[Sherri G]

Thank you so much for the reply, theBCnut!
Since my post yesterday, I have been on a long journey of research. I am actually taking Oliver on Tuesday to be tested for a zinc deficiency. Given his PLE and bowel issues, everything I am reading sounds so inline with him having a zinc deficiency, in regards to his skin. He is due for a re-testing of his B12 level so we might as well check zinc also.

I should be receiving my order of Missing Link today or tomorrow and will bring it to the vet’s before starting him on it. I just want to give this cute, little guy some relief!

[Sherri G]

I’m so glad I scrolled all the way through this thread to see it is still active.

We have a 5 1/2 year old English Bulldog. After MANY, MANY, MANY food changes, the only food that he can tolerate without diarrhea is Hill’s canned z/d. He was diagnosed with PLE (Protein Losing Enteropathy) a year ago but has been stable (as in no diarrhea, & mostly stable lab results) since starting the z/d. Trust me, we tried all diets with guidance from our vet! Through the course of diagnosing him with PLE, Oliver was on Prednisone and Metronidazole for a year and a half — at times being on 10mgs of Pred during diarrhea flares. He has FINALLY been weened off of the Pred (such an evil, nasty drug) and is also off Metronidazole. He is currently on Budesonide to keep his bowels in check.

5 months ago, Oliver (who never had any skin issues at all which is a rarity in the bulldog world) began scratching a few areas around his neck. It started with 2 small areas being itchy and then hair loss began. After many skin scrapings (which literally showed nothing), puncture biopsies were done. The pathologist diagnosed him with Mural Folliculitis, Granulomatous and stated she felt this was “drug related” but didn’t know which drug caused it — something our vet disagrees with. Our vet feels his skin issues are directly related to his poor absorption of nutrients due to his PLE. While we weren’t sure who was correct, we agreed more with our vet– as I have Crohn’s disease and know firsthand the link between the gut/immune system/nutrition and how it can affect hair, skin, etc.

BUT I still held out hope that once coming off of both Pred and Metronidazole, the itchiness would stop. It hasn’t. We’ve been told his fur will probably never grow back and we don’t care about that. We just want Oliver to be comfortable and as healthy as he can be. He isn’t itchy all of the time. It comes and goes– and we use Neo Predef to stop instances of itchiness and 1 Benadryl if it’s particularly bad. (He’s only had 1 Benadryl in the last 10 days.)

I was trying to research his skin condition and there isn’t much info available since vets consider it “rare”. When researching, I did stumble upon Dinovite and I have ordered it but haven’t received it yet. Now, however, I found this thread in the meantime and I’m on the fence about giving it to him. I feel the responses on here are thoroughly mixed. Some were helped by it, some were not.

I am also ordering Missing Link since I’ve now found that after ordering Dinovite. I’m not sure what to do, as we definitely can’t risk Oliver getting diarrhea as a side effect because that wouldn’t be good given his PLE.

So, does anyone have any opinions on Dinovite vs. Missing Link?
Thanks in advance!

[Sherri G]

Edit: Since switching to Tylan powder and chicken and rice, no more diarrhea – just very soft stool.

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