Help Needed! Allergies - Raw diet food trials

Jungerland

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Jul 31, 2011
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Hi All,

As of lately Winston has been struggling with yeasty ears, goopy eyes, itchy eyes/ears, the basic tell tale signs of allergies. With a few recent surgeries under his belt for other issues mentioned in another thread a I posted (Entropian surgery, and a elongated pallet). The Cornell Animal Hospital recommended their dermatology department. We are basically on step one of what they recommended.

Food trials - we were feeding Winston Taste of the Wild - Bison (yellow bag). Seems crazy to me because he was on the food for more than a year with what seemed then as to not many issues. Looking back on that time he did have the reoccurring ear infection of yeast/bacteria. We are currently feeding him boiled pork, rice, kidney beans, and sunflower oil. By no means a balanced diet, however I suppose it is intended to rule out food allergies to environmental allergies. I have noticed an improvement, however it I would think he has some type of environmental allergy. With it being winter right now I think I can rule out tree/flower pollens, but just like a human allergy skin test they would test for over 60 types of allergens from dust to wool.

I did put Winston back on his Kibble food to make sure that the raw diet was actually helping out. Within two days the yeasty ears (which i used Zymox with the hydrocortisone 1% in it) were back and he went from a low/moderate itchy level to high/extreme. I immediately went back to his raw food. The raw food is so time consuming and I'm guessing more expensive but if it makes Winston more comfortable I will absolutely make the sacrifice.

I would ultimately feel better to have the blood and skin test done to pinpoint the actual allergies being food and/or environmental.

- Has anyone every tried or used Dinovite as a supplement in their dogs food? There was not much info on it when I google seached it and searched it on EBN. It is suppose to help with allergies/itching among other things.

- I give him 50mg of benadryl before bed and sometimes put a e-collar on him, it tends to help him sleep better and not wake up and itch in the middle of the night.

- Do any other owners notice a spike in allergies in the winter?

- Does anyone actually give their bully a daily prescribed allergy medicine? Or does a raw diet mostly take care of the issue.

- I have read in other posts that in some cases the grains cause the reaction and not the actual protein?


Thanks for any and all help or experiences with my lengthy post.
 
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Jungerland

Jungerland

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photo(2).jpgphoto(1).JPGphoto.JPG

Wanted to share some updated pics for taking a look and reading my post :D
 

2BullyMama

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Sherry

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he looks great!!! you must of been feeding him raw in these pictures? I started raw 1 week ago, I'm grinding my own meat, chicken legs, breast and necks. I have 5 bully's and notice a huge difference in all of them so far. Griz, my red male at 2-1/2 years old is so sensitive he had scratched his face open terribly I couldn't take his pain anymore and finally convinced my hubby it had to be done. Everything is going swimmingly. To me it's worth it but I'm not trying to convince anybody to do anything. It is right for us though. so far, like I said it's been one week with amazing results

001.jpg picture on left was taken on 2/14 picture on below is taken 2/19 001.jpg
I seen the yeast dry up in the ear in this short time.
 
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Jungerland

Jungerland

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[MENTION=1714]Sherry[/MENTION] yes those pictures were taken while on the raw food diet. WOW, 5 bulldogs you MUST have your hands full. I would love to get another one for Winston to play with, his current buddy is a Yorkie/Maltese mix, 8 pounds to Winston's 55 pounds lol.


Those pictures look painful, but looks like it is healing for Grizz so thats good. How does he do on a E-collar just so he does not injure himself any further. Thankfully Winston does not mind it at all. I actually purchased him a "comfy cone" size XL. Fits him perfectly.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000XY5DSM/ref=oh_details_o03_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Promise I am not plugging any of these products, they are just what I have found that works for Winston and I.
 

Sherry

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I've never owned one, sure wish I would of had one last week though. That one looks like a good one, I should get it just in case I suppose, we've never had a problem with him scratching or any of them for that matter before last week. He even had a growth removed behind his ear when he was a year or so old, never bothered with it.
 

2BullyMama

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Hi All,

As of lately Winston has been struggling with yeasty ears, goopy eyes, itchy eyes/ears, the basic tell tale signs of allergies. With a few recent surgeries under his belt for other issues mentioned in another thread a I posted (Entropian surgery, and a elongated pallet). The Cornell Animal Hospital recommended their dermatology department. We are basically on step one of what they recommended.

