Leo

[bluesteelapd]

As I mentioned before its been a crazy year.
We wanted to adopt so bad but it just wasn't working out. We finally found a breeder that we thought was reputable but the breeder we got Mona Lisa from said the guy we found was a BYB and frankly if we got a dog from him he'd never speak to us again. Ok, I got the message, so we asked him again who he would recommend since he and his wife were no longer breeding. He put us in touch with a couple in PA and we liked them and they liked us. Early January we met them and saw their litter and Leonardo literally picked us by putting his little paw on my foot. I had to go to Atlanta to help my Mom because she was going to have knee replacement surgery. We weren't going to put Lele in a crate all day nor were we going to have him bond with a pet sitter so his breeders were SO SO SO kind as to watch him an extra month while I got things settled in Atlanta.

Come to find out the boy has a grade 3 heart murmur. The breeders vet caught it. We took Lele to our vet who agreed with the diagnosis and off to the heart doctor we went. It is a grade three but in November, when this boy turns one, we'll have a better idea of what's going on. He'll fall into one of three categories. #1 . He'll need nothing and will be fine the rest of his life #2 . He'll need meds the rest of his life, or #3 . He will need surgery.
So far two of the four out of the litter have outgrown their heart murmurs. We are hoping, of course, that Lele outgrows his. I can't remember the name of the type he has but the signs to watch out for are heavy breathing in a relaxed mode, pale gums, and going completely stiff for about 10 seconds. So far he has had ZERO problems.

I've posted pictures of him already. We are both adjusting to having a boy! Deep Sigh. Not used to having a boy around the house and frankly his penis comes out way too much! Yuck.

 

[Vikinggirl]

Aww he's so cute. And I'm so glad your breeder helped you out, I'm sure that was a huge help and relief. Hoo e your Mom is doing well after her surgery. I hope Leo outgrows his heart murmur, or it's not a serious one, and it can be treated or just left alone. I hope you get good news. Please keep us posted on how he's doing. He's just being a typical man, showing off his wares. Lol.

 

[2BullyMama]

Wow.... what a few months you have had! How is Mom, better?

There is a member here that has bullies with HM's she may be able to give some advice or insight.

Keep the pictures of your two coming, they are a beautiful pair!

 

[Bulldozersma]

Oh I hope your baby outgrows any issues, as far as the penis showing - I am going through that phase as well. My pup sits with his legs splayed open and his "unit" hanging out. No rhyme or reason, just rocking out

 

[bluesteelapd]

[MENTION=2894]2BullyMama[/MENTION] I haven't told the 1/2 of it! When I drove down to Atlanta my transmission went out and had to be replaced. Then on my drive back home it took me 22 nonstop hours to get home because I got caught in the horrific snow/sleet/ice storm that hit the south towards the end of January. WTF?! Yes I could've stayed in Atlanta but I wanted to get back to NJ so we could go to PA to get our boy - and frankly any more time with my Mom and one of us would've wound up dead.

 

[kim n the guys]

congrats on Leo. I have two bully boys who were diagnosed with heart murmurs. Sebastian had an echo done at 10 weeks and diagnosed with pulmonic stenosis and there is nothing they can do for his, it's so severe (he's now 3 1/2 years old) but he doesn't know he has a heart problem and is living a normal bulldog life. Remy had an echo done at 5 months and he underwent an angioplasty to see if they could repair his but sadly not. His pulmonic stenosis is listed as moderate and he takes 25 mg of Atenelol twice a day for life. He is now 2 1/2 years old and like Sebastian has no idea he has a heart condition.

You are the second person who has said that their vet wants to wait until they are a year to have an echo done and I don't get it. I would say even if Leo does have a heart condition beyond a murmur, he will still have a happy life no matter how long that is. Mine are living proof that you doctor's can not predict anything. The first cardiologist with Sebastian said he probably would pass by the age of 18 months but he's still a feisty little snot. I got a different cardiologist with Remy and he said he had a dog who presented with worse conditions (more like Sebastian's) and he's still alive at 10. You just never know.

Good luck and if you ever need anything, let me know.

 

[bluesteelapd]

[MENTION=2152]kim n the guys[/MENTION] Sorry for any confusion. We had the echo gram done (at $515) and he was graded a level 3, which the breeders vet and our vet said first. Its at a year that another echo needs to be done to see if Leo outgrew the murmur.

Bless your heart for taking care of your two with heart murmurs. When our breeder told us he had one they weren't sure we'd still take him. We said we love him more after hearing the news. There was NO WAY we were gonna turn our backs on this precious boy, and he is all boy, LOL.

 

[kim n the guys]

oh well that's good that the echo only showed just a murmur. When my babies were originally diagnosed with a murmur and we had the echo done, that was when the pulmonic stenosis showed up. I'm relieved now as Leo most likely will outgrow it and if he doesn't, it's nothing life threatening.

 

[bluesteelapd]

Well, the breeder said two of the four (Leo being one of the four) have outgrown their murmurs. As yours have done, he shows no signs of a murmur at all. We are hoping come November/December he will be murmur free so we can get him fixed. Our vet said he would not recommend getting him fixed if he continues with the murmur because it will be too easy for him to gain weight and that's the last thing we want him to do with a murmur. I'm always fearful that people will think we are going to breed him if he isn't fixed and that is the farthest thing from the truth. We have not, nor will we ever breed dogs. We leave that to the pros. :-)

I will never judge anyone who doesn't have a spayed/neutered animal again.

 

[kim n the guys]

Even with pulmonic stenosis, which is more severe than a heart murmur, my boys have been able to get neutered and they have not gained weight. No offense to your vet, but I would get a second opinion. My vet required a final echo done before the surgery just to make sure that nothing had changed with the heart itself since she had seen the last echo and she made sure that one of her vet techs was sitting with Sebastian and Remy the entire time they were under and coming out of anesthesia.