Nova and friends. @frostypaws-blog1 - Tumblr Blog

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This is AMAZING!

For those who can’t go to the link, the following is what it says:

FYI, none of this is mine. It was posted by Bilton veterinary centre, the same one as in the picture. All credit goes to them but I felt it was important to get word out about some of the breeds of dogs that are riddled with health problems. If you own a pug that’s perfectly healthy that’s cool, but it’s doesn’t change the fact that an alarming number of short nosed (almost no nosed at this point) dogs have extreme difficulty with tasks like breathing and blinking.

"So I am going to have a rant now and I apologise in advance if this upsets anyone, but here goes.

Last week, I managed to reduce a lovely family to floods of tears. They had brought their new dog in to come and see me. There was a young lady, her husband and their two children of about 8 or 9 years old and they were all already absolutely besotted with their new pet - their first dog, and they had been planning it for several years.

The dog was a 5-month-old French Bulldog that they had picked up from a breeder about 4 weeks previously. They were concerned that their new dog may have “a chill” as the dog had sore runny eyes, difficulty in eating and kept making a choking sound. They had also noticed the dog had a “funny smell” about him. As I examined the dog it became quickly apparent what was occurring and my heart sank.

This dog was yet another increasingly popular “short-nosed” breed that was suffering horribly from a myriad of problems - all related to its poor breeding and its unfortunate anatomy. After the examination, I found that this dog had:

- Eyeballs too big for its eye sockets. So much so, that when he blinked, the eyelids didn’t fully cover the eyeballs. (Imagine going out on a windy day and not being able to blink!) This had resulted in deep painful ulcers forming on both eyes that in the short term would require intensive treatment and could feasibly result in the rupture of one or both eyeballs.

- The bones forming the front of his face (the maxilla) were so squashed by virtue of this style of this breed (called the brachycephalics), that the soft-tissue structures of the throat are compressed and forced backwards - obstructing his larynx. Amongst other things, his soft palate was so elongated (relative to his skull) that it kept getting trapped over his wind-pipe.

-His nostrils were completely occluded, so absolutely no airflow was possible through his nose. All of his breathing had to take place through his open mouth. This meant that whilst he was eating/sleeping he was going through bouts of asphyxiation and so would have to spit the food out or wake up and open his mouth - purely so he would be able to breathe. This explained the “choking” sound that there were hearing all the time. He could just manage to breathe with his mouth open, but this then exacerbated the problems with his soft palate.

- The skin fold over the top of the nose (caused by the squashed face involuting the skin) had caused a crevice of around 2-3 cms deep, where the skin was rubbing against its self. In this area, the skin was ulcerated and was full of liquid pus. It was this that the owners were smelling. This was incredibly painful for the animal and he cried every time I tried to clean it.

-The skin around his feet, ears, armpits and groin was red raw and inflamed. He clearly was very itchy and had been licking at these areas repeatedly - which had, in turn, made them more sore and painful. This is very typical of a condition called “atopy” which is very common in many breeds, particularly the Bulldogs (French and English). So at this point, the shocked owners asked what needed to be done to sort him out.

So I had to explain that he would need:

- Bilateral eyelid shortening surgery that would allow the dog to blink properly and prevent further ulcers from forming. As well as long-term medication to improve the quality of his tears.

- Complex soft tissue surgery of the back of the throat to, (amongst other things) shorten his soft palate to facilitate his breathing.

- He would need both of his nostrils opening up so as to allow adequate air flow to be possible to allow him to breathe/exercise/eat/sleep properly.

-He would need a “face-lift” to remove a large amount of excess skin on the front of his face, to try and open up the fold that was causing so much infection and pain.

-He may need allergy testing, food trials, anti-inflammatories etc to try and manage the atopic skin disease that he has.

*He needs all of this fairly urgently.

*He can’t have all of this done at once and so will require several anaesthetics and complex procedures to be done over a period of time.

*He is only 5 months old.

*He needs all of this doing - just so that he can live a vaguely normal life.

*HE IS SUFFERING.