Food trials - we were feeding Winston Taste of the Wild - Bison (yellow bag). Seems crazy to me because he was on the food for more than a year with what seemed then as to not many issues. Looking back on that time he did have the reoccurring ear infection of yeast/bacteria. We are currently feeding him boiled pork, rice, kidney beans, and sunflower oil. By no means a balanced diet, however I suppose it is intended to rule out food allergies to environmental allergies. I have noticed an improvement, however it I would think he has some type of environmental allergy. With it being winter right now I think I can rule out tree/flower pollens, but just like a human allergy skin test they would test for over 60 types of allergens from dust to wool.

I did put Winston back on his Kibble food to make sure that the raw diet was actually helping out. Within two days the yeasty ears (which i used Zymox with the hydrocortisone 1% in it) were back and he went from a low/moderate itchy level to high/extreme. I immediately went back to his raw food. The raw food is so time consuming and I'm guessing more expensive but if it makes Winston more comfortable I will absolutely make the sacrifice.

I would ultimately feel better to have the blood and skin test done to pinpoint the actual allergies being food and/or environmental.

- Has anyone every tried or used Dinovite as a supplement in their dogs food? There was not much info on it when I google seached it and searched it on EBN. It is suppose to help with allergies/itching among other things.

- I give him 50mg of benadryl before bed and sometimes put a e-collar on him, it tends to help him sleep better and not wake up and itch in the middle of the night.

- Do any other owners notice a spike in allergies in the winter?

- Does anyone actually give their bully a daily prescribed allergy medicine? Or does a raw diet mostly take care of the issue.

- I have read in other posts that in some cases the grains cause the reaction and not the actual protein?


Thanks for any and all help or experiences with my lengthy post.

Hi -- I bumped you last night cause i did not have the time to respond.... so i am back. i do not know a lot about raw feeding, i did feed Banks raw for as period of time, but it was pre-ordered and made by a nutritionalist for us. She did great on it until she developed colitis and her body could handle the bacteria so she is now on Fromm Beef Frittata.

Banks is highly allergic chicken, sensitive to salmon and potatoes. she also has a long list of environmental allergies so she is on Benedryl all year long, as needed. What I found is staying away from grains and potatoes and lessened her yeast issues.... I use vinegar to clean her ears/paws as needed and wipe her with unscented baby wipes when she comes in from outside. lots of work but all well worth it.

Good luck with everything
 
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Jungerland

Jungerland

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[MENTION=2894]2BullyMama[/MENTION] the vinegar thing is interesting maybe I will give it a shot. When you use for the ears do you actually squirt it so it gets down into the ear canal? Also what type of vinegar and how much water to vinegar?

Thank you for your input!
 

2BullyMama

I'm not OCD....now who moved my bulldog?
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Jul 28, 2011
48,581
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Gilbertsville, PA
Country
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Bulldog(s) Names
Chelios (Frenchie), Nitschke (2004-2011) Banks (2005-2014) and Lambeau (2014-2024)
@2BullyMama the vinegar thing is interesting maybe I will give it a shot. When you use for the ears do you actually squirt it so it gets down into the ear canal? Also what type of vinegar and how much water to vinegar? Thank you for your input!

Apple Cider Vinegar in her drinking water... regular white vinegar/water mix for her ears -- I squirt a little in the ear to get her to shake a bit, then I wipe the ear with a cotton pad.
 

Beachsidebully

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Jan 13, 2013
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Daisy
I was having trouble with my girls anal gland swelling up and they finally attributed it to food allergies. She seems to do good with a lamb and rice or blue buffalo has a lamb and oatmeal she does well on.
 
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Jungerland

Jungerland

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I need to clarify my raw diet for Winston. It is actually not raw pork I have been cooking it for him. I must of been a little confused on the term "raw" diet, even though it is what it sounds like :ashamed:.

I think I am going to try him on a grain free food that I have read on here where some owners are having some success with. I have made notes on Nature's Variety Instinct, Nutrisca ( I read [MENTION=1714]Sherry[/MENTION] feed her dogs before she went Raw), EarthBorn, Blue Buffalo, and Fromms. I am sure there are more out there but it will be trial and error for me.
 

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