Question: We spoke to you in the past and you said if we had any questions or needed your advise about bulldogs to feel free to ask. We purchased a bully that is 6 months old now from what we now understand was a hobby breeder ;( From 2 months after we picked her up the Vet has been watching her patella’s and radiograph confirmed them grade 3 sub-luxation. Radiograph also confirm moderate to severe hip dysplasia the balls are mushroom shape. She has a case of Cherry Eye and is being treated for demodex mange. Our English Bulldog is only six months old. What would u do? What in ur opinion is the outlook for her? We are so upset.
The BigBulldog: Don’t be upset. Sounds like a Bulldog thang to me. (haha) First unless your BigBulldog is having real knee problems, I would not be concerned with her patellas. (If she is limping, it is often times growing pains, not her patellas taht causes her to limp, even if they show signs of subluxation.) Time and a good Vet that’s not trying to rip u off will tell the story. Even if she does have patella subluxation, many times it does not become problematic for the Bulldog for his or her whole life. Its not like your Bulldog is a marathon runner. Right?
Secondly MANY English Bulldogs are mis-diagnosed withe Severe Hip dysplasia. I have heard this a diagnosed hundred times and it not be the case. (see the article in www.BigBulldogs.com for (Growth Development / Hip & Joint Problems) The English Bulldog relies heavily on the muscles to hold his/her hips in place. Most ALL English Bulldogs have very shallow joints. Some Bulldogs hips are not even in the joint at all, and have zero problems. He is only 6 months old and going through all sorts of growth patterns, allow him time to grow until she’s at least 2 years old. (I would advise for you to keep him on Adult food, not puppy. I use IAMS Adult Mini Chunk.) Adult food has less protein and causes Bullie to grow slower, which is good. More times than not the problems will be non existant when he is full grown.
Thirdly the good old Cherry Eye. Complely normal, nothing to be upset about. (See the Cherry Eye article on my website www.BigBulldogs.com) it will help to explain it better.
Fourthly Demodex (see the Demodex article on my website www.BigBulldogs.com). Completely normal and once again, nothing to get steamed over. (I’d guess that he had a Rabies Shot within a month of showing Demodex symptoms. Right? My dogs receive Ivermectin monthly to alleviate the possibilities of this normal problem.
Lastly…Why is you breeder not telling you this??? See you should have purchase your dog from me? Haha. If you had you would be 100% educated and you would not be upset. Remember, Most people want to blame the breeder first without having all of the facts. In my opinion, it sounds like you are in ok shape. So calm down and wait to see. I bet your Bulldog ends up just fine. Hope this helps.
Todd Howard
“The Big Bulldog”