So Many Medical Issues - help - Warning Long Post
Submitted by Bailey's Packleader on June 9, 2011 - 9:09pm
Needless to say, I had no idea what I was getting myself into to "Healthwise" in regards to this Breed. Behavior wise she has became this best dog ever.
We adopted her from someone that said her other dog was not handling Bailey very well and that we would be her 3rd owners because the 1st owners gave her up because she was allergic to their horses. I feel like she found that Bailey was going to be more up keep than what she was up for. Bailey was 11mos old when we got her in Oct. - no records of shot, in heat at the time, she also had burn marks down one side of her- we were told she fell against a heat lamp as a puppy and was told she was full English Bulldog, which I believe that she look more like a small version of an Olde English.
Since Oct. we have had 3 vets - the last being the best so far.
Medical Issues and needs since Oct. -
1st Visit to 1st Vet- Completed full exam. Gave her all new shots since there were no records proving she had them, she had one half dead worm in her- got the meds for that, meds for eyes that had goop coming out of them, more in the mornings, antibot. for skin infection between one of her wrinkles. Also, asked about the callus build up on her back 2 paws- they said was normal for bigger dogs.
2nd Visit- More shots, more eye meds, and antibot. for skin
3rd Visit - 2nd Vet- Spay and they noticed she had a umbilical hernia - that was all taken care of. I also asked about that wrinkle not caring up and she simply said - "Sometime there Wrinkles have to be removed"
4th Visit - 3rd and Current Vet - AHHH relief somewhat??? Skin/wrinkle problem, Red Mange - got meds for that and was told that her bottom eyelids rolled in and that was why they turned red easliy, possible surgery later.
5th Visit - check up on Red Mange - told to just keep treating it with this stinky cream - eyes looking better
6th Visit - Chest Cold (She had been to Doggie Daycare - great place) - got meds for that - still has Red Mange
7th Visit - After being boarded at the Doggie Daycare for a week - 1/2 days with the Pack and 1/2 days in a private retreat, IT infection and Red Mange in a different place - bottom of her chin which became infection and was bleeding. She was put on 2 different Antibot.
8th Visit - Pooping issues / straining - Nothing was found - did antibot. incase and put on all soft food diet for a week and 1 dualax in the morning for a week. I now mix this organic oil with Omega 3 & 6 in it. Oh she is also on a LID grain free diet, soft and hard.
9th Visit - Skin on the Red Mange and another spot that looked like Yeast. RED MANGE GONE!!!! After 7 mos. Got facial wipes and we were all great.
COMING SOON I think..... 10th visit - This week she has started snoring, breathing loudly and when she gets up from sleeping she acts like she chewing something. She also had a runny nose for about 2 days
So far, we have given her fresh lemon juice 2x this week, tried a little Sprite today. I moved her kennel away from the air vet in her room- 2 days ago. Have not walked in the afternoon besides going to the bathroom. We are only walking her in the morning. She doing much better today. Still a little snotty in her nose. I've thought about getting her a humidifier for her room and should I give her some more time?
I'm wondering if I gave her a cold thinking I needed to keep it her super cool, putting a fan on her after we had been outside and she was panting, having her kennel beside the air vent.
Any sugesstions, help or advise given would be awsome!!! Thanks!!!
Lets start here.
What are you feeding her? Some of her issues could well be food related allergy symptoms. Put her on a good grain free food, a lot of us here feed Taste Of the Wild grain free, available at most pet food stores or large animal feed stores (Horses, cows, etc). I would start using 1 tablespoon of plain, fat-free yogurt in each meal to help with gas issues while changing her food. Give her at least 6-8 weeks on new food before you decide if it is really working well or not. I found with Sophia it took that long to see a total difference. Others have seen a big change in a matter of a couple weeks. Just keep with it.
Are you using any flea control? If not, that could be contributing to the skin issues. I have two girls with bad flea allergies. If a flea gets in the same room as them, they break out with itchies and scratch and lick all the time. I use Vectra, but interchange it with Advantage. There is good information in a post below yours about natural flea remedies as well.
She may have gotten a cold with the fan blowing directly on her. I know Sophie gets chesty and snotty if she is in direct air conditioning or under a fan. I keep my house cool and she seems to be fine through the summer.
