FAQ: Does Your Bulldog Have Allergies?

[bullmama]

Does your bulldog have allergies?

Please include details of the allergies, as well as the symptoms your bulldog had/has, and what you have done to help them get some relief. Thank you for helping and participating in this FAQ!

Read more about allergies at the following link:

http://www.englishbulldognews.com/co...and-Prevention

[2BullyMama]

yes, banks is highly allergic to chicken and a sensitivity to salmon. She also has environmental allergies, basically allergic to everything green outside. We found all this out via a full blood screen allergy test, which we needed to do because of hives and constant red face and ear infections.

Dealing with food allergies, we feed Fromm Pork and Peas grain free... no chicken, salmon or white potato.

Outdoor allergies... we wipe her with a wash colth after each trip outside... paws, belly, and face. we also give her 2 (25 mg each) Benedryl per day with her meals.

[Marine91]

Oh yes. Harlea has lots of things she is allergic to that we have identified ove the last several months.

Tap water: Causes itchy red inflammed skin on her chest and between her toes when ingested only. Bottled or filtered water take care of it.

Processed poultry and salmon: Horrible tear stains so we don't feed it.

Peanut butter: Causes he mid-belly area to become red and irritated. It makes me sad because she loves it but she can't have it anymore.

Lamb: Full blown break out within 6 hours of ingestion. We no longer feed it to her.

Other animal proteins: We are currently detoxing her system to begin identifying additional animal proteins she may be allergic to. We are currently feeding her The Honest Kitchen Preference Base mix with additional vegetable proteins only and will begin adding animal protein in one month. Right now she looks fanrastic.

That's all for now other than getting a bath once a week to keep what is left of the MRSA at bay.

[agentbunny]

Yes, Lola is allergic to everything: grass, pollen, dust, ants, moths, trees, weeds, cotton, and oxygen (well not oxygen, but it feels like it) Her allergies were so severe at 6 months old that we had to do a skin test where they inject her with 60 different allergens to see what flares her up. They take they offending allergens and turn them into a vaccine. She gets a shot every week and will continue for the rest of her life. I was warned by her dermatologist that it would take six months for the desensitization vaccines to work and to not get discouraged. She was right. Lola hardly ever gets any hives anymore and can be outside in all those elements that had her poor skin exploding before the treatment.
Leo on the other hand has had no allergies (knock on wood)

[Vikinggirl]

Blossom:

Allergies:

Chicken, salmon, corn and grains, and now after 2 years on Fromm's Beef, she is also showing signs of sensitivity or allergy to beef. We switched her food 4 times before finding Fromm's Beef, and now we have been feeding her Fromm's Lamb and Lentil for a little over a month. She is doing well on this food so far.

Symptoms:

When she was on Royal Canin from the breeder, she had soft poops, her chin, and ears were red, and her ears were warm, she had chin acne, pink face, and she seemed to be itchy all the time, she would also lick her paws excessively.
She was doing okay on the Fromm's Beef for the past 2 years, but then started showing signs of allergies again ( not as bad as before) but the paw licking started again, and tear stains. We switched to Fromm's Lamb and Lentil. I am wondering if being so long on the same protein caused an intolerance?

Bulldozer:

Dozer had never shown any signs of allergies and could eat almost any food, except Go Natural, this food was too rich for him, and he had diarrhea. He had a couple of episodes of hives in the summer, but what I noticed the most was his excessive shedding and paw licking, which he had never done before. I couldn't pet him without the fur flying, and I had 2 dustpans full of hair everyday. He licked his paws so much they were constantly soggy, and they turned a different colour, kind of reddish. Yeast Maybe? I switched him to the Lamb and Lentil as well, as so far he's also doing much better, he stopped shedding after a couple of days.

Remedies:

The first thing I did was to change their food to a different protein, (Lamb), and I add 4 supplements to their food daily

I add 2 Tbsp. of plain unsweetened yogurt to their morning kibble everyday, for the probiotics. This is good for digestion and it boosts the immune system. Allergies are caused by an immune response gone haywire in the body. Probiotics help fight allergy symptoms and infections.

I also add 1 Tbsp of apple cider vinegar to their drinking water everyday, there are many benefits to ACV, which you can read about on the Home page, there is an excellent article posted by Sherry. ACV is a natural anti Inflammatory, (99% of diseases, including Arthritis is caused by inflammation in the body), ACV kills the bad bacteria in the body, so again boosts the immune system, and it balances the Ph levels of the blood.

I also add 1 Tbsp. of Coconut Oil to their evening kibble, this is an excellent source of Omega 3 Fatty Acids. You can also use salmon oil, or cod liver oil. Omegas are excellent for the skin, coat, joints, bones, and he brain.

I also add 1 tsp. of Pet Kelp to their evening kibble. Kelp has over 70 vitamins and minerals and is high in Vitamin C.
Kelp is the only vitamin your dog will need.

[nycbullymama]

Blue is sensitive to chicken, pork and beef. But even with those proteins, it depends on how they're cooked. Like chicken kibble seems to be ok, but just plain boiled chicken makes him itch like crazy. Boiled beef is fine, but beef kibble is a problem. Pork is a horror.
He also has environmental allergies (we did allergy testing twice). Ragweed, pollen, dust mites and a few others.

