SBT and health, specifically joints.

From what I can gather the SBT is generally a healthy type of dog. Apart from the hereditary conditions which can be tested for, how many of you SBT owners have experienced joint problems with their dogs, or know of others that have?

I say this because I have an American Bulldog that suffers from problems with a cruciate ligament. I did not know this before but apparently this is a common problem in this breed. Is this a common issue in the SBT?

 

No, not what im aware of mate. Your bully will be carrying substantially more weight so much more pressure. Johnson or scott type mate? Pics of dog?

 

Hybrid I think, though I don't know really, as she is from a shelter so I don't have a pedigree, she's quite small, only 30kg or so.
I don't know what the situation is like in your country but the shelters are filled with Ambulls and Amstaffs over here, there's loads of online classifieds from peddlers so health checks are probably not done a lot.

 

i notice quite a lot crusiate ligament problems in staffs over the last years both amstaff and sbt. mostely showstaffs tough, worst part is that they keep breeding with these dogs

 

Hey Marloes, sounds like you're dutch too. Do you know if the athletic bred sbt suffer from this as well, like Quinlent staffs and some others in Holland? I hear it's common with amstaffs too.
I am really doubting about surgery because a friend of my father and someone else I know too both had a lot of problems after the surgery and those dogs are still not back to normal.

 

any dog can suffer from it, its mostly due to to to steep backhands. the knees get to much tension on the ligaments and they tare. so it is partialy genetic as breeders breed on the steep backhands. most atletic dogs dont have the steep backhands but stil you have a risk always when racing and not seeing rabbit holes and stuff

 

One of my Staffords has a few issues. He's USA athletic/show type. He's got one hip that's on the rough side, it's a shallow socket and a flat head. He's got a patella that luxates just a little and an unknown neuromuscular problem that causes muscle tremors. You can see what that looks like here: [video=youtube;S1bBS0t1QiI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1bBS0t1QiI&list=UUjwDUZpXBzwBKvH0Mz3lGnQ&index=6[/video]

His back legs are also pretty bowed so he tends to walk funny and not bend his knees. That said, he's still young and gets along very well despite his problems for now but he'll probably have a lot of arthritis and pain as an older dog. I don't think he's typical, Staffords tend to be very healthy dogs. He just lost the genetic lotto.

 

Very strange that muscle vibration! About the luxating patella, are you planning on having surgery performed on it?

 

I don't have plans for any surgeries. His patella was only able to be manually luxated under sedation when the vet took his x-rays. Unless it deteriorates there's no reason to put him through surgery for it. None of his issues are that big of a problem individually, they add up to make him uncomfortable or sore sometimes but for now he's OK. I don't do anything competitive with him, just keep him tired and in decent condition and he seems happy enough.