Excessive Shedding

[Peppa-pooch]

Great advice from you all. Much appreciated!

I really want the natural supplements to work but unfortunately not looking like they will.
She's getting worse everyday after being on only half apoquel a day. I've even increased her quercetin to 750mg for the past three days and still no improvement - only getting worse.

she has also stopped going out in the sun as the past few days have been in the 30 degree celcius range here. We go out super early before sun rise and late evening after sun set. This seems to have improved her hives abit.

Today we had to leave her on her own in the house for a bout 4 hours during the day and i didn't want to risk her scratching herself and causing more harm so i put her back on 1 full apoquel this morning. When we came home she was fine, hadn't been scratching and her hives have also improved alot - within just a few hours.

I'll probably give it another week on quertecin but i doubt it'll work. I would expect to see gradual improvement after a month of trialling it but it's going in the complete oposite direction.

From what i've read, quertecin works with dogs that respond well to benedryl. Peppa had already tried various types of antihistimines before she was prescribed on apoquel. None of them worked.

My plan is to go back on the bare minimum dosage of apoquel that she can cope with whilst topping her up with immune boosters. And then look into Cytopoint aswell.

 

[benny]

sounds like you have a solid plan. I’m glad you saw instant improvement when you decided to make an adjustment.

With the walks and hives, maybe start keeping a log of the humidity and heat and keep an eye out for hives so you know what to avoid. Humidity is worse than heat.. both are bad. .. then/also avoid walks completely whenever you notice them so you can hopefully get a reset

 

[Fury]

So this is the first summer we are experiencing with Peppa and she seems to be shedding a lot. And I mean a lot. I brush her everyday and she still sheds. Mostly from her belly side.
She is currently on Apoquel prescription to help with her skin allergies and we are also trying out a new home cooked diet. I don’t think it’s Apoquel’s side effects and i certainly don’t think it will be the new diet.

Is this normal for bulldogs to shed a lot throughout summer?

Yes - it’s normal to shed more at this time of year.

We de-shed both bulldogs at least 1x a week outside with brush/gloves. They really enjoy this because it’s like a massage.

I also have a lint roller handy to take off loose hairs I see on their back when they’re hanging out.

I also sweep the house every day or two days max.

When you see other dog breeds, these aren’t as bad as it seems. It can always be worse.

For allergies we give Benedryl as needed and that does the trick.

Best of luck xo

 

[Lovesbulldawgs]

@Bulldog2001 thanks for those links, i'll take time out to read. Last night was her worst yet - waking up at 3am and scratching non-stop. I had to take her out of her bed ( she sleeps next to me) and take her onto the living room couch to let her sleep on my chest and she calms down.
Do you think the Itch Support Gold is okay to use with Quercetin and Colostrum?

@1Chumly I might take Peppa off Apoquel completely as well. She's been on half tablet a day now so i may aswell because it's not benefiting much and probably doing more harm than good.

Give Peppa the Appoquel. Natural remedies are great, if they work for your bulldog. It sounds like she is stressed out and suffering. My bulldog has been on Appoquel for over two years and no side effects. He doesn't chew his paws like a maniac anymore. I'm not saying Appoquel has no downside, but it looks like it works for Peppa. Everything has side effects, even Natural remedies.

 

[Cbrugs]

Give Peppa the Appoquel. Natural remedies are great, if they work for your bulldog. It sounds like she is stressed out and suffering. My bulldog has been on Appoquel for over two years and no side effects. He doesn't chew his paws like a maniac anymore. I'm not saying Appoquel has no downside, but it looks like it works for Peppa. Everything has side effects, even Natural remedies.

I agree. Sometimes medications are necessary and the natural remedies just don’t work.

 

[Bulldog2001]

Give Peppa the Appoquel. Natural remedies are great, if they work for your bulldog. It sounds like she is stressed out and suffering. My bulldog has been on Appoquel for over two years and no side effects. He doesn't chew his paws like a maniac anymore. I'm not saying Appoquel has no downside, but it looks like it works for Peppa. Everything has side effects, even Natural remedies.

Seems as if your more against natural stuff and rather give a harmful pill to mask the issue, and even if it doesn’t cause side effects right now, down the road it will eventually and you will see the harm to the immune system it causes(just like the warts Peppa got from the apoquel from weakened immune system), my dog actually got 4 TUMOURS and warts from this apoquel. And she also got TONS of cysts as well.

