Your Aging Bichon
We all love our Bichons, consider
them family members and hope to have them with us forever. Though we know
that some day we will have to say goodbye, we don’t like to think about it.
This article is intended to help you see that there are ways you can delay the
inevitable!
Tucker at 15 runs up
the stairs but will not walk down them. Sassy is a born couch potato and has
spent 14 years insuring that the sofa is well used but runs around like a
puppy when she goes out into the yard. At 16 years of age, the oldest man in
the house can outrun his owners when it is time to be brushed or to have his
ears cleaned. In fact, he is quite active and athletic. His mother lived to
be 19 but she was quite senile her last 3 years. He shows no signs of
senility but may not see and hear as well as he used to. These are healthy
Bichons but not necessarily “old” Bichons. Old age comes at different times
for different dogs, depending on their genes and their general condition.
To insure your dog has a healthy life, he needs to be fed a balanced canine
diet, to have moderate exercise, and provided with plenty of fresh water to
drink. It pays to be conservative in treating parasite problems and to avoid
extremes in dealing with them. Heartworm preventative is essential but flea
prevention is not needed unless you have a serious flea problem. Vaccinate
according to law but ask your veterinarian about new schedules for vaccines
that may allow them to be done every 2-3 years instead of annually. Always
separate rabies vaccine and the combination shot by at least 3-4 weeks!!!!
It may cost more for two visits but these little dogs do not need to have
their immune systems stressed by giving both at the same time.
When a health survey was done among members of BFCA, the average
lifetime was 14.5 years, including the dogs that had died early due to disease
or accident. Many breeders reported Bichons living to age 16 -18 and a few
have lived to see their 20th birthday. Unfortunately not all
Bichons come from healthy backgrounds and many do die far too young. There
seems to be a critical period between 11 and 13 that these dogs may succumb to
disease if the condition is not treated.
As the dog grows older, he is exercising less and therefore may need less food
or to be fed a “senior diet” that is designed for the older dog. An
overweight dog cannot be a healthy dog and the stress on his system will
almost certainly shorten his life. Please do not “kill him with kindness”.
One frequent cause of pancreatitis is table food and fatty human foods are the
worst!
Diseases that occur with some frequency in Bichons are first and foremost
allergy, followed by bladder stones, luxating patellas (weak knee joints), eye
disease and diseases of the endocrine system. Early tooth loss and gingivitis
(gum disease) can cause infections that spread to the kidneys, liver or heart
and these can kill if not treated properly. There are articles on this
web site about most of these conditions and they should be studied and the
advice in them used to help your dog live a longer and healthier life.
Cataracts cannot be cured but they may be successfully removed if the dog is
in good health (you may wish to do only one eye at a time). A blind dog can
still be a contented dog if he is kept in familiar surroundings. Heart
murmurs should be monitored and the dog treated by a veterinarian if
progressive heart disease occurs. An understanding of the endocrine diseases
can help you to be on the lookout for early signs of diabetes or Cushing’s
Syndrome. A dog having seizures needs a complete health workup because there
is probably an underlying cause of the seizures that needs to be treated.
As
mentioned, senility can occur in Bichons but it can be treated if the dog is
in good health otherwise. Symptoms include getting days and nights mixed,
walking in circles or set patterns, soiling the premises, seeming to "forget"
owners that they have been attached to and a general appearance of losing
touch with reality. The generic form of the drug to treat senility may be
less expensive and just as effective as the name brand product so ask your vet
about it. Your dog may have several more years as your family pet with
treatment.
Many
older Bichons have skin growths that are unsightly but otherwise probably not
dangerous. Have your veterinarian check them to be sure there is nothing
indicating a need to remove the growth. If not, just don't worry about them.
If the dog starts to chew or bite at the growths, then you need to watch for
signs of infection or bleeding and have the vet check them and possibly remove
any that are bothersome. However putting an older dog under anesthesia for
removal is probably more dangerous to him than just leaving them alone if they
are not infected or inflamed.
One
condition that may occur in an older dog is vestibular disease, a condition of
the middle ear. This will cause the dog to reel like a drunken sailor with
head cocked to one side and eyes shifting around because he cannot focus. He
is extremely disoriented and dizzy as well as nauseated. The onset is usually
quite sudden and dogs used to be destroyed when they developed these symptoms
because both owner and veterinarian thought he had had a stroke. Actually
strokes in dogs are extremely rare so do not accept this diagnosis but
seek a second opinion if you are told your dog has had a stroke. The
vestibular problem may resolve within two weeks and any treatment will be
simple and inexpensive unless there is something more serious, such as a tumor
or deep infection.
Another problem that can be seen in Bichons is collapsing trachea. The
trachea or windpipe is a ring of cartilage in the throat and it may weaken and
can collapse on itself at times. This can eventually be life threatening if
it blocks the air from being taken in. You need to discuss this with your
veterinarian to see if medication is needed. Signs will be a clicking sound
when the dog takes a breath or signs of choking that indicate the dog cannot
breathe. Try massaging the throat to see if this helps. If not, this is a
medical emergency.
One
of the most important things you can do to keep your dog young and healthy is
to spay or neuter early in life. If it has not been done, later is better
than not at all to prevent mammary cancer in the female or prostate cancer in
the male.
We
hope you and your beloved pet will have at least 16 years together. We would
like for you to report any major health issues to BFCA to help us to track
which inherited illnesses are occurring in the breed. Our aim with this web
site is to do our part in keeping Bichons happy and healthy. The rest is up
to you!
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