Archive for July 3rd, 2008

Ask the Frenchie Geek - French Bulldog pups ears up?

bullmarketfrogs July 3rd, 2008

A reader writes to ask:


I enjoyed reading the web site. I do have a question and it probably strange. Is a Frenchie born with ears erect or do they become erect later?
First off, there are no strange questions! Ok, I’m actually going to take that back, because we have had a few strange questions - but this isn’t one of them.

French Bulldogs, like all dogs, are born with their ears sealed. The flaps seal the ear canal shut, making pups effectively deaf for the first week or so of life. At about 12 - 15 days, the ear flaps open, and pups begin to hear.

Like most erect eared dog breeds, Frenchies adhere to their own personal schedule when it comes to ears ‘going up’. Some pups spend time with one ear up, one ear down (a syndrome we refer to as “Squeeee!” ear, because “Squeee!” is the sound you make as you almost die from the cuteness of the partially flopsy eared pup).

Solo with Flopsy Ears
Solo with ‘flopsy’ ears

Sometimes both ears go up, only to come back down during the traumatic teething period. Sometimes, especially with larger, softer leathered ears, the tips might ‘curl’.

French Bulldog Puppy with Ear Curl
Dexter with a ‘curl’ on his ear

The only rule of thumb is that each pup’s ears will do what they want on their own schedule, and usually without any need for owners to muck around with taping or popsicle sticks or worrying themselves frantic.

Leave them be, and they’ll come up in time.

Carol

Ask the French Vet - French Bulldog with Missing Parts??

lorihuntdvm July 3rd, 2008

My 5 year old Frenchie has been plagued with recurrent UTIs. We have done antibiotics repeatedly. We recently took her to an Internist and he discovered she only had one kidney. Is this common in Frenchie and is there something we can do to help prevent these reoccurring infections?

The Internist wants to discuss some surgical options. I am a little hesitant about resorting to surgery.

Any suggestions or something that might have been overlooked?

Dr. Lori writes -

I do believe recurrent UTIs can be common in frenchies, but your little girl is the first I have heard to only have one kidney. I suspect that this is at the root of her UTI problem.

One suggestion may be changing her food to a more urinary tract friendly diet, whether it be prescription or cooked.

I have also found some help with recurrent bladder problems in using some of the joint support supplements, like GlycoFlex III, there is anecdotal evidence to support that it lubricates the surface of the bladder making it tougher for bacteria to take root.

Joint sumplenets are never a bad idea for frenchies, so you don’t have much to lose by trying…

Good luck with your sweet girl and kudos to you for going for the best vet care you could get to help her out!

Lori Hunt, DVM