Boxer is among the more than 35 breeds of dogs on record to have hereditary sensorineural deafness.
The condition cannot be reversed with medications, surgery or hearing aids. Dogs also could become deaf from old age, toxicosis or infection.
How do you tell if your Boxer is deaf?
- He doesnt respond to spoken commands and only responds to you when he sees you.
- He keeps shaking his head and pawing his ears or turns in the wrong direction when you call him.
- He sleeps more than normal and would not wake up till you physically touch him.
But not to worry, you can still have a wonderful companion in your deaf Boxer through sign language.
Dogs have been known to learn as many as 65 command words in sign language. These include signs for, among others, stop, potty, drop it, stay, lay down, sit, come and cookie.
As extra measures, you want to keep the deaf Boxer in a safe environment as he cannot hear approaching dangers like an approaching car. So keep him on a leash and close to you when in traffic or out for walks.
On his nametag, add the word deaf so he will not be misunderstood if he ever gets lost. Some suggest putting a bell as well so you know where to find him if he gets lost.
And finally, if your Boxer tested positive for inherited deafness in one or both ears, do not breed him or her.
Epilepsy/seizure disorder
When your Boxer is between 2 to 5 years old, he may develop seizure disorder.
When he has an epilepsy attack, hed be unconscious and like he is not breathing but he is. He is not suffering.
The information that would be important to your veterinarian regarding such episodes includes:
- Duration of the attack
- The type of muscular activity your Boxer exhibits during seizure
- Any abnormal behavior during the attack
- Frequency of the seizure
What you do in such instances is not panic and time the attack by actually looking at a watch or clock.
It may only take place for 30 seconds but may seem forever to you. You need a veterinarian if it lasts more than 5 minutes.
Emergency treatment is definitely called for if your Boxer goes into seizure for 10 minutes or longer, twice in the span of 24 hours, or if he has a second attack before he could completely recover from the first seizure attack.
Remain by your Boxers side; be there when he comes out of the seizure to calm him. Stroke and comfort him.
To keep your Boxer from hurting himself during the seizure, move away furniture from the immediate area and protect him from water, the stairs and any sharp objects. If you can, place a pillow under his head to protect him from head trauma.
Unlike seizure attacks in human, animals do not swallow their tongue. So you dont have to put your hand or spoon or any other object into your Boxers mouth when he has an attack. You might get bitten.
Also, keep children and other pets away from your sick Boxer.
Coming out of the seizure, your Boxer will be groggy, confused and feel like he has done something wrong. He may make unusual sounds and stumble around.
Do not allow him on the stairs until he has fully recovered. In the mean time, sooth him by talking to him softly, offer him some water, stroke and comfort him.
And if he doesnt recover fully after 30 minutes, consult your veterinarian or any emergency vet facility.
Flea-infected Boxers
Flea-infected Boxers can develop skin diseases especially those allergic to fleas.
Black specs in the fur and bite marks on the skin tell if your Boxer has them. To check further, spread some newspapers and place your Boxer on top. Brush him and look for the black specs falling off.
Fleas live up to 6 weeks, feeding on blood and during that time would have laid hundreds of eggs that mostly land on your Boxers bedding, carpets and other favorable nests around your home.
The eggs hatch into larvae that seek nice, dark places while feeding on fleas droppings, dust, human shed skin, dandruff and other such tasty morsels.
The larvae turn into hardy pupae that could survive for months before changing into adult fleas.
Fleas are host to tapeworms. Both problems are likely to occur together in your Boxer and, therefore, the treatments are also usually given together by the vet.
A bit of garlic a day may keep the fleas away from your Boxer.
Heart ailments
Bradycardia or slow heart rate may be a symptom of thyroid disorder in Boxers.
Dialated cardiomyopathy constitutes a serious, emergency case.
Your dog may collapse from it or the back legs have sudden pain and paralysis.
It is a serious heart condition whereby the heart muscle is enlarged and thin walled. Your Boxer will experience shortness of breath, coughing and cant take to exercise.
Another serious heart condition is called cardiac conduction disease that is affecting Boxers longevity. It was previously known as Boxer cardiomyopathy but the new term is used to differentiate it from dilative cardiomyopathy.
Cardiac conduction is difficult to deal with due to 3 factors.
- One is many Boxers will not show any symptom (asymptotic) but will just drop dead suddenly from it.
- The Boxers develop this disease later in life, often after they have been bred.
