Watery Eyes/wet folds-Allergies?

[Meggs19]

Hello! I am a new bully owner and I want to make sure I am doing everything I can to care for him. Tonka is almost 4 months old. I wipe his facial folds every day and could do it multiple times per day since they always seem to be wet/gooey. His eyes seem to water quite often. The folds are getting some brown stains and don't seem to want to stay dry. Is this caused by some type of allergy? I also notice him scratch his ears once in a while or nibble at his paws. I have looked at his paws and they look clean and normal colored...not red or irriated. I see nothing there. I clean his ears one a week with epi-otic solution the vet gave me.

Is there something else I should be doing for his eyes/fold cleaning or ears? The folds don't look infected at this point but they are just always wet/dirty. Will peroxide work for the staining? I hope this isn't diet related...how would I know if I need to switch foods? I currently have him on Natural Balance-Sweet Potato and Fish. Is this OK?

Sorry for all the questions but i'm a newbie and being an overly worried momma here! Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[heff101]

Sounds like perhaps the food you are feeding is to high in protein.
Went through the same thing with Heff. Drinking like crazy really wet nose rope.
Ended up changing his food to a much lower protein content and put him on a 10 day rotation of antibiotics.
Have not had a problem since.
We switched to Royal Canine Bulldog formula.
To high a protein content is very dangerous for bulldogs kidneys.

 

[BruceP]

Neighbor!!!!! Lari and I are in Milwaukee. Good to see another Wisconsinite here... lol This is THE website for bully owners and a wealth of info. Please tell us more about your bully and post pix of him before the pix police come to get you

Anyway, about his allergies; it sounds like a classic example of food allergies and I suggest you read up on it here on EBN. There is also a section on food recommendations here that was done specifically for bullies. There is no "Best Food' as all bullies are different and what works for one may not work for another.... trial and error is the only way to find the right food for your bully.
What is he eating now?
You will be amazed and what a difference it makes once you hit on the right food.

And those pix? Hurry up before you start getting: LOL!!

 

[Meggs19]

What amount of protein is too much? I have him on Natural Balance-Sweet Potato and fish (Salmon) which has 21% crude protein. I know other bully owners who have had success with it and it's grain free so I thought it might be a good fit. Is there something else I should try? I'm not sure what in the food would be causing allergies since it's limited ingredient.

I'm not sure how I will know what the right food is? He doesn't have a wet nose rope wrinkle...it's just the two on the side going down from his eyes and a little bit by his nose on the sides. Oh and I forgot to mention that he also has a small bump at the top of the wrinkles way up towards the corner of his eye. It's a white/flesh colored little bump. The vet said it was a little "pustule" from wrinkle moisture/irritation but it has not gone away yet and he has had it for a few weeks. It doesn't look like a pustule to me...at least not anything like what a pustule looks like on a human. It doesn't seem to bother him at all...even if I touch it. He doesn't try to scratch at it or anything either.

Any further thoughts on the food/allergies given that info.? Thanks so much you guys! Oh and Bruce, I am originally from Milwaukee...grew up in Sussex and now my family is in Greenfield. I just recently moved back to Madison.

 

[JAKEISGREAT]

Maybe it's environmental allergies. A lot of people here use Benadryl or Zyrtec with success. I think when the eyes water..the moisture follows down and gets in those side wrinkles. A good treatment for moistness in wrinkles..AFTER.. You tackle the drippiness..is take a Qtip dipped in witchhazel and run it inside of wrinkles..it's a natural astringent and will help immensely with keeping them dry. I would try an allergy medicine to see if it helps with the runny eyes.. I know lots of bullies on Natural Balance and they do fine. The biggest concern might be if you see signs of yeast. That can come from the potatoes in the food. Food is so different for every dog..I might try for environmental allergies first..welcome..by the way! You will get lots of help! Probably more than you really want!

 

[Jack Daniels]

It may be the Fish....
I tried all the Top brands containing Salmon thinking what better way to get a healthy Skin and coat than from the omega 3 in fish . Anyways, those were causing skin bumps all over.
So i switched last week to Nature's Balance Limited Ingredient Lamb & Brown Rice.
It seems to be working..... (crossing fingers )
Good Luck...
Tonka looks like a great lil guy.!

 

[Davidh]

Welcome to the site and I would try a different food, maybe the Nature's Balance Limited Ingredient Lamb & Brown Rice like [MENTION=3139]Jack Daniels[/MENTION] suggested, just to see, it won't take long to find out if the food makes a difference. Also I have had our dogs do great on a food for about a year then suddenly start having problems and we would change and they would do great for a while. It's just trial and error with food.

 

[kazzy220]

I can't add too much to what has already been said. I might be inclined to consider the seasonal allergies too aswell as the food. Maybe wipe his paws when he comes in from outside with baby wipes if he keeps biting at his paws. As far as the wrinkles ... we use the duoxo pads. You can get them online from amazon.com and they are excellent for wrinkles, nose ropes and tail pockets!!

 

[Meggs19]

Thanks everyone! How do I know if he is having a problem with yeast in wrinkles or ears or how can you tell it's there? Oh, and [MENTION=3139]Jack Daniels[/MENTION]...what kind of bumps were you finding and where?

Also, I have been giving him some treats for training...various types like Charlee Bears and some little biscuit things/puppycorns...could these not be helping his cause? Also, anyone know if bully sticks are OK for bulldogs? Tonka is a little chewing machine and I could use a distraction for him!

 

[Jack Daniels]

@Meggs19 For training, why not use his kibble.... no need to spend money on treats that are not as healthy as the kibble you feed him with anyways.....

And most here will recommend a Nylabone to chew on. Or Deer / Elk Antelers..


Jack was developing small red bumps around his hind quarters and a few around the back of his neck. the bumps were about pea sized and if I were to scratch them, the hair over the bump would easily come off. These went away within a week of weening him off the Nature's Variety Salmon Meal kibble (which is a very Top quality kibble) but Jack is just not suited for it...

 

[Jack Daniels]

@Meggs19 Also for the wrinkles, I use regular baby wipes and what i do is pour about half a bottle of Witch hazel into the wipey container. I use a wipey to clean all his wrinkles, then his lower jaw, then his tail pocket....

Once he is totally clean and freshened up I hug him and squeeeze him and kiss him and hug some more........


Repeat as necessary .... although I'm good with one cycle...

 

[heff101]

Does the moisture in his nope rope smelly? If so it is likely a yeast infection. I would go to the vet and get that checked out.

 

[2BullyMama]

OK.... where are the pictures!!???

Welcome to the wonderful world of bulldogs and EBN!!!

sounds like environmental to me.... try 25mg Benedryl twice a day to see if it helps. also, you could ask your vet about a full blood screen allergy test - this will tell you exactly what the issue is. You'd be surprised what they can be allergic to - my boy, Nitschke was allergic to RICE and my girl, Banks is allergic to CHICKEN.

 

[JAKEISGREAT]

I say NO to bully sticks! .. No self respecting Bully wants to chew on THAT! Try a deer antler!

 

[Piamitch]

I say NO to bully sticks! .. No self respecting Bully wants to chew on THAT! Try a deer antler!

I second that.