More Skin/Diet issues for Ella...

Nicole G · Aug 22, 2019

Hey guys!

So another day, another question. Sorry for so many! This is just such an amazing resource for us frenchie parents and you're all so kind.

Ella is doing amazing with her back issue and she just had a birthday on the 15th (hard to believe I've been posting on here since she was 4 months old

hmy:!). I am so grateful for all the advice I got from everyone on here with that as she is back up and running like it never happened!

However, as some of you know, we are still having huge skin/food related problems! She is so itchy (ongoing yeast infections - she eats no sugar, no grain and I treat her skin daily with topical Keto/Chlorhexidine) and no matter what I do, nothing seems to help. I feel so terrible and have been researching everything I can think of to try and help her. I got her allergy tested and we are currently trying to coordinate getting her on Allercept with our vet, but I have questions that I can't seem to get answered and I was wondering if you all might be able to help.

I currently cook for her (kind of a switch on and off between raw and cooking) and from what I understand, yeast comes from the gut. So if I can fix that, it will definitely help with her skin issues. What else could I do to change it up and help boost her immune system? I want her to be as healthy as I possibly can make her. She's lost so much of her beautiful coat due to scratching constantly even though I have her on antihistamines - it's so upsetting.

So far I have Bone Broth, Golden Paste (turmeric, coconut oil and black pepper), Coconut Oil and am trying to find a good sauerkraut, all of which I piece by piece plan to add to her usual meals of turkey grinds, veggies, eggs, and goat's yogurt. What do you guys feed your Frenchies that I might be missing in her diet, if you don't mind me asking?

She is the best girl and she is still her usual happy outgoing self, but I just want to fix her so badly. It's so frustrating! Sorry for the super long post.

2bullymama · Aug 23, 2019

Nicole G said:
Hey guys!

So another day, another question. Sorry for so many! This is just such an amazing resource for us frenchie parents and you're all so kind.

Ella is doing amazing with her back issue and she just had a birthday on the 15th (hard to believe I've been posting on here since she was 4 months old hmy:!). I am so grateful for all the advice I got from everyone on here with that as she is back up and running like it never happened!

However, as some of you know, we are still having huge skin/food related problems! She is so itchy (ongoing yeast infections - she eats no sugar, no grain and I treat her skin daily with topical Keto/Chlorhexidine) and no matter what I do, nothing seems to help. I feel so terrible and have been researching everything I can think of to try and help her. I got her allergy tested and we are currently trying to coordinate getting her on Allercept with our vet, but I have questions that I can't seem to get answered and I was wondering if you all might be able to help.

I currently cook for her (kind of a switch on and off between raw and cooking) and from what I understand, yeast comes from the gut. So if I can fix that, it will definitely help with her skin issues. What else could I do to change it up and help boost her immune system? I want her to be as healthy as I possibly can make her. She's lost so much of her beautiful coat due to scratching constantly even though I have her on antihistamines - it's so upsetting.

So far I have Bone Broth, Golden Paste (turmeric, coconut oil and black pepper), Coconut Oil and am trying to find a good sauerkraut, all of which I piece by piece plan to add to her usual meals of turkey grinds, veggies, eggs, and goat's yogurt. What do you guys feed your Frenchies that I might be missing in her diet, if you don't mind me asking?

She is the best girl and she is still her usual happy outgoing self, but I just want to fix her so badly. It's so frustrating! Sorry for the super long post.

If she is under a year old... have you had a skin scrape for mange done?

Mites are on all dogs, but when weaken immune system is present they take over and fur loss happens with lots of scratching

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Honeys Owners · Aug 23, 2019

Nicole G said:
Hey guys!

So another day, another question. Sorry for so many! This is just such an amazing resource for us frenchie parents and you're all so kind.

Ella is doing amazing with her back issue and she just had a birthday on the 15th (hard to believe I've been posting on here since she was 4 months old hmy:!). I am so grateful for all the advice I got from everyone on here with that as she is back up and running like it never happened!

However, as some of you know, we are still having huge skin/food related problems! She is so itchy (ongoing yeast infections - she eats no sugar, no grain and I treat her skin daily with topical Keto/Chlorhexidine) and no matter what I do, nothing seems to help. I feel so terrible and have been researching everything I can think of to try and help her. I got her allergy tested and we are currently trying to coordinate getting her on Allercept with our vet, but I have questions that I can't seem to get answered and I was wondering if you all might be able to help.