Also - he is not insured. It transpired that the new owners looked into insurance but the premium was so high for this breed, that they felt they couldn’t afford it. To move forward, he would have to go to a specialist veterinary unit (sadly recently set up to deal with the increasing number of very poorly brachycephalic dogs with extreme conformational issues) and this treatment could cost upwards of £8,000 to correct.

Once I had discussed all this with the owners - they were understandably distraught. They had hoped for a “cute” and “cuddly” family pet that they had seen examples of spread throughout popular media. They had no idea that these problems even existed. Instead, they now have a much-loved dog that is miserable, has a long journey ahead of it and one that they cannot afford to have fixed.

The family left the room in floods of tears, armed with medication that would temporarily alleviate some of the symptoms and try to make the poor little dog more comfortable. From what I have later found out, this dog has gone to a rescue centre to be rehomed. It may have moved away, but its problems most certainly will not have done.

Pugs, Frenchies, English Bulldogs and Shar-Peis are amongst the breeds which are increasingly being abandoned in vast numbers as people cannot cope with their ongoing problems, illnesses and costs. It upsets us all hugely when we see how many of the problems frequently associated with these breeds are now classed as “normal”. I will commonly hear “Oh it is normal for this breed to struggle with A, B or C”. NO IT ISN’T NORMAL!

These trendy flat-faced breeds are some of the most expensive puppies to currently buy. There is serious money for people who sell a litter of these puppies and so the incentive to breed is VERY high. It must be said that there are responsible breeders who are trying to “back-breed” these types of dogs to have longer noses, smaller eyes, more open nostrils etc and try to reduce the incidence of these conditions, and these people should be applauded. However, puppy farms and irresponsible owners are rife, and these “breeders” don’t seem to care a jot about the long-term prognosis and what the future holds for “their” breed.

It is also worth noting that many of these breeds are unable to give birth naturally now too (due to the shape of the puppy’s skulls) and so the mothers often go through multiple caesareans…

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE STOP AND THINK before you buy. Come and talk to US about the breeds that you are interested in - and we shall give you the whole picture.

I am completely exhausted and totally demoralised seeing these type of problems on a daily basis. There are enough horrible illnesses, diseases and potential accidents out there without being destined to be unwell before you are even born.

Whilst people are still buying these dogs, people will still breed them and the problem will never go away.“

#brachycephalic #dog #pug

theseinconvenientfireworks-blog

#belgian malinois #malinois #mal #maligator #dog #dog photography

You: Valentines Day

Me, an intellectual: Westminster Dog Show

#dog #text #lol

afunnythinghappens

#dog #dog art #dog photography

blueboyluca

Don’t know if anyone else has posted this before, but the Dogblr Downunder crew were chatting about dog age in human years (also Embark does this calculation) and I had remembered reading that the first two years of a dog’s life were around 25 years in humans and then it slowed down. I did a quick Google and found this handy chart from AKC.

#dog age #dogs in human years #dog age chart #dog

northbc

#dog #border collie #tri color blue Merle

danubedogs

“mixed breeds are healthier than purebreds” is the most ignorant statement ever (after “adopt don’t shop”). It perpetuates the assumption than any mixed breed is automatically healthy and free of inbreeding and that all shelter dogs are a perfect fit for any family because they’re better than their pedigree counterparts, when it’s definitely not the case.

While I’m a huge advocate for genetic variation and outcrossing, it is very important to undedrstand that crossbreeding must be done extremely carefully by someone with an adept understanding of canine genetics, because mixed breed dogs are NOT always healthy. Mix breeding a German Shepherd with a huge risk of hip dysplasia and a Golden Retriever with a genetic history of both hip dysplasia AND cancer is not automatically going to give you healthy puppies. Those puppies are going to be prone to the diseases of their ancestors regardless of whether they’re mixed or purebred.

The goal of every responsible breeder is to health test and make sure the parents are free of diseases so that the pups have a much lesser chance of getting sick later on. Regardless of whether the parents are purebred companion dogs bred to be family dogs, or whether they’re mixed breed working dogs specifically bred for a specific function. Health testing is VITAL.

