Patton is now on a 8-10 week food trial :(

[pattonsmom]

Patton will be 5 months this coming Monday and has been very itchy for the past 2 months! It breaks our hearts to see him itch and scratch and cry. At the recommendation of our vet, I took him to a dermatologist out of state last Thursday. The doctor is convinenced he has a food allergy and he is now on prescription food and cannot have anything else except this specific *expensive* kibble. No bones, treats, nothing! This has made his training sessions less than exciting for him I'm sure.

The food trial - we have to log how much food we give him and how much of it he eats and anything he may ingest by mistake, we also have to rate his poop firmess. I just feel so bad because he is just so itchy. She also has him on benadryl and zyrtec and antibiotics. The ONLY good thing is for the past 48 hours he seems to have moved from his face and is now chewing his rump and paws. (On Saturday his face was a bloody mess!)

I'm just hoping it's food allergies. She is convinced. I, on the other hand, think they're environmental, which is a whole different ball game. I know.

I guess I'm just venting...I don't know. Besides the itching Patton is great! He's fun, affectionate, working on his manners and just the best thing in our lives. He goes to daycare while we are at work during the day and always comes home super happy and brings such joy to us.

Has anyone else ever gone through a food trial? How did it go?? Please tell me this is going to work and my little man will stop itching and crying all the time.....Thanks for reading!

 

[brutus77]

Patton will be 5 months this coming Monday and has been very itchy for the past 2 months! It breaks our hearts to see him itch and scratch and cry. At the recommendation of our vet, I took him to a dermatologist out of state last Thursday. The doctor is convinenced he has a food allergy and he is now on prescription food and cannot have anything else except this specific *expensive* kibble. No bones, treats, nothing! This has made his training sessions less than exciting for him I'm sure.

The food trial - we have to log how much food we give him and how much of it he eats and anything he may ingest by mistake, we also have to rate his poop firmess. I just feel so bad because he is just so itchy. She also has him on benadryl and zyrtec and antibiotics. The ONLY good thing is for the past 48 hours he seems to have moved from his face and is now chewing his rump and paws. (On Saturday his face was a bloody mess!)

I'm just hoping it's food allergies. She is convinced. I, on the other hand, think they're environmental, which is a whole different ball game. I know.

I guess I'm just venting...I don't know. Besides the itching Patton is great! He's fun, affectionate, working on his manners and just the best thing in our lives. He goes to daycare while we are at work during the day and always comes home super happy and brings such joy to us.

Has anyone else ever gone through a food trial? How did it go?? Please tell me this is going to work and my little man will stop itching and crying all the time.....Thanks for reading!

What kind of Precription food is Patton on? Brutus is on Royal Canin HP, which is hypoallergenic and a hydrolyzed protein. It works wonders for Brutus. He was hospitalized for a couple of days back in Feb. because he was so sick from allergies. He wound up with ear infections, cysts, vomiting profusely, and a bacterial infection in his tummy. He was a wreck. The RX food is expensive but considering how much the vet and a two day stay in the hosp. cost, and how miserable my baby was, I will pay for the food. Also, if he does well on the food, don't make the mistake I did. I decided that I really wanted Brutus on a better food than the RX, so I tried a hydrolyzed blue buffalo brand and what a mistake. He wound up scratching and with cysts and an ear infection again. Back on the RX food immediately and will not ever take him off again.

 

[dolphin]

Patton will be 5 months this coming Monday and has been very itchy for the past 2 months! It breaks our hearts to see him itch and scratch and cry. At the recommendation of our vet, I took him to a dermatologist out of state last Thursday. The doctor is convinenced he has a food allergy and he is now on prescription food and cannot have anything else except this specific *expensive* kibble. No bones, treats, nothing! This has made his training sessions less than exciting for him I'm sure.

The food trial - we have to log how much food we give him and how much of it he eats and anything he may ingest by mistake, we also have to rate his poop firmess. I just feel so bad because he is just so itchy. She also has him on benadryl and zyrtec and antibiotics. The ONLY good thing is for the past 48 hours he seems to have moved from his face and is now chewing his rump and paws. (On Saturday his face was a bloody mess!)

I'm just hoping it's food allergies. She is convinced. I, on the other hand, think they're environmental, which is a whole different ball game. I know.

I guess I'm just venting...I don't know. Besides the itching Patton is great! He's fun, affectionate, working on his manners and just the best thing in our lives. He goes to daycare while we are at work during the day and always comes home super happy and brings such joy to us.

Has anyone else ever gone through a food trial? How did it go?? Please tell me this is going to work and my little man will stop itching and crying all the time.....Thanks for reading!

Yes yes yes there are a bunch of people on here that have been through food trials. I did my own food trial and have found the right food, finally. It will work and he will find relief it's just getting to that point that is the bummer. I hope and pray you find the right food and the General feels better real quick.

