pants Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 Hi Everyone, This is my first post!!!! I have a British Bulldog and he is is sooo itchy and the moment, especially in on the tummy and muzzle.......He scratches until there are open wounds, and he licks his paws alot. I have checked my garden for those horrible weeds, but don't seem to have any and tried diffent foods to see if that makes a difference... I have asked around and have been advised that a drug called prednil could help, has anyone had dealing with this drug and it's long term effects??? I am hesitant to use drugs as they only are covering up the problem...has anyone ever been to a skin allergy specialist and did they get some helpful results? I have been told that this could be expensive, but I'm willing to do anything to get my dog, happy and healthy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miranda Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 (edited) It sounds like a contact allergy as his muzzle and tummy and paws are affected. Prednisolone will certainly stop the dog scratching, but it won't cure the itch, it simply suppresses the immune response. However if your dog is that bad you may have to use it temporarily while you find out what's causing it. Do you have any wandering jew or paspalum grass, both these are common allergens? Edited February 21, 2008 by Miranda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pants Posted February 21, 2008 Author Share Posted February 21, 2008 Hi Miranda Thanks for your reply, as far as I can tell I definelty don't have wandering dew or any of the well known irritants.....The poor little bugger is so itchy, I am happy in the short term to use prednil or another drug to relieve him, but am keen to find out if anyone has been down the road of allergy testing and if so was it worthwhile? Have you had this problem with your dogs, and if so what did you find as the best solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joypod Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 Hi pants, welcome to the forum. How old is he and how long has he been itchy for? Is there a pattern to it (eg, only appears around this time of year, etc)? I've got a French Bulldog that had an allergic reaction to a natural flea treatment I'd been putting in his food. That made only his feet itchy. It took me a little while to work out what it was because it was only his feet that he was scratching. So, it could still be food related. Especially in Bulldogs which are prone to so many allergies. What sort of food elimination have you done if any? Poor itchy boy. It's horrible watching them be so uncomfy isn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pants Posted February 21, 2008 Author Share Posted February 21, 2008 Hi Joypod, It is horrible, and I feel so helpless!!! he is just over a year old and this has been happening for a few months now, occassionally it gets a bit better, it doesn't seem to be a seasonal thing. We have considered heaps of things that could be causing his itch, but the changes we make don't seem to make a difference... We use Advocate as his flea treatment, and that doesn't seem to be the problem... We used to feed him proplan puppy, and to try something else to see if that helped we are now using Innova (this was recommended in the pet store) for his dry food and for the wet he has cooked chicken and brown rice.....and he still itches!!! I know that Bulldogs are prone to sensetive skin but this is terrible, and boy I would love to know the cause Your boy is beautiful... I love French Bulldogs (actually all bullies in general), they have such beautiful natures..... Thanks for the welcome, and I hope there is a solution out there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joypod Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 Oh dear, I hope there's a solution too. The problem with bulldogs (French and British) is that because they can be allergic to so many different things, it can make finding the exact cause really, really difficult. Have you tried getting him off the dried food altogether and just giving him raw food? Gus is on a purely raw diet and he's doing wonderfully on it. Also, have you seen a vet about it? At least they'll be able to give him something to (hopefully) stop his itching while you try and work out what he's reacting to. The other thing I'd be doing if I were you was speak to his breeder and find out if either of his parents have allergies. It might be a good place to start anyway. Good luck. I know how you're feeling and I know how frustrating it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormie Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 Hi pants - sorry to hear about your boy. Itching really is an awful problem. My dane boy orbit has been itchy since he was 10wks old (he's 6 months now) and we're still trying to get to the bottom of it. We have been dealing with a dermatologist who suggested we first rule out a few things before we look at doing skin testing. For starters, contact allergies are actually quite rare, she was saying. Plants like wandering jew do not cause allergic reactions as such, but can be irritating. Muzzle and belly are areas that can itch with any type of allergy, be it atopy (pollens, dust mites etc - basically doggy 'hayfever') or food allergy. To rule out a specific plant or grass causing a reaction, she suggested we keep him inside for 10-14 days with no contact with plants. To rule out something inside being an issue, like carpet cleaners, floor cleaners, perfumes etc, she suggested keeping him outside for the same amount of time (haha i couldn't bring myself to do this one just yet!) Another step as a pup was to treat for parasites such as fleas and scabies - we did this with revolution. After that she suggested we place him on a food trial to rule out food allergies. You need to do this for atleast 12 weeks using a protein source and carbohydrate your dog has previously not had before. We used Eukanuba FP but didn't follow it for the full 12wks as he wasn't putting on weight with it (we will try this again once he's out of his critical growth period). Our next step after we've gone through all of these will be intradermal skin testing. This generally isn't done till the dogs are atleast 11months old, so we still have some time to keep investigating. In the mean time, we have him on oral pred at the lowest dose he can manage, which is NOT an immune suppressive dose, rather just an anti inflammatory dose. He also gets antihistamines (iramine) and Evening Primrose Oil in his food and is bathed every 4 days with evening primrose shampoo. Goodluck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
curlygirl Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 Has your dog been checked for demodectic mite. This can be a problem in some bulldogs and drugs like prednil ( a cortisone and anti histamine Combination) can make demodex worse. A vet would need to do a skin scraping to check for the mites. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormie Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 demodex generally isn't itchy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pants Posted February 22, 2008 Author Share Posted February 22, 2008 Thanks for the advice I took my boy to the vet last night, and was given some prednil to stop the itching.... He was tested for mites and there were none present on the skin scraping. The vet suggested that we might have to do some food trials down the track, and possibly a skin specialist if we have no success. I am really okay with giving my boy the prednil in the short term, but the vet expressed that this could harm his muscles/ joints and even give him diabetes for prolonged use...I think I will contact the breeder to see if his parents have allergies too, but the vet said that this would be uncommon as these things are not normally hereditry, but hey it can't hurt to ask..... I have thought about changing where we take him for a walk, but I never really considered that it could be the inside environment that could be the problem, I'm not sure that I could bring myself to leave my boy outside for any long period of time either Stormie, i know how you feel!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muttaburra Posted February 23, 2008 Share Posted February 23, 2008 (edited) What about Plumbago (hedges)? Certainly prednil in the short term will calm the reaction down. You can also buy 1% cortisone creme at the chemist and try that (you have to ask for it), if you put it on for a couple of days, as soon as the rash appears this can make a big difference. Also check between the toes for Fungal infections, there will be a black sooty appearance and redness. You could try Listerine if there is fungal infections between the toes, (as long as there is not too much broken skin.) Make sure his feet are dried before bedtime. Fungal infections can transfer from the feet to the dogs ears, gums and mouth. You also need to watch out for secondary staphlococcus infections, if you are getting the blistering and pustules then the scabbing. Can you show some close-up photos of the affected areas? Edited February 23, 2008 by InDogWeTrust Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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