Breathing problems as of recent

[operationajax]

My bully is going on three and recently started having breathing issues. Note; the breathing issues do not occur when we play in the house only when walking. For example, few times a week I take my bully to a local high school and utilize the tennis courts to conduct training sessions, chase me, and with the added benefit of having his nails filed down from the cement surface [keep in mind I only take him out in the late evening during the hot months when the temperature has dropped so that he does not get heat stroke]. The issue is when I leave the house to go to the tennis courts my bully starts panting as if he just sprinted [We walk about 100 feet to the courts since I live right by the high school]. One thing to note is that we always WALK SLOW with him on my right side [My bully and I have come to the agreement that I am the Alpha ]. When we arrive at the tennis courts I give him some water and take off his harness while he pants ferociously. We then walk SLOW around the inside of the tennis court with him alongside of me for a couple rounds. By this time he is panting so hard I have to take him home [about 150 feet] where he then sits on a bench, which is situated by our front door in the shade, and drinks a gallon of water and pants as if he just ran a marathon. His panting and drinking usually continues for about 45 minutes. When he has slowed down a bit and can catch his breath we go inside the house [temp about 69 - 70] and commence to wash up. After washing up from the walk he usually goes and finds a spot to lay down and sleep, which by the way is nothing out of the ordinary for him. So in short my question is why is he breathing/panting so hard when all he is doing is slowly walking to and from the tennis courts which is about 300 feet from start to finish. Keep in mind that since he was a pup we have always walked to and from the courts with no breathing issues until recent.


Any and all info is welcomed!!

 

[RiiSi]

If he hasn't had any problems with breathing before I would take him to see the vet. Maybe there is some obstruction in his ear ways?

 

[Texkota]

My first thought is obstructed airway, could be anything pnuemonia, foreign object, I'd get him to the vet ASAP just for piece of mind.

 

[brcjzl]

I would have a vet check him out. Our Bailey passed away last May because he couldn't breath. He was only 5. We ignored a lot of signs and attributed it to the breed. He never wanted to go outside, only walked never ran, slept all the time and panted heavily even indoors. After he died the emergency vet said his trachea was the size of a straw.

 

[Dubbiedog]

Do take Axl to the vet as soon as possible. Our Dublin has had breathing issues from early on and next Monday undergoes a second surgery. Like humans, we can be fine one day and develop something the next, so especially because this is a "new" issue all the more reason to have it checked. Does he have any gagging or "choking" along with the panting? Does he throw up or is it all about the panting. I would love you to follow up with us as to how you get on. Good luck.

 

[Maximus]

Was the Temperature outside 69-70? What is the dogs weight ? I'm only asking because two days ago I took my Pug out. She experienced heavy panting, and clearly was in distress - just in the short amount of time it took to get her from Petco to the car. I had to rush her home. Now she is "honking" up a storm, and her symtoms are indicative
of collapsed trachea, which appears to have been brought on by the warm weather. My English bulldog can not handle being outdoors in temps above 70-degrees. So he will remain indoors until Halloween ! LOL.

 

[AdventuresWithOliver]

I was also going to ask about his weight. Is he heavy? But definitely get him checked out. It could be a trachea issue or something as simple as an outdoor allergy issue. Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[2BullyMama]

I am with all the others... vet for an exam. Also, could be something more serious, especially since it is all of the sudden

 

[operationajax]

WOW!! Thanks for all the feedback....is really nice to see all of the concern over my bully's situation. Thanks everyone!
As far as taking him to the vet, where in the state of Connecticut is there a veterinarian that specializes in English Bulldogs that I can take him to? I have a vet that we have been using for some time but in my opinion they do not seem to know what they are doing. For example, my bully had a terrible yeast infection in his ears, rope and bottom of his paws and the vet looked him over and said everything was fine although I knew there was something wrong. I then came here to read about yeast infections [which I figured my bully had] and utilized the info I read the forums and bam! my bully's yeast problem has been eradicated. What is also nice is that it didn't cost me much. I think in total I spent less than twenty bucks on ridding the yeast vs. a couple hundred dollars for a vet to tell me everything is okay, which in fact was not. Anyway, without getting off topic, I would like to take him to a vet that knows the ins and outs of English bulldogs if anyone can navigate me to one here in the state of Connecticut.

Answering some of your questions, my bully weighs 70 lbs but is not fat at all. Our vet said he needed to loose weight but I looked at our bully and said "okay, where should he loose the weight?", the vet just looked at me. Funny thing is if you saw my bully you might say he was underweight. He does have his V shape and is very obvious especially when he eats [I stand over him when he eats to take a quick look at his body structure from time to time to make sure he doesn't get fat].

With regards to his panting, he did throw up on the way home the other day from the tennis courts. He was panting very hard and was hacking/coughing [which is why we were going back home to begin with since I was kind of scared he was going to pass out...I actually carried him home after he threw up...all 70 pounds of him!!] and then all of a sudden he threw up everything he ate earlier in the day...was almost Exorcist like when he threw up...lol. I played with him today in the house with the A/C on and he got a bit winded and started panting quite a bit...which is very unusual. Other than running and playing his breathing seems to be okay but when he exerts himself the panting gets heavy really quick.

