Help Needed! Advice Please!

[sstewart2010]

I am a first time Bulldog owner and I have some concerns as far as my puppy's health & the food he's been eating. Just to give you guys some background:

-From the first day we brought him home (at 8 weeks) and for about 2 weeks after that he was on Purina Puppy chow, it was the food the breeders gave to him.
-Then, me thinking this would be a good idea, I switched him to one of the Iams foods. Yup, I fell for "Chicken is the first ingredient". Within about a month of him being completely switched he had a bad bout of diarreha. and the vet gave me some prescription food and meds for him.
-Based upon the vet's recommendation, after the diarreha cleared up, I switched him to Royal Canin medium breed puppy for easy digestion. I would say he's been eating this for about 2 months now. Since I have been reading this forum and hearing about other people's experiences with their bully and allergies I feel like my Leroy has some of the same symptoms as well.

1. He has big tear stains and lots of eye boogies.
2. After eating (but this also happens when he gets worked up playing too) his face gets very red and flushed. His eyes also seem to appear more bloodshot.\
3. He itches alot after eating, scratching his face, and I noticed some scabs the other day above his eye.

I may just be overreacting, and I don't have any pics right now of what he looks like after eating. If anybody has any advice that would be great.

If I switch foods I may have to wait until after the holidays, we are going to visit my family and they live about 4 hours away & I don't want to put too much stress on his digestive system.

Sorry this is so long, thanks in advance!

 

[JAKEISGREAT]

Food is our nemesis! Lol! But you will find there are very knowledgable people here to help! I will tag [MENTION=2291]cowsmom[/MENTION]. She is our Go To person with food. One thing you probably have figured out is that lots and lots of Bully's have problems with chicken. Hang tight! I'm sure others will chime in!

 

[Lucy-licious]

Take a look in here...there are some excellent food articles...particularly Understanding Dog Food Labels and Dog Food Ratings.

Most commonly our babies tend to be allergic to chicken and grains, but every dog is different. Finding the tight food can be an arduous task. Try to choose the best you can afford and go from there. Food switches should be done gradually to avoid upset tummys....they are very delicate babies

Good luck x

 

[cowsmom]

well lots here have fed fromm puppy or you could try blue buffalo wilderness puppy or their freedom puppy and see if it gets better. also i see wellness core has a puppy formula now to. the fromm puppy is a better food but not widely available. let me know if i can help more. and yes those are signs of an allergy. your puppy is so cute. :D

 

[2BullyMama]

[MENTION=7345]sstewart2010[/MENTION] ... yes these are all signs of allergies and I would suggest trying to avoid the chicken, it is usually an issue with bullies. You can take look into the foods that [MENTION=2291]cowsmom[/MENTION] suggested and see if they will work for Leroy. Also, something to keep in mind, in case you need it down (around 1 1/2 to 2 yrs old)the road is a full blood screen allergy test it will give you a good list of what to avoid both environmental and food.

Good luck and keep us posted

 

[bullmama]

Poor baby sounds very miserable. Perhaps try some Benadryl in the mean time, it's 1mg per pound of weight. Just plain Benadryl, not anything mixed with another ingredient. All the foods you have used are very poorly rated for our breed, I hope you find another that works and soon. Slow switch, don't rush it.


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[Vikinggirl]

All good advice above. My female Blossom is also allergic to chicken, corn, , grains, and now salmon oil as well. She had all the same symptoms as Leroy, pink ears, pink face and chin rash, and red bloodshot eyes, with eye boogers. I gave her Benadryl, and it would go away. I have switched her food 4 times from Royal Canin from the breeder, to Go Natural, back to Fromm, because of diarrhea, allergies, and my male started to eat his poop on this food,as it was too rich, for them. Then I switched them to Fromms Beef Fritata when they were 7 months old, and they are both doing really well on it.

 

[sstewart2010]

Thank You everyone for the helpful advice! I looked at Fromm's website last night and found out that a couple of stores in my area sell it I am not sure which to try though b/c I think their puppy formula has chicken in it I am pretty sure. Would I be better off going with one of the adult formulas w/out the chicken? I just want what's best for my bully! I will go and get him some benadryl in the mean time, hopefully it will help with some of the symptoms.

 

[2BullyMama]

Thank You everyone for the helpful advice! I looked at Fromm's website last night and found out that a couple of stores in my area sell it I am not sure which to try though b/c I think their puppy formula has chicken in it I am pretty sure. Would I be better off going with one of the adult formulas w/out the chicken? I just want what's best for my bully! I will go and get him some benadryl in the mean time, hopefully it will help with some of the symptoms.

For the benedryl... you can give 1mg per pound up to 3x a day. How old is Leroy now?

 

[sstewart2010]

He is almost 7 months old now, I will be careful with the Benadryl and give the smallest, effective dose as possible.

 

[2BullyMama]

He is almost 7 months old now, I will be careful with the Benadryl and give the smallest, effective dose as possible.

You can go right to adult food... you can usually go over to adult around 6-8 months without issue. Right [MENTION=2]desertskybulldogs[/MENTION] [MENTION=2071]Davidh[/MENTION]

 

[sstewart2010]

Thanks Christine! Yeah I just got home from the local feed store and got a small bag of Fromm's Beef Fritatta and Veg and the lady at the store told me adult food would be okay too. I couldn't find any puppy food w/out chicken Hopefully this will help clear up Leroy's allergy issues.

 

[2BullyMama]

Thanks Christine! Yeah I just got home from the local feed store and got a small bag of Fromm's Beef Fritatta and Veg and the lady at the store told me adult food would be okay too. I couldn't find any puppy food w/out chicken Hopefully this will help clear up Leroy's allergy issues.

Great... good luck and keep us posted. Banks is on the beef Frittata.. she and Cheli love it

 

[Davidh]

Yes FROMM is an all stage food so no problem switching to it now. Hope this helps your baby out.