Skin issue

[Texasmom]

Hi there I have a 6 month old frenchie and we have been struggling with his food as far has his bowels go. We have him on a temporary GI special food and that seems to be really helping with the diarrhea I have also started on feeding him a scoop of pumpkin with his food and that has been helping too so we are going to transition him back onto regular food, continuing with the pumpkin.
Recently we have noticed an irritated spot by his ear. Looks like a dry patch but has definitely gotten bigger. I have been doing some reading and I've heard that frenchies can be allergic to chicken and wheat? It seems like a lot of foods have some sort of chicken in them. Anyone have experience with this?? If so any food brand recommendations?? We have decided not to go raw.
We are in Canada and there are some us brands you cannot get here.
Any advice would be great!!

 

[2bullymama]

Can you post a picture of the spot? Have you had him tested for manage?

My girl was highly allergic to chicken and sensitve to salmon so I went with Fromm Pork and Peas grain free. Also, look into Taste of the Wild, Natures Variety, Orejin or Acana grain free lines

 

[JuniorsMom]

I'm in Canada too!

I would second 2bullymama's recommendation for the grain-free varieties. I wrote to Fromm last week to ask them about some skin issues we were seeing while on Fromm Puppy Gold. Junior had some red skin between his toes. Their reply was that -- IF it was food causing the problem -- it was either the chicken or the grain was likely the culprit and recommended their Fromm Prairie Gold Puppy. By that time, I had already bought some Acana Grasslands and that is going very well.

Until the digestive issues clear up, you might also consider a food with only one protein source: either pork or duck or lamb, etc. My breeder really likes the Fromm Four-Star Lamb & Lentils for her Frenchies. The foods that have three or four different proteins (like most puppy foods) make it hard to tell what's causing the problem. Each time we switch foods, my dogs have soft stools for a couple of days, then back to normal. I like to give each new food a week to see how they tolerate it.

I understand mange can be localized in one spot, so 2bullymama's thought there is a good one, too.

Lisa

 

[Squishy Walnuts]

Acana & Orijen are from the same company and made in Canada (Alberta). Fresh meat, never frozen, all great ingredients. I feed my dogs Acana Pacifica and they both do very well on it.

 

[Texasmom]

Thank you for all your help!
We have started Texas on the Acana pork and butternut squash and his stomach has never been happier.
The spot by his ear seems to be sprouting new hairs as well which is great. The vet checked the spots last week when he got neutered. She was saying there could be more than a normal number of mites on his skin that his immune system can eventually fight off or we can try treatment. She also said it could possibly be allergies which is hard to nail down what it is.
I'm mostly concerned about red spots on his feet now. He keeps chewing at them and they seem irritated and itchy. Has anyone else had this before? Is there other possible environmental allergies?

 

[Cbrugs]

Thank you for all your help!
We have started Texas on the Acana pork and butternut squash and his stomach has never been happier.
The spot by his ear seems to be sprouting new hairs as well which is great. The vet checked the spots last week when he got neutered. She was saying there could be more than a normal number of mites on his skin that his immune system can eventually fight off or we can try treatment. She also said it could possibly be allergies which is hard to nail down what it is.
I'm mostly concerned about red spots on his feet now. He keeps chewing at them and they seem irritated and itchy. Has anyone else had this before? Is there other possible environmental allergies?

Glad to hear you have found a food that Texas is doing good on.

And yes, there is definitely the possibility of environmental allergies. Jax is allergic to to grass, trees, shrubs, weeds...if it's green, he's allergic to it. You can try to do some paw soaks to see if that helps. I fill my kitchen sink with enough water (warmish) to cover his paws completely and then mix in some povidone iodine until the water is the color of iced tea and then stand him up in it and soak his paws for 3 minutes. Sometimes I do this once a day when Jax's paws become really irritated.

And it is still possible that there is something in his food that is causing the irritation as well even though his stomach is much better.