BBasil came to us at 7 weeks ,our family consists of Gary, Sharyn, Lewis 6 years, Ellis 3 years and Tia  18 months, We had been looking for a puppy for about 7 months researched the breeders and thought we had done well to find him , he was a fantastic little chap and we instantly fell in love with him. He had a wonderful personality and we were so happy to have him. Lewis became instantly his best mate and the rapport between them was lovely to see

                                                          

                                        

 

           

                              

Basil seemed to be doing ok but was a bit unstable on his back legs, We also noticed that he seemed to be slow learning his house training, then he started being unable to get up on his back legs, We took him to our own vet who thought he had neurological  damage and ran blood tests for everything he could think of ,but had no clue, We surfed the www. and came across Conner's site and with a heavy heart in desperation contacted Vicky who put us in touch with Peter Janes BVSc MRCVS,who helped her with Conner and has seen this condition in its various stages before. After X-raying Basil he gave us the terrible diagnosis that he was not going to get better and would eventually be in pain, he had no control of his bowels or bladder and as he was getting heavier his problem would become much worse we were advised to let him go and that fateful day arrived when after just 3 months of owning our little dream puppy we had to say goodbye ,its hurt us so much we loved him ,our home is so quiet without him and the children miss him very much. Vicky passed on some lovely messages from around the world and we would like to thank you all for caring .

Sharyn and Gary

NOTE  FROM  VICKY  Many thanks to Sharyn and Gary for  allowing me to tell the world about Basil ,the pain everyone goes through when this condition occurs is nothing short of heartbreaking, Basil will live on in their hearts and all who knew about him ,sleep in peace little Basil

Basil had hemi vertebrae ,it is congenital, he was born with it, can be hereditary or a fluke of nature. Many bulldogs have these butterfly shaped vertebrae and they cause no problem but if they are in the area around the shoulder blades this can cause paralysis and incontinence,Although some vets have tried operations they are rarely effective, Certain lines are predisposed to this condition, really short backed puppies,with inverted tight screw tails .Bulldogs are not alone in this we humans can have hemi vertebrae, in fact its in my own family my sisters both have it and my son James has it  also,I believe in its hereditary factor and I encourage beginners to do outcross matings while they learn all they can  as close line breeding on the lines involved brings it out.

WHAT CAN BREEDERS DO ABOUT IT >

They can become aware of it and what lines if matched up cause that scenario. They can do more mating to type not pedigree .We need more openess and sharing of information amongst the breeders ,not the castigating that happens when something like this crops up ,Remember no breeder sets out to breed a Conner or a Basil  but how they react after they discover it is whats important

Vicky Collins Kezia bulldogs

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