I currently cook for her (kind of a switch on and off between raw and cooking) and from what I understand, yeast comes from the gut. So if I can fix that, it will definitely help with her skin issues. What else could I do to change it up and help boost her immune system? I want her to be as healthy as I possibly can make her. She's lost so much of her beautiful coat due to scratching constantly even though I have her on antihistamines - it's so upsetting.

So far I have Bone Broth, Golden Paste (turmeric, coconut oil and black pepper), Coconut Oil and am trying to find a good sauerkraut, all of which I piece by piece plan to add to her usual meals of turkey grinds, veggies, eggs, and goat's yogurt. What do you guys feed your Frenchies that I might be missing in her diet, if you don't mind me asking?

She is the best girl and she is still her usual happy outgoing self, but I just want to fix her so badly. It's so frustrating! Sorry for the super long post.

Good idea to check her for mites. I would switch her off the turkey and egg, and try a different protein like duck or rabbit. If you're having difficulty getting live sauerkraut from fridge section of health food store you could try milk kefir or commercial probiotic like Probiotic Miracle or Proviable DC. Someone was mentioning in a different post they had good luck with sublingual immunotherapy for environmental allergies. If you get Respit immunotherapy from your vet you don't need to skin test for allergens.

Nicole G · Aug 28, 2019

[MENTION=2]2bullymama[/MENTION] thank you for the reply! She's four, so Demodex isn't a possibility, right? As for mites she's been tested many times, always comes back negative.

@honeysowners thank you too! Her food allergy testing came back with turkey and egg being two of the only proteins she's okay with. Rabbit too but I haven't been able to find it. Do you worry about the salt content in the live sauerkraut, or is it okay?

Honeys Owners · Aug 28, 2019

Nicole G said:
[MENTION=2]2bullymama[/MENTION] thank you for the reply! She's four, so Demodex isn't a possibility, right? As for mites she's been tested many times, always comes back negative.

@honeysowners thank you too! Her food allergy testing came back with turkey and egg being two of the only proteins she's okay with. Rabbit too but I haven't been able to find it. Do you worry about the salt content in the live sauerkraut, or is it okay?

Demodex is mites, so if she tested negative I guess she doesn't have. What kind of food allergy testing did you do? A lot of them are useless especially saliva and hair. The gold standard is elimination diet. Very few bulldogs seem to be allergic to duck. I wouldn't give the sauerkraut often since you're right, it does have a lot of salt. If you give it while your dog is on antibiotics and then occasionally, that should be safe.

2bullymama · Aug 28, 2019

Nicole G said:
[MENTION=2]2bullymama[/MENTION] thank you for the reply! She's four, so Demodex isn't a possibility, right? As for mites she's been tested many times, always comesback negative ?

Correct.. if tested and negative she is good

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Nicole G · Sep 15, 2019

Thank you both again. It's been a little bit and I think were finally getting somewhere with her skin, although now I noticed she has a swollen gland in her groin so I'm trying to get that worked out without being a total nervous wreck.

I am also planning on trying colostrum for her (our vet recommended it) so if you have any experience with that (or with the swollen gland!) I'd love to hear!

2bullymama · Sep 15, 2019

Nicole G said:
Thank you both again. It's been a little bit and I think were finally getting somewhere with her skin, although now I noticed she has a swollen gland in her groin so I'm trying to get that worked out without being a total nervous wreck.

I am also planning on trying colostrum for her (our vet recommended it) so if you have any experience with that (or with the swollen gland!) I'd love to hear!

Cheli just got over a swollen saliva gland.. entire neck was swollen... antibiotics cleared it up

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Honeys Owners · Sep 15, 2019

Nicole G said:
Thank you both again. It's been a little bit and I think were finally getting somewhere with her skin, although now I noticed she has a swollen gland in her groin so I'm trying to get that worked out without being a total nervous wreck.

I am also planning on trying colostrum for her (our vet recommended it) so if you have any experience with that (or with the swollen gland!) I'd love to hear!

I bought colostrum powder for my dog who was suffering from food allergies and licking her paws, didn't really notice any difference, but it's worth a try.