Sores in between Lola's toes

[BabyDuke]

this is a GREAT thread and I completely respect and understand both opinions.. I will throw my two sense in as well since we have literally spent thousands on food trials, allergy shots, meds etc.. for Duke's allergies..
first of all.. I completely agree that FOOD is HUGE in our bulldogs overall health.. you guys talked me into switching to NVI food for Duke and within weeks his coats was like silk but more important we saw a difference in his personality.. ( more energy, better mood and especially better bowels and we noticed his hair growing back where he has gotten it shaved for the allergy testing and prior to switching foods it would not grow)
BUT my suggestion is to have your dog allergy tested from the get go.. I just would never put Duke through the year of food trials, ear infections, hot spots , cyst in paws etc if i knew i could have his tested to get to the bottom of what was wrong.. We ended up after our 3 vet going to a dermatologist.. Duke is highly allergic to wool and somewhat to mold. We had wool blankets all over our house.. now mind you this Dermatolgist did start with food trials.. so we had to be very patient.. he gave us three options so we could have had him tested right away but we chose to do the food trials..hope I am not going in circles here.

my point is once he was tested and we got rid of the wool etc he was 80 % better instantly we then put him on allergy shots for the mold ( which did not work ) for about another 3 months he would rub his face against the sofa and butt spin as we call it ( so removing the wool got rid of the cysts, ear infections, hot spots that Duke would rip open every other day ) but he still had the red red wrinkles so we found a regimin of a very low dose steriod he takes 1/2 of a 10 mg every other day and he is 100 clear, I had to make a choice of the quality of life I wanted duke to have because i was very against this regimin.. I have his blood tested every 6 months and i have him on very good food and make sure he gets plently of excercise. I think it is such a shame that our bullies have so so many allergies but I think we have to do what is best for each situation. I know so many are allergic to chicken etc. but there are also so many environmental things they are allergic to as well. the whole thing is VERY frustrating!!!

I hope this helps in some way.. I just think they deserve to be comfortable and happy! Good Luck to all

 

[dietchick2]

My english bulldog is 13 years old and has sores between her feet, I give her baths in aveeno and put gold bond powder between her toes, it seems to help.

 

[Maximus]

No..but I don't think it should be overlooked. Where your vets have NOT suggested a problem because of food, 2 of mine have. My 4 year old male was diagnosed with epilepsy at 10 months old. After all the testing was said and done, no known reason was found. Now he suffers from a grand mal seizure every 3 to 6 weeks. Every 3 months he has blood work done. Every 3 months is meds are tinkered with. Finally, one of his team of doctors suggested a food allergy. I put it on the back burner. We switched vets offices (we were using it because of it's 24 hour service but they were so spendy) and the owner of the new clinic specializes in bulldogs. HE suggested a food allergy also.

I was stunned, but I'm willing to give it a try. Right now he's gone just over 8 weeks without a seizure. That is a HUGE accomplishment for us. We have him on a spy camera and we have several members on this forum that watch him closely during the day. At night, he sleeps right against my side.

So, for every person who tries a food switch without success..........there are about 20 who have had success. Food plays a huge part on how our bulldogs appear both inside and out.
Feeding them crap food is like feeding a child McDonalds. What are you really feeding them. They don't call the shakes, MILK shakes..........hmmmm, I wonder why.
Feed them a good quality food and it makes a huge difference. There are just too many success stories right here on EBN to ignore it. I really hope Max will find something that works for him.
Poor Max may benefit from allergy testing. It seems as if you've given all the 6 star foods a try...(how long on each???)

Good luck to both of you.

As I had mentioned earlier, I have just changed Max's food to Nature's Variety INSTINCT, which is a LID, and I also have him on BENADRYL for his Allergies, and he looks alot better - the redness in his face
and around his eyes is gone and his eyes are no longer swollen and puffy. The VET recommended using the Chlorhexidine solution to clean between the toes - Max has interdigital cysts on all four paws and between
each and every toe. I use Duoxo pads to clean these. I haven't tried the Epsom Salt soaks yet - Max is a big boy, he would have to go into the Tub for that. I haven't done Allergy Testing yet because I know it is
very expensive and its not a good time right now to have a major expense.....

 

[kayrahbear]

Roscoe has them between every toe as well. His were pretty huge when the vet drained them yesterday. The vet gave me cream to put on the sores, but Roscoe won't let me anywhere near his feet now. He even growled (just a teeny bit) on the last attempt.
How can I get him calm enough to actually put the medicine on them. It's like wrestling a crocodile

 

[Libra926]

[MENTION=3197]kayrahbear[/MENTION]
I have one of those also. Orion use to throw the biggest temper tantrum and scream like a 2 year old when I tried to clip her nails or put in eye drops. Orion developed an ulcer in her eye, and drops were necessary twice daily. I started doing it right before she ate. No food until the drops were in. It took over a month of sitting on her, begging her, 2 people holding her until we got the drops in. Now, she sits and lets me do it. Her nails? Some days she lets me clip a whole paw, other days just one or two nails before she starts her fit. It's consistence. Do you have someone who can help you? If you do, work on it a little each day.

