another possible allergy question

[janice]

My 11 month old french bulldog is constantly licking his front paws, scratching his face and ears. Now recently vomitting. I have only had him 3 weeks and feel completely stressed out. Have him on eukanuba puppy lamb and rice. Have made a vet appointment but find all they ever do is treat the symptoms and not the problem. More steriods and anti biotics.

[karin hamlin]

oh dear!!!
so young to have such problems. first of all... you need to make him comfortable. if that means steroids or antibiotics for awhile longer, so be it. next, you really need to look into a better quality food. our frenchie friends are very sensitive to many things. mainly grains and some proteins. look for a good quality grain free food. if you look back on some other food forums, you may find some good links to check out. also, sometimes the allergy is environmental. so make sure you are washing paws off when coming in from outside and see if that helps the paw licking. check out the inside of his ears too. he may be scratching at them because they are infected, which happens alot with allergies. there is so much wonderful information on past posts, so really look at all of them relating to allergies.
good luck!

[janice]

Hi karin, just got back from the vets. Wilbur had a steriod injection and they are going to look at the possibilities of it being a seasonal allergy. I would of loved to try him on canadae but in the uk there is no dealers of that product. No idea what else to try him on. thanks again.

[Trish]

Do they carry Orijen, Solid Gold, Taste of the Wild, or Natural Balance in the UK? Wish I could be of more help but definitely sounds like allergies.. Feet licking and scratching can be seasonal allergies, but when they start getting problems with their ears, it tends to be diet related/food allergy.. not all the time, but more times than not.

[karin hamlin]

if the vet is thinking that it is environmental, then washing his paws off with a half vinegar half water solution will help. maybe even wiping off his belly if that is itchy too. there are many different grain free foods. trish has named some. look into that. maybe find a pet specialty store somewhere in your area and see what they have or what they can get. remember that the steroid shot is only a temporary solution. don't stop looking for a cure. it is not good for them to be on those long term and sometimes they can loose their effectiveness.
good luck and remember to check back through some of the old forums about allergies. there is some very good info there!

[Blanche]

We have the same symptoms with Harley. ... We have royal cannin skin support food on prescription from the vets for our frenchies foot chewing and skin problems . it Has not cleared his ear infection up , but his skin has cleared up and he has stopped chewing his feet . We know think it maybe the cat who occasionaly get fleas ... We think Harley may also be allergic to the fle bites

[janice]

thank you to everyone that replied. He still continues to vomit on the odd occasion but the vet doesn,t want to look at the possibility of it being a food allergy until november. i have to continue with eukanuba until then.

[karin hamlin]

dear janice,
just know that vets rarely have education or degrees in nutrition. my vet is wonderful, but the one thing i will not listen to, is her advice on food. you can find out more online and in wonderful resources like the whole dog journal then they will ever know. there job is to treat problems and so often the cure is put on the back burner. regardless of the cause of the allergy, a better food will only benefit your guy in the long run. but you must make the final call. remember... the vet is not the one who has to watch your guy chew and scratch constantly. only you can make the final call on his well fair.
we all wish you the best of luck, because so many of us have gone through the same things. just make sure to educate yourself as much as possible. there is concrete evidence out there that supports what we are telling you, and as someone will undoubtably tell you, alot of this stems from poor breeding. i have a poor bred frenchie with spina bifoda, but luckily have not had too great of a problem with allergies, so i can only imagine how distressing it is to watch.
steroids are not the answer to an ongoing problem. it is a "bandaid" what else is he having you do to releive his symptoms? my dobie was a vomiter for many years, but could not stomach a higher quality food. finally after years of looking for the right one, we found one he could tolerate. his vomiting stopped! this could be a sign of a food that just does not agree with him.

[Trish]

Yep - you are right Karin.. veterinarians receive I think it is only 6 hours of nutritional education.. and it is sponsored by one of the dog food companies, one of the brands that they carry at their office.. I'm pretty sure it's Hill's (Science Diet)! Imagine that. ;)

[janice]

There seems to be a really poor supply of quality dog food in the uk. canadae seems to be a favourite but again thats not available and the only other available dog food is on prescription which our vet doesn,t want to do at this present time. Yes your right Hills is available in the vetenary practice.

[Laurie Harris]

Hi Janice,
I agree with what everyone here is telling you. Vets seem to be quick to determine the problem but not the cause. My Mojo has allergies and the vet tried to tell us it was an allergy to grass. But when I switched him from Iams small breed puppy food (which is what his breeder fed him) to Canidae the symptoms went away. No more itchy, red bumps on the belly and no more scratching. I give him a bath with a soothing shampoo about every ten days or so too. Much better! Vets all want you to switch to Science diet (what a coincidence since they all sell it). Even my cats don't do well on Science Diet! If you can't find an organic high quality food I would try a raw diet for a little while. I've heard you can order it online and it comes frozen. Good luck!!

[janice]

well where do i start never mind the allergies now the vomitting is horrendous. Took him to the vet last night and had him sedated, xray on him and they found nothing. Brought hime home tonight and he can,t even keep a sip of water down. I am beside myself with worry. will be phoning the vets first thing in the morning anyone got any ideas. the only thing i know that could of upset him is the last breeder told me to put pineapple bits about 4/5 in his meal so that he would not eat is poo but, i stopped that about 4 days ago and still when he vomits the odd pineapple piece is brought up.

[karin hamlin]

oh janice!
i am so sorry. i know you can find all kinds of tummy turmoil suggestions online, but that can be dangerous not knowing what is wrong to begin with. i know there are some medications he can be given to stop the vomiting, do you have any e clinics near you? he can become dehydrated so fast!
good luck, we are thinking of you. hopefully, someone more knowledgable will get on here soon!