Cleaning her folds and tail pocket.....I clean Sophia's tail pocket once a week, her folds never have gotten gunky so I don't have to do them. I put Sophie in my bathtub and have an extension wand on my shower head, so I pull that down and spray well into her tail pocket. I use mild antibacterial hand soap on my finger and clean really well up in the pocket. Then I rinse, rinse, rinse it well. I dry with a soft cotton make up remover or soft paper towels. I get it as dry as I possibly can, then use either Desitin or Gold Bond powder in her pocket to absorb any moisture left. I know you didn't mention her tailpocket, but thought I would throw this in for good measure!
Her folds...someone is going to have to tell you what they use, like I said we don't have that issue.
To boost the immune system and help fight the mange and frequent colds, etc, give 250 mg of Vitamin C daily in the food. You can also give a Salmon oil pill. I use Spring Valley brand Wild Norwegian Salmon Oil soft gels, I buy them at Wal-Mart. My girls eat the whole gel. That will help with the coat as well.
I hope this helps some. Others will have some good advice as well. Hang in there, she will get better.
Amy and Sophia
What are you feeding
What are you feeding her?
When we got her last Oct. she was on junk dog food. We took her to a family pet owned Pet Store where my husband knows the owner. She had just had a Bulldog mix that she took in, got her healthy and them found her a new home. She gave us tons of samples - EVO, TOTW, NB and a couple of other high end brands - ton of flavors. Of course, Bailey loved the Red Meat EVO but she would run us out of the room with her gas and anything with fish made her smell like fish. She ended up TOTW Bison and Venison kibble and was on that for several months. Once she had bathroom issues and had to switch soft only for a little over a week, feeding TOTW same falvor adding plain yougurt. Since then we have move her over to NB Grain Free and I think we are going to stick with Venison and Sweet Pot., we do 1/2 kibble 1/2 soft then add a tsp of the oil I spoke about - Bathroom issues have been no more
Are you using any flea control?
She started on Comfortis in early May, the start of flea season for us. We have another dog - 7yr old poodle - she have never been on anything and never a flea, granted she 7lbs runs out to use it and runs back in. Baliey walks around more and in a wider range so I didn't want to take any chances.
-Totally, agree with the Fan since today she's better than she was 2 days ago.
-She's been Red mange free since late April now I clean her face every other day with wipes the doc gave me - havn't had any any problems with the tail but I have to clean around her lady part because it tends to get raw on one side of it.
-Vitamins - we were told to give the LID Grain Free food time to help her immune system. However, at this point I think it's time to start a Vit. regimen.
Thanks for all the info and suggestions!!!!!
I feed TOTW Roasted Lamb variety.
Sophie has had a difficult time with some allergies the past couple years. It started when we moved to Georgia, home of every flea in the universe. She hadn't had fleas before and never had to have flea meds. After fleas, she started reacting to food. I put her on NB grain free and she did great until last year, then all of a sudden she reacted to something in NB and it took until a few months ago to get her calmed back down.
I feed only dry kibble, no wet food at all. I don't like canned, it just causes runs and reactions in my girls. I give one cranberry pill w/ vitamin C daily in their breakfast to help with any UTI issues and to get the vitamin C in them all. I give a Salmon Oil pill daily in their breakfast. I give one tablespoon of plain, fat free yogurt twice a day in each meal. It can take a few weeks for that to kick in and help with the gas, but boy is it worth it! I stopped using it once, won't do that again!
I don't like Comfortis, it doesn't work as well as Vectra for us. There is a new all in one flea/worm/heartworm treatment just coming out that I am going to look at, plus there is an Advantage product that does it all, too. I like that idea better than giving them 3 different medications every month to control those things. But we are in a heavy heartworm area (my German Shep girl I rescued last summer has HW), I use the meds I need to use to keep them healthy. Hate it, but use it!
If your girl is doing well on your regimen, I wouldn't change it! Maybe stop the soft food, she doesn't really need it if you put her on vitamin c. Add anything you decide to give very slowly so she doesn't have a reaction to it.