Actually crazy thing, one of the side effects of apoquel is actually itching, kind of ironic.


No, not everything has side effects, it’s more the chemicals and steroids that have the side effects, I know lots of natural supplements that do NOT have any side effects.

Immune suppressant pill(apoquel) just mask the issue and drives even more worse situation cause the issue isn’t solved, and all your doing is creating way more health issues, maybe not right away, but eventually there will be a problem.

Makes no sense to ruin/destroy immune system, suppress the immune system so they can’t fight allergies, tumours, viruses, cancer and other diseases.
Improve immune system not ruin it.

It’s ok everyone thinks differently though, and has their own opinion.

 

[Peppa-pooch]

Update -
The Organic mushroom mix powder is now finished - she's been through the whole tub and the wart is still there. It's not changed at all in appearance.

Her hives under her chin has gotten worse and bleeding has started on some of them. They have also spread to areas around her nose and at the corner of her wrinkle - this one also bled.
When traced back, the hives started developing after she started on bovine colostrum so she may be allergic to the colostrum. So i've took her off it starting this morning. Too early to tell yet but i'm pretty sure the bumps are decreasing in size already and don't look as inflamed

Conclusion -
Quercetin - (July 21st to August 19th) did nothing, had no effect on her even after increasing dosage to 750mg.
Mushrooms - (July 20th to August 23rd) as explained above, we couldn't see any benefits
Bovine Colostrum - (July 30th - August 26th) as explained above - she may be showing allergic reaction to this and never saw any improvements anyway. Also every single day she was given this atleast 30 minutes before breakfast. Most days more then 30 mins.

I'm not against natural remedies - we always try natural stuff as a first thing for every issue she has had. However nothing seems to work. VET visit was the last choice for her itchiness and has always been the last choice for any other issues she's had.
Because we prefer her not to have meds. We don't trust VETS. Even with other dogs we've had in the past, we've had bad experiences with VETS.

I simply cannot keep at it with quercetin etc for another month or however long it takes (if they will even owrk for Peppa)... whilst in the meantime letting her suffer, scratch herself crazy and develop open wounds from scratching which could get infected. It also cannot be good for her mental health and overall wellbeing - having a crazy itch all day and night losing sleep, so also causing us to lose sleep and we will also feel fatigue as a result and therefore the bottom line is - it's not good for the whole family.
I would love to have hope that the natural stuff will work if tried for long enough.
However, if it'll work, you would think you would start seeing gradual improvements. We've seen none.
There is no certainty that it'll work for her at all.
She has been on the strongest forms of anti-histamines in the past before apoquel - none of them worked.
quercetin is for dogs who respond well to benedryl - an antihistamine.
It's highly unlikely it'll ever work for Peppa.

We simply have no choice but apoquel. I'd like to stay positive and think positive thoughts only, especially when it comes to Peppa because she is everything to me.
Apoquel has worked for her, with little side effects. Warts - she has one small one on her back leg which, as mentioned is not growing nor shrinking. Warts are harmless generally.

I've seen research on apoquel and it's not as bad as places like Dogs Naturally make it out to be.
Here is a quote from one source -

"It doesn't appear there are long term side effects of Apoquel use in dogs, at least no studies have shown any concerning issues so far. The product insert warns that Apoquel may exacerbate neoplastic conditions. There is no good evidence of this as of yet, we will keep monitoring. I often see terrible skin disease in dogs caused by an internal disease like cancer, so keep in mind that many of the internet reports of "I started my dog on Apoquel and he got cancer" are, in my experience, likely to be dogs with skin itchiness and infection of that was triggered by an internal cancer was treated with Apoquel just before the cancer was actually discovered. I would recommend Apoquel over cyclosporine in a dog with previous cancer. Comfort and quality of life are absolute considerations when deciding which medications to use."

Apoquel side effects- a veterinary dermatologist's experience

Apoquel is overall a wonderful medication for the treatment of atopic dermatitis in dogs. There are a few things veterinarians and owners should monitor.

www.petdermatologyclinic.com

I'm thankful for your help and recommendations and sincerely glad the natural supplements worked for your dogs - i truely am happy. I wish it works for Peppa too but it doesn't.

As mentioned by other members - apoquel works for their dogs with no side-effects. We also know other dogs that live around here who have been on apoquel for over two years and are healthy.

Moving forward i'm trying to find the optimal dosage for Peppa of apoquel and keep her on it. Once winter comes - reduce dosage again to see how she reacts.
I will also be getting routine checks for kidney/liver blood tests, and urine tests.

