Old English Mastiff Health Care & Feeding
By Michele Welton, Dog Trainer, Breed Selection Consultant, Author of 15 Dog Books
Jump down to this list of
Old English Mastiff Health Problems
Or check out my advice for raising a healthy English Mastiff puppy or adult dog:
Dog Health Care – The Sensible Way
Read my advice on daily health care so your English Mastiff lives a long, healthy life and seldom needs to see the vet... [read more]
3 Best Ways To Feed Your Dog Healthy Food
You can dramatically increase your dog's chances of living a long, healthy life by feeding the right food. Cutting right to the chase, the best foods for your Old English Mastiff are... [read more]
A Quick Way To Make Homemade Dog Food
Your Mastiff will love real chicken, turkey, beef, fish, eggs, yogurt, broccoli.... this is not just "people food" and I'll tell you why... [read more]
5 Best Kibble and Canned Dog Foods
Some are better than others, but I must be honest – I'm not a huge fan of dry or canned dog food. Here are my concerns... [read more]
Vaccinations and Booster Shots: Needed or Not?
How many vaccinations does your Old English Mastiff puppy really need? Does your adult dog need yearly booster shots? The vaccination guidelines have changed! Find out what some vets aren't telling you... [read more]
Spaying Your Female Dog: Pros and Cons
Should your female English Mastiff be spayed? Current research says, "The AGE at which you spay can be vitally important to your dog's future health." So what's the best age? [read more]
Neutering Your Male Dog: Pros and Cons
Have you been told that you must neuter your male Mastiff? Current research shows that the issue is not so simple. Pet owners are not being told about some risks associated with neutering male dogs, especially neutering too early... [read more]
Make Sure Your Vet is the Best!
Is your current veterinarian really the best choice for your dog? Here's how to tell... [read more]
Assisi Loop Review
Does your Mastiff suffer from arthritis, hip dysplasia, disk disease, colitis? My honest review of a veterinary device you can use at home to reduce inflammation and pain. [read more]
Complete list of Old English Mastiff health problems
The Mastiff Club conducted a health survey that included 570 dogs.
The club reports that half of the deceased Mastiffs in their survey died before age 7, and three-quarters of them died before age 10. So this is a short-lived breed.
Most common causes of death
- The most common cause of death in Old Engish Mastiffs, by far, is cancer – especially bone cancer (osteosarcoma), but also lymphosarcoma.
- The second major cause of deaths in Mastiffs is bloat, an emergency gastrointestinal syndrome that can kill in a matter of hours.
- Finally, heart disease is a major cause of death, especially sub-aortic stenosis, cardiomyopathy, mitral valve disease, and occasionally pulmonic stenosis.
Orthopedic diseases in Mastiffs
As you might expect from their size, orthopedic problems are extremely common in Mastiffs, especially hip dysplasia and elbow dysplasia.
The Orthopedic Foundation of America evaluated the hip X-rays of 12,000 Mastiffs and found 21% dysplastic. That's bad. Elbows are bad, too: of 6900 elbow X-rays, 15% were dysplastic.
Old English Mastiffs are prone to tearing the cruciate ligament in their hind legs, which is a nasty injury that can require expensive surgery.
Young Mastiffs are susceptible to two syndromes that cause pain and lameness. The most common and milder one is called panosteitis and is usually self-limiting. The less common one is hypertrophic osteodystrophy (HOD), which ranges from moderate to severe.
Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a serious concern in Old English Mastiffs, especially since it's so difficult to treat in this breed. Most epileptic Mastiffs die by age three.
Urinary problems
Urinary infections are common in English Mastiffs, and a serious urinary disease called cystinuria is more common in English Mastiffs than in any other breed.
Eye diseases
The most serious eye disease in Mastiffs is progressive retinal atrophy (PRA), which can occur as early as 6 months old or as late as 3.5 years old, and which progresses slowly to complete blindness in middle age.
A simple DNA test is available for PRA in Mastiffs, so you can find out at any time whether your dog has the disease, carries the disease, or is completely clear of it.
Other eye diseases in Old English Mastiffs include cataracts, eyelid abnormalities (ectropion and entropion), eyelash abnormalities, cherry eye, persistent pupillary membranes, and retinal dysplasia.
That's a lot of eye diseases...
Thyroid disease
Hypothyroidism is common in all giant breeds. According to the Michigan State University Thyroid Database, up to 15% of Mastiffs have low thyroid levels.
Skin problems
Skin problems include allergies (which cause itchy skin and "hot spots"), non-tumorous growths (sebaceous cysts), and chronic bacterial infections, including severe pyoderma.
All of the mastiff breeds, when young, are prone to demodectic mange.
Older mastiffs, because of their great weight, are prone to developing elbow hygroma, a fluid-filled lump that develops over the bony elbow that acts as a pressure point whenever they lie on hard surfaces. Provide your Mastiff with a soft cushy bed that protects his elbows.
Miscellaneous
Colitis (inflammatory bowel disease) results in chronic diarrhea – not a happy prospect in a giant dog!
Myasthenia gravis is an autoimmune neuromuscular disease that causes extreme weakness in English Mastiffs. A blood-clotting disease (von Willebrand's) also occurs in this breed.
Preventing health problems
Some health problems are inherited. For example, if your dog inherits from his parents the genes for an eye disease called PRA, he will go blind and there's nothing anyone can do about it.
But most health problems can be prevented by the ways you raise your dog.
My best-selling book, 11 Things You Must Do Right To Keep Your Dog Healthy and Happy shows you how to raise your Old English Mastiff in all the right ways that help prevent health problems. Become your dog's health care champion!
To help you train and care for your dog
Dog training videos. Sometimes it's easier to train your puppy (or adult dog) when you can see the correct training techniques in action.
The problem is that most dog training videos on the internet are worthless, because they use the wrong training method. I recommend these dog training videos that are based on respect and leadership.