Most breeders will tell you that the lifespan of a Dogue de Bordeaux is 8-10 years. However, the Dogue de Bordeaux Society conducted a health survey that included 79 dogs – and the average lifespan in their survey was only 5-6 years.
The club survey reported that the most common cause of death was cancer (30%). Over one-third of those cancers were lymphosarcoma.
The second most common cause of death was heart disease (26%), especially sub-aortic stenosis.
The emergency gastrointestinal syndrome called bloat claimed 15% of the Dogues who had died.
Epilepsy (seizures) was responsible for another 2% of the deaths.
To make matters worse, this breed has appalling rates of hip dysplasia and elbow dysplasia. The Orthopedic Foundation of America evaluated the hip X-rays of 227 Dogues de Bordeaux and found 53% dysplastic – the 3rd worst rate of 142 breeds. And the true rate is even higher because most of the obviously bad X-rays were not sent in for official evaluation. Of 105 elbow X-rays submitted for evaluation, 18% were dysplastic – the 10th worst rate of 82 breeds.
Other orthopedic diseases include osteochondritis, panosteitis, and luxating patella.
Eye diseases that occur regularly in the Dogue de Bordeaux include cherry eye and eyelid abnormalities (entropion and ectropion).
Allergies (which cause terribly itchy skin), chronic bacterial skin infections (pyoderma), and demodectic mange are VERY common in all of the mastiff breeds. Their elbow joints are also prone to developing hygroma.
No comments:
Post a Comment