 

[Cbrugs]

Update -
The Organic mushroom mix powder is now finished - she's been through the whole tub and the wart is still there. It's not changed at all in appearance.

Her hives under her chin has gotten worse and bleeding has started on some of them. They have also spread to areas around her nose and at the corner of her wrinkle - this one also bled.
When traced back, the hives started developing after she started on bovine colostrum so she may be allergic to the colostrum. So i've took her off it starting this morning. Too early to tell yet but i'm pretty sure the bumps are decreasing in size already and don't look as inflamed

Conclusion -
Quercetin - (July 21st to August 19th) did nothing, had no effect on her even after increasing dosage to 750mg.
Mushrooms - (July 20th to August 23rd) as explained above, we couldn't see any benefits
Bovine Colostrum - (July 30th - August 26th) as explained above - she may be showing allergic reaction to this and never saw any improvements anyway. Also every single day she was given this atleast 30 minutes before breakfast. Most days more then 30 mins.

I'm not against natural remedies - we always try natural stuff as a first thing for every issue she has had. However nothing seems to work. VET visit was the last choice for her itchiness and has always been the last choice for any other issues she's had.
Because we prefer her not to have meds. We don't trust VETS. Even with other dogs we've had in the past, we've had bad experiences with VETS.

I simply cannot keep at it with quercetin etc for another month or however long it takes (if they will even owrk for Peppa)... whilst in the meantime letting her suffer, scratch herself crazy and develop open wounds from scratching which could get infected. It also cannot be good for her mental health and overall wellbeing - having a crazy itch all day and night losing sleep, so also causing us to lose sleep and we will also feel fatigue as a result and therefore the bottom line is - it's not good for the whole family.
I would love to have hope that the natural stuff will work if tried for long enough.
However, if it'll work, you would think you would start seeing gradual improvements. We've seen none.
There is no certainty that it'll work for her at all.
She has been on the strongest forms of anti-histamines in the past before apoquel - none of them worked.
quercetin is for dogs who respond well to benedryl - an antihistamine.
It's highly unlikely it'll ever work for Peppa.

We simply have no choice but apoquel. I'd like to stay positive and think positive thoughts only, especially when it comes to Peppa because she is everything to me.
Apoquel has worked for her, with little side effects. Warts - she has one small one on her back leg which, as mentioned is not growing nor shrinking. Warts are harmless generally.

I've seen research on apoquel and it's not as bad as places like Dogs Naturally make it out to be.
Here is a quote from one source -

"It doesn't appear there are long term side effects of Apoquel use in dogs, at least no studies have shown any concerning issues so far. The product insert warns that Apoquel may exacerbate neoplastic conditions. There is no good evidence of this as of yet, we will keep monitoring. I often see terrible skin disease in dogs caused by an internal disease like cancer, so keep in mind that many of the internet reports of "I started my dog on Apoquel and he got cancer" are, in my experience, likely to be dogs with skin itchiness and infection of that was triggered by an internal cancer was treated with Apoquel just before the cancer was actually discovered. I would recommend Apoquel over cyclosporine in a dog with previous cancer. Comfort and quality of life are absolute considerations when deciding which medications to use."

Apoquel side effects- a veterinary dermatologist's experience

Apoquel is overall a wonderful medication for the treatment of atopic dermatitis in dogs. There are a few things veterinarians and owners should monitor.

www.petdermatologyclinic.com

I'm thankful for your help and recommendations and sincerely glad the natural supplements worked for your dogs - i truely am happy. I wish it works for Peppa too but it doesn't.

As mentioned by other members - apoquel works for their dogs with no side-effects. We also know other dogs that live around here who have been on apoquel for over two years and are healthy.

Moving forward i'm trying to find the optimal dosage for Peppa of apoquel and keep her on it. Once winter comes - reduce dosage again to see how she reacts.
I will also be getting routine checks for kidney/liver blood tests, and urine tests.

I truly know how frustrating it can be to deal with allergies. As I said before, been there done that with Jax and I tried everything including natural supplements. I want him to be comfortable and Cytopoint works for him and better than the Apoquel. He gets a mushroom skin and coat supplement as well and can go at least 4 months if not more between injections. If people have luck with only natural supplements than good for them. But not everybody does and quality of life is the most important for me. Don’t let people make you feel bad if you ultimately decide to stick with the Apoquel. Jax was on it for years with no issues before switching to Cytopoint. You can also look into Cytopoint if you want to give that a try. At the end of the day, everyone should do what is best for their dogs even if it’s different from what other people do.

