Since all dogs are not equal, they are also prone to different disorders. One of this dog breed is the American Bulldog. Basically, because of their wrinkles and short hair, they are more prone to itchy and irritating skin infections. So, to help your American bully to relieve their itch, it is better for you to understand the American bulldog skin allergies.
Actually, knowing these health-related problems with your American bully may be a big help for them as you may address it right away. Although, veterinary assistance is such an essential factor for infected skin of your dog, having some basic knowledge about it might generally reduce most of the causes at home. We have here the skin allergies of the American bully and the way to treat them properly. So, check them all out below!
Types of American Bulldog Allergies
Generally, allergies among American bulldog occur due to different predisposing factors. These include genetic or some environmental elements that can usually trigger an allergic response. In the case of the American bulldog, their genetic predisposition is a great contributor to most of their allergies.
Basically, a muscular body and wrinkled face with a pushed nose is the main physical feature of the American bulldog. In addition to that, its head together with the shoulders are broad while the muzzle is typically short. And, just on top of their nose, you may see a characteristic fold known as the rope. It may also have some skin hanging below the neck that comes with drooling lips.
However, despite the grumpy appearance, the American bully tends to be a docile dog breed. This dog is generally happy and very sociable which are also good with the kids and other pets. It is also affectionate and much attached to its family. In fact, the bully will never attempt crossing the street without the guidance of a human.
Actually, the American bulldogs are highly susceptible to allergies which arise due to genetic inheritance or because of environmental changes. Sometimes, allergic reactions come from food allergens. Knowing what allergy affects the bully is highly essential to understand. This may basically help a lot in treating them.
Common Allergies in American Bulldog
Since the American bulldog is highly susceptible to allergies, there are typically five main types of allergies that affect it. Itching is basically the most common indication of allergy of the American bully. And, in case the allergy types are American bulldog skin allergies, the dog will have a dry or too much oily. Aside from that, there is also a development of flakes that are generally visible on the dog’s fur.
Moreover, the American bulldog’s skin will also have patches of scales and will be really itchy. Yet, the dog may also experience cough, sneezing, and wheezing if the cause is already due to respiratory allergy. Moreover, if the allergens move down the stomach, American bully may vomit and experience diarrhea.
Airborne Allergies in American Bulldog
Normally, once the American bully inhales allergens from the air such as the dust, grains, pollen, mites, and molds, airborne allergies may occur. This type of American bulldog allergies is also known as the inhalant allergies in which it can also be triggered by some chemicals. Airborne allergies usually lead to scratching, paws biting or chewing, and continuous skin licking.
Generally, the American bulldog feels a concentrated itch on the armpits, groin, feet, and abdominal part. Moreover, this type of American bulldog allergies is one of the contributing factors for frequent ear infections in this dog breed. Aside from that, most of the bulldog puppies are highly susceptible to have a cherry eye or turning the dog’s eye into cherry red color. This usually occurs after the inhalation of allergens or some chemicals.
Do not let the American bully stay outside your house especially during the days when the pollen count is generally high as this may help in conquering airborne allergies. Additionally, you may also consider administering some allergy shots. However, just make sure that those shots are prescribed by the vet.
American Bulldog Food Allergies
Basically, the food that the American bulldog eats is the great contributing factor of food allergy. It generally leads to itchy skin, ear scratching, paws licking and biting, face rubbing over the carpet. Moreover, food allergy symptoms also include coughing, flatulence, gagging, diarrhea, sneezing, seizures, and inflammation of the ear. There are also some American bulldogs that are also intolerant to soy, corn, and wheat.
Other meat-based allergens that the American bully is sensitive to are the beef, chicken, pork, fish. Some of the bullies are also sensitive to eggs, milk, whey, additives, sugars, and artificial flavorings present in most commercial dog foods. Because of this, it is generally hard to filter the allergen ingredient. It will generally take weeks to determine the cause.
