks feet or is stinky. Once in a while we get some gunky eyes during pine pollen season.
The white on their face and feet is brilliant white.
Never had a dog keep me awake from licking a digging. That would drive me crazy.
Really important people do their homework when looking for a breeder and ask lots and lots of questions. Allergy issues being just one of many health concerns that should be asked about. I would not buy a puppy from any breeder that is not health testing and making health an important equation in their breeding program. Get to know your breeder, create a relationship with your breeder, visit their home, their dogs, the mom of the litter. Sires are typically not on site as most bitches are bred AI w/shipped semen. For me sire and dam on sight is a red flag. Look for red itchy feet, faces and allergy signs on their dogs, big puffy feet and swollen looking toes is a sure sign there are problems. And stinky faces, nose ropes, crusty eyes.
Sorry about your sweet Annie.....Meaty has some allergies, and
Sophie so far doesn't appear to have any at all (thank you, Lord!) :-) Meaty is four, and he has had issues with interdigital cysts and
ear problems, which our vet isn't SURE are related to allergies or not, honestly, but we're pretty sure it is. We've done TONS of
food trials, and our vet doesn't believe in allergy testing (I can't remember why right now)....
....
Hope Annie's itching and licking get better....poor thing! Meaty's been licking his paws all morning from the cysts, and we soak
his paws in many different formulations to heal them and relieve his misery.....Epsom salts and warm water, and I'm going to
google the ratio of water to apple cider vinegar and try that. I LOVE allll the wonderful healing properties of organic apple
cider vinegar....we did a 1:1 (1 part warm water to 1 part ACV) ear flush with it last night, and his poor ears are sooooo much better now!!! The vet charges
50 bucks to flush him with **chemicals**, and I'd MUCH rather use natural stuff (AND save the fifty bucks, of course!) Good Luck! :-)
Our sweet Archimedes "MEATY" Bones (or as we say...boneSHHH!) ---born 11/28/08---- our first bullllyyyy!!!
And SOPHIE Bubbles *Rapscallion* (LOL!) ---born 4/3/11----our second bulllllyyyy!!!!
I have not had a dog with allergies
and we have had 10 Bulldogs and 5 other breeds in 20 years. Have had the occasional outbreak of hives but nothing prolonged.
Lynn King CPDT-KA
Penelope is my first Bulldog an I researched big time.
I know there can be a lot of problem with this breed but that goes for all breeds, it's just our breed seem to have a higher chance of coming down with them. Penelope only has problems if she is fed kibble. other then that she has been really great. I wouldn't change breeds I would just make sure I did my home work with eg. breeder, bitch an sire. I've had other breeds but now that I've got Penelope I think this will be the breed that I stick with from here on in....
I hope you decide to keep up with the Bulldog breed cause there's no other breed on this planet like them....
Best wish's in the future.
Cory & Penelope
Trial and Error
I am sure I did not research my breeders and that is why I have had so much trouble. My first bulldog was extremely ill and was bought for me as a present from a backyard breeder. He only lived 6 1/2 years with many issues. He rarely had all of his hair due to extreme allergies. He was given 6 weeks of antibiotics as a 6 week old puppy and it destroyed his immune system. I got him ar 12 weeks. My bully now was bought from a Bulldog club president which I thought was good, She was healthy for 5 years but became sick with extreme allergies after a vet gave her many strong antibiotics to kill a UTI which I don;t even think she had. After that the skin and allergies started and have gotten worse over the last 4 years. We feed her a home cooked diet of rabbit and water buffalo. All other meats cause her to get ear infections. I do not want to use prednisone because that is just a bandaid and causes other issues. We wipe her down, give her special baths, only allow her outside for 5 minutes 2 times a day to potty. I have tried every herb and supplement I know of. The only thing I have not tried is a raw diet but worry about her compromised immune system. Thanks for all of the advice. After having 2 allergy dogs I was hoping for something a little easier but I can;t imagine my life without a bulldog. They are such a wonderful breed.
Shots
I really think all the shots and crap we give does nothing to help either.
I now opt not to give shots after 6 years and since we give them every 3 years then they only get 2 boosters in their lifetime.
Have you ever had allergy tests done? Or considered allergy shots?
Sorry your experience has not been great....really there are bulldogs out there that don't have all these allergy problems and health issues.
I thank my lucky stars every day. I never do daily wrinkle wiping or butt cleanings....they are lucky if they get an annual bath. Which they actually need because they are all starting to get a little doggy smelling. Last bath was last August, only because I haven't installed my hand held shower sprayer.
Allergy Testing
We did but it came back with being allergic to almost everything environmental and many foods. That is why we feed rabbit and buffalo. She got her shots in April and things have been worse since then. As soon as she goes outside for 5 minutes to potty she licks and itches nonstop for hours. I need a glass bubble to put her in to go out. Antihistamines don't work for her and steroids are not an option since it is a tmeporary fix with side effects. Funny thing is she can sleep peacefully all day while we are gone and gets started as soon as she has had to go out.
Maybull has no allergies
She's 13 and has no allergies. She can eat anything with no problems.