There is no guarantee every puppy will be healthy, as nature takes its course whether we like it or not, but there’s a much bigger chance of a dog living a healthy life if it’s parents were carefully bred and health tested. I’ve never had a purebred dog, and my mixed breed dogs have lived long and health lives, but just because my dogs were lucky does not mean it’s the case for every single dog. This savior-complex and attitude of elitism with shelter dogs in the United States needs to stop and people need to learn to do their research before bringing a dog into their home that they weren’t prepared for, just because someone told them that “shelter dogs are always healthier and better tempered than purebred dogs”.

pangur-and-grim

This.

My first family dog was a gorgeous mutt adopted from a shelter. He had an incredible array of health problems, and had to eventually be put down when his hip dysplasia became too painful.

My second family dog is a Leonberger, bought from a responsible breeder. She’s 9 years old now, and is still in great health,

Adopting is great, but don’t blindly hate on purebreds.

alittlebetterair

Some of this is sort of mixed up. OP is correct that mixed breed animals are not inherently healthy/healthier than their purebred counterparts, and can actually face compounded risk because of their breeding. That said, I have literally no idea where OP sees a “savior-complex and attitude of elitism with shelter dogs.” I feel like most people I know see shelter animals as damaged goods, especially older animals.

Moreover, the reason I and many other people take an “Adopt, Don’t Shop” attitude is because hundreds and thousands of perfectly loving and lovable pets are put down every day in American shelters. We humans brought these animals into this world and it is our obligation to ensure the continued health, wellbeing, and safety of existing pets before bringing new ones into the world for arbitrary reasons (like, wanting a purebred dog is fine but please consider how many animals you could literally save from death instead).

Those are my thoughts.

pangur-and-grim

The “savior-complex” comes from people looking down on those who choose to buy pedigree animals. It seems to emerge in your reply near the end :(

I’ve volunteered for shelters, and fostered animals saved from euthanasia. It’s sickening to think about how many animals die each day in shelters.

With that in mind, you’re taking a risk adopting. You often don’t know the animals background, and have no idea what behaviours and and health problems could emerge later on. Responsible breeders health-test their animals, and are very aware of the personalities in their bloodlines. Problems can still emerge, but you’re more prepared and informed.

That’s why I made my point above - my parents took a chance, and brought home an incredibly beautiful shelter dog who went on to have major behavioural and physical issues. After his death, they chose to go with a breeder - and they shouldn’t feel any shame for that!

Responsible breeders are not the ones contributing to massive animal death in shelters. It’s backyard breeders out for a quick buck, or irresponsible owners who let their intact animals breed. People who adopt from shelters are doing an amazing, generous thing, but do not shame those who buy from breeders.

alittlebetterair

So I never responded to this because frankly you’re a fuckwad and your opinions are trash, but I’ve had a bad day and a lot of my emotional energy for the last 17-odd hours was taken up by the bullshitty bullshit of another fuckwad, so here we go.

People who buy from breeders instead of adopting any number of the countless animals in American shelters are directly contributing to animal overpopulation and the innumerable deaths of otherwise wonderful shelter animals.

I’ll say it again in case you missed that: *People who buy from breeders instead of adopting any number of the countless animals in American shelters are directly contributing to animal overpopulation and the innumerable deaths of otherwise wonderful shelter animals.*

If you want an animal go adopt one. If you buy an animal you are buying into a system where humans breed more animals into an already overpopulated population. If you buy an animal you are directly contributing to at least one more shelter death.

Thanks for sharing your trash opinion but no amount of ridiculous logic on your end changes the fact that while you go off and buy fucking pedigree animals countless abandoned pets die alone in shelters.

pangur-and-grim

scoretheearth

Hahaha!!!

clicktreat

anyways i love my purebred dog i purchased from a reputable breeder and i’m not contributing at all whatsoever to the dramaticized overpopulation in animal shelters and i’ve spent hours volunteering so come back when you’ve dropped the elitism