English Bulldog Healthcare Health Problems

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English Bulldog Healthcare

The following english bulldog healthcare information is here as a guide, to prepare you for situations that might arise with this particular breed. This information should not be used for diagnostics or puppies evaluation but as a notification and a basic understanding when consulting your veterinarian.
We will continue to work on this page, a website is truly never done. Lasted updated: May06 2009

mites

Mites

Cherry Eye

Bee Stings and Allergies

There are several different species of mites, they live in almost every animal on the planet including humans and plants, scientists say you are never more than 3 feet from a spider your whole life!

Cysts

Water Puppies

Diarrhea

English Bulldogs being a man made breed have a weak immune system, their defenses against diseases and reactions to plants and certain chemicals, such as ingredients in shampoos, foods and other things you use around your home such as aerosol sprays or floor cleaners.

In our experiences I would have to say changing dog food has made an exceptional difference, each english bulldog is different so I won't recommend or disapprove any brands. If you have to go with store brand commercial dog food, then Pedigree Dog Food might be an option for you, Pedigree seems to generally calm out breaks, but generally speaking your bulldog needs a higher quality of dog food. We have experimented at times with cheaper brands, each time we used an inferior brand of dog food, no matter the brand we experienced mites and hotspots as well as lose stools and weight loss. Some brands had a bigger impact than others a good way to determine what food to buy your english bulldog is to look at the labels. If you are new to buying dog food for an english bulldog or are experiencing poor skin or fur it means your dog food isn't supplying enough minerals and nutrients. You should not feed your pet the same dog food its whole life, like all living things need variety in their diet. Generally speaking bulldogs require a high maintenance diet to avoid skin and other problems.

Currently we are using Royal Canin and occasionally PropPlan dog foods depend on availability as we are located in a rural district and large supply is not always available. Both these foods are available locally at a dog food specialty store.

One food I will recommend for Atlantic Provinces is ProSeries made by Corey Pet Foods although it isn't a regular food we feed we did have opportunity to purchase a good quantity at a great price, by the time the food was gone any hotspots and outbreaks had virtually disappeared and their coat was rich and full, they also bulked up during this time.

Orijen is a high maintenance food, we have used it with puppies (Orijen Puppy) in the past and it seems to be working great, its important to feed an english bulldog a good quality puppy food for the first year. We tried it on the older dogs and some dogs had a hard time properly digesting the high nutrition content which resulted in loose stools.

Generally as your protein and Fat content goes up in the "Guaranteed Analysis" the rest
of the elements will also increase so for a beginners guide be sure to keep the levels of "Crude Protein and
Crude Fat as high as your budget allows and for English Bulldog it is generally recommendable to not go below Crude Protein Min. 22.0% and Crude Fat Min. 12.0% Going above or below levels will not kill your dog.

Guaranteed Analysis
Crude Protein, min. 0.0% -- Should be Min 22.0%
Crude Fat, min. 0.0% -- Should be Min 12.0%
Crude Fiber, max. 0.0% -- Should be Max 3.5%
Moisture, max. 0.0% -- Should be Max 10.0%

For puppies and shiny coats you should be giving your dog extra ingredients like Omega 3 and 6

Meat in your dogs food is important, less corn is better, bulldogs need meat in their diet, a good dog food will usually have a meat or meat by-product as first ingredient and 2 meat or meat by-products in the first five ingredients. This can also be deceiving though, some by-meal products can contain a lot of water and moisture, so when water or moisture is remove during processing it brings down the meat content....

Hotspot on a English Bulldog treated with listerine
Hotspot on a English Bulldog. Hotspots can spread really fast, virtually overnight. This hotspot didn't have time to infect the skin.

Some different kinds of mites/mange you may experience are Sarcopic, Demodex, they are common in English Bulldogs.

Treatment can be easy if done properly, some vets will recommend a Mitaban or Taktic bath, some will prescribe Ivomectin, again, something as simple as changing your dogs food might remedy the situation but please ask your veterinarian. We are not suggesting that you run out and purchase the most expensive food! Different types of food such as major commercial brands like Pedigree, Iams, Purina. Most well know medium priced foods contain the proper nutrients to keep your bulldog semi-healthy, even with commercial food you might still have problem. I can't get into the negatives of commercial dog food at this time, and I am not endorsing anything. For your Bulldog to have optimum health you will need to find something more natural. You can read more about English Bulldog dog food at the bottom

Temperature can also play a role, keep your bulldog cool, this will decrease the rate at which mites will reproduce. In general try to always keep your bulldog cool. English Bulldogs are extremely sensitive and more skin problems that most dogs or cats.

A hot spot is a patch where mites have raged out of control and an infection has begun. If a hotspot breaks out, you can use regular Listerine to cleanse the wound. Some hotspots can flare up in days and grow to 6 inches in circumference in no time. A hotspot on your bulldog can lead to serious infection if left unattended.

Some signs that your bulldog has mites or is about to have an outbreak is to watch for color change to the face and ears, your bulldog will start to show slightly pinker. They might begin to itch more than usual. It is relatively easy to treat Demodex with one dog. Best advice we can tell you is to find a veterinarian who has been working with bulldogs for a long long time.

