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Boxer Dog Health (Part 2):
Dealing with Specific Pet Health Problems
Boxer Dog Health: You have to know what to look for, when it comes to the type of health problems boxers can have.
Learn how to keep boxer healthy! This guide will get you started...
Acne
Acne in young dogs shows as red bumps (papules) and blackheads (comedones) on the chin and lips. Shorthaired dogs like boxers are more likely to get them. And as in humans, they start getting acne around puberty, but the problem would usually go away after one year old or so.
However, you may have to help with some topical gel medication similar to the one used by teenagers. Such lesions may become infected and develop pus, which becomes itchy for your boxer and he starts rubbing his face in the carpet or against furniture.
Alopecia
This problem is a loss of hair on the trunk and seems to be more common in male boxers. One, which died at the age of 12 years and 4 months, was diagnosed with seasonal alopecia. "He used to go bald once a year but the hair always grew back on," said its owner.
Atopy
Atopy is an itchy (pruritic) skin disease caused by an allergy to something the boxer breathes in or touches. Like human allergies, it cannot be cured and is the number two common allergic skin condition in dogs, after flea allergy dermatitis. Having fleas would make it worse for your boxer.
A boxer suffering from atopy would have itchiness particularly on the hands and feet. He'd be chewing his paws, scratching his ears, shaking his head, scratching his muzzle or rubbing it on the ground. These same symptoms can also be brought about by food allergy.
Bloat
Gastric torsion, also called GDV or bloat, can be life threatening in your boxer, so bring him to the veterinarian immediately if you suspect he is suffering from this problem.
The stomach is filled with air and twists over on itself. This can happen suddenly. The symptoms include restlessness, drooling and nausea and the stomach is bloated (distended abdomen). Your boxer may vomit and continue to retch but nothing comes out.
Cancerous and Benign Tumors
It's a sad fact that boxers are highly prone to cancer, especially brain cancer. So any time you see a lump on your boxer, you should check it out. About 20 out of 100 cases are cancerous.
Watch out for both external and internal lumps, eye ulcers or cherry eye as they call it, as well as dermodicosis or skin sores.
Mast cell tumors are malignant. They do not occur very often, but can form either in the skin or within the body. Boxers of any age can develop mast cell tumor but older ones, above 8 years, are more prone to it.
The related disorders reported along such tumors are round raised masses in the skin of your boxer, lack of appetite, vomiting and abdominal pain. Check for tarry stools due to bleeding in the upper intestinal tract.
Never take tumors in your boxers lightly, even a small one! The veterinarian will usually want to have them removed immediately because of their high risk of cancer.
One owner noticed her boxer had a bump the size of a mosquito bite that did not go away even after 10 days. The vet diagnosed it a malignant tumor and removed it the very next day. The owner felt so relieved that the tumor was removed before the cancer had a chance to spread.
Another owner found both his boxer girls had lumps and had it checked out immediately. The vet removed the lumps due to their breed and the boxers were all fine now!
Yet another owner was not so lucky.
"I have had the pleasure of raising two great boxers but both passed away much too young of cancer. The last one, Nick, died one week after being diagnosed with anal cancer. It spread rapidly and he was only 7 years old!"
I have my own sad story about boxer cancer. My darling girl, Lucy, passed away 4 days after being diagnosed with brain cancer at age 6. It happened without warning and she was much too young. It wasn't until after that sad event that I learned that boxers' small heads (with the pushed in snout) puts them at greater risk for brain cancer. The same holds true for other dogs with similar shaped heads, such as Rottweilers, Great Danes, and St. Bernards.
Cryptorchidism
Cryptorchidism is peculiar to male dogs and a condition present at birth. The testicles, which developed in the abdomen, fail to descend into the scrotum. The usually underdeveloped and non-functional testicles should be removed, as they could turn cancerous later in life.
If the condition remains after the puppy is more than 2 months old, then the chances are it will remain so permanently.
Dermodicosis
Dermodicosis, which is the fancy name for non-contagious mange, first appears as numerous patches of irritation anywhere on the boxer's skin. The hair will fall off, leaving bald patches in large areas, and the bald skin starts to break down, turning into crusty sores.
