problem that could have been prevented. With this litter all were sold as pets to be desexed. I also told all new owners of the problem and we paid for the cherry eye to be fixed on 2 puppies.

I think it is hereditary, even if it is a symptom of another problem or a problem in and of itself.
I hate to have any dog be born with an issue I could have prevented. At one point about 20 years ago we seemed to be plagued with them. One litter all had them and as lovely as they were, I sold them all. We linebreed very tightly so I am probably more cautious than most. I know that some breeders with issues they really want to correct feel better with proof and not " just my word for it". I don't have any fondness for dealing with pet buyers who get a problem puppy, that too is a huge incentive to breed well. I don't want to be hassled with taking dogs to the vet and again the over riding reason for me to health test is that I feel I owe them that much.
I do have a bitch here from an outcross who had one. I am going to breed her to a clear dog and hope for clear puppies. Cherry eye isn't the end of the world but it is so much nicer when they don't get them,

here and it has been fine. We are currently getting scores between 20 - 30 on our Bulldogs hips and hope in the future we canget this even lower.

it is however in my opinion one of the lesser evils. I bred 1 litter from a bitch that had cherry eye and then had her speyed, approx half of the litter also had a cherry eye.

n/m

You have my curiosity piqued with the cherry eye part. Do you think it is hereditary? If it is, is it a function of a weak immune system, head structure or something else entirely causeing it?

Think about this too if deafness concerns you.
e

Here's a response that I sent to someone asking a similar question recently. He wanted to know my opinion on a list of "must have" vs. "ideal world" health screenings. As for my opinion, you can take it or leave it, but the response should answer a lot of your questions either way.


With Bulldogs, there hasn't ever really been a "must have" list. BCA is trying to change that attitude and recently joined the Canine Health Information Center (CHIC) in late 2007.

http://www.caninehealthinfo.org/

In doing this, BCA is encouraging owners/breeders to have their Bulldogs health screened. For your Bulldog to earn a CHIC certificate, the only health tests you MUST complete are the OFA (Orthopedic Foundation for Animals) cardiac and patella screenings. So, for now, I guess that's the only real "must have" list.

For me, I would consider a "must have" list to include any screenings for life-threatening conditions, which would be OFA cardiac and tracheal hypoplasia. Personally, I would absolutely not breed a Bulldog that tested abnormally on either of these screenings. As a side note, the OFA tracheal hypoplasia screening is for "data only" at this point. No ratings are being given by OFA at this time. However, your vet should be able to share his/her opinion with you when you have the screening performed, so you should have a pretty good idea of the result.

My personal list, and the "ideal world" list, would be as follows:

OFA cardiac
OFA tracheal hypoplasia
OFA hips
OFA elbows
OFA spine
OFA patellas
OFA thyroid
CERF (eyes)

The OFA screenings may be done by any vet, although it is recommended that the cardiac screening be done by a vet with advanced training in cardiac diagnosis. Try to watch for Cardiac Clinics at local dog shows so you can have your exam done by a canine cardiologist at a discounted price. They usually have the OFA applications right there at the clinic.

All OFA screenings may be done without anesthesia or sedation. However, many vets prefer to use anesthesia or sedation to perform the hip, elbow and spine x-rays. It all depends on the experience and skill of the vet, and the dog's behavior. My vet always tries to perform the x-rays without sedation or anesthesia first.

The OFA cardiac, patella, and tracheal hypoplasia screenings are always done while the dog is awake. For the cardiac screening, the only requirement is for the vet to perform a cardiac auscultation for heart murmur. Further evaluation with EKG or ultrasound may be done for more information if desired, but it is not required for OFA.

The patella screening is probably the easiest. It's just a simple, manual luxation of the patellas performed during a physical exam. Your vet will feel for any patellar luxation.

The tracheal hypoplasia screening is new, and as I mentioned earlier, it's only for "data only" at this time. I don't have any personal experience with this screening yet, but hopefully someone else can share their experience. From what I understand, it is an x-ray done while the dog is awake.

Like the tracheal hypoplasia screening, the OFA spine screening is also for "data only" at this time, and no ratings are currently being given.

Eye screenings are registered through CERF (Canine Eye Registration Foundation). The exam must be done by an ACVO (American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists) certified canine ophthalmologist. The dog is given eye-drops to dilate the pupils and the exam is done while the dog is awake. Many dog shows offer CERF Clinics for eye screenings at a discounted price. In my opinion, this is the best way to go. Here's the CERF website for more info:http://www.vmdb.org/cerf.html

The best advice I can give is to talk with your vet about the screenings you are interested in having performed. Your vet will charge a fee to perform the screenings in addition to the OFA application fees. Make sure your vet has experience and feels comfortable performing all of the screenings, and be sure to ask his/her opinion about anesthesia or sedation for the x-rays. There are vets that will do the x-rays without.

When you have the tests performed, it's best to be prepared by bringing all of the OFA applications with you to the vet. Complete your portion of each application and leave the rest for your vet. Some vets will submit the applications for you and others may return the applications to you for submittal (this depends on the screening as well).

You may print the OFA applications at the following links:

OFA cardiac -http://www.offa.org/cardappbw.pdf
OFA tracheal hypoplasia -http://www.offa.org/trachhypoappbw.pdf
OFA hips -http://www.offa.org/hdappbw.pdf
OFA elbows -http://www.offa.org/hdappbw.pdf
OFA spine -http://www.offa.org/spineappbw.pdf
OFA patellas -http://www.offa.org/plappbw.pdf
OFA thyroid -http://www.offa.org/thyappbw.pdf

The age requirements are as follows:

OFA cardiac - 12 months or older
OFA tracheal hypoplasia - 5 months or older
OFA hips - 24 months or older
OFA elbows - 24 months or older
OFA spine - 5 months or older
OFA patellas - 12 months or older
OFA thyroid - 12 months or older
CERF (eyes) - no minimum age, but must be re-examined annually to maintain certification

I know this is really long, and not necessarily a well-organized response, but hopefully it answers your questions. If you have further questions, please don't hesitate to ask. This is an excellent topic that should be important to all of us. Thanks for asking!

OFA lists minimum required age for each test on their applications

not just my bulldogs, but my heart & soul!!

which is hip and elbow score and measure trachea size. We also x-ray shoulders and spine and have patella's checked.

It is up to you as a breeder.

We get CERF done on eyes when they are young to make sure they don't have jeuvenile cataracts or any eyelid deformities and to "prove" no cherry eye on our stud dogs, just in case someone down the road needs to know for sure, we have it on paper.

Pateller luxation is a fairly prevaillent problem in the breed. Your vet can do this exam.

Cardiac by a cadiologists if you can find a clinic at a show, but your vet can take a good listen to determine no murmurs. A Doppler is the best however.

We do thyroid.

Please consider the trachea study. We are ever so close to our goal.

Some breeders are doing hips and elbows as well.

check out the BCA Health page;

http://bcahealth.homestead.com/index.html

to see the potential this breed has for good health.
e

must be getting better, I've never even seen it or had a pup get it.

www.symarunbulldogs.com