[nickowest21]

Hello- was wondering what people do for American Bully allergies?
I am a first-time dog owner and have had my bully for about a year. I have had my dog for about two years now after finding him on the side of the road while I was on a run. He had serious heartworms and was very underweight. He had no collar or chip and did not know how to eat from a bowl or walk on a leash (seriously no freaking idea what a leash was). After weeks of trying to find his owner and hundreds of dollars in vet bills, I decided he would be mine.

That being said, I love my dog, but he has had serious allergies for about a year now and I am trying to figure out what the deal is. I am tired of paying $100 for a cyto-point injection each month, only for it to work for about two weeks. I have also tried Apoquel and Benadryl, but neither seem to work. I use oatmeal shampoo to give him a bath. I used to give him a bath once a week, but I have switched too once every other week.

I recently switched off dry kibble, and now I feed him a "raw" diet (I cook the chicken). In his meal, I feed him cooked chicken, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries. I also put plain greek yogurt, 100% pure pumpkin, and bone broth.

He has bad dander and small scabs/red bumps all over his back, specifically in the area right above his tail. He usually has soft stools as well (not sure if that is due to allergies, too?)

Please let me know what y'all think! I can tell these allergies really bother him. Thank you!

 

[nickowest21]

What about an elimination diet? It's surprising but a lot of dogs struggle with chicken (although it manifests more in processed food) so you could try cutting all chicken from his diet and replace it with something novel - goat, ostrich and kangaroo are often used as the dog has not been likely to have had them. If these are too hard to find, fish might work. It would take several weeks for the chicken to clear his system, don't expect overnight results.

You might also want to do some more research into diet, because nice as it sounds, I don't think what you are feeding is fully balanced. That could be the cause of the soft stools.

Another thing - I'm sure you will have thought of this but just in case - around the tail is where fleas often cause problems. Has he been flea treated?

Thanks for the reply. I'll make sure I look into that. I just took the chicken out and have been researching what else to add. I might actually buy it from a company specifically dedicated to making raw foods for dogs.

No fleas- got him checked out by the vet. Thank you so much for your help.