Breathing issues

[mikesbandit]

We would appreciate your input on the following. As English bulldogs are not common here, we don't meet any other EBs for comparison.

Castor is now 18 months old; and during the last few moths, his breathing has become more strained when he gets excted and he will often throw up small amounts of white foam after play or when given treats (he only gets treats in training situations, so he is always a bit excited when he gets them).

We take three daily walks of half an hour or more, and some days we get quite far, whereas other days are really slow. Castor has the energy for long walks, but his breathing seems to hinder him sometimes. Same thing with play - he is agile and loves balls and frisbees, but afterwards he is panting very hard. Today we went to the forest, having planned a two-hour hike. Half a year ago that was not a problem, but now we actually cut the hike short as his breathing was strained. He loves being out in the forest and will gladly walk, so we really don't know if the panting is physical or due to excitement.

We will try to find a vet with experience in dogs with breathing problems for an evaluation, but we are wondering to what extent his breathing issues might be related to his age. Can this be something that will pass as he gets older? He is a very social and happy dog, and when out walking, he takes his sniffing seriously. He will check out every lamp post and every tree if we let him. We don't go to dog parks, but he meets lots of dogs on our walks, and he gets on well with everyone. He's happy and can get excited, but never dominant or aggressive. There's no humping, nor barking, just sniffing and tail-wagging, but afterwards he's sometimes almost out of breath.

We're most grateful for input!

Sounds like a lot of exercise for a bully. The occasional EB thrives on this kind of frolicking, but not many in my circle. My Billy's idea of exercise is sleeping in front of the TV while the game is on.

 

[cefe13]

[MENTION=11194]mikesbandit[/MENTION] Nice picture! His walks are not always very long, but we're cutting down on exercise and play until we have had him evaluated. Unless it's raining,he does love to be out, though.

 

[Vikinggirl]

Hi, everyone above has you covered already, and given you great advice. I don't have any experience with soft palate or nare surgery, but I have a friend who had the surgery done on all 6 of their bullies, with good results. I'm sure your vet will evaluate Castor and advise you on what he recommends. I agree with the 3 walks maybe being too much for him, I have two EB's who don't have problems with breathing, but they will pant after playing with each other for 20 minutes, and I have to stop them from playing rough and separate them and have them lay down for a while to have them settle.
We only go on longer walks in the mornings and the evenings when it's cooler out, and we limit their walks to 15 to 20 minutes, and always make sure we have water with us. If we go to the park, we will drive there and then let them run around off leash for no more than 15 or 20 minutes, and we watch their breathing and watch to see when they start panting, and then we drive back home. We don't let them walk to the park and then run around, and then walk back home, as this would be too much exercise for them. My female Blossom is like Castor, she has so much energy, and loves to walk, and would probably walk forever as well, but we limit her walks as she will pant after more than 20 minutes. My male Bulldozer doesn't like to walk dry far, but he does love running with his sister at the park, but again we watch his breathing during play, walking, or running, and will stop him if he starts to pant too much.

 

[2BullyMama]

Sounds like a lot of exercise for a bully. The occasional EB thrives on this kind of frolicking, but not many in my circle. My Billy's idea of exercise is sleeping in front of the TV while the game is on. View attachment 78429

LOL... great picture!!

 

[cefe13]

[MENTION=6311]Vikinggirl[/MENTION] Thanks for your post and for telling me about your routines. Good to hear too that your friend dogs had the operation with good result. I hope we can make an appointment soon with a specialist to hear what s/he says.

 

[Christie H]

My frenglish Wheezie is getting her nares done very soon.She will be 2 in February.My vet told me early on she would need this.They said she has the tiniest mares they've ever seen.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk

 

[triggerSnores]

Our Winston should have had his palate done but he was not cared for in his previous home. He is almost 7 now, the vet and I are trying to decide if even we neuter him and/or do his palate at this point. Not looking like it is going to happen though even though he is a major mouth breather. He has already gone through so much we may just keep him intact and not put him under. Our vet did contact officials about his previous owners. .. He was their stud dog. His eye lashes go in and have blinded his left eye, irreparable damage to his right eye, his palate is a mess, he had multiple infections when we got him plus many, many other issues. yet they were making 2-3k a pup. .... grrrrrr.

 

[cefe13]

[MENTION=11987]Christie H[/MENTION]
Oh, that's a cute little face!

I think our boy's nares are a bit more open, but they are quite small too. Please keep us updated; we hope to get an appointment some time next month so we're very interested in hearing about other bulldogs' experience so that we know exactly what questions to ask.

 

[cefe13]

[MENTION=12442]triggerSnores[/MENTION]
So sorry to hear how badly Winston was treated by his previous owners. Poor boy. I'm glad he is in a good place now. I wonder, though, why you are considering neutering him?

 

[nycbullymama]

I have yet to see a bulldog that doesn't have stenotic nares. Some may be worse than others, but they all seem to have it to some degree.

The best description I've ever read is "pinch your nose and try to breath, that's how it feels to them".

 

[triggerSnores]

[MENTION=9875]cefe13[/MENTION] - our vet feels very strongly about neutering all dogs and cats to help control population issues in my area. We have many puppy mills around us, and lots of sick dogs due to it. Winston was a stud at one of the mills, and he should not have been used as a stud. He has a few bad traits I'm sure he has passed on to many pups and unsuspecting new owners. I think the vet wanted to do everything she felt necessary at once since it is so hard on them to go under. However, he is older (almost 7) and still in rough shape. He is doing so much better but I'm not sure I want him going under at all unless it is an emergency situation. He may need to have one eye removed. So, I'm really taking it day by day with him right now. He is having a very hard time fighting one infection and has been on antibiotics for almost 6 weeks now. :/ poor baby.

 

[cefe13]

[MENTION=12442]triggerSnores[/MENTION] He's really cute - thanks for posting the picture! Thanks for explaining too. I fully understand the problem with puppy mills and uncontrolled breeding, but I think it is sad when vets want to neuter dogs by default. Winston is with you now and as long as he doesn't run around unattended there must be very little risk that he fathers more pups. Hope he gets better soon!

 

[dieMuttivonBifi]

Sounds like a lot of exercise for a bully. The occasional EB thrives on this kind of frolicking, but not many in my circle. My Billy's idea of exercise is sleeping in front of the TV while the game is on. View attachment 78429

Mine walks about 3-4 km for our first round of walks. We would be out of the house for about 2-3 hours at a time. Nowadays, because the weather is getting colder, Bifi walks 5-6 km in total in one day. But ofcourse never in summer :D.

 

[nycbullymama]

Mine walks about 3-4 km for our first round of walks. We would be out of the house for about 2-3 hours at a time. Nowadays, because the weather is getting colder, Bifi walks 5-6 km in total in one day. But ofcourse never in summer :D.

5-6 km per day??!! that's like 2.5 miles!! If there were a bullie olympics, Bifi would take first place!

 

[mikesbandit]

Mine walks about 3-4 km for our first round of walks. We would be out of the house for about 2-3 hours at a time. Nowadays, because the weather is getting colder, Bifi walks 5-6 km in total in one day. But ofcourse never in summer :D.

My friend's bully (2nd one, polar opposite from the first) hikes mountains and can be free-fed without gaining weight. Occasionally a cardio freak shows up, but as a general rule......