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Help with finding Dry Food for 10 yr mastiff with skin allergies

amybish1654

New Member
My 10 yr English mastiff has been battling for awhile with these sores he gets on his chest, legs, sides, & back. We take him to the vet they say it's bacterial infection and put him on antibiotics, it goes away. Within 2 weeks .they are coming back. Plus he's had loose stools too. He has been on antibiotics 4 times and I don't want to keep giving him pills all the time. I'm thinking he is allergic to something in his food. Any suggestions on food we can look into?
 

DennasMom

Well-Known Member
I'd start with adding LOTS of probiotics along with a digestive enzyme supplement. All those antibiotics are good to kill the bacteria, but will wreak havoc on the digestive and immune system.
Dogzymes has some good options.

Then... find a food that is NOT chicken based (that's a common mastiff trigger). Maybe go with a limited ingredient version, like Lamb & Rice or one of the Fish/Salmon based foods.

Give it 4-8 weeks and see how it goes. It can take a while for things to clear the system.

I'd also add in some Omega-3's; either salmon or fish oil, or feed some tinned sardines (low-sodium or rinse to remove excess salt; packed in water or olive oil not soybean oil), at least once a week.

If you really want to do an elimination diet, the easiest way would be to feed a home prepared diet. Raw or cooked, at least you'd know exactly what was going in the dish. It's hard to do elimination diets with a purchased food. Too many variables.

You might also need to consider environmental allergies.
Any products with fragrance can be a trigger (your shampoo, deodorant, any fabreeze-type sprays, laundry detergents, essential oils, etc). Anything sprayed on the lawn? Flea meds?
Can you track it to a season? Something environmental?

If he's 10 yrs old... how long has the allergy/sores been an issue? Can you track it to any changes in ANYTHING? New person/pet in the house? New routines? New neighbors?

Some food producers will change recipes without notice, which can trigger things, too. :(
 

marke

Well-Known Member
try cooking food for him for a month or so …… you may be surprised how well it works on some problem dogs …