 

[2BullyMama]

Probably every one of us has done this to some extent..... Banks is allergic to chicken and all things outside that are GREEN! Benedyl is her friend and grain/chicken free Fromm Pork/Peas and Lamb/Lentil

Best of luck with all of this.... it can be a long road to finding the right food for your baby

 

[pattonsmom]

Probably every one of us has done this to some extent..... Banks is allergic to chicken and all things outside that are GREEN! Benedyl is her friend and grain/chicken free Fromm Pork/Peas and Lamb/Lentil

Best of luck with all of this.... it can be a long road to finding the right food for your baby

Thank you!! It is definitely a long road and for his sake I just want it to be over! Ours too, but more his. The only good thing is he LOVES his doggy daycare and I feel better knowing he is playing all day and not sitting in his crate alone itching and crying all day.

 

[marleyk]

Thank you!! It is definitely a long road and for his sake I just want it to be over! Ours too, but more his. The only good thing is he LOVES his doggy daycare and I feel better knowing he is playing all day and not sitting in his crate alone itching and crying all day.

My previous english bulldog marley was on Royal Canin before they sold out to another company and she did good on it. My boy Charlee, is very allergic to chicken and possibly potatoes. He has been fed many different dry dog foods with royal canin bulldog formula, taste of the wild, Earthborn Hollistic (all flavors) , blue buffalo, and a few others, but the only one that he does really good on without any red bumps on his face or body is Wellness Core Ocean formula. I highly recommend you give this one a try. This and/or fromms but fromms wasn't/isn't easily available to me while wellness is sold in stores like petco or petswell. I haven't tried fromms but people on here rave about it. Although now i get my dog food from amazon prime with free 2 day shipping @ $60 which is $10-15 cheaper than in-store. If your still not satisfied with either of the two, check out dogfoodadvisor.com which has very useful information about dogfood brands and their ingredients. That is what i have been using for years.

hope this helps you with your fight i know its not easy finding something that suits your bully,

 

[pattonsmom]

My previous english bulldog marley was on Royal Canin before they sold out to another company and she did good on it. My boy Charlee, is very allergic to chicken and possibly potatoes. He has been fed many different dry dog foods with royal canin bulldog formula, taste of the wild, Earthborn Hollistic (all flavors) , blue buffalo, and a few others, but the only one that he does really good on without any red bumps on his face or body is Wellness Core Ocean formula. I highly recommend you give this one a try. This and/or fromms but fromms wasn't/isn't easily available to me while wellness is sold in stores like petco or petswell. I haven't tried fromms but people on here rave about it. Although now i get my dog food from amazon prime with free 2 day shipping @ $60 which is $10-15 cheaper than in-store. If your still not satisfied with either of the two, check out dogfoodadvisor.com which has very useful information about dogfood brands and their ingredients. That is what i have been using for years.

hope this helps you with your fight i know its not easy finding something that suits your bully,

Thank you for the advice/info! Same here with Fromm's, we've of course looked into it before this trial and the closest place to us that sold Fromm's was significantly far away. We are now in week 3 of the food trial and he's still itchy. We're going to stick with this until the end but if it does not work I will definitely look into what you said! Glad you found what works for you. Every day I wish for the day that we do too.

 

[HTX Bully]

Good luck with Patton. I would order online as suggested above after your trail is over. Fromms Pork & Peas does very well with Holly. I'd order a small bag of Fromms or another quality dog kibble and see how Patton likes it after your trail.

One caveat to remember if Patton is still itchy and you switch him to "the right food" for him, it could still take a month or so for the prior food allergies to get out of his system. For example Holly was very itchy/licking paws/very red yeasty paws and she was eating Fromms Beef Frittata, then we switched her to Fromms Game Bird and it got worse! So we switched her to Fromms Pork & Peas and it took about a month but now Holly does awesome on Pork & Peas! Itching has gone away and her paws look 100% better! It might take awhile but you'll find the right food for your Patton

 

[Kevikell]

I have not used Apoquel but there are quite a few bulldog owners that have said it is a miracle drug for itchy allergies. You may want to ask your vet about it. Based on what I've read you can give it simultaneously with other therapies (immuno therapy, antibiotics) and it won't alter any testing you may need to have done to find the source of allergies if they are infact environmental. Says it starts to work in 4 hrs!!! Here is a link to the drug. Click on the safety tab to see the info.

https://www.zoetisus.com/products/pages/apoqueldvm/index.aspx

 

[pattonsmom]

Thanks, Kelly! Patton is now on the waiting list for this but it will be many months until he gets it.

I have not used Apoquel but there are quite a few bulldog owners that have said it is a miracle drug for itchy allergies. You may want to ask your vet about it. Based on what I've read you can give it simultaneously with other therapies (immuno therapy, antibiotics) and it won't alter any testing you may need to have done to find the source of allergies if they are infact environmental. Says it starts to work in 4 hrs!!! Here is a link to the drug. Click on the safety tab to see the info.

https://www.zoetisus.com/products/pages/apoqueldvm/index.aspx