URGENT!!! Hormonal issues, hot spots and more...

[Maife]

This is gonna be a long one ..... I'm sorry for that but it only makes sense if I tell you guys the whole thing...

The past couple of weeks have been rough . Everything started a couple of weeks back when I had to travel for work. Ulysses couldn't stay home with my husband because that would mean too much time alone and we didn't want that, so as always we decided to leave him with my in-laws for that week. I drove 5 hours to drop him and everything seemed fine. He knew the day I left and he was sad as I was but also happy with his grandma so all was good. I received messages everyday with pictures and they told me he was doing great, the only thing is that every morning he would run upstairs to see if we were there and wait for us, but just a little while and then the day went on normally.

Finally after a week I could finally picked my baby up. He seemed happy and fine, the only thing I noticed at first glance was that the hair next to his ears seemed greasy or dirty but I didn't think much of it. Well, so after all the greetings I finally got to check him properly, and I was so scared when I realised the skin under the greasy hair was red and bloody, after going through the forum I realised sure enough he had a hot spot! I didn't have any experience with those before so I had to do a lot of research to learn what are they and how to treat them. So that night I found 2 HUGE hot spots right next to his ears and 2 in each cheek My poor baby must have been in so much pain, and he just looked at me and I could see he was relieved I was back. So the next morning right before taking him to the vet I was checking him all over and Oh crap I found a flee! Yeap, somehow he also got flees . So I bought flee shampoo washed him real good, pour vinegar/water on him and he was fresh and clean. I inspected him and apart from those first 2 I didn't find anymore.

So I got him to the vet (emergency vet near my in-laws) and he seemed more nervous than usual. At first he is acting fine but after she shaved his hot spots and gave him an injected antibiotic he was just acting desperate. I have never seen him going around the floor like that after an injection, like he was in so much pain. So she gave him a treat and he received it but then she tried to touch him and boom! he jumps at her and bites her in the leg. It was not a snap, it was a full on bite. My husband got him off her and I took him out. She said she was fine and we should bring him the next day, but I told her we were driving back home immediately and I'll take him to his regular vet.

When we got home the hot spots an all took a little to heal but his skin is coming back to normal, apart from crazy yeast (which he didn't have when I left him).
He is now also extremely reactive to strangers and other dogs, he was never very friendly, more timid and skeptic I'd say, but now he just goes for people, some sort of preemptive attack.

I did't want to give him any more extra stress so I took him again to the vet just last week, and she told me he seems to be traumatised, either by what happened with the other vet or something else. She also told us that his hormones might be making him crazy (he is now 2 years and not yet neutered) so she injected him with anti-testosterone and gave us some pills called Zylkene to calm his nerves. We already had the appointment for the neutering for september (changed it so many times during the last year just out of fear something might go wrong :S), but she said she wanted to wait since he has been so stressed. Instead she gave him the hormones and told us that should calm him down for a while.

He is acting much better now, not jumping so fearful/aggressively at people, even at the vet he did it but now he seems more secure with us around. This all has been so stressful for me, I have been feeling so bad and guilty. On the one hand it all happened because I left him, but on the other I have begun to think that I have spoiled him to a point where he cannot be with anybody else. I do blame my in-laws because I know they let him out to roam their garden alone and run around like a wild dog which is how he got the fleas, and also although I've told them a million times they also just let him roast under the sun which I think could have contributed to the hot spots (not sure tho).

I just feel guilty and don't really know how to help him, he looks and seems to be feeling better, but he is so lethargic like never before, is almost not my dog anymore. I don't know if it is the hormones or the trauma or something else. This week we have vet again and I just hope he behaves, he was so good and now I just don't feel that I can trust him.

I am so sorry for the extremely long post, please just bare with me and any advice will be much appreciated

 

[Texas Carol]

Dear Maia...please don't blame yourself and don't apologize for long post.

Have you seen mine?!!

Really, I think Ulysses just really missed y'all, got fleas which he's not used to,
got hot spots & yeast...that's a whole lot to happen in a short amount of time.
I think it was just all to much for him, he was suffering and he reacted and bit
the Vet. I don't think it is hormonal and I personally DO NOT neuter unless there
is a need too & have always had healthy males w/out male problems i. e. roaming,
marking, aggressiveness, bad behavior, etc. And when I do neuter it's when they
have matured physically which by now, he has. It might take a while for him to feel
safe again and stop being so reactive. There's a herbal supplement called Remedy
Rescue that helps calm them instead of hormonal injections~less expensive I'm sure!

Let us know how it goes...will be praying for all you, GOD bless!

 

[2BullyMama]

As you may know, Bulldogs can be OCD and are very schedule oriented... since he was away from home and you, he is off and will take a few days to settle back in. Also, if he is in pain or discomfort he will act aggressive or stand-off from strange cause he feels weak and needs to protect himself. Give him some time to settle back and home, get back on schedule and he will be back to his fun loving self.

Carol gave you good advice on the supplements

 

[Jennifer Clark]

Awe Love and prayers coming your way!

 

[DudleysMom]

I have nothing to offer but to say...I hope your baby is back to normal soon. He's stressed, you are stressed...hopefully you'll both feel better soon. Sending hugs and good thoughts from me and Dudley!

 

[Davidh]

I would also have your vet test him Thyroid level, as it can also bring on aggression. He must have been something traumatic while you were gone also. No telling what it was though. Next time you need to leave him, I would find a good pet sitter that you trust. Ask around and get references. We use one if we need to go out of town and can't take our babies with us. This way they stay at home, and still get a little attention a few times a day. We have also used a house sitter/pet sitter also.

 

[bullmama]

Boy how stressful that whole thing was for both of you. Sounds like he is on the mend but I really do think the hormone injection is likely what is changing his energy level and behavior. Once it wears off hopefully he will be back to himself. In the meantime, lots of cuddles

 

[ChanelnBrutus]

Oh poor baby!! Hope he feels better soon! Please give him extra hugs and kisses from us

 

[Petra]

Aww, no one who doesn't themselves own a bulldog will ever understand the love and worry we have for our bulldog kids. Me and my husband got a couple of friends to look after ours at our house when we went away and it was a total mess even though I made written descriptions about everything. They were dirty, one had developed some kind of hormonal skin issue and was limping AND they let my boy SLEEP OUTSIDE!!! I almost DIED. I can never go anywhere ever again. I asked everyday how things were going and all I got was "It's going great"... obviously not so great I found out when getting home.

When having a male not neutered it's a good idea to either let him mate at least once a year but preferably two since that is the normal cycle of females in heat (I'm a bit against it though since there are so many dogs in rescues already) or you know... help him We had our dog trainer do that "thing" for us cos I just couldn't, lol. Most males can go un-neutered and be perfectly fine without any sort of "help", but some can't. If you don't want to neuter him you can try helping him maybe? and see if he gets his frustrations out if that is what's going on.

We neutered my lill Bennie boy when he was two years old and I was so scared and nervous he wouldn't be the same after, but he's the exact same lill sweet boy he was before

I hope he'll feel better soon

 

[Pati Robins]

I cant add anything more to this conversation than others already did-sorry
One thing tho -hot spots never hurted my girl and at the time when we where finding safest solution for them Shy was covered in them - she was itching like mad to the point of bleeding by they weren't hurting her to the point i cant touch her to put anything on her
I would suggest to take your baby to the vet to check them out and discuss recent change of behaviour issues xx hope it all goes well for you

 

[RiiSi]

That sounds like an ordeal that would make me give up traveling all together. Nothing to add really, but I hope he's all well soon! I'm pretty sure that he's different behavior is cause of the hormones.