Treating this type of American bulldog allergies includes changing to a grain-free diet. Aside from that, you may also consult the veterinarian for the causative allergens of the bully’s food allergy.
American Bulldog Skin Allergies
Generally, the skin allergy that greatly affects the American bully is known as atopic dermatitis. Mostly, this happens because the skin of the bully is reacting in a hypersensitive way to dust, mites, and molds. Basically, the American bulldog skin allergies are often indicated by chewing and licking their paws, legs, and abdomen.
Moreover, the ears of the bullies turn into reddish color and feel hot as you touch it. Additionally, the armpit, groin, inner portion of the toes and paws may also change in color, so better inspect those areas as well. You may generally observe reddish-brown color over those parts and the abdomen’s skin may also appear pink, deep red and black.
Below are other types of American bulldog skin allergies that may be caused by some causative allergens:
Bacterial Allergy
Normally, the skin of the dog, including to that of the American bully, is the habitat of many bacteria which form the normal flora within that part. Unfortunately, there are some American bulldogs that develop bacterial allergy due to genetic disposition. The normal signs of bacterial allergy in American bulldog are hair loss within the affected area and skin infection.
Basically, it is the Staphylococcus bacteria that cause this type of American bulldog skin allergies. And, you need to target such bacteria in order to treat this dog allergy. The veterinarian will recommend a specific antibiotic to cure the infections.
Contact Allergy
Generally, the American bully becomes a victim of these American bulldog skin allergies after getting in touch with particular allergens. Plants, flea collars, grass, and dog shampoo are some of the allergens that may cause contact allergy in American bulldog. In order to get rid of this, the best solution is to find the causative allergen and prevent the dog from getting in contact with it.
However, there are cases that the symptoms of flea allergy are very much similar to food allergy and other parasitic allergies. That’s the reason why it is highly essential to look for any presence of fleas and other parasites. Moreover, inspect if there are any rashes within the dog that come from the consumed dog food.
In case you already eliminated these causes, then it is time to visit the vet for checking of the environmental allergens. Usually, the allergens within the environment include the pollens, dust mites, and molds. Keep in mind that the flea allergy is not a result of the presence of fleas. In fact, its occurrence is due to the reaction of the American bully’s skin to the saliva of the flea.
In order to keep away from this contact or flea allergy, all you have to do is to follow a stringent flea treatment. You may use products like flea shampoos, soaps, and other medications in order to eliminate such parasite.
Other Skin Infections in American Bulldog
There are some cases or types of the American bulldog skin allergies that may lead to skin infections if they worsen or left untreated.
Fungal infections
One of the most common fungal infections that may arise due to worsening or untreated American bulldog skin allergies is the yeast. Generally, yeast infections live in places where warm and moisture are dominant like the ears, underbelly, armpits, and groin areas. Perhaps, the most common area of fungal infection is within the folds of the bully’s skin.
You may identify if the American bulldog acquires yeast infection if they continuously rub their head and ears, black buildup with a waxy appearance, and sour odor coming from the skin. Moreover, it is actually easy to treat this infection in the American bully either through the external or internal method. You just simply wipe the infected area with water and apple cider vinegar mixture under the external application.
For the internal method, you just basically mix probiotics and apple cider vinegar with drinking water. However, it is always a must to check with your veterinarian before incorporating anything on the food or drink of the American bully.
Impetigo and Acne
Other skin infections that may arise from the inappropriate treatment of the American bulldog skin allergies are impetigo and acne. Basically, impetigo is a skin condition commonly seen within the American bulldog puppies. It is usually characterized by small blisters filled with pus that are generally located within the hairless areas of the dog’s body.
The moment the pustules rupture, they basically dry and turn into the dark brown color of round crusts. Moreover, the impetigo within the older American bully appears as acne over the chin, lips, and groin. Actually, regular bathing of the American bulldog for a two to three times a week schedule using a dog shampoo is the treatment for this skin condition.
