Acne due to Bully Sticks?

[BxrMommieNAZ]

Okay I'm not sure if this should go here or in the health section so if it needs to be moved feel free.

My question is, is it possible...well no rephrase since anything's possible...is it probable/likely that bully sticks could cause an outbreak of acne under the chin?

My reason for asking is this: some on this site have said that bully sticks contain bacteria. Well, when I gave my boy a raw meaty bone (prior to finding out about his beef allergy), it got misplaced, couldn't find it for the life of me, then I saw him chewing on it one day. I thought he had his Nylabone, so he was chewing on this bone for a couple of hours, then he walked away and I found it was the beef bone, okay it was like FIVE DAYS old and it still had some nasty meat on it, threw it in the trash, which it promptly stunk up my laundry room so obviously it was rotten to some degree which I would imagine it contained some bacteria. Shortly thereafter is when we had the issue with "acne" on his chin (and I mean these suckers bleed like crazy!), it was WEEKS that I was washing his chin daily making sure all food bowls and water bowls were washed daily...I tried everything. Well he ate his blanket and got sick, went in for surgery and was put on antibiotics afterwards to prevent infection and his pimples all went away...and stayed away for a good 2 months.

So, last weekend I gave him a bully stick and now noticed the past few days that he again has the chin acne going on.

So, back to my question is, is there enough bacteria on them to possibly cause the acne from internally? I cleaned his mouth and chin with antibacterial soap after he ate it since he gets so slobbery, so I'm not thinking that's the culprit.

If this is a possibility I'll see about getting some antibiotics for him and hope it takes it away, however I also don't want to give antibiotics unnecessarily so wanted your guy's opinion.

Thanks a bunch!

 

[LaylaE]

You mention he has a beef allergy. Maybe that's the cause for the breakout since bully sticks come from cattle?

I give Layla Free Range Moo! Bully Sticks. Maybe it depends on how the bully sticks are manufactured that prevent bacteria?

 

[BxrMommieNAZ]

You mention he has a beef allergy. Maybe that's the cause for the breakout since bully sticks come from cattle?

I give Layla Free Range Moo! Bully Sticks. Maybe it depends on how the bully sticks are manufactured that prevent bacteria?

According to many on this site it doesn't matter the brand, etc they all carry bacteria. The ones I give are also free range and no added ingredients.

It isn't a typical beef allergy break out for him or I might say the same thing. His allergy break outs to beef are pretty severe, including open sores all over his body, his entire stomach turns red and he gets whelts, and he gets a rash inside his ears, oh and uncontrollable diarrhea. He hasn't had any side effects other than the minor acne. Also, I mean it was WEEKS, a good 6-8 weeks before that he had the acne and they still had not gone away, until he took the antibiotics, I would think if it were allergy related once the source was removed the issue would resolve faster than 6-8 weeks. When I took the beef bone away from him his whelts, scabs, rash, etc were 100% gone within about 10 days.

 

[kneesaroo]

Could it be from all the slobber? I know when my skin kids were teething their chins would get all red and bumpy. The Dr said it was from the saliva, aka drool.

 

[kayboxer]

Okay, just pulling thoughts out of nowhere here, but what about the drool/slobber while chewing? I know Buster is a mess when he chews on his bully sticks. His feet get all slobbery and so does his chin. Maybe the slobber mixed with the "bully stuff" causing the acne? Just a thought.

 

[BxrMommieNAZ]

LoL oh yes there was TONS of slobber, but I washed him up and I (think I mentioned in my OP maybe not) washed his chin and face with antibacterial soap after he was finished and then rinsed off his legs with the garden hose and towel dried them, so he got cleaned up. He finished the thing in, oh about an hour and a half, so the slobber wasn't sitting on his face for very long. But like I said I washed with a warm wash cloth and antibacterial soap to clean him up...for that specific purpose actually.

Just struck me as odd that the last time he took the antibiotics and it 100% cleared up within a few days and hadn't come back.

 

[DiverDiva]

Could it be the soap that is irritating his chin? You could try rinsing off his chin with water only, and see if that helps at all. There are also doggy shampoos that are supposed to be especially gentle, for allergy-prone dogs.

 

[BxrMommieNAZ]

Except why would an antibiotic help take it away if it were soap? Also previously it started before I ever used soap. I used soap because I was told to by my vet to help dry them up and take them away, not because it was my own idea. When I say he bleeds like a stuck pig I'm not kidding, I had blood on the carpet, couch, walls, dripping onto the floor, on my clothes, it was EVERYWHERE. But it started before soap was used previously, and soap shouldn't cause an acne break out. It could cause red irritation, but it shouldn't cause actual pimples.

But that still leads back to my question of...the antibiotics helped, antibiotics shoudl only help something if it is an internal bacteria.

Thanks all, I can't take blood everywhere and cleaning up blood multiple times a day for weeks at a time, so I'm just going to get the antibiotics and see if they help this time too. If they do no more bully sticks as it would seem the issue is clear. If not, well it's only one time to experiment and shouldn't cause any issues as a one time thing.

 

[dbetz]

Rudy was the same way with the chin acne. I switched her to a stainless bowl and wash it religiously before every meal and the acne cleared....Both our dogs get Bully Sticks several times a week and I have not found they cause acne.

Also, our vet also recommended we wash her face with a gentle soap like Cetaphil. We did not get much if any improvement with face washing...

Good luck, I know how frustrating it can be.

 

[BxrMommieNAZ]

Yep, they have stainless steel water dish and stainless steel bowls. Both are washed at least once a day, sometimes twice.

My female doesn't get acne at all, never has and she gets a bully stick when my male does. But everyone and everything reacts to bacteria, viruses, etc differently.