Deafness
Boxers are among the more than 35 breeds of dogs on record to be at risk for developing hereditary sensorineural deafness. The condition cannot be reversed with medications, surgery or hearing aids. Dogs also could become deaf from old age, toxicities or infection.
How do you tell if your boxer is deaf?
He doesn't respond to spoken commands and only responds to you when he sees you. He keeps shaking his head and pawing his ears or turns in the wrong direction when you call him. He sleeps more than normal and would not wake up until you physically touch him.
But not to worry, you can still have a wonderful companion in your deaf boxer through sign language. Dogs have been known to learn as many as 65 command words in sign language. These include signs for, among others, "stop," "potty", "drop it", "stay", "lay down", "sit", "come" and "cookie".
As extra measures, you want to keep the deaf boxer in a safe environment as he cannot hear approaching dangers like an approaching car. So keep him on a leash and close to you when in traffic or out for walks.
On his nametag, add the word "deaf" so he will not be misunderstood if he ever gets lost. Some suggest putting a bell as well so you know where to find him if he gets lost.
And finally, if your boxer tested positive for inherited deafness in one or both ears, do not breed him or her.
Epilepsy/Seizure Disorder
When your boxer is between 2 to 5 years old, he may develop seizure disorder. When he has an epilepsy attack, loses consciousness and may look like he is not breathing, but he is. He is not suffering.
The information that would be important to your veterinarian regarding such episodes includes:
- Duration of the attack
- The type of muscular activity your boxer exhibits during seizure
- Any abnormal behavior during the attack
- Frequency of the seizure
What you do in such instances is not panic and time the attack by actually looking at a watch or clock.
It may only take place for 30 seconds, but may seem forever to you. You need a veterinarian if it lasts more than 5 minutes.
Emergency treatment is definitely called for if your boxer goes into seizure for 10 minutes or longer, twice in the span of 24 hours, or if he has a second attack before he could completely recover from the first seizure attack.
Remain by your boxer's side; be there when he comes out of the seizure to calm him. Stroke and comfort him.
To keep your boxer from hurting himself during the seizure, move furniture away from the immediate area and protect him from water, the stairs and any sharp objects. If you can, place a pillow under his head to protect him from head trauma.
Unlike seizure attacks in humans, animals do not swallow their tongue. So you don't have to put your hand or spoon or any other object into your boxer's mouth when he has an attack. You might be bitten.
Also, keep children and other pets away from your sick boxer.
Coming out of the seizure, your boxer will be groggy, confused and feel like he has done something wrong. He may make unusual sounds and stumble around.
Do not allow him on the stairs until he has fully recovered. In the mean time, soothe him by talking to him softly, offer him some water, stroke and comfort him.
And if he doesn't recover fully after 30 minutes, consult your veterinarian or any emergency vet facility.
Read more about emergency treatment for dogs in Boxer Dog Health (Part 3).
Eye Ulcers
Eye ulcers are a common problem in boxers, with their slightly bulging eyes. If caught early, they are easy to treat. Late treatment can be expensive for you as well as painful for your boxer.
Fleas
Your boxer has fleas if you find black specks in the fur or fleabite marks on the skin. A tip given by an owner is to give your boxer garlic daily to prevent fleas.
Boxers catch fleas from other animals. It is an everyday problem that, at some time or another, you can expect to encounter in your boxer.
The fleas only go to the boxer to feed on its blood.
Fleas mostly live and multiply in your home. They love carpets, bedding, and upholstered furniture. Fleas live up to 6 weeks, feeding on blood and during that time would have laid hundreds of eggs that mostly land on your boxer's bedding, carpets and other favorable nests around your home.
The eggs hatch into larvae that seek nice, dark places while feeding on flea's droppings, dust, human shed skin, dandruff and other such tasty morsels.
The larvae turn into hardy pupae that could survive for months before changing into adult fleas.
The best approach is prevention. Get a good flea collar or use one of the flea prevention medicines that can be taken by mouth or applied directly to the coat. If your dog does become infested with fleas, you'll need to apply flea powder or bathe your dog in flea dip. Be sure to follow the directions carefully, because flea medicine can be toxic in too large amounts.
