Hi, I am Dr. Roy Kraemer. I am a veterinarian, and for most of my career I worked almost entirely with one group of dogs: English Bulldogs and French Bulldogs.
That is unusual, and people ask me why. The short answer is that this breed is not like other breeds, genetically or physically, from the head (face, ears, teeth, palate, larynx) to the back end (tail, vertebrae, hips, uterus, anal glands). The airway is different and challenging, the skin and ears are different and need early preventive care, the spine is different and vulnerable, and the anesthetic requires expertise to help avoid a tragic outcome. Advice written for dogs in general is often wrong for a bulldog, sometimes dangerously so. I built a practice, a hospital, a website and a product line around that one idea.
The short version
Listed below are the steps, the path, the commitment and the experience that it took to reach breed expertise and authoritative knowledge.
- Qualification: Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Tufts University, North Grafton, Massachusetts.
- Before that: biology and animal science, and a research assistant post in a university immunology laboratory.
- Breed focus: 20 years of breed specific clinical experience with Bulldogs and French Bulldogs.
- Practice: founded and ran a veterinary hospital dedicated to Bulldogs and French Bulldogs in Southern California.
- Regenerative medicine: leading provider of stem cell therapy and cryobanking.
- Rescue: years of medical work alongside So Cal Bulldog Rescue, folded into the practice rather than run as charity on the side.
- Professional bodies: American Veterinary Medical Association and the Southern California Veterinary Medical Association.
- Today: writes the guides on this site, develops the V4B formulas, and refers bulldog owners in need to veterinarians who trained under him.
- Published work: author of the condition guides, articles and owner Q and A on this site.
- Products: developer of the Dr. Kraemer’s V4B nonprescription supplement and topical care line.
- Media: asked to comment on bulldog health by The US Sun, Business Insider, HuffPost, NBC Los Angeles, the OC Register, Discovery Animal Planet and Bulldogger Magazine.
Everything below is how that happened, in order.
Growing up
My father was an attorney and a US World War 2 veteran. My mother was British, had a degree in English literature, and worked as a librarian and teacher. Both were city people who moved us out to a rural farming community, which is where I grew up, surrounded by animals.
My first dog, Big
Big was a Golden Retriever, and he was a thief. Specifically, he stole baked goods. He would wait for the neighbors to leave, work their door handle open, let himself in, and eat whatever had just come out of the oven.
He was never caught in the act and never showed the slightest guilt. I learned two things from Big that I still use. Dogs are far more capable than we assume, they have feelings, they have doggy street smarts, and the behavior you are annoyed by is usually the behavior somebody accidentally rewarded.
Before veterinary school
I studied biology and animal science, and worked as a research assistant in my university immunology laboratory. That lab is where I learned to ask what the evidence actually shows rather than what everyone repeats. It is a habit I never lost, and you will notice it in how I write about supplements and treatments on this site.
In the summers I ran a nature program for children at a camp in the Berkshires in upstate New York. I taught animal handling and care, ran field trips, and spent a great deal of time explaining animals to people who had never been near one. Explaining medicine to a worried owner is the same skill.
The year before vet school I worked at the racetrack in New York City, had a short stint at the Jockey Club in Manhattan, and spent a few months with an equine veterinary specialist on some of the best horse farms in Virginia and Maryland. Then I moved to Boston and started veterinary school at Tufts University.
After graduation
The East Coast winters did not suit me. I wanted to be outdoors year round, so after graduating I headed west to Southern California and stayed.
Over the years I traveled a good deal, cycling, trekking, skiing, diving and climbing in Africa, Nepal, Brazil, New Zealand and Thailand among other places. I mention it for one reason. Most of what I took from those trips came from talking to people whose lives looked nothing like mine, and that is the part I used every day in an exam room and still use in how I write for owners.
Why I ended up working only on bulldogs
It started with the rescues. Local bulldog rescue groups began sending me their hardest cases, the dogs nobody else wanted to take on, and I kept saying yes.
