Vet Visit With Coli

An imperfect picture of my imperfect Coli

Coli is my ten-year-old English Bulldog. She is the one dog I have that is not a rescue and not a pug. I bought her from a breeder when she was a puppy. I was only 18 years old at the time. She has been with me for so long I hate to imagine what it will be like when she isn't. Since Bulldogs have a life-span of eight years, I'm forced to imagine it more and more as she continues to age.

Like most bullies, she has always been sickly. She's had ear problems, allergies, elongated soft palate issues, mammary tumors and Cushing's disease so it really is amazing that she is still doing so well.Today I took her to the vet because of a cyst she has. I wish we could just have it removed, but Bullies don't typically do well during surgery so we'll only put her under when absolutely necessary. The vet said everything is good with her, especially for her age which is music to my ears.

Even with all her problems, and all the money her problems have cost over the years, my Coli is such a great dog. Unless you've spent time with a Bulldog, you just can't imagine how odd and wonderful their personalities are.  As an animal lover, I hate to see dogs suffer because of their pure breeding, but I wouldn't want breeders to completely stop breeding them either. Despite their health issues, the world would be worse without them.