We recently got a French bulldog named Oli as a Christmas present to ourselves. I have long loved the breed and wanted one to call my own. However, I wasn't willing to get a frenchie puppy. As cute as they are, I
struggle with the concept of purebred dogs and getting dogs because they
are trendy, and thus exceedingly overpriced. But, try as I might I fell in love with @cooper_the_frenchie on IG and the love affair has continued. I even got my Man on board to the cuteness of frenchies. He began to love Cooper too, asking to see the latest video. We have been causally looking for another dog to be a companion for Addi, our boxer, golden retriever mix, and knew when we found the right match we would leap. What mattered most to us was Addi and her friend got along perfectly, regardless of the breed.I was so excited when we found Oli in Uncle Henry's, this super cool swap, trade, buying guide in Maine, NH and VT. It is so cool there is even a show - Downeast Dickering, which is so Maine and so Uncle Henry's, it's comical. We found our other dog Addi in Uncle Henry's too, apparently we use it for dog shopping.
Oli was in a small apartment in a city with 2 other dogs and 2 kids, with no yard to run and play in. The owner said he was too much for them. He is very high energy, as is Addi, so we knew that wouldn't be a problem for us, but is for most. We got the impression that the people did have the patience or time that Oli needs and the other 2 dogs in the house didn't like him either. Addi and Oli fell in love instantly. They have such similar personalities. They are the sweetest, most loving dogs that love to play day and night. They cycle throughout the day of play crash, play crash, play, eat, poop, crash. They are the best of friends. We couldn't love Oli anymore. He is a total cuddlebug who loves to kiss and play. It is a match made in heaven.
When we were looking into Oli we asked the previous owner if he had any health issues, as notoriously frenchies have a slew of health concerns. She said no, clean bill of health. Great!....well, as we are learning not so true....
When we went to meet him for the first time I noticed his incredibly red muzzle, eyes and ears, but didn't think of much of it. His face was so darn cute I didn't notice enough beyond his cuteness to be concerned.
The night we took him home all I could tell was how stinky he was. He came with this little bed, which reeked. Any room we put it in instantly became consumed in the same musty, wet, stinky smell. We threw it away after the first night, allowing him one night of acclimating comfort, but buying him a newvsimilar shape and size bed. I was dying to give him a bath the night we got him, but figured that was too much at a new home. Along with the stinkiness of Oli and his bed came excessive scratching and itching. The next day I gave him a bath. He smelled so clean and fresh, it seemed like a layer of stinky gunk washed down the drain. What I thought would be the answer because he was now happy and clean, gave way to noticing that the itchiness stuck. And actually got worse.
We have had him for a little over 3 weeks now, multiple baths later, daily doses of Benadryl, 1 mg for each pound, and soothing itch spray, he scratches to the point of bleeding. It breaks our hearts. He is so clearly uncomfortable. I took him to the vet for a general check up and to ask about his red, raw skin and constant scratching. She mentioned that frenchies notoriously have issues and the best first steps are limited, grain-free, allergen-free diet and controlling the fleas. If after those two things have been ruled out, the list of possible other allergies and issues can be endless, time consuming and patience-pushing. But whatever, we are so in love with this little guy we are determined to figure it out.
We have done extensive research online, talked to friends with breeds of dogs that are notoriously allergy and skin problem-prone. And I am pretty convinced out sweet boy has a wicked gluten/grain allergy (like his Mama :) ) and may be allergic to fleas.
So instantly my brain goes to the time when I was miserable and yet to have diagnosed my gluten allergy. While not excessively itchy or breaking out in a rash, I thought I was allergic to everything, toileting was a daily struggle and the inflammation was vicious. Knowing what I know now about my gluten allergy, I am applying the same logic to Oli's issues.
Luckily we already had Addi on a gluten/grain free Natural Balance food. Oli seemed to like it instantly, phew. We went through a similar trial and error with Addi and food because she had excessive flatulence, runny poops and subsequent constipation and constant ooey gooey eye boogers and regular ear infections as a puppy. We tried many different foods eventually landing on the limited ingredient Natural Balance food because it was the cleanest and the one she liked the most. Addi has always been a finicky eater and she makes it abundantly clear when she doesn't like the way a food tastes.
To help Oli we have been giving him daily Bendaryl, although not my preferred course of treatment, the vet recommended it and said it isn't harmful - especially when steroids is the next course of pharmaceutical treatments for excessive allergies. It'll do for now, especially since it is helping. I am giving him a daily probiotic to help with his gut and immune system. We also bought him a ThunderShirt, which calms him all over. We have noticed when he gets excited he is more itchy. And we thought anxiety might be playing a role here. We are also Richards Organics Incredible Skin soothing spray and pet calming tincture. While Oli runs around after application, it seems to soothe the excessive itchiness and he is starting to like that. We are giving him and Addi daily doses of omega-3 rich salmon oil and organic, plain Greek yogurt for the lactobacillus and acidophilus doses, hoping to build the good bacteria in Oli's gut. We are giving him weekly medicated baths with Zymox and applying the Zymox leave in conditioner - both of which are tremendously helpful, except of the 15 minutes after the bath that includes crazily running around the house in attempt to dry off. Addi does the same after a bath, it's too funny. We did a double duty application for fleas - as per recommendation from the vet, to "get it all in one swoop"- on Oli and Addi, of Frontline and Comfortis.All in all, the pieces started to come together and we thought we were figuring it out. His redness has diminished tremendously. The raw spots on his hips and armpits started to look less inflamed and red, and he wasn't as attentive to those places. His muzzle was still pink, but he wasn't scratching it raw to the point of drawing blood every minute we turned out backs. Phew, we were figuring out and our little guy was getting better and happier by the day.
