O/T - Question on Bullmastiff

[BustopherJones]

While I recognize that this is a Border Collie board, I have always been impressed by the fact that many members are well-versed on other breeds. So I have a question with regard to Bullmastiffs.

 

One of the people Annie, Missy and I encounter on our daily walks has a Bullmastiff roughly 9+ years old. The acquanintance is not well-versed in the use of computers, so I am making an inquiry on his behalf. The dog suffered a seizure a couple of weeks ago, and then again on Friday night. When he called the vet, the vet told him that Bullmastiffs are relatively short-lived dogs, with a normal life span in the range of 10 years, and that the afflictions are probably related to age. I was wondering if anyone on this board could answer the following:

 

Is the vet correct about the normal life span of the breed?

 

Is there anything in terms of diet or supplements that can be done to increase the life span of this breed? (The dog is currently on a holistic diet, i.e., fresh instad of canned foods.)

 

If the dog is in fact approaching the end of its life, should anything special be done wiht this breed to ensure that the quality of life is at its best?

 

Thanks for any help you can offer my acquaintance.

[Jack & Co.]

Bustopher - I found this website that looks helpful:

 

http://www.bullmastiff.org/

 

There was a link to Bullmastiff health issues which may provide some useful information. One thing that did catch my eye was the statement that Bullmastiffs have a high tolerance for pain and are not "complainers."

[MrsPalmer]

Great Danes don't live very long either, something like 6 to 9 years max. Isn't that sad? It takes a big hearted person to love these big guys knowing they won't be around as long as say maybe a smaller breed.

[Allie Oop]

Unfortunately, big dogs just don't live as long as smaller ones.

 

However, there are things they can do to help the dog be comfortable and seizures are often controllable. I had a GSD/Rough Collie that starting having seizures at 12 yrs. old. We gave him meds (potassium bromide) 2x a day for the next two years and he didn't have any more seizures while on the meds.

 

This may or may not be possible for this dog, but I would have them inquire of their vet.

[juliepoudrier]

I think I'd be looking for a new vet--one that would at least examine the dog before making the pronouncement that the dog is at the end of its life. There certainly could be reasons for seizures *other than* old age.

 

J.

[Allie Oop]

No kidding, Julie. Dogs seizure for a lot of reasons.

 

Bustopher, did your friend ever actually see the vet, or only consult over the phone? I would encourage them to take the dog to a good vet and have a workup done.

[silhouettestable]

Originally posted by MrsPalmer:

Great Danes don't live very long either, something like 6 to 9 years max. Isn't that sad?

Tell me about it. We had 2 Danes (brother and sister) and neither one lived past age 4 1/2. Despite taking every precaution recommended to us (knowing the risks associated with the giant breeds), we lost our male to gastric torsion at only 2 1/2 years of age, and that happened only 6 weeks after his sister was diagnosed with Addison's Disease. She was rushed to the vet's and almost died, but after spending 3 days in intensive care she pulled through and was put on 2 daily medications to control the condition. About a year later it was discovered that she had developed a heart condition which was untreatable while on the other meds. At that point the vet said she might not make it another 6 months, but she lasted about 9 before her heart gave out. We didn't know anything about the bloodlines on their father's side, but we had made contact with the breeder their mom came from and she said that her bloodlines had an average 10 year lifespan. We visited with her and although her dogs were quite large, ours seemed huge even for the breed. That may have had something to due with their problems. It seems the larger you go the more health problems you encounter.

[muggs]

My MIL has always had bull mastiffs - 6 since I've known her. Her friend also is in bull mastiff rescue. And yes their lifespan is usually average 8 years. Stomach torsion is a big problem so diet is critical to make sure they live as long as possible (multiple small feedings). Other than torsion, she had one die of a stroke, but she has never had one with seizures. I too would talk with another vet about the seizures to give the dog the best quality of life, but if the dog lives passed 10, it will be one of the longer-lived bull mastiffs. I too love the breed, but couldn't handle the life span.

 

My MIL had a holistic vet for her last dog and I know she had her on some type of supplement, but not sure what it was. But this dog is the one that died of a stroke at 8-9.

[Little Bo Boop]

It is true that the giant breeds have a shorter life span than 'normal sized' dogs and often times you'll find that the small dogs live longer. personally I think they all leave us way too soon. When I was doing a lot of research on health and nutrition last year, for my dog with cancer, it got me to wondering about the life span of dogs. If you think about it horses for instance, not so long ago, 15-18 yrs old was old for a horse, now it's not uncommon to see horses into their 30's, and some are still ridden. I have a 20 something guy that is healthy as can be. Cats even seem to have benefited, and are living longer, people of course....but dogs Your average sized dog starts to decline around 10 or so and if they live till 12-14 you're doing well. I won't even get into quality of life issues in the last year. Just makes me scratch my head and wonder why. Nutrition maybe?

On the Mastiff question, I would imagine his problems are age related, but I would also probably vote to find a vet that would offer some alternatives to offer him some relief. Good luck to him.

 

Betty

[Carson Crazies]

I agree with Julie, that type of "hand-waving" approach concerns me. I believe I read somewhere about Taurine being good for dogs who were seizure prone. I believe it is naturally occurring in beef heart.

 

Of course they would want to consult their vet regardless of what route they decide to take. Did a search, and here are a few links.

 

Taurine Supps

 

Raw Dog Ranch - Beef Heart and Taurine

 

Survey

[borderbob]

i had a greatdane who was a....big hearted dog.she lived 6 yrs.anyway, i took over the family farm when dad died and inherited a 6 yr old golden with such severe allergies that it causes him to sieze about once every 3 wks.our vet gives him pottasium bromide and he gets a human dose of vitamin b-12 it supposed to help.

[lance]

I've mentioned my Great Dane Mindy in some of my posts. She was one month shy of turning 11 yrs old, when she died this past Oct 20th. She was very healthy most of her life. She developed heart problems when she was about 10yrs old. Broke my heart when she died. I adopted Bandit one month later. On Thanksgiving Day. Mindy's Birthday.

[silhouettestable]

Originally posted by lance: I've mentioned my Great Dane Mindy in some of my posts. She was one month shy of turning 11 yrs old, when she died this past Oct 20th.

Wow! What a great age she reached.

 

Originally posted by borderbob:

i had a greatdane who was a....big hearted dog.

This is our boy Pongo dressed up for a Santa Claus parade a few years ago. Of course we always got the comments about him being big enough to ride, so I strapped on my daughter's lead line saddle and a santa hat and we walked along with our local horsemen's association float. I don't have a picture of his sister Perdie uploaded onto a photosharing site, so I can't post her pic right now.

 

This picture was taken by a newspaper photographer and was captioned "Who's leading who?" (He had 2 leashes for the parade, one so my daughter thought she was leading him, and one for me to make sure he didn't get away!)