Boston Terriers
Breed description - see AKC for detailed standard
Breed problems can be both inherited or diseases and disorders seen frequently in a breed and mode of inheritance unknown. Both are listed.
Breed problemsAtopy - allergic dermatitis
Alopecia syndromes - Pattern Baldness and Pinnal Alopecia
Demodex
Hydrocephalus
Birth defects - cleft palate and lip, Umbilical hernia, Walrus syndrome puppies, Swimmer puppies
Aortic and carotid body tumors, Patent ductus ateriosus
Cataracts, Juvenile congenital Cataracts, Endothelial dystrophy, crossed eyes
Deafness
Stenotic nares
Distiochiasis ( two rows of eyelashes)
Cushing's disease
Mastocytoma, Pituitary tumor, Oligodendroglioma,
Luxating Patella, Craniomandibular Osteopathy, HemivertebraThe most common forms of brain tumor in dogs are gliomas and
meningiomas, although other types of brain tumors occur. There seems to be an increased incidence
of gliomas in short-nosed (bradycephalic) dog breeds, like pugs and Boston terriers. M.R.Prone to heat stroke.
There is a pattern baldness problem that sometimes occurs in Boston
terriers. This usually occurs in female dogs, usually starts around the
ears and moves down to the underside of the neck, then the underside of the
truck and finally down the inside of the rear legs. It usually starts at
about six months of age. The skin underlying the areas of hairloss is
usually normal and does not have the signs of secondary infection.Allergies are definitely a possible underlying cause for hairloss and
secondary skin infections. Boston terriers are listed among the breeds that
are prone to atopy (inhalant allergies). Most dogs with atopy have an onset
of clinical signs when they are between one and three years of age but some
dogs show signs as early as two to three months of age. I am in the process
of rethinking the comparison between skin testing and serum testing for
allergies, especially with the currently available serum tests. While there
still seems to be a little better correlation between skin testing and
serum testing, the gap is narrowing and if a practitioner is good at
recognizing the most likely allergens in the practice area and can take the
time to correlate the peak times of itchiness to likely allergens present
at that time, it is possible to develop a good antigen mixture for
hyposensitization (allergy shots) for a particular patient using either
technique. It may be worth reconsidering the hyposensitization if nothing
else seems likely after considering the rest of this note.In chronically itchy skin diseases it is important to rule out the
possibility of sensitivity to internal parasite migration and sarcoptic
mange, even if these problems can't be identified on lab testing. Deworming
a couple of times with a fenbendazole (Panacur Rx) or other dewormers
capable of killing larval migrating stages of roundworms is a good idea. We
usually treat for sarcoptic mange using ivermectin but there are several
treatments for this condition. Some dogs seem to have long term itchiness
from sarcoptic mange, or something else that responds to ivermectin, even
though we can't find the mites on skin scrapings or biopsies.It is critically important to use a good flea killing product such as
fipronil (Frontline Rx), imidocloprid (Advantage Rx) or selamectin
(Revolution Rx) if there is any problem with fleas where you are. Even if
flea allergy is not the problem, fleas make almost any other skin disease
worse. Flea allergy dermatitis is more common that atopy in most areas of
the country. The hairloss associated with this can be different from one
dog to another but there usually isn't as much facial pruritis with flea
allergy as with atopy.Mike Richards, DVM
5/1/2001
This page was last edited 04/29/08
