HELP

[tubbys_dad]

My wife lost her job 5 months ago and we are in a bit of a financial crisis. Our 10 month old bulldog female'Tubby" has come down with some skin problems. She is losing patches of hair and also i think her ear is infected or possibly has ear mites. We cant afford to take her to the vet. I am not asking for money. I love my little girl but i just have no wiggle room when it comes to money. I was wondering if anybody knows of a good vet that might let me pay in payments for my pups treatment. We are located in riverside county in california. I ran through some different scenarios in my head and if i need too i am willing to surrender her to so cal bulldog rescue, but that is a last resort. I dont want to lose my baby but i am prepared to if we cant give her what she needs. Its breaking my heart but i dont know what to do. Thanks in advance

 

[sheshistory]

Oh no, I am so sorry you are going through this! How horrible...there seems to be a lot of people from SoCal on the board so I hope they can help point you in the right direction.

 

[TessaAndSamson]

Check into Care Credit. It is a credit card that is only for medical uses including veterinary services. I have it myself. I hear Dr. Butchko in Riverside has reasonable pricing and they are very well known for being bulldog experts. I would suggest checking in with the SPCA as well. Sometimes they have low cost health care and help with people in these kind of situations to avoid the owners having to surrender their pet.

What are you feeding Tubby? A high quality food will often help alot with skin issues. You may have to pay a little more for the food and I know you said money is tight but her problem could be solely related to the food and it would be alot cheaper to pay a little more for a better food than the vet bills to treat the problem.

 

[bullmama]

You can check into Care Credit, maybe this will help you find what your baby needs.

http://www.carecredit.com/vetmed/

I hope you find out what is wrong with her, the poor darling, and quickly. Keep us updated on her progress, we would love to see your Tubby!

 

[cali~jenn]

Oh no I am so sorry to hear about your problem. I live in san bernardino county (near to you) but have no ideas on a vet that will take payments since I havent tried this myself. Would love to see pics of your baby, even if that isnt why you came here specifically.

 

[Libra926]

I also suggest care credit. It's 0% interest for 6 months ( i believe) I have to use this for my bulldog Vegas. He has epilepsy and his medical bills can add up........and quickly too! I hope you find a good solution to help Tubby.

 

[dontshop--adopt]

I have a really wonderful FB friend whose grammy is a vet tech...not sure what part of CA they are in, but I will refer your problem to them!!

 

[saesteban]

Dr. Butchko in Riverside is very reasonable. They don't take appointments. It is on a first come first serve basis. I believe the first time you go there, you need to pay cash. Just call to confirm. I suggest you go early, try to get there before they open and make sure you ask for Dr. Butchko. You might have to wait longer but you are seeing the best bulldog vet.

http://www.yelp.com/biz/butchko-michael-dvm-and-associates-riverside

 

[tubbys_dad]

Thank you for your help. We got that carecredit and we were able to get her to the vet. Turns out it is demodectic mange.(not sure of the spelling) We live in banning ca, and we take her to Banning Vet hospital and they are great. Dr. Ryan and Dr. Summers are the best. If anyone lives nearby you should definetly check them out. I was wondering what you feed your pups? We feed her natural balance but are open to suggestions. I know that there is probably better so feel free to recommend any to us. Again thank you for your help.

 

[TessaAndSamson]

SOO glad to hear you worked it out! Keep us updated!! Everyone here has their favorite food I feed my Samson Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Fish. Natural Balance is a good food. Samson does good on it but I am thinking of changing to Taste Of The Wild, the salmon one. It is rated a little better but it's the same price as Natural Balance at the feed store I go to.

 

[sheshistory]

Thanks for the update...I am so happy things worked out and your baby will be on the road to recovery, and with her daddy.

I feed my bullies Royal Canin Bulldog formula - it's not terribly high rated on the list but it's worked well for three bullies. It has a nice shaped kibble that prevents eating too fast too.

 

[bullmama]

We like Avoderm and our new one is Fromm. Great foods. Still reviewing Fromm, but so far it is excellent

Times like this, I am so happy we created this site, so that you could come here and save your baby!!!! *teary eyed*

Today is a great day!!!

Read the Dog Food Ratings page, and also read all the common questions and answers listed on there--- they are important

http://www.englishbulldognews.com/DogFoodAnalysis.html

 

[cali~jenn]

Thank you for your help. We got that carecredit and we were able to get her to the vet. Turns out it is demodectic mange.(not sure of the spelling) We live in banning ca, and we take her to Banning Vet hospital and they are great. Dr. Ryan and Dr. Summers are the best. If anyone lives nearby you should definetly check them out. I was wondering what you feed your pups? We feed her natural balance but are open to suggestions. I know that there is probably better so feel free to recommend any to us. Again thank you for your help.

Congrats to you guys, sounds like she really needed the vet so it worked out for the best! SO glad you were able to get help here, this is why I LOVE THIS SITE!!!! Now we need to get some pics of your girl. By the way you are my neighbor, I live in Yucaipa.

Have never fed natural balance but have been thru a few good ones that just didnt agree 100% with my boy. taste of the wild is a good one, we switched due to allergies. I used to use canidae and never had any complaints with it actually so should have stayed with it but now I hear they have changed their formula a little so I dont know how good it is now. I was using eagle pack hollistic because it promotes firm stools and with my boy that is always a plus. Am in process now to switching to avoderm to see how they like it, hoping to reduce their shedding a bit. So far they love the food but I wont be done switching over for some time since I still have a good amount of the old so I wont know for sure how it agrees with my boy for a while. It is a good food but the challenge with a bully is finding the right one that works for them. My pug on the other hand could eat anything and be perfect at all times. Figures.

 

[Bella'sMom]

I use Care Credit and it is the best, If not for them I do not know where Bella would be right now.

As far as food, I too use Natural Balance. Started with my 9yo bully due to allergies. She was on the Sweet potato and Venison. With Bella I had to switch to the Sweet Potato and Bison, it is lower in fat and that is what she needs in order to keep her exocrine pancreatic insufficiency in check. I also add some Omega 3 oil for their coat and it has made a huge difference on all our dogs. (have a Belgian Malanois also) Bella gets Krill oil (again, better for her) the others are on Salmon. Sometimes it is just patience with trial and error to find the right combo for your bully.

I am so glad you were able to get help.

 

[tubbys_dad]

This place is awesome. I never thought that strangers would really care about my situation like you guys and gals have. I know alot of people would say that she is just a dog i wouldnt spend that much on the vet, and i would have agreed with them. Then Socko came around. He was a pitbull my older brother got 11 years ago. He had some problems in his last days with his heart and my brother spent some good money trying to make his last days easier. I didnt understand till the day he passed. Seeing my older, tougher brother cry really hit me. Socko was more than a dog to him. I never really realised the impact animals can have on people till that moment. Well my wife and I decided to add tubby to our life 8 months ago. She is 11 months now, as of today, and i truly understand the loyalty, love, respect(sometimes) and pure joy my four legged daughter brings to me, my wife, and my 3 year old son. So those people can say what they want but my girl is worth every penny and then some.