Expert: English Bulldogs ( Marie ) e-mail me at mpmaltese@gmail.com - 9/7/2011

Question
I have an 18 month old English bulldog named Henry... he weighs 57 pounds.

He has had allergic tendencies and so as per the vet he takes Vanectyl-P and is on Science Diet Z/D.  This is the first food that he has thrived on.  We tried many foods and digestion was very poor and stool was very loose.  As much as we didn't want to buy Vet food this one works so...

Anyway, he had demodex as a young pup and thankfully that has passed.  He has since been a very itchy pup on his face and eyes.  We have been concerned about entropion but the vet assures us that is not the case.  We are also told that he isn't' that bad a case and the since Atopica didn't help him that the Vanectl-p is his best bet.

Well, he is as itchy as ever and is on steroids... not liking that too much.  We had tried NuVet along time ago and never noticed a difference and stopped them as they have chicken liver - since he is on a protein allergy diet the vet suggested no more NuVet.

He occasionally gets yeasty in his facial folds and so we clean with witch hazel and soothe with cornstarch.  Its hit and miss on whether that does the trick.  He occasionally gets owies from the scratching and we put an ointment on the owies called K9 Clear up.  Works great but the smell causes him to lick his chops for about 5-20 minutes or until we distract him.  He is now licking his chops quite a bit even without a face wash or ointment and falls into a trance while doing it.

What is causing this?  Should we be worried?  What do you recommend for the itching and yeast and diet for that matter.

We love Henry (he is our only child) and just want him to be a happy go lucky dog and not have to be so stressed with itchiness.

THANKS!!

Answer
Hi Lori,  POOR Little Guy! It's the food.  Sorry, but it's awful for itchy dogs.
Yeast is also related to the food and environmental allergies.
I would home-cook for this cutie.  Do you want some recipes?  
Herbs, supplements and home-cooking.   ( it can take 60 days to KICK in)

Let me know, Please write to me at my private e-mail.
As for as the Z/D Hill's Science Diet - Take a look at the ingredients and tell me what appears to be food ????  

Sorry to be so blunt.

Marie Peppers LPN MA
mpmaltese@gmail.com