So Cal Bulldog Rescue
We folded rescue work into the practice properly rather than treating it as charity on the side. That meant years of close work with So Cal Bulldog Rescue volunteers and my own medical team, on dogs that had come through real abuse and neglect.
Watching those dogs come back, first physically and then in temperament, and then go home with families who wanted them, is the most satisfying work I have done. The volunteers, foster carers and adopters my wife, my kids, my veterinary team and I met through it are still part of my life.
My own rescues, and the family
My wife, our two children and I share the house with Lily, who was left in a box at the hospital door when she was a few weeks old, Benjamin, a stray cat we found soaked and cold on a busy street in the rain and Soki a shelter cat no one wanted and was scheduled for euthanasia . All are family now, and neither of them was planned.
The whole family turns up to local bulldog rescue fundraisers, and we put money behind the care and adoption of bulldogs that need it. My children are certified Bully Whisperers, which means they hug and kiss the bulldogs and get paid back in dribble and slobber.
The bulldog specialty hospital
When I said I was going to open a hospital dedicated to Bulldogs and French Bulldogs, I was told the idea was too narrow to survive. I opened it anyway.
The skeptics were wrong. The demand was there and it never let up, because owners of this breed have been told for years that snorting, overheating and constant skin and ear problems are just what bulldogs do. They are not. These signs deserve attention. Daily care and early assessment may help with some problems; others need medical or surgical treatment.
With proper preventive care, a skilled and experienced breed specialized veterinary team, and motivated, empowered owners working together, we challenged the long standing belief that Bulldogs are destined for a short, unhealthy life.
The cliche that this breed comes with an unavoidable life shortening fate can be dispelled.
Our mission was, and still is, not simply to extend lifespan but to put the emphasis on health span, helping Bulldogs and French Bulldogs live longer, healthier, more comfortable and more joyful lives.
Better care changes the trajectory.
What I worked on most
Bulldogs do not fail in random places. They fail in the same handful of places, over and over, which is exactly why a breed focused practice makes sense. Think of it like a mechanic who only works on one model of car. After the thousandth one, you stop guessing where the noise is coming from.
Over the years, the surgical and medical work that came through the door most often was:
- BOAS, breathing and airway conditions, including elongated palate and stenotic nares
- Orthopedics, including ligament and tendon injuries
- Ear canal disease
- Skin and allergy
- Eye and eyelid abnormalities
- Bulldog and French Bulldog reproduction complications and C-section
- Urinary conditions, including prolapse, stone removal and urethrostomy
- Spine and back conditions
The practice also offered regenerative medicine, which is a set of nonpharmaceutical options used for discomfort, wound repair and inflammatory conditions: in-house stem cell therapy, cryobanking, platelet rich plasma, Class 4 cold laser and pulsed electromagnetic therapy. Alongside the bulldog work, the hospital looked after other breeds and cats in need, with wellness and preventive care, dentistry, orthopedics, radiology, cardiology and ultrasonography.
I am no longer in clinical practice. What I do now is provide consultation to veterinarians who are seeking help or interested in offering specialty services to the breed, write authoritative content, formulate, and answer owner questions, which is the part of the job that reaches the most dogs and owners.
Who I refer bulldog owners to now
Stepping back from the exam room did not mean walking away from the bulldog community.
For owners who need hands-on care, I refer to local hospitals that I helped train and that are better equipped to handle the brachycephalic and breed specific procedures. When a case calls for it, they can always consult with me and we work through it together. To be matched with one, request an appointment and we will pass on the details.
If you are outside Southern California, your own veterinarian is the right person to see, because they can examine your dog and know its history. What I can give you from here are the guides on this site and an honest answer in the Exam Room Q and A.
vet4bulldog.com
Not every bulldog owner could get to my hospital, so I started publishing. Articles, photographs and how-to videos, all of it aimed at preventing problems rather than reacting once they are established.