This is directed to Maximus; I said the same thing to my wife with regards to keeping my bully inside until Halloween. The weather has been a bit on the hot side although I do take my bully outside ONLY when the temp drops to a point where I feel he can handle while keeping him hydrated with lots of water!! Anyway, a collapsed trachea seems to be what I would guess my bully's problem to be. Will do some research on this medical problem to put me in the know until I can get someone to assist me in finding a vet that specializes in Bullys in my state of Connecticut.


Thanks again for all of your concerns!!

 

[operationajax]

brcjzl

​

Sorry to hear Bailey is no longer with us. My gosh, breathing with a trachea the size of a straw is really heart breaking!! I could only imagine what went through your minds during that difficult time.

 

[RiiSi]

http://www.englishbulldognews.com/forums/your-bulldogs-health/442-veterinarian-recommendations.html

Maybe you can find one from your area from here...?

And do keep us posted!

 

[2BullyMama]

WOW!! Thanks for all the feedback....is really nice to see all of the concern over my bully's situation. Thanks everyone!
As far as taking him to the vet, where in the state of Connecticut is there a veterinarian that specializes in English Bulldogs that I can take him to? I have a vet that we have been using for some time but in my opinion they do not seem to know what they are doing. For example, my bully had a terrible yeast infection in his ears, rope and bottom of his paws and the vet looked him over and said everything was fine although I knew there was something wrong. I then came here to read about yeast infections [which I figured my bully had] and utilized the info I read the forums and bam! my bully's yeast problem has been eradicated. What is also nice is that it didn't cost me much. I think in total I spent less than twenty bucks on ridding the yeast vs. a couple hundred dollars for a vet to tell me everything is okay, which in fact was not. Anyway, without getting off topic, I would like to take him to a vet that knows the ins and outs of English bulldogs if anyone can navigate me to one here in the state of Connecticut.

Answering some of your questions, my bully weighs 70 lbs but is not fat at all. Our vet said he needed to loose weight but I looked at our bully and said "okay, where should he loose the weight?", the vet just looked at me. Funny thing is if you saw my bully you might say he was underweight. He does have his V shape and is very obvious especially when he eats [I stand over him when he eats to take a quick look at his body structure from time to time to make sure he doesn't get fat].

With regards to his panting, he did throw up on the way home the other day from the tennis courts. He was panting very hard and was hacking/coughing [which is why we were going back home to begin with since I was kind of scared he was going to pass out...I actually carried him home after he threw up...all 70 pounds of him!!] and then all of a sudden he threw up everything he ate earlier in the day...was almost Exorcist like when he threw up...lol. I played with him today in the house with the A/C on and he got a bit winded and started panting quite a bit...which is very unusual. Other than running and playing his breathing seems to be okay but when he exerts himself the panting gets heavy really quick.

This is directed to Maximus; I said the same thing to my wife with regards to keeping my bully inside until Halloween. The weather has been a bit on the hot side although I do take my bully outside ONLY when the temp drops to a point where I feel he can handle while keeping him hydrated with lots of water!! Anyway, a collapsed trachea seems to be what I would guess my bully's problem to be. Will do some research on this medical problem to put me in the know until I can get someone to assist me in finding a vet that specializes in Bullys in my state of Connecticut.


Thanks again for all of your concerns!!

OK... with the throwing up, i would say it could also be soft pallet issue too. How far are you from Staten Island? there is a great bully vet there.... [MENTION=4246]ChanelnBrutus[/MENTION] can you provide the name, please.

 

[operationajax]

The name of the vet in Staten Island is

Richmond Valley Animal Hospital
Dr. Kinnear or Dr. Esposito
Stanten Island, NY
718-948-3331

Staten Island is kind of far from me. Would like to take him somewhere within our state if possible. With regards to the soft pallet, I did some research and kind of ruled out the trachea and moved the soft pallet into the number one spot. Reason for this was that after my bully eats he likes to play. When I play with him after he eats he starts to cough like he is clearing his throat. There have been times where we continued to play after him coughing and he threw up. Since observing this action we don't play anymore after he eats in order for him to keep his food in his belly. But never the less this is one thing that I never looked at as being part of the equation with regards to his current problem of panting like he ran a marathon. I'm a newbie bully owner but have learned tons since I owning my bully. Anyway, my educated guess is that my bully has an elongated/soft pallet issue but only a qualified vet can concur. I used the link ​

http://www.englishbulldognews.com/fo...endations.html but did not find a vet near me. The closest one was Staten Island as pointed out by 2bullymama which is a bit of a car ride [about two hours depending on the traffic]. Will be searching for a qualified bully vet but if anyone knows/hears of one in Connecticut [Western located preferred or nearby New York near the Brewster area] I would appreciate it!!

 

[2BullyMama]

[MENTION=4320]operationajax[/MENTION] I know two hours sounds like a lot, but if he needs the surgery you definitely want a very experience bulldog vet on this -- think about making that ride. i did it for our boy so i know what you mean about a long trip, but in the end it will be more than worth it.

 

[LariP]

[MENTION=4320]operationajax[/MENTION] I have to ask, because I couldn't find mention of it in the previous posts. Do you use a collar or a harness when you walk him?

I ask because it occurred to me I've heard of Several people's bullies that have experienced issues like you are describing using a collar. it puts pressure on the trachea.

We only use harnesses for HRH. And after learning of the difficulties that's all we will use. Any "collar" she will wear will be for decoration only not use in leading.