Good luck.

[MENTION=701]Maximus[/MENTION]

You said in an earlier post that you've tried alot of 6 star foods. How long was he on each food before you switched him to the next? Just curious. I hear ya about the allergy testing costing alot....do you have care credit? It's an option if you ever decide to do it.

 

[GatorRay]

Weren't you mixing foods for Maximus there for a while? I am glad you are trying something else. It might NOT be food (Gator's eye problems aren't) but it could be. Or one problem could be and one could be something entirely different. My vets DO think that the interdigital cysts on Gator were food. Two of them said so. Guess what, I took him off of a chicken based kibble and no more cysts. They were gone within days.

I would also like to add that if they are on the right food, they are healthy enough that their allergy symptoms will lessen. The allergy to whatever it might be (grass, pollen, whatever) will still be there but their suffering will be less. In my heart, I know that if I had been supporting Gypsy properly through diet, she may never have gotten mange or if she did (from the lower immune system due to antibiotics), it would have been less and cleared faster.

This is why I no longer feed kibble, to be honest. I just got plain fed up with cysts and acne and yeast and ear problems and bad poop and anal glands, just everything.....

At any rate, I think you are doing you best . Give him hugs from us.

 

[shamrock13]

Just joined the site today. I have an Old English Bulldog named Hooch, who is seven years old. He has a problem with these cysts from time to time as well as being prone to yeast infections in his ears. I recently changed his food to a grain free diet, and must admit yeast in his ears does not seem to be a problem as of late. He has only been on this diet for approximately 2 months now, and from what I have read on other sites, it can take months before changing their diets can reduce the symptoms related to allergies. He is an obsessive paw licker and I have noticed that the fur on his front paws has become a dark reddish-brown color. I am going to try the epsom salt soaks I have read about on this site, and see if it helps with these cysts between his toes. He is now laying on my bed taking it easy for the day. He had a large cyst that burst when he jumped up on my bed. I was shocked at the amount of blood that came out of it when it burst and I am sure he must have gotten a lot of relief by relieving all of that pressure related to the blood build up. I will continue to monitor his paw and take him to the vets if I feel it is infected. The older he gets, the more chronic his problems become. I also have a problem with a discharge with his eyes. I have a daily regimen of cleaning his ears, eyes, and folds in his face to try and keep him as comfortable as possible. I will now add epsom salt soaks for his paws at least twice a week and see if this helps to cut down or hopefully eliminate the paw licking and cyst problems. I am looking forward to meeting all of you bully lovers as well as sharing any information that I can with this wonderful community. Thanks again for all of the wonderful information regarding these cysts. I will keep you all posted regarding his progress with these soaks. Shamrock13

 

[bullmama]

Just joined the site today. I have an Old English Bulldog named Hooch, who is seven years old. He has a problem with these cysts from time to time as well as being prone to yeast infections in his ears. I recently changed his food to a grain free diet, and must admit yeast in his ears does not seem to be a problem as of late. He has only been on this diet for approximately 2 months now, and from what I have read on other sites, it can take months before changing their diets can reduce the symptoms related to allergies. He is an obsessive paw licker and I have noticed that the fur on his front paws has become a dark reddish-brown color. I am going to try the epsom salt soaks I have read about on this site, and see if it helps with these cysts between his toes. He is now laying on my bed taking it easy for the day. He had a large cyst that burst when he jumped up on my bed. I was shocked at the amount of blood that came out of it when it burst and I am sure he must have gotten a lot of relief by relieving all of that pressure related to the blood build up. I will continue to monitor his paw and take him to the vets if I feel it is infected. The older he gets, the more chronic his problems become. I also have a problem with a discharge with his eyes. I have a daily regimen of cleaning his ears, eyes, and folds in his face to try and keep him as comfortable as possible. I will now add epsom salt soaks for his paws at least twice a week and see if this helps to cut down or hopefully eliminate the paw licking and cyst problems. I am looking forward to meeting all of you bully lovers as well as sharing any information that I can with this wonderful community. Thanks again for all of the wonderful information regarding these cysts. I will keep you all posted regarding his progress with these soaks. Shamrock13

Sounds like you are heading in the right direction, keep us posted! Would love to see some pics of your baby, if you haven't yet stop by the welcome and introduction forum and start a new topic


Sent from my iPhone 5 using Tapatalk

 

[jlcox24]

Ollie gets them from the wet grass, they constantly pop up after rain. I try to get his feet cleaned and dried off after its rained but they still pop up..Its always after rain, so i'm pretty sure thats the cause!

