Bulldog/Hives

Question
I have a 3 year old bulldog(LOLA)Just recently in the last 3-4 wks she started to devolpe hives all over her back.They seem to come and go.Lately in the last couple of days the hives have been popping up and bleeding.We havent changed her food or anything around the house.We feed her IAMS w/lamb and rice.Shes been sleeping alot and shakes alot.We take her to a vet thats been highly recommended for bulldogs and he said that its just allergies.

Answer
It's likely that it is allergies but that doesn't mean it can't be helped. Do you mean her head shakes or her whole body shakes? Does she chew on her paws?

Sounds like a yeast infection, especially if she shakes her head and you see hives. They infect ears quite commonly. To get them gone the source needs to be eliminated from the diet.

Kibble, including IAMS lamb and rice, is mostly carbohydrates and is the most likely cause of yeast problems.

I always recommend a diet free as possible of carbs, the best being raw food. Most allergies disappear just from getting away from kibble. Some dogs are allergic to rice too. Indeed, some dogs are allergic to just about anything including meat but it's not nearly as common.

There are a few kibbles that don't have grains in them if you really can't do the raw diet but it's definitely second best.

Now that we've taken care of the source we need to sooth her skin and get rid of the yeast. Wash her with a sulfur based shampoo. Use an oatmeal bath if she's really suffering. You will need to give those baths about once a week till it's under control. Then get yourself some colloidal silver. At first replace her water with it so she gets a full dose. Later on just add some to her water. Also use it as a last rinse after a bath.  I'm treating a dog in just this way right now.