🐱 NEW!

Introducing the Cat Food Advisor!

Independent, unbiased reviews without influence from pet food companies

Reply To: Need Help with Itchy Dog

#43464 Report Abuse
Dori
Member

Hi Serena. I don’t feed any kibble but definitely canned would be better. Kibble food generally has a lot of different ingredients in them similar to most kibble foods including whatever binder they are using to keep the kibble in tact. Your dog could still have issues with canned food depending on what her ingredient intolerances are but it’s easier to keep track of ingredients and intolerances. A lot of dogs with allergies and intolerances do better on canned, imo, than kibble.

When I first started doing an elimination test with Katie, the first ingredient was chicken. Then discovered that she is badly intolerant of all fowl. It’s not the same with red meats. Beef, Bison, Kangaroo, Rabbit, Goat, Lamb, Vennison will have completely different reactions from each other. Katie cannot eat Lamb or Goat but she does fine with all the others so far anyway.

If you’re going to switch to canned food please try to make sure that the cans themselves are BHA free, No Carragean (sp?) and also look for the least possible ingredients made from human food ingredients. My rule is that if I can’t pronounce or would not eat it myself then my dogs don’t eat it either. Another way you can feed your dog is to try rotating with freeze dried foods. Closer to raw, but not exactly. There again, keep in mind what the ingredients are (human grade) and what he may have an issue with. I’ve had my hands full with Katie and her allergies and intolerances since I got her at 9 weeks old. She’ll be 5 years old on 6/24/14. It’s been a challenge and she and I have suffered through it. She always comes up with something she once ate that can no longer tolerate. Some of her latest have been alfalfa in any form and kelp in any form. So you just have to keep trying.

Oh, with the canned or any food, just cause it says Beef doesn’t mean that they haven’t added somewhere in the ingredient list chicken fat or lamb or some other protein so please please please read all the ingredients. Good Luck. Sorry it took me so long to respond. I’ve been busy with my older gal Hannah, almost 15 year old Maltese who was finally diagnosed yesterday with bladder cancer so, understandably I’m in denial and totally freaked out. My best to you and your dog.