 

[Gilkyeb09]

I have tried soaking in Epson salt, so it does work but I find it difficult to make my Gilly girl sit still long enough ... Would anyone know if this be 1x a week or multiple? I have also gone from a very good brand of Dog food Eagle Pack , but then went to grain free Blue buffalo, same issues occurred. I may want to try a diet of human food - any recommendations - I have heard boiled hamburger and rice .. or Chicken. I love my little girl to pieces and have found taking care of her is not a matter of high maintenance but more like taking care of a child (that happens to have 4 legs )

 

[harvey]

Hi there. My Harvey has redness in all of his toes, which is the result of his over-working immune system--so he's yeasty all over, is what this means. Yesterday, I found an awesome article (and videos) posted by JeannieCo (you can find her link on the left handside of the Home page (scroll down) under "Currently Active Users." You've got to read it!!! The title is "The Proper Way to Clean Ears, Nose Ropes, Paws, etc." The article might be under "Bulldog Health."

If Lola has only only red sore, it may be no big deal, but if she has several, it's probably allergies, and you may want to start with changing her diet. Watch the video on cleaning the paws--the doctor is right on! I learned so much and am now making changes to my dogs' diet.

Good luck with Lola-

 

[chopkins]

My 4 year old Ernie has this right now and I tend to think that it may have been caused by playing a lot in the grass this week? This is the second time that he has had this. I soak his paws in the tub twice a day for about 4-6 days w/ Epsom Salt, it worked the first time and hopefully it works this week! By the way, I noticed that his paw bled a bit after his paw soak, is it okay to rub Neosporin on it?

 

[2BullyMama]

My 4 year old Ernie has this right now and I tend to think that it may have been caused by playing a lot in the grass this week? This is the second time that he has had this. I soak his paws in the tub twice a day for about 4-6 days w/ Epsom Salt, it worked the first time and hopefully it works this week! By the way, I noticed that his paw bled a bit after his paw soak, is it okay to rub Neosporin on it?

Neosporian is fine.... Yes grass can be a cause, as I believe these are for. Allergies, my girl has grass allergies and I have kept these at bay by wing her paws after being outside.

 

[macdog]

Hello all,

This has been an informative and excellent thread, thank you all for the insight.

We have a ~4yr old Bulldog that has sores in between his toes and redness on the bottom of his paws.

Our vet has tried steroids (which messed with is liver) but helped a bit, though we don't use them anymore given the risk. We've also tried antibiotics (cephalexin) and allergy meds (atopica) and currently soak his feet a few times a week in Douxo Chlorhexidine shampoo + water, as well as apply benadryl cream and silver sulfadiazine daily.

With the current soaking and topical meds, the sores are somewhat contained, though still persistent and flare up. He insists on licking them throughout the day and night.

He's on a strict grain-free and poultry free diet (Core Wellness Ocean Grain free formula), which makes me think that it may not be food allergies.

I will try the epsom soak as well.

---

Does anyone have any other ideas as to what is causing the frequent sores? Lately his wrinkles around his eyes have become irritated from his eye discharge as well.


Any insight as to what is causing it, or what we can do to help stop the sores from breaking out would be very appreciated.

Thanks for your time and consideration!

 

[2BullyMama]

Hello all,

This has been an informative and excellent thread, thank you all for the insight.

We have a ~4yr old Bulldog that has sores in between his toes and redness on the bottom of his paws.

Our vet has tried steroids (which messed with is liver) but helped a bit, though we don't use them anymore given the risk. We've also tried antibiotics (cephalexin) and allergy meds (atopica) and currently soak his feet a few times a week in Douxo Chlorhexidine shampoo + water, as well as apply benadryl cream and silver sulfadiazine daily.

With the current soaking and topical meds, the sores are somewhat contained, though still persistent and flare up. He insists on licking them throughout the day and night.

He's on a strict grain-free and poultry free diet (Core Wellness Ocean Grain free formula), which makes me think that it may not be food allergies.

I will try the epsom soak as well.

---

Does anyone have any other ideas as to what is causing the frequent sores? Lately his wrinkles around his eyes have become irritated from his eye discharge as well.


Any insight as to what is causing it, or what we can do to help stop the sores from breaking out would be very appreciated.

Thanks for your time and consideration!

For my girl, it is her grass/weed/mold allergy. I have to wipe her paws after each outting to keep them away... epsoum salt soaks are once a week sometimes once a month