Help Needed! Food for skin allergies?

[dogsrmylife4ever]

Hi everyone! I have 2 female Bullies, 8 and 6. My younger one, after never having shown any signs of allergies before, started developing them last winter. Her skin got very scabby, and she lost a lot of hair. She looked just pitiful. The vet put her on Pred, benedryly and an antibiotic. I changed her over to Nutro Lamb Meal and Rice (Limited Ingredient). Over the summer she seemed to be doing okay then late fall hits and we are back to the same problems. I put her back on the Pred and Benedryl but I really don't like to keep her on those - especially the Pred. I've read some of the articles and posts about foods and, from what I can gather, both Fromm and Nature's Logic are good foods for allergy prone Bullies. Can I get some suggestions on which types of those brands? Or is there something even better? If she is eating those foods will she still need to remain on the pills or is there something else I can give that would be less harmful, long term? THANKS!

 

[JAKEISGREAT]

Ohh dear..this seems to have gotten lost! I will tag [MENTION=2291]cowsmom[/MENTION]. She is our food expert and hopefully she can help you! Hang in there!

 

[izstigspunks]

I wonder if there's anything about the fall season that's making her miserable. It's odd because that's when most allergies will fade or disappear altogether. Are you doing anything in your house differently during that season?

 

[cowsmom]

It does seem interesting that this seems to happen in the fall. I wonder if there is some thing outside or inside going on in the fall. I would look into that. My bully is allergic to leaves n mold. Also fromm is a good food n a good food will go a good ways toward a healthy bully. Fromm beef fritatta is used a lot here. Will it work for your bully dunno. You may also want to see about a vitamin n a probiotic but add one at a time to see how they do. If you change food be sure to do it slowly over 10 days. If you can pin point the allergy then most of the time pred will not be needed anymore. If you need more help let me know. I'm on my phone so hope this makes sense

 

[RiiSi]

If it happens the same time of the year it sounds like it can be environmental, but not necessarily. I would try raw feeding or home cooking for her. Topped with fish oil and probiotics. I would try to get rid of all medicines, but it isn't always possible. But proper clean and natural food cures a lot.

I like the information about feeding that is available at dogaware.com

 

[TessaAndSamson]

My Samson has allergies and I have found the best food for him is the NVI salmon. I tend to feel feeding salmon based foods is helpful with allergy prone dogs because of the oils in it. I have found adding salmon oil to Samson's food is helpful as well. Samson was on nutro when he was real young and that did not go well at all! Same with Fromm, I know alot of other bullys on here doing really well on Fromm but Samson didn't do well on any of the Fromm formulas we tried.

 

[dogsrmylife4ever]

I have been assuming it has to do with the house being closed up, heater on, something floating around in the air. It continued during the winter months and into the first part of spring, I believe. I don't do anything unusual inside, that I know of, that might trigger it.

 

[dogsrmylife4ever]

[MENTION=2291]cowsmom[/MENTION] - the mold thing crossed my mind, too. This is an old house and I suspect there is mold here. (I've only owned the house a few years.)

So, we have differing opinions on the type of food. Fromm beef because it is grain free? I wondered about the Surf and Turf. (I assume it has Salmon in it.)What kind of vitamin, probiotic, fish oil? Sooo much info out there!! Kind of overwhelming.

 

[dogsrmylife4ever]

I just placed an order, at Petflow, for a big bag of the Fromm Beef Fritatta. Keep your fingers crossed!!

 

[sheshistory]

It sounds like seasonal allergies to me - which unfortunately, have little to do with food. Have you considered asking your vet about hydroxyzine or another anti-histamine that your bully might use during these flare ups?

 

[JAKEISGREAT]

I just placed an order, at Petflow, for a big bag of the Fromm Beef Fritatta. Keep your fingers crossed!!

The Beef is a pretty safe protein. Surf n Turf has chicken in it..and just for us..Jake can't have Salmon at all. He had an instantaneous reaction to it. Good Luck!!

 

[cowsmom]

@cowsmom - the mold thing crossed my mind, too. This is an old house and I suspect there is mold here. (I've only owned the house a few years.)

So, we have differing opinions on the type of food. Fromm beef because it is grain free? I wondered about the Surf and Turf. (I assume it has Salmon in it.)What kind of vitamin, probiotic, fish oil? Sooo much info out there!! Kind of overwhelming.

well you cant go wrong with fromm beef fritatta but you will just have to see if your bully does good on it. i use cosevite vitamin and just a probiotic that is used for humans 1 billion units and i use salmon fish oil but you can also use fish oil for humans. i would do the food first then if they are ok with that try the salmon oil then probiotic then vitamin or whatver order you choose but do one at a time and slowly to see if there is a reaction.

 

[dogsrmylife4ever]

Thanks everyone for your input. I will talk to the vet about antihistamines.