Help/Advice - Allergies

[madie4589]

Hello! I am the proud owner of an 8month old english bulldog mix. He was part of a litter rescued from a puppy mill (we think) so his history is unclear. We were told he is a bulldog beagle mix. I have no idea what kind of health his parents were in unfortunalty so it's been a struggle, he's been sick since we got him. He's had kennel cough, giardia, ear infections, upper respritory infections and pretty bad pyoderma. I knew the health risks that came with getting a bulldog, especially one that was bred in a mill, and was always hypervigilant. We followed all the neccesary steps and took all the precautions, and he still constantly sick. After a bad trip to the vet where a dog with severe kennel cough was allowed to roam the waiting room, I understood that frank was probably getting sick AT the vet.


Anyway, we swtiched over to a vet who has a great reputation with bully breeds. they informed us that the red spots on franks chin/belly/armpits weren't just normal puppy acne but a result of allergies. We decided to send out a blood sample for an allergy test. It came back as positive for dust mites an food storage mites. But only a reaction of
32/36 on a scale of 600. The vet said his reaction is much stronger than what is showing on the blood test, and that he might have a food allergy. She wants to do a 3 month long food trial where he only eats the prescribed food and nothing else. Obviously I am willing to do whatever and spend any amount to figure out what is wrong with him and get him healthy, but I am still feeling lost and left without any certain answers. Just wondering if anyone has any advice on allergies and can help me understand what's going on with my little guy. Also, how can I continue working on training when he can't have any treats during the food trial?

edit: also want to mention right now we feed him Blue Freedom (grain free) puppy, and give him blue treats.


thank you for taking the time to read this! here is a photo of Frank

 

[madie4589]

I think I posted this in the wrong section! My apologies. Can someone move this for me?

 

[cefe13]

I love the photo - Frank is beautiful! Sorry to hear about his allergies and I hope someone here will be able to give you good advice. If he will eat prescription food only, could you perhaps use small bits of that food as training treats too?

 

[bullmama]

What an adorable pup! I'll move this to the health forum [MENTION=13682]madie4589[/MENTION]
Edit: it's already been moved or in the right forum

A food trial may not be a bad idea, but I would do that as a last resort. I am wondering if this could possibly be a contact allergy issue. Because of the location of the redness being the chin belly and armpits, I am wondering if he's allergic to something he is laying on. Grass, bed, carpeting etc. ? Has he had any doses of prednisone or any other steroid and has it helped?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[madie4589]

I read the allergy info page and here and I agree with what you said, a food trial should be a last resort. I know the food she wants to give him and it's not nutritionaly sound. I feel like especially at his young age he needs to be on a good food.

He lays on our carpet, tile, and he likes his crate at night with his bed and blanket. Recently he's been tearing apart his crate mat so I might buy another. Any suggestions on crate mats for allergy prone dogs?

he was given a steroid shot after his neuter for the allergies and honestly that didn't seem to help a whole lot with his chin. His armpits and belly did clear up quite a bit though.

He he has a stainless steel bowl and we usually wipe his chin off after every meal with a baby wipe. Could the wipe be doing more harm than good?

 

[2BullyMama]

what a sweetie pie!

i agree, sounds more like contact allergy --- grass, carpet, cleaners.... try wiping him with a cool wash cloth after being outside and remove bedding to see if it helps. process of elimination -- tough, but good way to start

 

[nycbullymama]

I just want to point out that 8 months is way too young to do an allergy test. Most vets recommend it be done at about 2 years.
Reason being, they need a chance to develop allergies and they can't do that until they go through all the seasons and their immune system is fully developed.

Don't understand why your vet thought this was a good idea. I know vets vary, but I've been battling allergies with one of mine since he was 4 months old. We've had two different regular vets, and 2 dermatologists. One thing they all had in common was, no allergy testing until he was older. So yeah, take the results with a grain of salt.

I agree that it could be a contact allergy. Does he play in the grass, around trees? It could be anything outdoors or indoors but pointless to test (yet again) until he's at least 1.5 years old.
Meanwhile, I agree with Christine, wipe him down after each walk, or whenever he's outside. Look for patterns. Does he itch more after eating? Does he itch after lying down on something.. see if you can figure out what it could be.

You can also change his food to something that contains a different protein. It should be something he's never had before. Check the ingredients and make sure it contains only one protein and keep him on it for at least 30 days to see if there's improvement. If it's food, it's just a matter of finding the right one.

Also, I've found that this product offers some relief for the itch.
Amazon.com : Dermal-Soothe Anti-Itch Spray 12 oz : Pet Itch Remedies : Pet Supplies

Good luck and keep us updated.

 

[madie4589]

Wow, thank you so much for the helpful reply! I have to say I'm a little upset with my vet right now. I'm not quite sure how to handle it but I tbink I'll give them a call tomorrow and ask some questions. looks like another change of vets may be on the horizon.

 

[Marine91]

Allergies are a lot of trial and error trying to find out what is causing the problem whether it is contact, environmental or food allergies. Keep your head up and you will slowly get them figured out and we will be here to help you along the way as many of us have bullies with all sorts of allergies myself included.

 

[Roseann]

If I use wipes too often on Henry it irritates his skin. Here is my Henry and Clyde. Henry is akc EB and Clyde is pure mutt his dad was an EB and mom was a basset hound mix. Also, is his food the chicken or beef?

 

[madie4589]

He in on blue grain free chicken.

thinking of switching to a fish base food? I'm going to wait and see what my consult with our new vet says... which leads me to:

I called and talked to my [old] vet yesterday. I had a really great conversation with a new vet who owns two bulldogs himself, and he was shocked at some of the things I was telling him. He was VERY surprised that this vet would allow me to go through with allergy testing for an 8 month old dog. I feel very taken advantage of. I’m not the vet, I’m not the one with the knowledge, they knew I was willing to do anything and pay for whatever was needed to get Frank healthy and they took advantage of that. I trusted my baby with these people and it really feels like the allergy test and other procedures/medicines have been pushed on me for their financial gain. I remember one time I mentioned that frank had coughed once, just ONCE and they immediately put him on 2 antibiotics. Every time I turned down something they suggested for him I was made to feel like I wasn't being a good dog owner. At one point she even told me to stop wiping franks bum because I would sprain his tail. Anyone will general knowledge of owning a bully knows they need butt maintenance!


Anyway, I called the old vet and asked her if she could tell me what the suggested age for allergy testing was. she stumbled over her words and wasn’t able to give me a straight answer. I told her everything I mentioned above, that I feel very taken advantage of and that I will be moving to a new vet. I also expressed how disappointed I was that she was unwilling to even think about alternative treatment for franks allergies and just wanted to put him on a junk prescription food OR start immunotherapy. I had them print off all of franks records and will be going in to pick them up today.


I have an appointment with the new vet monday. Will let everyone know what he says!

 

[madie4589]

what a mix, basset hound and EB, I can only imagine the puppy eyes you get from him I LOVE their names. so cute!