His symptoms vary. His face and/or belly can get red and itchy and he'll bit his paws until they're raw. Or it may just be one of the other. He also get hives.
He also developed a secondary skin infection that caused small, round dark patches in his fur. Looked a little like Alopecia but lucky for us, his dermatologist realized what it was right away, put him on the right kind of antibiotic and it cleared right up.
The most recent symptom we noticed is dry bumpy scabs on his head along with loss of fur in those areas.

I use various things to treat him, but our most recent routine is:
Weekly douxo baths, Claritin redi-tabs for hives as needed. Betagen topical spray for itchiness, and the scabs on his head, also use as needed.
He's also getting the oral version of allergy shots twice per day.

Thing will allergies is- it may not ONLY be the food.
Since having Blue, I've met a ton of bulldog owners at various meet-ups , rescue events and from just walking him in our neighborhood.
Inevitably, the conversations always lead to health and food.
Most of the bullies seem to have some kind of environmental allergy, as well as an intolerance to certain foods.
So when trying to figure out correct protein, it can be very difficult if your bullies surroundings (like the grass) are contributing to his/her condition.


What I've learned this last year and a half: Be very aware of his surroundings, wipe him down after each walk, give relief meds. as needed, and when switching protein, make sure
I'm aware of how it's cooked (kibble, raw, home), and keep him away from his environmental triggers as much as possible during the switch. The last part is very difficult.

[minibull]

Yes, Lola is allergic to everything: grass, pollen, dust, ants, moths, trees, weeds, cotton, and oxygen (well not oxygen, but it feels like it) Her allergies were so severe at 6 months old that we had to do a skin test where they inject her with 60 different allergens to see what flares her up. They take they offending allergens and turn them into a vaccine. She gets a shot every week and will continue for the rest of her life. I was warned by her dermatologist that it would take six months for the desensitization vaccines to work and to not get discouraged. She was right. Lola hardly ever gets any hives anymore and can be outside in all those elements that had her poor skin exploding before the treatment.
Leo on the other hand has had no allergies (knock on wood)

In humans, allergy tests are commonly positive for multiple allergens when allergies are very flared/active. In this setting, the immune system is primed to react to an overly wide range of proteins. Often, the list of offending substances will narrow once the allergies are under control.

For example, I knew a body builder patient with terrible asthma who was found to be profoundly allergic to environmental allergens as well as chicken, broccoli, carrots, and rice. These foods were the main components of his diet. Once his allergies were controlled, he was able to resume eating his typical diet.

I do not know if it is the same in dogs, but if so, maybe your dog will have a narrower allergy set once her immune system settles down with treatment and elimination when appropriate.

[agentbunny]

In humans, allergy tests are commonly positive for multiple allergens when allergies are very flared/active. In this setting, the immune system is primed to react to an overly wide range of proteins. Often, the list of offending substances will narrow once the allergies are under control.

For example, I knew a body builder patient with terrible asthma who was found to be profoundly allergic to environmental allergens as well as chicken, broccoli, carrots, and rice. These foods were the main components of his diet. Once his allergies were controlled, he was able to resume eating his typical diet.

I do not know if it is the same in dogs, but if so, maybe your dog will have a narrower allergy set once her immune system settles down with treatment and elimination when appropriate.

I hope you are right! The desensitization vaccines cost about $200 every six to seven weeks and I would love to stop giving them to her. The dermatologist vet told me it would be a life long thing, perhaps reducing the shots to every few weeks to a month but not much more. I wish I was brave enough to stop the shots to see if her allergies would return or not, but I would hate to see her covered in hives again. I was told by several vets that environmental allergies are not common in very young puppies. They usually develop after 18 months. Lola had them since I brought her home at 3 months and the vets said I could only expect for it to get worse. Totally sucks.

[ThatsBull]

Tia clearly has allergies. I suspect she is allergic to chicken. I am currently feeding her Acana Pacifica, but if she can manage to get into the cat food (or some people food), usually her face (just under her nose, and her chin) get very pink, and I have noticed that her tongue seems to stick out more if she is having an allergic reaction. She sometimes gets what seems to be a hive on her forehead as well. I am not too sure about any other reactions she may have, we have just had her for a month.

We only suspected she had an allergy at all because her papers from the SPCA said she was on "orijen" (didn't specify what type). We thought it was grain, so bought a grain free (but chicken based) food, which didn't seem to help.

[jimmyjj]

Diesel is allergic to not having treats ...

[RiiSi]

My boys luckily don't have any allergies. Only thing Voitto can't eat is raw vegetables and Usko can't eat high purine foods, but it's not cause of allergies.

[caitlinstew]

We haven't found anything specific that Bruce is allergic to, thankfully. But, this spring has brought in so much pollen that I think common spring allergies are affecting him. We noticed his nose being more runny, and his eyes would be goopy in the morning.

At our local dog shop that we go to, Scraps, an employee sells her own natural remedies to help, so we bought one of her sprays and have been trying it and it helps a lot!!! It's a mixture of Distilled Water, Myrrh, Lavender, Peppermint, Elemi, and Roman Chamomile. We just spray it straight onto his chest. But, if my allergies are bad, I will do an additional spray into his kennel before bed so he breathes it in while he sleeps. It really has helped with his runny nose! The employee that makes the stuff breeds French Bulldogs, and she mentioned it helps her little ones too!