Amy and Sophia
One thing that will help with the bathroom issues...
put a big tablespoon of regular canned pumpkin on her food, it has a lot of fiber in it and will help her poop, also helps with loose poops, pumpkin is good for everything. She sounds like a sweetie, I'm sure with your care, she will be healthy in no time.
Yep
I had heard that but by the time she was having the issues the store was out - around here it wont be back in the stores until fall. I plan on stocking up on it. :)
I wish I had someting to contribute
my heart is literally breaking for the poor girl...but she sounds to be on the rebound. my parents have adopted a lot of dogs with numerous needs and one thing has emerged over the years: stress is totally toxic to dogs. and they stress over all types of things. as the stress and anxiety starts to melt away, as they start to look forward to their walk or belly scratch, a lot of these medical symptoms, esp mange, diminish. Now that she is in a happy home i hope thats the case. sorry for the granola post, but dont underestimate the effect a good life with attentive owners will have on her health! and that some of this can take years to clear up. i swear, one of their dogs was sick his entire young life and now has been healthy as a horse since age 8 (he is 11 now, looks and acts about 4). you guys are awesome for being there for her...good luck. please keep updating.
Silverback's Immaculate Interception, "James"
Thanks
Thanks so much and I would do it all over again for her. Right now her only issues are little runny nose and she's chewing like there's crud in her throat when she gets up in the morning or takes a nap. I'm going to give her a little Sprite/Lemon juice this evening. If she doesn't clear up in a couple of days off to the vet again .
UPDATE
Went to the vet - she has a touch Bronchitis. She got an Xray, a shot of Vetalong - which I think the girl up front coded it wrong because the vet said it was the same shot she got last time which was a combo shot of Centrine/Dipyrone/Penicillin/B12 and I remember the girl saying "which shot the B12? I'm going to call tomorrow. Bailey is also is on Clavamox for a week.
They said for a Bulldog her breathing is really good since her face is not as flat as some.
I think she has a touch of Boxer in her because of that and she is very athletic - she is a rescue.
While I was there I spoke with him about wanting to get her a Buddy and if this breed always has this many problems as Bailey. He said that they do see alot of Bulldogs and not to talk about the breed but they do tend to have alot of problems. I asked if he knew any reputable breeder and would it help getting a pup from a good gene pool. He said that definitely would help but u just never know.
Air conditioning
Its a catch 22. Bulldogs get extremely overheated but they can also get cold after they cooled down. If Lola gets to panting too much after the outdoors, I take a cold washrag and rub her whole body down, especially her stomach and face. Give ice cubes too if necessary. Standing under the ceiling fan on high makes the washrag work even faster. I wait until the panting stops, then turn the ceiling down to low. Sometimes when I come home in the summer, her ears are cold from too much A/C, then I feel quilty that she got cold. So the fans are good for airflow and an immediate cooldown but not left on the dog. In our bedroom, we need the ceiling fan on us and our golden retriever, so i cover the top of Lolas crate with a towel/blanket so she doesn't get direct blowing, yet gets A/C.
Caution feeding ice cubes
to an over heated dog. It can cause bloat and shock and can die. It is always best to cool them slowly so as not to shock the system. Ice cubes are fine it they are not overheated.
Dog cool through their feet so standing on a cool towel and rubbing their tummy and the inside of their legs is good.
Air conditioning
Its a catch 22. Bulldogs get extremely overheated but they can also get cold after they cooled down. If Lola gets to panting too much after the outdoors, I take a cold washrag and rub her whole body down, especially her stomach and face. Give ice cubes too if necessary. Standing under the ceiling fan on high makes the washrag work even faster. I wait until the panting stops, then turn the ceiling down to low. Sometimes when I come home in the summer, her ears are cold from too much A/C, then I feel quilty that she got cold. So the fans are good for airflow and an immediate cooldown but not left on the dog. In our bedroom, we need the ceiling fan on us and our golden retriever, so i cover the top of Lolas crate with a towel/blanket so she doesn't get direct blowing, yet gets A/C.
I don't know where you live but...
around here (Phoenix) when everyone was out, I found some at Whole foods. Bought all 10 cans just to have it on hand. Sometimes Trader Joe's will have that kind of thing too.
NC
We do have Whole Food stores - I check there - I'm going to my mom's today and I know that there is a Trader's Joe, I'll check there first. THANKS!!!