Prevention is the site mission. Some health problems give you early clues; others, including breathing or spinal emergencies, can worsen suddenly. Learning the signs helps you know when to arrange an exam and when to seek urgent care.
V4B bulldog therapeutics
Owners kept asking the same question at the end of an appointment: what can I actually do at home? So I developed a customized line of nonprescription topical and supplement bulldog therapeutics to answer it. Every one of them has to pass five tests before I will put my name on it.
- It must be a therapeutic I used in my own practice
- It should have preventive and care qualities
- It must be affordable enough to use consistently
- It must be tasty, palatable, chewy, or topically easy to apply, so it actually gets done
- It has to have clear directions and precautions so owners can use it appropriately
I work with specialty manufacturers and I keep revising the formulas. There are always new products in the pipeline we are working on. You can see the current range in the Vet4Bulldog store, or start with the topical therapy guide.
In the news
I have been asked to comment on Bulldog and French Bulldog health by:
- The US Sun
- Business Insider, on how to keep a French Bulldog healthy
- HuffPost
- NBC Los Angeles, on Diesel the three-legged bulldog
- OC Register, front page, on a dog and owner reunited after four years apart
- Discovery Animal Planet, Pit Bulls and Parolees
- Bulldogger Magazine
Straight talk
Is Dr. Kraemer a board certified specialist?
Where did Dr. Kraemer go to veterinary school?
Is Dr. Kraemer still seeing patients?
No. Dr. Kraemer is no longer in clinical practice. His work now focuses on writing and updating the guides on this site, answering owners’ questions, and developing and revising the V4B formulas.
For Southern California owners who need hands-on care, we refer them to veterinarians and hospitals whose doctors were trained under Dr. Kraemer, as well as specialists in various fields who have collaborated with him over the years on brachycephalic and breed specific procedures. When appropriate, Dr. Kraemer remains accessible to these veterinarians to discuss a case and provide additional perspective.
For owners outside Southern California, your own veterinarian is the best place to start. They can examine your dog in person, review its medical history, and determine the most appropriate next steps.
How does Dr. Kraemer develop the V4B formulas?
He works closely with specialty manufacturers, continually revising and refining the V4B formulas based on experience, feedback and evolving needs.
But the formulas are only part of the process. He also provides supportive, customized handouts, how-to videos, and practical highlights drawn from the exam room, to help owners understand not only what to use, but how and why to use it.
Every product and recommendation is designed around the same principles: it should combine preventive care with practical treatment rather than simply patching over a symptom. It should be affordable enough to use consistently, simple enough that owners will actually use it, and clear enough in its directions and precautions that it can be used appropriately and safely.
The goal is not to create another product that sits on a shelf. It is to give owners tools they can realistically work into their dog’s daily care, and that may make a meaningful difference over time.
Can a V4B product replace what my vet prescribed?
I am not local. Can I still ask a question?
If you own a bulldog
Read the condition pages before you need them. That is the honest advice. The owners who do best with this breed are the ones who learned what a pinched nose or an early skin fold infection looks like before it turned into a crisis at ten at night.
What is worrying you about your Bulldog today?
Maybe it is noisy breathing, a skin fold that will not settle, or a new limp. Visit the Exam Room Q and A to see what other Bulldog owners have asked. Or go straight to the guide that fits: breathing and airways, skin and coat, or joints and back. No medical dictionary required. If your Bulldog is struggling to breathe, seek emergency veterinary care.
If you still have a question, ask me here. And if you want the prevention reminders as they come round, sign up for the free monthly bully newsletter.
Explore Dr. Kraemer’s V4B Bully Therapeutics →
Trusted by Vets ~ Recommended by Owners ~ Approved by Bulldogs
Important: this page is educational and is not a diagnosis or a treatment plan for your own dog. It is not a substitute for a veterinary examination, diagnosis or treatment. Supplements are not prescription medication and do not treat infection. Talk to your veterinarian before starting one, especially if your bulldog is already on medication.
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