- There was no good screening method for it until the one recently developed by Ohio State University researchers, called the 24-hour Holter monitor test.
However, there is still no assurance that Boxers cleared now from cardiac conduction disease by the Holter test will remain so in the future.
Many breeders and Boxer experts are now working to refine the test procedures, expand the database and come up with a guideline to select only, for breeding purposes, those Boxers with high probability of being free of the disease.
There are also concerns elimination of too many dogs from the gene pool would be bad for the breed diversity and could cause more problems in the future. Some opinions hold that extensive culling should only get done after more studies on genetic diversity in Boxers.
Hip dysplasia
This is a bone disorder whereby there is an improper fit of the large femur bone with the hip socket, causing lots of pain and lameness.
It occurs more in male than in the female of primarily large breed dogs like Boxer.
Hip dysplasia is genetic and can be passed on. If you think your Boxer may have hip problem, take him for x-ray when he is 24 months old for a proper diagnosis. And then, if he is tested positive, do not breed him or her.
It develops in puppies and can show up as early as when the Boxer is four months old. Or it could shows up much later when he is an old dog, and the hip weakens and becomes arthritic.
Hyperadrenocorticism
When the adrenal gland is hyperactive and starts producing too much cortisol into the blood, your Boxer may become sick.
He will then exhibit what is known as the Cushings syndrome he drinks more water (polydipsia), urinates more (polyuria) and has bigger appetite (polyphagia).
The stomach or abdomen may become distended or potbelly and he starts losing hair on the trunk.
Other symptoms of Cushings syndrome are chronic skin infection, chronic urinary tract infection, excessive panting, lethargy, muscle weakness, and calcium deposits in the skin (calcinosis cutis).
Hypothyroidism
This disease concerns the thyroid gland that does not produce enough thyroid hormone, which can cause illness in the Boxer.
He becomes lethargic, sleeps a lot more, not interested to play, tires easily and experiences depression or mental dullness.
He may gain weight and become obese without having to eat more than the usual.
There are so many symptoms that vary and are non-specific and they all develop slowly. This is because not enough thyroid hormone produced affects the metabolic function of many organ systems.
Other signs of thyroid disorder are slow heart rate (bradycardia), infertility, constipation, diarrhea and your Boxer cannot stands cold, always seeking a warm place to lie down.
It may also results in chronic skin disorders like dry skin and excessive hair loss, as well as other neurological and hormonal abnormalities.
A single symptom may not point to thyroid deficiency but a combination of them should make your veterinarian more suspicious of it.
Intervertebral disk disease
The disease causes back pain and makes your Boxer clumsy and walk like a drunkard. He might not want to climb stairs or play and would yelp when he is handled, petted or lifted. The disease affects his spinal disks and could end in paralysis.
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)
Boxers having IBS arent gaining weight, seem lethargic and have pale color mucus membrane in the mouth (oral mucosa) and eyes (eye scleras).
Monitor their stool for frank or occult blood and start with a blood test to check for hematocrit (abdominal bleeding), which could save their life. This condition can be caused by food allergy.
One male Boxer diagnosed with IBS of the small intestine was failing to thrive and began to have syncopal episodes (fainting spells).
The owner put him on a strictly venison diet and he finally thrived, gained weight and is very active. The owner said many butcher shops sell venison and it is very reasonably priced.
Kidney problem
Preventing kidney damage is key to your Boxers survival.
If you suspect your Boxer may have kidney trouble, take him to the veterinarian for aggressive treatment.
Remember the concern over too much grapes or raisins is toxic for dogs and could ruin their kidneys?
Aggressive treatment in such poisoning cases mean, if your Boxer had just overindulged in the grapes/raisins, the doctor will induce vomiting immediately and prescribe some activated charcoal pills.
There will be repeated blood tests to determine the status of kidney function plus hospitalization and intravenous fluid therapy if necessary.
The induced vomiting is to remove as much grapes or raisins as possible while the activated charcoal is to help prevent absorption of the toxic substance.
Two days of intravenous fluid therapy is often recommended to help prevent damage to the kidneys.
Blood test is usually repeated after 48 hours and 5 to 7 days to ensure the kidneys are functioning within the normal range.
Where kidney damage has occurred, the intravenous fluid therapy shall continue until blood tests indicate the kidneys have returned to normal function again.
Progressive axonopathy
This is a debilitating disease of the nervous system, which used to be common among Boxers but not anymore because of the due diligence practiced by breeders.