Fix My Frenchy

I would like to start off by clarifying that I am not a veterinarian, nor do I have a license to prescribe medicine, or even suggest a certain medicine. If you are concerned that your pet may need veterinary care, please by all means, take your baby to the vet! I would simply like to take a moment to go over a few things that you can care for at home and certain symptoms to watch for and when a vet visit is warranted!

I would like to start first with things that should be done on a regular basis to ensure your pet stays healthy!

  1. Please give your baby all of his/her vaccinations! I cant stress enough that if you can prevent a disease or virus that these shots prevent, then why wouldn’t you? Now, that being said, even if you give your baby all of his shots, there is never a guarantee the he won’t ever get sick. The vaccinations supply a prepared immune system and equip it to fight off these diseases and viruses in the even that your dog ever comes in contact with it. The first shot should be given no earlier than 7 weeks old. Your puppy borrows its mothers immune system for the first 8 weeks of life, after this time their immunities begin to drop off and the system then reverts over to their own young puppy immune system. That is the reason it is crucial to give your puppy his vaccs at 7 to 8 weeks of age, and every 3 to 4 weeks after that until he is 16 weeks old. At 16 weeks, your baby can then have a rabies vaccine as well.. Now, with the Lepto vaccine, every vet has a different opinion on this and you will ultimately make your own decision about it, but our recommendation is this. Lepto should be given no earlier than 12 weeks. So for your 12 week vaccs and 16 week vaccs the shot should include Lepto. The reason for this is that there are some very severe side effects in some animals younger than 12 weeks.. You should consult with your veterinarian on this subject and do your own research.
  2. Please worm your pet! Worms are a silent killer! Your dog may not even present symptoms of having parasites, but in reality it may be suffering on the inside! Even fecal tests at the vets office will not confirm certain worms unless they are in a “shedding” cycle. It is a good idea to deworm your pet at least once a month! More importantly, NEVER buy your dewormer from an over the counter store! Some of the wormers that you can buy over the counter can be toxic to dogs, not to mention some of them dont even work at all.. There are several different types of worms, and most wormers just target one or two type of them. You need a good broad spectrum wormer once a month to ensure your baby remains parasite free! Interceptor is a great monthly dewormer. It is broad spectrum and takes care of all worms including heart worms! You can only get it through your vet. Usually you can buy it several months doses at one time so you dont have to be running to the vet all the time.. And it is Very affordable.. about $10 a month, and your baby will be parasite free!! Also you can use Safeguard (goat dewormer) in a dose of .5cc per 10lbs for 5 days in a row. You will want to repeat this treatment again in 10 days from the first. You can also obtain Drontal plus (one of my favs) from your vet and repeat the dose in 10 days.There are a few other things on the market like comfortis and some of these others can be very hard on your dogs system and some have sever side effects to these so I cant recommend them. But always consult with your veterinarian about your babies care.
  3. Ear infections. Frenchies have very small tight ear canals along with satellite dish ears that stand straight up and collect everything blowing by lol, so as can be expected, they are prone to ear infections. You can try to prevent ear infections by weekly cleaning your pets ears out gently with a qtip and some ear cleaner. You can get ear cleaner from your vet. Just make sure it has a drying agent in it. You don’t EVER want to put water in your dogs ears! Water will stay down inside the ear and cause an infection. So on that note, be careful with you bathe your dog that you don’t get water in his ears! If an ear infection occurs, you may notice your dog scratching his ears or shaking his head a lot.. He may also thump his lil foot when you are doing your daily pets and get near his ears. This is because his ears are itchy from he yeast buildup that grows in an infected ear. Ear infections can also be attributed to a food related allergy. If your dog is eating something he is allergic to, he can get an overgrowth of yeast in his ears causing infection. You may also notice him chewing or licking on his feet and possible swelling in between his toes. If you notice these symptoms, it is a good idea to try switching dog foods to a different protein than what he is currently on or even trying a grain free as some dogs are allergic to grain. You can refer to our frenchy info page for some suggestions on our favorite dog foods! Now getting back to ear infections, your vet may provide an ear medicine which you can administer at home at recommended dose. You can also ask your vet about “ear packing wax” Its a wax medicine with of time released meds. It only requires 1 administering from the vet and then that’s it… It seems to work extremely well and you don’t have to keep irritating your pet everyday by messing with his already sore ears lol. If you would like to try a more holistic approach, you can try treating your dogs ears at home by cleaning out your dogs ears with a qtip (gently) then soak a qtip in Cold pressed Black Cumin Seed oil and apply it inside the ears. I would test the oil on the outside of the ear where you can see first, as some dogs are sensitive to the oil its self and may experience itching or swelling (allergic reaction) I personally use it on all my dogs and they all do amazing on this treatment! You treat ears the same way until you don’t see any black on your qtip when you clean them anymore. This process may take up to 2 weeks.. Some people opt for a holistic approach because of the steroids in the ear medicine. Also we like another natural product and its called Marie’s original earache relief! It works amazing and is all natural! If u need relief, and have none of these things, you can simply take Apple cider vinegar mix with equal parts of warm olive oil and administer that. Either a couple drops in effected ear or swab it in the ear with a qtip.
  4. Allergies: A lot of bulldogs suffer from allergies. Most of their allergies are food related. If you notice itchy skin, flaky skin, hair loss, swollen or itchy fee, ear infections, red eyes, or hives it is likely due to allergies. For food related allergies, you will want to start by switching proteins. If your dog is currently eating chicken for instance, try switching to a completely different animal such as Lamb or Fish. Food takes about 6 weeks to make adjustments systemically, so you may not notice a difference right away, but don’t take the next step for a least 6 weeks to see if it clear up. During this time, you can bathe your baby in Antimicrobial shampoo to kill the yeast and give their itchy skin some relief! If switching proteins doesn’t help, you may try to switch to a grain free formula.. Dogs can be allergic to just about anything just like humans.. Pinpointing what he is allergic to is the hardest part. It takes time and patience. Also watch for ingredients such as dyes, milk, eggs, and peas. If your dog has an allergic reaction to other outside triggers such as grass, laundry soaps, bee stings etc you can administer benadryl but its not recommended for a long period of time. Here is the dose for benadryl is 1mg per lb. Now, that is NOT 1ml per lb. If you are doing liquid, you have to see how many MG per ML are in the liquid (it will vary according to if it is children’s strength or adult strength)
  5. Urinary Tract Infections: If you notice your dog squatting to pee a lot and just a little comes out, you may be dealing with a urinary tract infection. Often times, they need antibiotics to clear it up. You can use supplements that help with preventing these, but odds are, you will deal with this problem at some point. Dogs may scoot their booties while they have an infection, they may try to lick the “back ends” trying to get some relief, they may even cry and whirl around looking it the rear. These are all. Also you r dog that was previously housebroke or crate trained may just start peeing on your rug or in their kennel! Its very important that you realize that this is due to them having an infection and absolutely should not be punished as they can NOT help this.. You will not want to give your dog just any ole antibiotics for this. There are certain antibiotics that Target the urinary tract infection. Clavamox, Batryil, and cephilexin are commonly prescribed. You will want to make sure that their water bowls are kept clean and free of germs. I recommend a stainless steel bowl as it does not hold germs and bacteria. A good clean drinking water goes a long ways in keeping the urinary tract nice and healthy! Also, if you live in a place with subpar city water, you can always filter their water or spring water (not distilled as dogs benefit from the minerals in the water)
  6. Coccidia and Giardia: Coccidia and Giardi can live in our environment. Dogs can pick these parasites up from anywhere.. Symptoms include blood in the stool, bouts of diarrhea, throwing up, lethargy, lose of appetite, dehydration, and stomache upset. An infected dog may have all or none of these symptoms. It can be treated with Albon, Metro, And turtrazuril. As always consult with your vet if you suspect your dog is infected with these parasites. You do not want to let these go untreated. These parasites are also HIGHLY contagious. So you will want to pick up and clean with a disinfectant anywhere your dog uses the bathroom and also keep them away from your other pets.