Heart ailments
There are several heart ailments that may afflict your boxer.
- Bradycardia. This is the medical term for a slow heart rate. It may be a symptom of thyroid disorder in boxers.
- Dilated cardiomyopathy. This disorder constitutes a serious, emergency case. Your dog may collapse from it or the back legs may have sudden pain and paralysis. It is a serious heart condition whereby the heart muscle is enlarged and thin-walled. Your boxer will experience shortness of breath, coughing and can't take to exercise.
- Cardiac Conduction Disease. This is another serious heart condition that can affect a boxer's longevity. It was previously known as boxer cardiomyopathy, but the new term is used to differentiate it from dilated cardiomyopathy. Cardiac conduction is difficult to deal with due to 3 factors.
- One is many boxers will not show any symptom (asymptotic) but will just drop dead suddenly from it.
- Secondly, boxers usually develop this disease later in life, often after they have been bred.
- Lastly, there was no good screening method for it until the one recently developed by Ohio State University researchers, called the 24-hour Holter monitor test.
However, there is still no assurance that boxers "cleared" now from cardiac conduction disease by the Holter test will remain healthy in the future. Many breeders and boxer experts are now working to refine the test procedures, expand the database and come up with a guideline to select only, for breeding purposes, those boxers with high probability of being free of the disease.
There are also concerns that elimination of too many dogs from the gene pool would be bad for the breed diversity and could cause more problems in the future. Some opinions hold that extensive culling should only be done after more studies on genetic diversity in boxers.
Hip Dysplasia
This is a bone disorder whereby there is an improper fit of the large femur bone with the hip socket, causing lots of pain and lameness. It occurs more in males than in the females of primarily large breed dogs like boxer.
Hip dysplasia is genetic and can be passed on. If you think your boxer may have a hip problem, take him for x-rays when he is 24 months old for a proper diagnosis. And then, if he is tested positive, do not breed him or her.
It develops in puppies and can show up as early as when the boxer is four months old. Or it could shows up much later when he is an old dog, and the hip weakens and becomes arthritic.
Hyperadrenocorticism
When the adrenal gland is hyperactive and starts releasing too much of a hormone called cortisol into the blood, your boxer may become sick. He will then exhibit what is known as Cushing's syndrome - he drinks more water (polydipsia), urinates more (polyuria) and has a bigger appetite (polyphagia).
The stomach or abdomen may become distended (swollen), looking like a potbelly, and he starts losing hair on the trunk. Other symptoms of Cushing's syndrome are chronic skin infection, chronic urinary tract infection, excessive panting, lethargy, muscle weakness, and calcium deposits in the skin (calcinosis cutis).
Hypothyroidism
This disease occurs when the thyroid gland does not produce enough thyroid hormone, which can cause illness in the boxer. He becomes lethargic, sleeps a lot more, is not interested in playing, tires easily and experiences depression or mental dullness. He may gain weight and become obese without having to eat more than the usual.
There are so many symptoms that vary and are non-specific and they all develop slowly. This is because not enough thyroid hormone produced affects the metabolic function of many organ systems.
Other signs of thyroid disorder are slow heart rate (bradycardia), infertility, constipation, diarrhea and your boxer cannot tolerate cold, always seeking a warm place to lie down.
It may also result in chronic skin disorders like dry skin and excessive hair loss, as well as other neurological and hormonal abnormalities.
A single symptom may not point to thyroid deficiency, but a combination of them should make your veterinarian more suspicious of it.
Intervertebral disk disease
This disease causes back pain and makes your boxer clumsy. You'll notice he walks like a drunkard. He might not want to climb stairs or play and would yelp when he is handled, petted or lifted. The disease affects his spinal disks and could end in paralysis.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
Boxers who have IBS aren't gaining weight, seem lethargic and have pale color mucus membrane in the mouth and eyes. You'll need to monitor their stools for frank or occult blood.
The doctor may start with a blood test to check for a low hematocrit, which would indicate abdominal bleeding. This condition can be caused by food allergy.
