Once you determine the allergy source, you can look into affordable foods – some of the more popular ones around here are Earthborn Holistic Grain Free; Victor Grain Free (make sure to check out their sales right now if you can’t find it locally – but the Ultra Professional is mid-400s in kcal/cup); and NutriSource (NOT affordable where I am, but others report it is pretty affordable for them. Dr. Tim’s is another high-cal, affordable food, but they mostly use chicken if I am not mistaken, which is what your dogs MAY (or may not) be allergic to. I think Victor use chicken meal in some formulas, but they have a few beef&pork ones and a salmon one. Earthborn are really cool, because they give you what the label says – seafood (for the Coastal Catch), buffalo and lamb (for the Great Plains Feast), lamb (for Meadows something), and chicken (for Primitive Natural). They do use a lot of peas though. So yeah, I definitely think you should do an elimination diet to find the allergy source(s), and then look for foods that do not contain those ingredients among the ones listed and others.
