Hi Brie,
Unfortunately, I was rushed to the dermatologist since my vet had run out of ideas when changing proteins did not help (I was feeding a mixture of canned and kibble). The dermatologist insisted she did not have food issues and that all her itching and problems were environmental. Long story short, between the specialist, tests, and shots it cost me a $1,000 (which was very hard on my limited income) as she continued to get worse. Four months later they decided she did have food issues and put her on prescription food which caused such a severe reaction that she had to go on steroids. After that episode, I decided to try dehydrated food since nothing else had helped. I started feeding Honest Kitchen Kindly which is a base mix and I add my own cooked protein along with probiotics. She started improving before I got 50% into the food transition. Dehydrated will be more expensive to feed a 55lb dog, but it may be worth trying for a few weeks.
BTW, I did do the mail in saliva test a couple of months ago and it came back that she is sensitive to carbohydrates, rather than proteins. This backed up why the prescription food caused such a severe reaction and why just changing proteins prior did not help either. I just wish my vet would have told me to do saliva test rather than sending me to the dermatologist.