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Cherry Eye

Cherry Eye in an English Bulldog
In this picture it appears that the cherry eye has been left unattended and is causing permanent damage to the eye. Every case of cherry eye should be examined by a veterinarian immediately

Cherry eye is common in english bulldog but not as common as they say, the blame generally lies on the breeder selling puppies with cherry eyes and full registration. Although it is not a crime it will tell you something about the breeder, most times the puppy will be sold and placed before the first signs of cherry eye which usually happen after the 8-10 week puppy pickup time.

Cherry eye is the term used to refer to canine nictitans gland prolapse, a common eye condition in various dog breeds where the gland of the third eyelid known as the nictitating membrane prolapses and becomes visible. Commonly affected breeds include the English Bulldog.
Cherry eye may be caused by a hereditary weakness in the connective tissue surrounding the gland. It is most common in puppies.

It appears as a red mass in the inner corner of the eye, and is sometimes mistaken for a tumor. After gland prolapse, the eye becomes chronically inflamed and there is often a discharge. Because the gland is responsible for about 30% of the eye's tear production, the eye can eventually suffer from dryness . Dry eye may eventually occur in 30 to 40 percent of dogs that have the gland removed, yet it may affect about 20 percent of dogs that have the gland surgically replaced.

Surgery is the usual treatment. Older methods of cherry eye correction (before the gland's purpose was known) involved simply removing the gland, but this is a last-resort procedure today, and necessitates the use of eye drops for the rest of the animal's life. Modern methods of cherry eye correction involve repositioning of the gland to its normal location. The success rate of this type of surgery is around 80% in most breeds.

Some cherry eyes will appear for a short time and then disappear, generally speaking these eyes should not be operated on as long as the cherry eye doesn't stay out more than 24 hours. Sometimes (consult your vet about this) you can gently message the gland to loosen blockage, it is advisable to be sterile. A lukewarm cloth placed gently on the gland for a few periods of a minute at a time may also show good results.

Some breeders I know remove 1/2 of the gland or 3/4's of the gland, this allows for the tears to still flow properly, ask a few vets to get the general census on this.

Leaving a cherry eye untreated can result in serious problems including blindness to your dogs eye if it becomes infected or worse. In some cases a cherry eye will appear and then disappear. An english bulldog with persistent cherry eye shouldn't be bred, cherry eye is hereditary.

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Bee Stings and Allergies:

English Bulldog bitten by a bee, immediate swelling to the face

Bee Stings can severely hurt your English Bulldog, it is advisable to keep some Benadryl on hand and if at all possible an Epi-pen ( please us all medications under veterinary guidance). A bee sting can be deadly and a veterinarian should be consulted at first signs. Swelling can include the throat and cut off oxygen to your dogs lungs

Pictured to the left is the effects of a simple bee sting. The swelling was almost immediate, this picture was taken a day later.

Update: Bullpaws Pokearoo was stung by a Bee on June 26th 2009 Bee Sting or Spider Bite - Swollen Face

Cysts

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Cysts come in many varieties, pictured below is a cyst that was removed from the leg of an English Bulldog. Some cysts can be temporarily left until the dog is put asleep for another reason, thus avoid the harmful effects of putting your pet asleep. Consult your veterinarian to be certain.

The cyst to the left is 2x2 inches wide and 1 inch thick, it was removed by a veterinarian from the outer thigh of an english bulldog. Occasionally a cyst will return. With any medical problem, a veterinarian should be consulted.

Diarrhea

Diarrhea can result from many things, if it persist beyond 24-48hrs you should go to the veterinarian.

Our dogs drink from a pure well from the top of the mountain where we are situated, when we bring them to the city the water change automatically produces diarrhea. We bring bottled water from the country and gradually adapt them to city water over a few days, but still we some lose bowel movements.

Change of food can cause diarrhea, a dogs stomach is not the same as a human, the food isn't processed the same. Table scraps can also cause diarrhea as well as other plants your pet may digest while outside as well as foreign matter left from other humans. you may also want to make sure you have your dog food stored in a dry fresh location.

Minor amounts of children's Kaopectate may relieve the symptom on puppies, please consult your vet first, overdosing your dog may lead to serious constipation or death. Also half a tablet of Imodium can be used on full sized adult dogs for chronic diarrhea, of course please consult a veterinarian first.

There are many causes of diarrhea, for persistent conditions a vet visit is best

Water Puppies - coming soon

There isn't many articles and information on water babies, or water puppies, most breeders tend to not mention the harsher side of breeding. To avoid water puppies I would suggest that before the bulldog is inseminated you change to a high maintenance puppy food that contains all nutrients essential to the growth of puppies, additional I would recommend a folic acid tablet each day and possible a prenatal supplement if you believe the food you are feeding may not adequately supply the proper nutrients

English Bulldog Dog Food

Bulldogs are more apt to have skin problems and allergies amongst other problems with lower grades of dog food, To choose your dog food correctly will prevent problems in future days

Although I mention Pedigree Dog Food earlier in this page, I would suggest choosing your dog food by the GUARANTEED ANALYSIS on each bag. Of course the ingredients do matter but when you start buying dog foods above a certain nutritional value you will notice the ingredient are purer.

HOW TO CHOOSE YOUR DOG FOOD FOR ENGLISH BULLDOGS

Artificial Insemination

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This section is under construction please check back shortly

Our advice or experiences our those of our own, each english bulldog is different and unique, please do not use our information as medical reference but as a guide when you visit your veterinarian... Bullpaws accepts no responsibility for the content on this website, please consult your local veterinarian for all medical and non medical advice

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