Skin Disorders

The most common disorder seen in Bull Terriers appear to be allergy related and can be seasonal, as in the case of flea allergy…  They can suffer from small rashes, blotches, spots and mange… In extreme cases if left untreated will cause the dog complete loss of hair in the effected areas and hard skin, though this is not fatal it causes unnecessary suffering if left untreated…  There is no known reason as to why Bull Terriers are particularly susceptible to skin problems or why white Bull Terriers seem to suffer the most…  One such explanation could be that Bull Terriers immune system may not be stronger enough to cope with problems when they arise and are unable to overcome them quickly without medical intervention…  Skin rashes what ever their cause should be treated immediately as secondary infection can quickly set in due to your dog scratching the effected area…

Skin Parasites are another common cause for skin problems; they can be fleas, ticks or the mites (Mange)…  Ticks are easily spotted in your dogs coat, they look like white warts on the skin until closer inspection you see the head of the tick buried into your animal…  Do not try to pull ticks off without a proper removal tool, available from your vet or pet shop, as if you pull it off you could leave the head of the tick buried in your dog which can cause secondary infections… chances are if you have one tick on your dog, there will be more, check carefully if in doubt get your vet to look over your dog and give appropriate treatment…  Fleas, first signs of infestation is your dog incessant scratching, upon closer inspection you may see the odd flea running about your dogs fur, although they are quick movers they leave behind what is commonly known as flea dirt which looks like little black specs of muck in your dogs coat, this is usually the first indication of flea infestation…  Bear in mind the flea’s life cycle is usually not spent upon the dog; if your dog has fleas you can guarantee there are fleas in your carpets and soft furnishings at various stages of their life cycle…

Little is known about this disorder, other then it is a metabolic disorder found in Bull Terriers, Humans and Cattle…  It is a defect caused by the inability to metabolise ZINC…  Bull Terriers with LA are often as referred to as ZINCERS or ZINCER puppies…  A Zincer Puppy is often hard to spot when first born, but characteristics are smaller in size relation to their littermates, can also have a slimy look/feel, and often have difficulty in nursing…  As they grow older they can show difficulty with co-ordination and can get tremors…  Other symptoms can be crusted red feet eyes and mouth, flat feet, head nodding, Pneumonia, Diarrhoea, fading coat colour, they can also develop bad temperaments…  Not many people know of this problem, so it is often missed…  Symptoms can develop from only a few weeks old and a Zincer pup is usually PTS by the age of 3 months, but it has been known for a ZINCER to live until the age of 4 years…

Zinc supplements cannot be given as they cannot metabolise it, and it is thought to be caused by a double recessive autosomal gene which basically means two healthy parents carry the defective gene without showing the symptoms themselves…  But if put to another dog carrying the defective gene thus produces the ZINCER pup…