PLEASE help with food!!

[nmejia024]

Hello! My 6 month old bully has been on Nature varietys instinct salmon formula and seems to be ok with it, I think. His poop has definitely hardened but he has been extremely itchy around his face. He itches himself raw and itches his nostrils area. I have cleaning the consistently but he's always touching that area. His eyes have been watery and he is also really gassy! Could it be his food? Any recommendations? Need help! Thanks

 

[nmejia024]

*itches his nose rope area.

 

[Poppy]

Best guess would be the food. There is a chance it could be a contact allergy, but food is most often the culprit for these reactions. A lot of members on this board like Fromm but I don't know much about it so I'll let others chime in. Sorry bout your pup The best you can do is keep it the area clean, dry and soothed for now and do as much research you can about food!

 

[cowsmom]

If this just started since you started feeding this food I would feed him something else for a few days such as boiled chicken n rice provided he is not allergic to them. Or I would feed his old food for a few days to see if the itching stops. That is provided the old food was not causing bad problems. Thing is if its the food causing it then its just going to get worse n i would feed something else for a few days n see if things are better. If itching stops I would not feed that food again at all. Easiest thing is to put them on old food till you can find something else. If this doesn't help then you can give an anti histamine till you can figure out what it is. You may want to consider allergy testing. Let us know how its going

 

[LariP]

He may have a secondary yeast infection from the irritation too. If so a trip to the vet for antibiotic ointment may be necessary.

Check out the dog food rating page. It can be daunting finding the right food. Unfortunately unless you get the allergy tests you are going to have to go through the process of trial and error. (that's the route we have taken so far) we have had good luck with Fromm beef Frittata. The surf and turf was better for her than the Bil Jac she came here with but the beef has been better.

We think HRH is allergic to salmon. She developed some issues with a salmon treat. other bullies thrive on salmon oil added to their food to give them shiney coats. They are all so different.

 

[BruceP]

To help relieve the itching you can try giving him Benedryl. One capsule for each 25 pounds of bully, twice a day. Hopefully that will help relieve the itching somewhat. Can you get a pic of his face so we can see how severe the problem is?

 

[nmejia024]

Thanks everyone. This is incredibly frustrating, i just want him to be healthy and look healthy! I had him on nature varieties salmon formula and turkey formula in December and he seemed to be just fine on it. After i was done with those bags, i decided to try the NVI limited ingredient diet which he didn't really like. So i returned back to the salmon formua.

I went out to the drug store and got him some benadryl. He had a tablet not too long ago so hopefully that stops his itchy. His booboo starts to scab over and then before i know it, he is scratching the area again. If anyone has anymore suggestions i would greatly appreciate it!

These are the best pics i could get...

 

[2BullyMama]

You've received some great advice from some of the best posters here.... go to the vet and ask for a full blood screen allergy test. It will save you a lot of money and your baby a lot of discomfort.

 

[JAKEISGREAT]

While you fight the food and allergy battle..try cleaning his red spots with witch hazel and dab a tiny..tiny bit of desitin on the scabs. I use a Qtip dipped in the witch hazel to clean inside the nose rope and wrinkles. No need to dy, it's an astringent o will self dry. Then dab the tiny..tiny..bit of desitin. Don't do more than 3 times a week though...good luck!

 

[cowsmom]

well like i said its either food or enviromental. easiest thing to do is take him off the nvi completely. give him some boiled chicken and rice or hamburger and rice for a few days and see if he gets better. wellness has some simple solutions formulas which are pretty much the same thing if you cant cook for him. if he gets better you know its the food if not then its probably environmental. keep giving benadryl or you can try zyrtec which seemed to work better for another member with face issues. good luck.

 

[nmejia024]

Thank you all! I will be changing his food shortly. His left ear has been filled with redish/brownish gunk. I've cleaning it everyday now. Talked to the vet on the phone and she said it may be yeast and/or allergies. I picked up some panalog and it seems to be really helping along with the benadryl. What kind of food do you guys feed your bulldog? did you go through several brands until you found the right one? Thank you all for your input! Not sure what i would do without this website!!

 

[BruceP]

If the problem is only on his snout.... maybe he is allergic to his bowl...... Are you using Stainless Steel?????

 

[cowsmom]

well most of the people on this forum feed fromm or nvi. i can personally tell you i have fed my dog like 20 different foods trying to find something she wasnt allergic to. i finally had her tested and now i see why. i want to tell you not to take to much time changing your dogs food as if the food is causing these symptoms then they are only going to get worse the longer you feed it. in other words the longer they come into contact with the allergen then the worse the symptoms will get. brown reddish ear gunk is allergies and possibly yeast and i can tell you that yeast things on a bully is usually caused by an allergy to something. the face issues are probably yeast caused by an allergy and benadryl and such is only a temporary fix. honestly if it were my dog i would get them off the food immediately and feed rice and chicken till they got better. if they dont get better i would be searching for whatever it is that is causing it. please save yourself time and trial and error and get the allergy test. its so worth it. i keep posting this because im trying to keep your dog off the prenisone and antibiotics that will come if this keeps up. i so hope your dog gets better soon.

 

[Junebugismybaby]

We went through hell trying to find the right dog food for out female.. it took almost six months but we ended up going with Taste of the Wild we can intermix the water fowl. the salmon, and the venison and she is still great no runs and not farting. A great thing to use for contact allergies it Apple cider vinegar with mother in it. It has to have the mother I put one cap full in her water dish every morning and she no longer gets tear stains or itchy feet.

 

[Sherry]

Thank you all! I will be changing his food shortly. His left ear has been filled with redish/brownish gunk. I've cleaning it everyday now. Talked to the vet on the phone and she said it may be yeast and/or allergies. I picked up some panalog and it seems to be really helping along with the benadryl. What kind of food do you guys feed your bulldog? did you go through several brands until you found the right one? Thank you all for your input! Not sure what i would do without this website!!

I was feeding these guys NVI salmon for a few months, I thought this stuff has to work, but it didn't. alas, runny poops and red gunk was hard to keep up with.
Now I feed them TOTW prairie , it has real Bison and Venison Roast's in it. They eat less the, poops are log like and only one has minor eye issues. Griz, his eyes tear wet, but not gunky or thick. I wipe everyone twice a day, Griz more often to keep him dry.