Introduction
The Boston Terrier is a pleasant pet that craves human companionship. They are good looking dogs that fit well into a family with children.
Boston’s are predisposed to certain diseases though, so careful observation of your pets daily routine is important.
Any significant change in this routine is cause for an examination. Our web site in the Diseases Section has detailed information on many of the diseases they are prone to.
Handsome boy!
Health Issues in Boston Terriers
Breathing Conditions (brachycephalic syndrome)
The shape of their face (flat)and breathing passages predisposes them to breathing conditions. This is called the brachycephalic airway syndrome. This makes them noisy breathers that snore quite a bit. If they are overweight these problems are exacerbated.
Symptoms of coughing, wheezing, or difficult breathing warrant an exam due to these breathing problems.
Their nostrils are occluded (called stenotic nares) in the brachycephalic syndrome
They also have a thickened and very long tongue further making it difficult for air to get into the lungs.
In addition to these problems they have a small oropharynx and a small windpipe (trachea).
Since they are active dogs they can get heatstroke easily, so always exercise during the cool part of the day and supply plenty of fresh water and a cool environment when not exercising.
Brain Disease
Boston’s can also get hydrocephalus (swelling in the brain). Symptoms of this disease can be as subtle as a pet that seems slow to learn and is unresponsive, to a pet that has seizures.
Eye Problems
They are particularly prone to eye problems due to their flattened faces and protruding eyes and globoid skull. This makes them susceptible to eye trauma, especially corneal ulcers.
Any sign of squinting, redness to the eye, ocular discharge, or cloudiness, warrants an exam.
Glaucoma, cataracts, and ulcers of the eye are not unusual.
This eye is inflamed with a cloudy cornea is caused by glaucoma
This is a severe (and painful) canine corneal ulcer
Jaw Disease
They can get a disease called cranial mandibular osteopathy. This effects the bones of the head, especially the jaw. Symptoms include pain around the head or jaw and difficulty in eating.
Radiographs of the skull to look at the jaw help in the diagnosis
Skin Conditions
Boston’s are prone to skin conditions, particularly mange and allergies. These diseases manifest themselves as hair loss or excessive licking or scratching. In addition to mange and allergies, they also get a skin tumor called a mast cell tumor. All skin lumps that persist should be checked to determine if this condition exists.
This is what a mast cell tumor of the skin looks like
Dental Disease
Boston’s are particularly prone to dental disease. It is important to learn how to brush your pet’s teeth while it is a pup so that you are successful at it when the problem starts to arise later. We have a special kit for this purpose, please have one of our nurses show you the proper technique.
If you start early in life it becomes a fun game to play
We also have a food called t/d (it stands for tartar diet) that is a big help if you cannot brush its teeth. Our Nutrition Page has more information.
Wellness Exams
As your pet gets older yearly exams are needed to identify the accumulation of tartar and treat it before it progresses to more serious complications and we have to remove rotten teeth under anesthesia. As tartar accumulates on the teeth we will perform non-anesthetic dentals (this is not a replacement for brushing) every 6 months and hopefully never have to remove rotten teeth under anesthesia.
This dog just had its teeth cleaned with Non Anesthetic Dental
Heart Disease
Heart disease can also occur as your Boston ages. We will check for heart murmurs with our stethoscope during your yearly examine to diagnose this problem and treat it before the onset of congestive heart failure.
This radiograph gives you a feel of the anatomy of the chest where the heart resides
Patellar luxation
Bostons are prone to an orthopedic problem where the knee cap is loose and does not guide in the patellar groove properly. The symptoms of this are occasional lameness where you dog kicks its leg out on occasion. It is cured surgically.
A knee exam confirms the diagnosis, and lets us know if the patellar laxation is medial or lateral
Those two white and round structures at the bottom of this radiograph are in the normal position
Surgery consists of deepening the patellar groove to correct the problem
If not corrected this can lead to painful arthritis