Bat Cat!

13.10.19 // Halfway through midterms

being kind is tough

Howdy, Dr.!  I’ve been “surprised” with news that I may be receiving a basset hound puppy sometime before the end of the year. It’s a good surprise and I’m really excited. I’ve only ever been adopted by full grown street dogs/strays, and have little (read: no) experience raising a pure bred puppy..! I’ve been consuming as much literature as I can about these dogs and wanted to know what your experience with them as a vet has been! Also, if you don’t mind sharing–what’s your personal opinion on the ethics of this breed? I know breeds with extreme anatomy can be super dodgy, and in some cases, pretty unethical due to a decreased quality of life caused by the traits that have been bred into them (ie: pugs).  A lot of what I’m reading is recommending things to look out for/avoid in  regards to the “breed standard”–but I’m having a hard time finding things to look out for/avoid from a veterinary/health perspective.  This is a lot of questions… so I’ve included a sketch for you (of you?), as tax! :D Cheers!!

Submitted by @painted-bees

Mate, you have no idea how close I was to rage quitting Tumblr a few hours before this submission came in. Thank you, it’s beautifully done.

You get to skip the queue.

The breed is fairly uncommon, especially compared to the more popular beagle and dachshund, but there are a few things worth noting from a veterinary perspective.

These dogs are deep chested enough to be able to develop Gastric Dilatation Volvulus, aka ‘bloat’. This is important to remember because if a dog’s stomach twists on itself, cutting off the oesophagus and blood supply, then you don’t have a lot of time to get it to surgery if it’s going to survive. GDV is typically thought of as a ‘big dog’ disease, but Basset Hounds aren’t really little dogs, they’re just short dogs.

Most dogs of this breed that I’ve encountered have been through emergency, due to Intervertebral Disc Disease, much like our friend the dachshund. These dogs racked up a vet bill of thousands of dollars to be able to walk again. 

The breed is well known for having excess skin, and many individuals will have excessive skin on their face, resulting in eyelids that either roll inwards (Entropion) or outwards (Ectroption). I have a pet hate for bad eyes, and having fury skin that rubs on the eyeballs from entroption is one definition of ‘bad eyes’. Picking dogs that have neat eyelids is highly advisable, otherwise this structural issue will require surgery to correct.

The loose eyelid skin also seems to predispose to cherry eye, or prolapse of the 3rd eyelid gland. Again, surgery would generally be required. 

The osteochondrodysplasia that gives this breed its short legs also leaves them prone to elbow dysplasia , as well as IVDD above.

The big floppy ears, a distinctive feature of the breed, and the extra skin around its neck frequently leave these dogs prone to skin and ear infections. While they can be reduced a little with careful maintenance the more skin flaps the dog has, the more issues you would expect.

As for the ethics of this breed, like many things my concerns come down to the extremeness of morphology. The dog in the gif above is a fairly moderate example of a Basset hound, but the dog pictured below…

(Image from Wikipedia)

… is not so much. The excessive skin provides no benefit to the dog, if it gets any lower and saggier then this individual is going to be dragging its willy along the ground, and I have seen a couple of dogs that have a permanent ventral chest/abdominal rash because they drag on the ground. This is worse if the dog becomes obese, which is more common in dogs that can’t exercise due to joint or spinal disease, which are both common in this breed.

The ethical issues in breeding these dogs are broadly the same for any other breed, aesthetics should not be prioritized over health and function of the dog and ‘line breeding’ shouldn’t be encouraged.

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