It has been tough. Sleepless nights. Constant monitoring. Racking our brains to figure out all the possibilities. All the while our little man is so obviously miserable, but still is the sweetest little love bug. We are daily amazed by his wonderful, loving, joyful personality.
And then a few days ago we bought a new bag of food, wow do two dogs eat a lot of food. We bought the vegan formula Natural Balance food, which we knew Addi liked. All of sudden Oli's mild itchiness turned back into the excessive, obsessive scratching, rubbing on every surface, unable to do much else than itch. Each day it was getting worse and worse. We were baffled how could he be getting worse, we thought we had figured it out, we thought he was on the mend?? He is back to the first few days we had him, scratching so hard he whimpers and bleeds. Every part of his belly, armpits, muzzle, ears and hips are raw and red. Nothing seems to be helping, not even the soothing spray, calming tincture or ThunderShirt. He shakes with itchiness. Then the other night, he broke out in a rash all over his body. The whites of his eyes became red and weepy, he looked like he was crying. All the while he has had runny poops, excessive flatulence and he is emanating his metallic smell all over, probably because of the amount of blood he keeps oozing from the itching, we thought. And now Addi too is farting constantly, she has eye boogers, she seems itchier and is emanating the same smell.
WTF!? What has happened?
I have been doing so much research to help our little babies. I knew it wasn't mites, as Oli was tested at the vet's. Nothing seems to be working or helping, and our puppies are clearly so uncomfortable and Oli is the worst yet. I just couldn't believe we were doing so well a week ago and now we are back to square one. So frustrating and concerning. On a whim I looked at the ingredient listing on the new bag of food, low and behold the first 3 ingredients are grain!! How could we be so stupid!? How did we not read the label more closely??
What is so amazing that in hindsight we have been switching between the salmon and sweet potato grain free formula and the vegan formula for about a year with Addi, just to mix it up, and Addi seems to like the vegan formula better, BUT occasionally Addi would get more itchy, which we chalked up to being overdue on her flea medication, extra goobery eyes and she too would get that occasional metallic stink. We deduced that if it was an anal gland issue, which research online would lead us to believe, the smell would be regular and centralized on the rear end. Only now that we are literally analyzing every irritant possible, are we identifying that that metallic stink is because of her grain allergy and the few times we would switch to the vegan formula did she get the smell. And right now they both have that funky smell and they are both eating the non gluten/grain free food. Damn it!
We feel wretched and stupid for setting ourselves and Oli back 2 weeks in his recovery. And to not have seen the signs in Addi for the past year when we switched to the vegan-grain-filled formula. How can we be so blind?
But it makes me remember that you only know when you know. I remember going through this similar cycle of food allergies and when I was still so inflamed and aggravated, any tiny thing could trigger a catastrophic reaction. It took me 6 months to feel OK again and an entire year to feel "normal," which I hadn't felt probably in over 10 years. And sometimes it gets worse before it gets better.
Although dogs are different than us in a lot of ways, they are similar in many too. The correlations you can identify in yourself that apply to a dog's allergic reaction is astounding, especially when you tune in, observe and apply the same logic and treatment you would for your own well-being.
We immediately stopped feeding the dogs the vegan formula and went to a grain-free, ingredient list triple checked formula of Natural Balance. We like the brand and think it is one of the cleanest commercial dog foods out there. Addi and Oli seem to like the new formula, but it will be a number of days before we see if Oli will benefit. Unfortunately, we have to let the inflammation and irritation that the vegan grain-filled formula caused to passe before we see if this formula will work. Let our error be your learning lesson, just because most of a brand is grain free, make sure you read ALL ingredient labels before you switch flavors. Who knew that a mostly grain-free brand would put grain in a few flavors? Be wary.
We are beside ourselves with how bad Oli is the last few days. But we are hoping with this new formula and the same things we were doing in addition will put him in the right direction of healing again. And if not we will have to do more research and try other things. We are 90% certain that we are dealing with a grain/gluten and flea allergy, which are manageable and lucky for Oli he is now in a home with a lot of experience with food allergies. However, if this doesn't work the next step in my mind is making their food. We all know how important and better homemade and unprocessed is for us, so we shall see, if that is what our sweet boy needs too, then I will do it. We are hoping to get past this horrible, extra inflamed, extra aggravated gut and immune system time the little man is dealing with. We want to see him stop worrying about is discomfort and start playing and being the excited lovable puppy that he is.
Trust your gut when comes to your own health and well-being, as well as your fur babies. Apply the same tactics you would to solving your own aliments, you would be amazed how helpful and necessary it is to the little guys too.
