So, I need some brainstorming... Bulldog allergies.

S

SevenSins

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#1
My male AB is not doing well. It's nigh impossible to keep weight on him and his coat and skin are a mess. Underside is pretty much bald and nipples are swollen from constant scratching. He used to get hotspots every few days but I actually haven't seen one pop up in awhile (knock on wood). He's been to the GP and to a dermatologist who put him on a regimen of allergy shots and regular bathing, plus a medicated lotion for his wrinkles and feet. Changed his food from a limited ingredient lamb formula intentionally to a WORSE quality food because sometimes Bulldogs don't process the higher protein well and do better on lower quality food...as backward as that seems. It didn't really do anything, neither for the better or for the worse, so there's really no point in keeping him on it. GP vet did bloodwork and he's had other tests done, everything has come back normal except of course the allergy tests, where he's allergic to **** near every grass, common tree out here, and human dander. Allergy shots don't seem to be doing much. We cut the spacing of them back to try to build up his tolerance, still doesn't seem to be doing anything after several months and several thousand dollars.

He actually looked amazing for awhile, coat was thick and shiny, and white...and then completely crashed and was worse off than he was before we did all of that.

Any ideas on what to try next, short of turning the poor dog into Bubble Boy?
 

Emily

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#2
Have you thought of finding and feeding him local, raw honey? I've never done it but man do people swear by it. I know it has to be local and it has to be raw and unfiltered though.

Other than that... man that sucks. :( You have my sympathy.
 
S

SevenSins

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#3
Have you thought of finding and feeding him local, raw honey? I've never done it but man do people swear by it. I know it has to be local and it has to be raw and unfiltered though.

Other than that... man that sucks. :( You have my sympathy.
I honestly wouldn't even know where to get any of that in the southern NV area. This isn't the best place for fresh, local anything, at least not that I've ever managed to find. Suppose it wouldn't hurt to post a Craigslist ad and ask around.

Also wanted to mention that the weight issue seemed to happen only after he had surgery to remove a foreign object from his stomach. is there any possible complication that could have come from that type of surgery to cause that issue, or would that all purely be coincidental and likely related to the allergies? Doesn't seem like there could be, but...
 

CharlieDog

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#4
I'm not sure what to do about the hotspots/allergies, but satin balls work miracles for putting weight on dogs. Knox has been dropping weight lately because Indy was in heat and food apparently isn't as cool when there's bitches in heat around.

She's finally coming out and he's eating again, but I'm supplementing him with satin balls because he's a naturally thin dog that careens right into skinny when he doesn't eat. :p
 

Kat09Tails

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#5
Take what records you have and go to a different vet dermatologist - don't waste anymore money at a GP vet. Also bloodtests for allergies are kind of worthless.
 
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chaospony

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#6
Nothing helpful to add but I have a cat who is allergic to the world so you have my sympathy.
It sucks big time when the world is one giant allergen :(
 
S

SevenSins

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#7
Take what records you have and go to a vet dermatologist - don't waste anymore money at a GP vet. Also bloodtests for allergies are kind of worthless.
He's been to one, the other tests done by the GP were to determine if there was an underlying internal issue causing the weight problem, aside from allergies (dermatologist said the allergies shouldn't be causing it).
 

Kat09Tails

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#8
He's been to one, the other tests done by the GP were to determine if there was an underlying internal issue causing the weight problem, aside from allergies (dermatologist said the allergies shouldn't be causing it).
Do you keep a journal of how his allergies are? Does it seem to cycle? Have you had his thyroid checked?

Ugh... this has gotta be frustrating for you both.
 
S

SevenSins

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#9
Do you keep a journal of how his allergies are? Does it seem to cycle? Have you had his thyroid checked?

Ugh... this has gotta be frustrating for you both.
I was keeping notes for awhile but now it's pretty much same old, same old. Nothing is really getting "worse" and nothing is getting better. Full panel thyroid done last year, looked fine.

I'll definitely try the satin balls as a supplement (for some reason I always forget about those) and hope there's nothing in them he's allergic to, to see if I can bulk him up a bit because I literally have to feed so many meals per day of so much food right now that he can hardly process it all.
 

CharlieDog

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#10
If there IS something he's allergic to, leave it out, or substitute it for something else, which is what I did for Enzo. She doesn't seem to do well with oats, so I gave her rice instead.
 