Now, Let’s talk about viruses and bacteria

  1. Parvo. Parvo is a very nasty virus that attacks hundreds of dogs every single year! Even a fully vaccinated dog can contract this virus as there are so many different strains. Parvo is a virus that attacks the lining of the stomach, making it impossible for your baby to keep food or water down. Symptoms include lethargy, a jelly bloody mucusy poop, throwing up anything and everything, drinking excessive amounts of water (very early stages), rapid loss of weight, and complete loss of appetite. Since parvo is a Virus, there is NO “cure”. Supportive care and treating secondary bacterial infections is the treatment. When a dog has parvo and his immune system is already strained from that, he is vulnerable to be attacked by a host of other bacteria. Even naturally occurring bacteria in the gut left unchecked by the over taxed immune system will start to overgrow and attack the gut. Parvo causes dehydration so quickly, that is the main cause of death from this virus. It is very very important to keep an infection dog hydrated and to keep their sugar levels up. Veterinarians often have good results with IV fluids and antibiotics. If you suspect parvo, do NOT wait, go to the vet immediately!
  2. Kennel Cough: Kennel cough is basically equivalent to our human cold. It is not usually life threatening especially to a healthy dog between the ages of 6 months to 6 years. It is harder however on younger puppies and older dogs as can be expected. Kennel cough symptoms are runny nose, persistent cough, gagging, coughing up phlegm, some run a low grade fever, and clear runny eyes. Since Kennel Cough is a virus, it can be “cured” Supportive care includes keeping your pet dry and clean, plenty of fresh water, vitamins to keep the immune system up, and sometimes antibiotics. The antibiotics are given to treat any secondary bacterial infections that may decide to show up while the immune system is stressed from the kennel cough.. Common antibiotics are Baytril and Doxycycline. Most of the time Kennel Cough can be treated at home. A PCR panel is necessary to properly diagnose Kennel Cough. The PCR panel usually take 3 to 5 business days as it must be processed by a lab.

Here are some helpful quick references for meds and do’s and dont’s 

Here are some helpful quick references for meds and do’s and dont’s 🙂

I sincerely hope that this information is helpful! These dogs are loved like our own human family and no one feels secure when their baby is sick! Don’t ever hesitate to take your baby to your family veterinarian if you suspect something is going on.. In addition, don’t be afraid to go to another vet for another opinion if you think your vet hasn’t been thorough or diagnosed your problem correctly! Remember you are with your pet 24 hours a day. No one knows your pet like you do. Vets are people too! Its always better to be safe than sorry when it comes to your baby!