Oily Fish !!

[BBH]

Hi everyone, my bulldog has bad skin sometimes where it becomes dry and he scratches like mad. I have spend circa £ 3000 at the vet hospital trying to get to the cause of this but to no avail. Someone has suggested feeding him mackerel, salmon etc to clear his skin. Has anyone had any luck with this type of diet.?

 

[sloulou]

What do you feed him at the mo? Quite often diet is linked to skin problems... (especially some comercial foods which contain lots of additives)

Oily fish is good - tinned sardines/ mackeral in olive oil is good - but also good for putting weight on - so how is your dog's weight?

You could also give cod liver oil capsules? and pumpkin seeds with some fruit like apple or pear (zinc, then the fructose in the fruit makes it work) is supposed to help with skin.

Aloe vera gel is good to put on itchy places

 

[BBH]

Thanks Widget, at the moment he is on James Welbeloved biscuits and plain chicken and Veggies. He is not terribly keen on fruit and would probable have a job getting him to eat it. I could certainly add seeds etc, he is on the portly side (not fat though ) so wouldn't want to add weight tbh but am willing to try new things as his skin is more of an irritant to him than weight. We have been on a limited diet with special food from the vet hospital and it didn't work so the general consensus was that it wasn't diet related.

 

[sloulou]

Oh ok... well my thinking was it is one of three things:

1. diet related (poss food sensitivity)
2. an allergy (diet or environmental)
3. disease/ mites - which it really can't be if the vet not found..

Have you tried him on plain boiled chicken and mash to see if his skin clears up? That is what our vet had us do with our old dog - although it turned out to be fox mange

My lab is not hugely tolerant to rice - seems to make his eyes water... so I keep clear of it and he has no trouble... but loads of dog foods have it in them - and apparently labs are prone to rice intolerances (oddly!)

Am no vet though - so am just thinking through options...

Would have thought the aloe vera would be good for soothing the irritated areas?

 

[prose]

You *must* post pictures of your bullie

Hands down, the best supplement I have tried for skin is olive leaf extract. Our local holistic pet store sells it fresh, but I'm sure you'll be able to get capsules. So there you go--Stella's shiny secret is out of the bag.

As Widget says, raw food/high quality fresh food, is the way to go, but if you're reluctant to switch over, you'll still see marked benefits from the olive leaf.

 

[BBH]

Thanks to both of you, will take your advice, would love to post piccies but poor dog has computer illiterate owner who has never ventured into photobucket.

Prose - always love stella pics, thankyou for olive leaf recommendation, we haven't caught up here in Uk re holistic pet stores but will try and find on-line.

Widget - thankyou very much for your help, his fox mange tests came back negative. Am wondering if it is something he touches on the ground ie hay, straw or when rushing through grasses as only effected on his undercarriage.