My English Bulldog has Skin Problems - We can't figure it out!
Submitted by apham on January 19, 2011 - 1:00pmHi All,
Our 4 year old english bulldog has skin problems. So far, we know it's not mange, staph, ticks/fleas.
She has these small raised bumps all over her neck and back, and I would say there is about 20 of them. Once she's had these bumps for a while, they start to scab, and when it scabs, the scab will fall off and the hair on and around the scab will fall off too. We've been to various vets that tell us it's all these different things. We tried antibiotics since one of the vets thought it was staph. We also tried cream for skin infection, since that is what another vet thought it was. She already had a skin scraping, that is how we were able to rule out the mange. She doesn't scratch (or at least i've never caught her doing so), so I'm not sure how the bumps scab up and fall out.
Does anyone know what this is? Has anyone experienced this same thing?
I am going to say it is a food allergy from what you have said.
If you have had skin scrapings and other testing done, then you need to focus on possible food allergies. Are you on a grain-free or limited ingredient food? If not, I would try that at this point, nothing else seems to be helping! I feed Blue Buffalo Basics, Limited Ingredient. Natural Balance is a good LI food, as are several others.
Ijust switch when I start a new feed. I figure it is going to be a gas fest anyways, might as well just change food and let them adjust to it. Give the new food 1-2 months to really see a difference in your pup.
The only other thing would be insect bites...could that be a possibility? Maybe in the bedding, etc?
Good luck to you both.
Amy and Sophia
She does have food allergies.
She does have food allergies. I assumed that I already addressed this food allergy issue a while back ago. She is currently on Natural Balance - Fish and Potatoe. I have tried Blue, Taste of the Wild, Solid Gold, Canidae, etc. already. I feel like she is OK w/ this dog food because she stopped shedding, but now she's having these icky scabs that fall off, causing her to become bald in some spots. Do you know for sure that food allergies cause this?
Thanks so much for your response!! I really REALLY appreciate it
Do you use a good monthly flea med?
If you already have a good limited ingredient food, what is your monthly flea treatment you use? Sophie is very allergic to fleas....even one flea will trigger a bad reaction....including scabs.
Amy and Sophia
Do you use a monthly topical flea and tick
preventative? My Ollie had what sounds like the same stuff and we had to change up on month to another brand of topical treatment. That did the trick along with sanitizing his bedding and disinfecting his crate.
And always Winston, gone but not forgotten!
Hi! Thanks for your response.
Hi! Thanks for your response. Did Ollie have ticks? I searched through her coat and didn't find any ticks (they can usually be seen w/ the naked eye, I heard).
No ticks, just a creepy crawler that wasn't killed by the
Frontline Plus. So we did a Promeris treatment, just a little tube on the neck.
And always Winston, gone but not forgotten!
Are you using comfortis?
My cousin's dog had a similar reaction when using comfortis.
Comfortis? Is that a flea
Comfortis? Is that a flea treatment? I did notice that my dog had this crazy 'break out' of these scabby bumps after we used Hartz flea treatment.. could this be it? I later heard that Hartz isn't a good brand.
I just looked up "Hartz" flea
I just looked up "Hartz" flea medicine and I came across a website with horror stories of that product!!!!
I feel that this might be the reason why she's having this skin issue!!! Please let me know your thoughts...
If you think this is what might be the case, what should I do? Should I bathe her excessively to try to get rid of any remaining medication that is still on her somehow? Should she take antibiotics?
Ah, yes....that could be it...
I didn't read this before I answered above. Bath her well and then wait a week...then try an oral flea treatment.
Amy and Sophia
Yes, comfortis is an oral flea treatment
I believe the hartz could be the problem. Unfortunately with flea preventatives it's trial and error.
I would bathe the dog and wait awhile before applying any other topicals.
New here but....
I'm new here but I was a vet tech in my former life (IE, before child...). Without being able to see it, it SOUNDS like folliculitis. Can be caused by an allergen...normally something they come into contact with. If she sleeps on her back alot or you put a sweater on her this could be a cause also. Try scrubbing the area with a stridex pad (regular old stridex, none of the fancy stridex stuff) twice daily for at least 10 days. Hopefully it will help.
Thanks for your response! I
Thanks for your response! I will have to try that if she does not get better soon. I bathed her A LOT lately, assuming that she was allergic to the Hartz flea medication. It seems to be working so far...