Allergic to the world?

[Pope]

Our frenchie has been on grain-free, chicken-free food for a few years now. He has medicated baths about once a week, I clean his face constantly with a wipe and still his face is swollen and raw. He has a vet appt next week and I’m sure they’ll put him on antibiotics, which we’ve also done before.

Any suggestions on how to PREVENT this? His paws aren’t horrible so it’s hard to imagine it’s the grass. Idk what else it could be!

 

[Cbrugs]

What are you feeding him? What kind of wipe are using to clean his face?

 

[Alice Kable]

Ouch! That looks painful. Your vet probably won't suggest this, but we had blood allergy tests done on a couple of our English Bulldogs. One was allergic to most proteins except turkey and a weird one that I don't remember. He was also allergic to potatoes. The test really helped us narrow down food choices, rather than just trial/error!

 

[Pope]

What are you feeding him? What kind of wipe are using to clean his face?

We feed him the salmon version of Taste of the Wild. No grain and no chicken. I wonder if he’s allergic to another ingredient? The vet suggested just using baby wipes since they’re usually really gentle.

Also, his paws haven’t really had issues but they’re red and swollen now. Poor guy I think he’s allergic to the environment- but how do you keep your dog out of the world? :/

 

[Cbrugs]

We feed him the salmon version of Taste of the Wild. No grain and no chicken. I wonder if he’s allergic to another ingredient? The vet suggested just using baby wipes since they’re usually really gentle.

Also, his paws haven’t really had issues but they’re red and swollen now. Poor guy I think he’s allergic to the environment- but how do you keep your dog out of the world? :/

I would probably switch foods to something a little higher quality. Raw is the best but if you can’t do that then some good kibble would be Fromm, Acana, Orijen. A good limited kibble is Zignature and I think Earthborn Holistic. There is also dehydrated raw like The Honest Kitchen or Grandma Lucy’s. Sometimes potatoes or sweet potatoes can cause issues as well so you can try to stay away from those.

Are the baby wipes I scented? I like to use a medicated wipe like Duoxo. [MENTION=2]2bullymama[/MENTION] can Nustock be used on a face?

For his paws, you can do a paw soak with povidone iodine. Just fill the kitchen sink with enough warm water to cover paws and then squirt in the iodine until it’s the color of iced tea. Soak paws for 5 minutes and do daily until paws are better. It could take several days.

Jax is allergic to everything green outside. We did allergy shots, Apoquel and he is now on Cytopoint which has worked wonders. He also gets weekly baths with a medicated shampoo. I usually rotate between Ketohex and Chlorhexidine 4%.


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[Honeys Owners]

I don't think it's healthy to feed salmon long term, especially the TOTW salmon since it's probably farmed. The most hypoallergenic dog kibbles for this group seem to be Earthborn Holistic and Zignature, and I personally like Carna4 duck ( which is Canadian so might not be available near you ).
It's a big step to switch to frozen raw, so a good first step would be to switch to a dehydrated grain free raw like Honest Kitchen, Spot Farms, Grandma Lucy's, EasyRaw. Your dog will be much less allergic on one of those.

 

[Pope]

I would probably switch foods to something a little higher quality. Raw is the best but if you can’t do that then some good kibble would be Fromm, Acana, Orijen. A good limited kibble is Zignature and I think Earthborn Holistic. There is also dehydrated raw like The Honest Kitchen or Grandma Lucy’s. Sometimes potatoes or sweet potatoes can cause issues as well so you can try to stay away from those.

Are the baby wipes I scented? I like to use a medicated wipe like Duoxo. [MENTION=2]2bullymama[/MENTION] can Nustock be used on a face?

For his paws, you can do a paw soak with povidone iodine. Just fill the kitchen sink with enough warm water to cover paws and then squirt in the iodine until it’s the color of iced tea. Soak paws for 5 minutes and do daily until paws are better. It could take several days.

Jax is allergic to everything green outside. We did allergy shots, Apoquel and he is now on Cytopoint which has worked wonders. He also gets weekly baths with a medicated shampoo. I usually rotate between Ketohex and Chlorhexidine 4%.


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Wow, thank you for all the info! So helpful! I’ll start doing the foot baths today. I’ve had a few friends recommend Cytopoiny- so I was planning to ask the vet about that on Thursday. For the price of Taste, I thought it was a better brand than most lol. I’ve been interested in switching to homemade food, so that might be a good option as I’ve looked at the highest quality brands and can’t fit that into our budget feeding 2 hungry pups.

Oh,and the baby wipes are unscented, but even though I dry the folds after, they seem to be increasing the ability for yeast to grow- so I will not be continuing using those.

 

[2bullymama]

Yes... nustock can be used on face. As stated, get a better food—- the better the food the less issues and less vet visits

Zingnature
Fromm
Earthborn Holistic

raw is always best if you are willing

 

[Frenchie Grrrl]

I would try doing everything else first before looking at medications.

I know people love the ease and convenience of kibble, but I feel going raw (real raw, not dehydrated) and adding foods with lots of probiotics can clear up many skin issues by healing the gut, so the body isn't overacting to seemingly everything.

While medication will give them short term relief, it's not going to fix the underlying issues.

 

[Honeys Owners]

I would try doing everything else first before looking at medications.

I know people love the ease and convenience of kibble, but I feel going raw (real raw, not dehydrated) and adding foods with lots of probiotics can clear up many skin issues by healing the gut, so the body isn't overacting to seemingly everything.

While medication will give them short term relief, it's not going to fix the underlying issues.

Dehydrated raw is a good first step into the world of raw dog food. The probiotics you get in dog food are supposedly not very active, you need to supplement with your own probiotics, preferably the doggie ones, or milk kefir or live sauerkraut.

I would also supplement with fish oil and coconut oil for the skin, and add in some hemp seed oil 2 ml a day while he's on big game like beef.

 

[Honeys Owners]

Also turmeric is a great spice to add on, mix it with the dog food and grind in some fresh pepper to help with absorption Turmeric For Dogs

 

[Pope]

Dehydrated raw is a good first step into the world of raw dog food. The probiotics you get in dog food are supposedly not very active, you need to supplement with your own probiotics, preferably the doggie ones, or milk kefir or live sauerkraut.

I would also supplement with fish oil and coconut oil for the skin, and add in some hemp seed oil 2 ml a day while he's on big game like beef.

Thanks guys! We’re definitely going to change his food. I’ve been wanting to start making his food myself, and while I did research raw, it’s really overwhelming haha

I’ll have to head over to the diet/food forum to see if anyone has posted recipes- I’m not good just throwing ingredients together. I might start with a premade raw food but would ultimately like to make myself.

 

[Cbrugs]

Thanks guys! We’re definitely going to change his food. I’ve been wanting to start making his food myself, and while I did research raw, it’s really overwhelming haha

I’ll have to head over to the diet/food forum to see if anyone has posted recipes- I’m not good just throwing ingredients together. I might start with a premade raw food but would ultimately like to make myself.

For strictly homemade, just be sure to give all of the necessary nutrients.

Frozen commercial raw is already balanced to be complete and really easy to do.


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[Honeys Owners]

For strictly homemade, just be sure to give all of the necessary nutrients.

Frozen commercial raw is already balanced to be complete and really easy to do.


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I find some of the commercial frozen raw companies include more ingredients and state they are completely balanced, others say to add fish oil and sea kelp to their dinners since they just have the meat and vegetables and nothing else in them.