One male boxer diagnosed with IBS of the small intestine was failing to thrive and began to have fainting spells. The owner put him on a strictly venison diet and he finally thrived, gained weight and is very active. The owner said many butcher shops sell venison and it is very reasonably priced.
Kidney Problems
Preventing kidney damage is key to your boxer's survival. If you suspect your boxer may have kidney trouble, take him to the veterinarian for aggressive treatment.
Remember the concern over too much grapes or raisins is toxic for dogs and could ruin their kidneys? Aggressive treatment in such poisoning cases means, if your boxer had just overindulged in the grapes/raisins, the doctor will induce vomiting immediately and prescribe some activated charcoal pills.
There will be repeated blood tests to determine the status of kidney function plus hospitalization and intravenous fluid therapy if necessary. The induced vomiting is to remove as much grapes or raisins as possible while the activated charcoal is to help prevent absorption of the toxic substance.
Two days of intravenous fluid therapy can help prevent damage to the kidneys. Blood tests are usually repeated after 48 hours and 5 to 7 days later to ensure the kidneys are functioning within the normal range.
Where kidney damage has occurred, the intravenous fluid therapy shall continue until blood tests indicate the kidneys have returned to normal function.
Progressive Axonopathy
This is a debilitating disease of the nervous system, which used to be common among boxers, but not so much anymore because of the due diligence practiced by breeders.
Urinary Incontinence
If your boxer leaves wet spots where he has slept and he has skin irritation from contact with the urine, then he may have incontinence.
Urinary incontinence in dogs can be due to a neurological lesion - something not normal with the parts of the nervous system that deal with urine regulation.
A boxer with incontinence will dribble urine and if a neurologic lesion is the cause, then this has to be removed. There are also other reasons for incontinence too that are not related to the nervous system, such as congenital defect and bacterial urinary tract infection, also known as bacterial cystitis or bladder stone.
However, wet spots around the house alone may simply mean that he drinks a lot more and needs to relieve himself often but you are not allowing him outside frequently enough. Straining while urinating and blood in the urine are two signs of bladder stone.
Worms
There are different types of worms that infect dogs such as tapeworm, roundworm, ringworm and heartworm. Worms are another everyday problem in boxers but the puppy is more likely to get sick from worms than the grown up boxer.
A boxer that has worms may lose weight and become weak, suffer from upset stomach, poor growth, listlessness or even lung trouble. Worms can also impede your puppy's growth and cause him to have a potbelly or be thin and have a shoddy-looking coat.
Your grown boxer may not be showing any sign of worms, but he could spread them more easily than the sick puppy, through large amount of larvae or eggs passed out in the feces. Some worms, like the roundworm, that infect dogs can also be passed on to children.
De-worm your puppy every month and your adult boxer, every six months.
If your boxer has tapeworms, he has fleas too because part of the tapeworm life cycle occurs in the flea as the host. As such, treatments against flea and tapeworm are normally prescribed together.
The tapeworms have a flat, segmented body. You see them as single segments or chains that resemble segments of rice in the droppings of an infected dog.
Part of the tapeworm's life cycle occurs in the flea as the host. Therefore, if your boxer has tapeworms, it has fleas too and the treatments for both are usually prescribed together by the vet.
Roundworms (toxocara) live and produce hundreds of eggs in the intestine. They cause digestive upset in puppies, poor growth, and a thin or poorly conditioned coat.
The infected puppies may become listless, have a potbelly or tucked in appearance. Once roundworms migrate from the gut to the lungs, your boxer can suffer lung damage, cough and pneumonia.
The roundworm eggs in the dog droppings get passed out and about. These are very hardy eggs, resistant to heat and cold, and can survive up to 7 years in the soil. The eggs can pass on to children through ingestion and cause them to fall sick as well.
As precautions, you can toilet train your boxer puppy to use a place where you can easily clean up and dispose of the droppings into the sewer. Have your children wash their hands every time after they handle the puppies and discourage your puppies from licking people hands or faces.
To read about dealing with boxer dog health emergencies, continue to Part 3 of Boxer Dog Health...