Pyoderma
Pyoderma is another skin infection that may result from the worsening of American bulldog skin allergies. It is an infection of the dog’s skin once the skin folds get in contact and rubbed together. The common indications of this dog’s skin infection are skin redness, swelling and irritation, and foul smell from the affected area.
Moreover, this skin infection is naturally due to bacteria and can be addressed by surgery. Additionally, you may also wipe the infected area with benzoyl peroxide every day in order to tighten the wrinkles and reduce irritation. Basically, do this prior to rubbing of a steroid cream.
Ways to Treat the American Bulldog Skin Allergies
Here are some of the basic and essential ways on how to properly address the American bulldog skin allergies. Take a look at them below and consider doing so to relieve health-related problems of this dog breed.
1. Go to the veterinarian and have a skin scrape
Usually, the common thing that the vet will do is to prescribe antibiotics as it is helpful in treating the infections caused by fungi and bacteria. However, most of the American bullies are generally resistant to methicillin. Yet, bacteria that tend to become resistant with methicillin can be mostly found in recurring skin problems. This basically means that some bacteria that cause this skin infection may not respond positively with antibiotics.
2. Wash the bully with 4% Chlorhexidine shampoo 3x per week
Basically, when you use a medicated shampoo over the American bulldog skin allergies, it is better to lather, scrub it to the coat, and allow it to stay on the dog’s skin. Generally, the common mistakes of using a medicated shampoo are applying it and rinsing it off right away. After 10 minutes, you can already rinse the medicated shampoo over the American bully’s coat with clean water. Finally, dry it off using a towel.
3. Apply antiseptic and anti-fungal medicated spray
Generally, apply medicated spray over the affected area. Use this typically after shampooing your American bully. It may be a big help to keep away from parasites.
4. Give apple cider vinegar
The apple cider vinegar is generally a natural way to eradicate flea infestation in dogs. You can simply spray a 50/50 ACV and water solution over the bully’s coat before going outside. This way, the coat of the American bulldog may be protected from fleas and ticks.
Basically, apple cider vinegar relieves the itchy skin of the bulldog. If the dog’s itchy skin is due to rashes or yeast, the apple cider vinegar is the best and simple way to relieve it. Moreover, it also helps in preventing the spread of yeast as well as avoiding the development of infections.
5. Change the diet to limited, high-quality ingredient dog food
In case, you already tried all of the above treatments for American bulldog skin allergies and it seems that no one works, then consider changing your dog’s diet. It may be because the American bully is allergic to the food that it consumes. One of the best things to do is to turn into a hypoallergenic dog food with limited ingredients.
You can generally make a research over the internet as you can find their list of top foods for American bulldog skin allergies. Basically, this step is a simple and convenient way to prevent the bully from acquiring allergies.
6. Give the bully probiotic
Here are some of the telltale signs showing a bully is experiencing skin allergy:
- Scratching and biting of the red or irritated skin area
- Occasional sneezing, coughing, and runny nose
- Sores and irritation similar to eczema
- Hair loss over the body
- Chronic ear infections
- Problems within the gastrointestinal tract like constipation, diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, and vomiting
Generally, if there is an imbalance of good and bad bacteria inside the intestines and stomach of the American bully, the dog can suffer from various illnesses. These include ear infections, tooth decay, irritable bowel syndrome, and American bulldog skin allergies.
Basically, the probiotics provide effective and subtle relief for bullies suffering from skin allergies. It typically restores the balance of the bacterial levels within the GI tract which can also enhance the immune system of the dog. Moreover, probiotics also reduce the allergies through enhancing the health of the GI tract through the naturally existing bacteria.
Final Thoughts
American bulldog skin allergies typically occur once the bully becomes in contact with the different causative allergens. Generally, the bulldog is one dog breed that is highly susceptible in acquiring various allergies from the air, food, chemicals, and other environmental factors. However, each type of bulldog’s skin allergies entails specific treatment to follow.
Just make sure to follow such treatment in order to relieve the itch and irritation being experienced by your American bulldog. This way, it may also help to give them a happy and healthier canine’s life.
