Best food for a 7-month French bulldog with itchy skin allergies?

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Lino. I typically use a hydrolyzed prescription diet in the case of food allergies. Royal Canin options would be their Hydrolyzed or Ultimino formulas. Purina ProPlan Veterinary Diets HA is another great option. In these diets, the protein source is chopped into tiny pieces that are too small for the body's immune system to recognize and react to it. I have had great success with all three. I hope this information helps!

Hi there and thank you for using pet coach to address your concern. If a hydrolyzed diet was not used, I would switch to a food such as Hills Z/D or Royal Canin Ultamino and feed for 4-6 weeks. If there is no improvement, you may need to consider drug therapy such as cytopoint, apoquel, atopica, etc. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

Thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach with your question about Gus. Blue Buffalo is terrible, I'm not surprised he did not like it. I'd have him seen by a vet for this issue. The cause of his skin problem needs to be diagnosed so it can be treated correctly. Once the cause of the skin problems are diagnosed, the vet can discuss the appropriate diet for him. I hope this helps.

Three main type of allergies are usually affecting pets: food allergies, flea and parasite related ones and environmental type (allergens coming from trees, pollens, dust etc etc). Once it is established that food allergy is present, you can either feed him with hypoallergenic diet or exclusion ones (based on one source of carbohydrates and one of proteins). This food should be given at least for 6 weeks before appreciating results. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

Allergies are a common problem in this breed. It can be from food or the environment. You have several options left to try though. You can change the food to a hypoallergenic form such as royal canin rabbit and potato or a food that is similar to contain a single protein and single carbohydrate. Because it responds well to steroids, that strongly suggest there is an environmental component also. They medicine similar to cortisone but without the side effects called Apoquel that is worth looking into. It helps with inflammation and scratching. These can all be combined with the antihistamine you currently give. I would also recommend a medicated shampoo bath weekly to help with the skin. They do make allergy testing in the form a blood sample or more accurate with a skin test to find out exactly what the cause is. this is more expensive, but a specific vaccine can be made specially tailored to him based on the results to desensitize him to the allergens. You have several options to explore to help keep him comforatble

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is possibly due to allergies. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing his allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. A secondary infection is likely and also needs to be addressed. There are medications such as Apoquel or prednisone which may help with the itch. 

 There are many things that can cause allergies though in most cases they can be broken down into 3 big categories: flea, food and environmental allergies. 

Allergies are usually worked up in a stepwise fashion starting with flea allergies as this is the easiest and cheapest to take care of. If not on a flea preventative, then it would be a good idea to get started on one. If already on one then it would be a good idea to change to something else (there are many new products out in the market). 

If not improved in 1-3 months then it is time to move on and check for food allergies by switching to a novel diet (new protein and new carbohydrate). If that does not seem to be the issue then you are left out having to check for environmental allergies which require blood and/or skin tests.

 Allergies can be very frustrating to deal with at first but so rewarding at the end when we are able to treat them effectively!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! If she tests negative for mange, I would be suspicious that this may be due to skin allergies. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing her allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. There are many things that can cause allergies though in most cases they can be broken down into 3 big categories: flea, food and environmental allergies. Allergies are usually worked up in a stepwise fashion starting with flea allergies as this is the easiest and cheapest to take care of. If not on a flea preventative, then it would be a good idea to get started on one. If already on one then it would be a good idea to change to something else (there are many new products out in the market). If not improved in 1-3 months then it is time to move on and check for food allergies by switching to a novel diet (new protein and new carbohydrate). If that does not seem to be the issue then you are left out having to check for environmental allergies which require blood and/or skin tests. Allergies can be very frustrating to deal with at first but so rewarding at the end when we are able to treat them effectively!