Danefied

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#11
A shot in the dark, but how about supplementing him with MSM? That stuff does wonders for the immune system. If you buy it at a feed store its pretty cheap, and its good for them anyway even if it doesn’t do anything for the allergies.
 

yoko

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#12
This is the second dog I've heard that is allergic to human dander o_O that just seems crazy to me.

My bosses dog sounds like your dog. I know there are side effects but have you tried using steriods? I think her dog is on allergy shots and steroids. The dog still isn't great looking but definitely looks better than it was.
 
S

SevenSins

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#13
I know there are side effects but have you tried using steriods? I think her dog is on allergy shots and steroids. The dog still isn't great looking but definitely looks better than it was.
Ohhh steroids are a bad idea for this dog, in terms of aggression side effects, or he'd be on them. :(
 

yoko

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Ohhh steroids are a bad idea for this dog, in terms of aggression side effects, or he'd be on them. :(
:( Sorry about that. I just text my supervisor to see if there was anything else they were doing with their dog that might help but it sounds like it's pretty much what you are doing now.

I don't have any more ideas but will send vibes. My neighbors dog had grass allergies when I was growing up and I know it can be miserable for the owner and the dog.
 
S

SevenSins

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#15
A shot in the dark, but how about supplementing him with MSM? That stuff does wonders for the immune system. If you buy it at a feed store its pretty cheap, and its good for them anyway even if it doesn’t do anything for the allergies.
Never really thought of it, I'll give it a look. Can't hurt right? Poor dog is going to be on more supplements than I am. LOL
 

JessLough

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#16
Renegade is basically allergic to the world. His coat looks like **** cause of it. I just feed a fish based food and daily Benedryl

I also give him benebac to help
 
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#18
I hope you find some solution, but I never did with Molly. I tried several different foods, special supplements, etc, and all they really did was give her gas, or do nothing at all. I don't know why, or how it happened, but at the age of almost 13, all her scratching, itching, losing hair, etc, stopped/disappeared. It's like a switch was turned off. At almost 14, she has the best coat she has ever had, over a year now without any scratching. I turned the heat on about a month ago, and kind of expected her to start scratching within a day or two, but it never happened, so I guess it really is over with. If only her hips would fix themselves like that.
 
S

SevenSins

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#19
Atopica. It's effing expensive but it works.
It also can cause kidney and liver damage and higher incidence of cancer, so that's something I'd definitely have to think about before I gave it to him. Relief from being itchy from existing allergies now vs. potential but not guaranteed cancer and/or kidney and/or liver failure later. That's a tough decision. :(
 
S

SevenSins

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#20
Just to update... Ended up putting Mr. Boodawg/Beezer (American Bulldog) on Triamcinolone pills and discontinuing the allergy shots for now as per his dermatologist. He looks amazing. Coat is thick and WHITE instead of yellow, greasy, dull, and brittle. He's perky and bouncy. He's actually bordering on fat now so I have to readjust his meals, rather than practically shoveling food in like I was feeding a leaking steam engine just to keep him slightly above emaciated. He also has ZERO itch response when I scratch his underside, which was his most affected area. When I thought about it this morning I realized he hasn't scratched at all that I can remember in almost a week, since starting on the Triamcinolone. The worst side effect I've noticed thus far is panting for no reason, which is listed as a common side effect, but it doesn't happen often and as side effects go that's one of the most mild ones... I'll take it.

This was a trial round, because we were worried about putting him on any type of steroid. In all honesty, it was a "what's the worst that can happen?" When taking the alternative into consideration, because we were slowly but surely getting to that point. Not really looking forward to what's going to happen once he weans off them at this point, in a few weeks, but my derm vet is probably going to discuss the pros and cons of keeping him on them long term. I know the nearly inevitable long term effects, and if I had to make the decision right now, they would definitely be worth it. We'll see what happens when he's on the lower dose before weaning off.

Part of me feels terrible though, just because I "could have" alleviated the misery he was going through a lot sooner if I had just tried this first rather than trying the allergy shots, antihistamines and medicated topicals first. I obviously couldn't have seen into the future and predicted that it would help this much, with nearly no side effects (aside from what may happen long term), but it still bothers me.
 

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