 

[2BullyMama]

Update -
The Organic mushroom mix powder is now finished - she's been through the whole tub and the wart is still there. It's not changed at all in appearance.

Her hives under her chin has gotten worse and bleeding has started on some of them. They have also spread to areas around her nose and at the corner of her wrinkle - this one also bled.
When traced back, the hives started developing after she started on bovine colostrum so she may be allergic to the colostrum. So i've took her off it starting this morning. Too early to tell yet but i'm pretty sure the bumps are decreasing in size already and don't look as inflamed

Conclusion -
Quercetin - (July 21st to August 19th) did nothing, had no effect on her even after increasing dosage to 750mg.
Mushrooms - (July 20th to August 23rd) as explained above, we couldn't see any benefits
Bovine Colostrum - (July 30th - August 26th) as explained above - she may be showing allergic reaction to this and never saw any improvements anyway. Also every single day she was given this atleast 30 minutes before breakfast. Most days more then 30 mins.

I'm not against natural remedies - we always try natural stuff as a first thing for every issue she has had. However nothing seems to work. VET visit was the last choice for her itchiness and has always been the last choice for any other issues she's had.
Because we prefer her not to have meds. We don't trust VETS. Even with other dogs we've had in the past, we've had bad experiences with VETS.

I simply cannot keep at it with quercetin etc for another month or however long it takes (if they will even owrk for Peppa)... whilst in the meantime letting her suffer, scratch herself crazy and develop open wounds from scratching which could get infected. It also cannot be good for her mental health and overall wellbeing - having a crazy itch all day and night losing sleep, so also causing us to lose sleep and we will also feel fatigue as a result and therefore the bottom line is - it's not good for the whole family.
I would love to have hope that the natural stuff will work if tried for long enough.
However, if it'll work, you would think you would start seeing gradual improvements. We've seen none.
There is no certainty that it'll work for her at all.
She has been on the strongest forms of anti-histamines in the past before apoquel - none of them worked.
quercetin is for dogs who respond well to benedryl - an antihistamine.
It's highly unlikely it'll ever work for Peppa.

We simply have no choice but apoquel. I'd like to stay positive and think positive thoughts only, especially when it comes to Peppa because she is everything to me.
Apoquel has worked for her, with little side effects. Warts - she has one small one on her back leg which, as mentioned is not growing nor shrinking. Warts are harmless generally.

I've seen research on apoquel and it's not as bad as places like Dogs Naturally make it out to be.
Here is a quote from one source -

"It doesn't appear there are long term side effects of Apoquel use in dogs, at least no studies have shown any concerning issues so far. The product insert warns that Apoquel may exacerbate neoplastic conditions. There is no good evidence of this as of yet, we will keep monitoring. I often see terrible skin disease in dogs caused by an internal disease like cancer, so keep in mind that many of the internet reports of "I started my dog on Apoquel and he got cancer" are, in my experience, likely to be dogs with skin itchiness and infection of that was triggered by an internal cancer was treated with Apoquel just before the cancer was actually discovered. I would recommend Apoquel over cyclosporine in a dog with previous cancer. Comfort and quality of life are absolute considerations when deciding which medications to use."

Apoquel side effects- a veterinary dermatologist's experience

Apoquel is overall a wonderful medication for the treatment of atopic dermatitis in dogs. There are a few things veterinarians and owners should monitor.

www.petdermatologyclinic.com

I'm thankful for your help and recommendations and sincerely glad the natural supplements worked for your dogs - i truely am happy. I wish it works for Peppa too but it doesn't.

As mentioned by other members - apoquel works for their dogs with no side-effects. We also know other dogs that live around here who have been on apoquel for over two years and are healthy.

Moving forward i'm trying to find the optimal dosage for Peppa of apoquel and keep her on it. Once winter comes - reduce dosage again to see how she reacts.
I will also be getting routine checks for kidney/liver blood tests, and urine tests.

wev unfortunately all have been here. It is trail and error. We all give or insight on experiences we have had or provide articles to help you reseach and make decisions. In the end, not works for every dog, just like with people. There is no one stop fix for any as it all depends on how it works with your or your dogs body.

do the best you can, try what you are comfortable with and see where it goes. As much as I would love to to use all natural remedies, it just doesn’t always work for every one.