Other Swollen Eye Gland / Allergies?

[hughesjo]

Hi, we have had our bully baby Nelson now for 3 weeks now, he is 16 weeks old. We live in Dubai and we came by him through someone who had purchased him (not through a reputable breeder), having read up on various problems associated with imported pups I now understand that the allergy symptoms he is beginning to display are common with puppy farm pups. He is sneezing a lot in the morning, has red blotches on inside of his ears which he is scratching and more recently has developed a swelling on one of his eye glands which has caused the eye to be very red in the corner. At first I though it was cherry eye but the vet says it is an allergy symptom. He is now on steroids and antibiotics and eye cream to try and calm it down although it doesnt appear to be getting any better. I am about to switch his dog food to Royal Canin Hypoallegenic to see if this helps. Has anyone else experienced this at all in a pup and how did you deal with it? Any advice greatly received. I dont want to keep making visits to the vets for continued steroids if there is an alternative.

 

[RaRett]

I would suggest, trying a Grain Free food - I have had great success with Blue Buffalo - and The Taste of the Wild (however, the recalls from DIAMOND Pet foods, has steered me away from ToTW anymore) I havent heard anything 'good' about Royal Canin unfortuately - check the ingredients - make sure Meat is the 1st ingredient - your pup might be alergic to one specific protein, we think Gizmo has issues with Chicken. Lastly remember 'treats' if you go grain free food, but give them Milk Bones, you have just defeated your purpose of 'grain free'.

 

[BruceP]

to EBN.... glad to have you here. Even well bred bullies can and do have allergy problems and food allergies seem to be very common. There are many fine foods but which one will be right for your bully sometimes takes a while to find. Trial and error is the norm for finding what food that is. Here at EBN we have a food rating chart and that is an excellent place to start as these foods, for the most part, have actually been successfully fed to bullies. Grain free foods will eliminate some allergens right off the bat. Our bully doesn't do well on chicken either but that doesn't mean yours won't. Like I said, trial and error. Whatever food you pick, make sure you do a 'slow transition'. Doing a slow transition is so their tummy doesn't get upset from the difference in ingredients in the old and new foods. It basically is feeding 1/4 new food mixed with 3/4 old for for about a week, then mix 1/2 and 1/2 old and new for another week. Then 3/4 new food and 1/4 old food for another week before feeding 100% new food. Along the way, if your bullie starts to get loose poo you may want to back up a little on the mixture for a while longer before preceding. Also, I had a discussion with a rep from Earthborn a few weeks ago and he said that whenever he transitions from one food to another he adds a couple tablespoons of canned pumpkin to the mix. Said he never has a soft poo issue doing it that way. Hope this helps.
Again, thanx for joining. Oh, and we need pix... this crazy bunch is pic crazed. LOL

 

[bullmama]

Welcome! I am sorry your baby is showing symptoms at such a young age... It could also be from stress as it sounds like there has been a lot of moving and traveling. Getting on a good grain free food is a great place to start. It could also be a contact allergy, wash bedding in "free and clear" detergeants and getting a good shampoo that is hypoallergenic too.

 

[RiiSi]

So sorry to hear that your pup is having problems. Royal Canin is not the best of foods and I just checked that what you mentioned is for dogs older than 1 year. As suggested try to check the food ratings here and choose something that is as natural as possible with no grain and glutein. I myself feed raw and that is in most cases very beneficial for bullies.

 

[hughesjo]

Thank you very much for your advice, unfortunately we are very limited in Dubai to the various types of dog food here and Royal Canin seems to the main one in all the vets and pet shops here. I think I may try him with a raw food diet. Is there info on this site on what types of meat are best?

 

[RiiSi]

That's great, it is a bit more time-consuming than kibble but it's well worth it, especially if Royal Canin is the best you can get there. Check this link and you'll find a lot of good advice.

http://www.englishbulldognews.com/forums/raw-feeding-bulldogs/

 

[Vicaroo1000]

Thank you very much for your advice, unfortunately we are very limited in Dubai to the various types of dog food here and Royal Canin seems to the main one in all the vets and pet shops here. I think I may try him with a raw food diet. Is there info on this site on what types of meat are best?

[MENTION=5147]hughesjo[/MENTION] - we are seeing more of these inquiries from Dubai here. Maybe you can be the pioneer on this topic and find out what genuinely GOOD foods are available there in Dubai? Your experience will help others. [MENTION=3354]RiiSi[/MENTION] made a great point; you can un-do everything positive you are doing nutrition wise with the wrong treat. Watch everything that goes into Nelson's mouth. Write it down if you must. It will help you in the long term to figure out what's happening.

 

[hughesjo]

Woo hoo, I have been doing a little research on google and have located a pet food delivery place in Dubai that stock Artemis (5 stars on the recommended lists) :D so have just ordered a bag and will switch over from the Royal Canin Hypoallegenic which although Neldon does love, is scoring very low on the recommended nutritions chart. Lets hope this works for him!

 

[RiiSi]

Good news and fingers crossed now that it's the right one for your baby!

 

[pamela]

My Emma had alot of medical issues, allergies, skin and nasel. Raw dog food saved her. No more steriods, beautiful coat. I will never do commercial dog food again. Puppies can go raw also. Once you get into a routine, not a problem, and your baby will benefit so very much. Steriods can do so much harm if on them alot. It is not a quick fix, as the raw is a natural way to do, so all of that nasty stuff will leave the system, then benefits will kick in. the antibotics and eye cream should help until the benefits are reaped from raw diet. Stay with it, everyone I know that uses it, was not disappointed. Good Luck

 

[agility18]

Woo hoo, I have been doing a little research on google and have located a pet food delivery place in Dubai that stock Artemis (5 stars on the recommended lists) :D so have just ordered a bag and will switch over from the Royal Canin Hypoallegenic which although Neldon does love, is scoring very low on the recommended nutritions chart. Lets hope this works for him!

I used to feed Oscar the Royal Canin Hypoallergenic and i had recently switched him over to Artemis Adult Dog and eventually to Artemis Osopure Bison based diet as it Grain Free. A little expensive but when compared with Ziwipeak, due to the quantity vs price factor, i am pretty happy with it. Their food did help me get rid of the unwanted itching. Artemis definitely had worked out for me.