[Nyree P]

I have too been trying to switch dog food brands and have found it very frustrating. I’m using editors choice and customer reviews on chewy. I’m thinking of choosing between Weruva Caloric harmony (although it is pretty expensive) and Wellness (lots of great customer reviews about shiny and soft coats and good results for dogs with skin allergies)

[Patricia A]

Now that his blood work for high trigs is negative, you’re only dealing with the allergies. Got to get your dog to eat something before he gets gastritis from empty stomach. Please look at all of these choices which most are pea legume free. http://petfoodreviewer.com/best-dog-foods-without-peas/

[Susan]

Hi Ryan,
if your cooking Chicken & Rice start adding some veggies, broccoli, carrot etc & start balancing 1 of his meals a day or over the week add things that will balance his diet over 1 week, in Australia we have “NAS Digestiavite Plus Powder” I had to mix thru Patches cooked or raw meal was just 1/2 a teaspoon & it didnt smell of vitamins, it smelt nice like spinach & kale its green powder & has everything to balance a dogs diet…..
Take back the Hills 1/d dry kibble, I would of gotten him the wet Hills Digestive Care I/d Chicken, Vegetables & Rice wet can food, it smells really good, its balanced & formulated for a few health problems, sounds like your dog doesn’t like dry kibble, I wouldn’t flare up his Allergies, I’ve been feeding Patch Chicken since March, the Wellness Core Large Breed formula cause the fat is low/medium, protein % is med/high & carbs are low & Kcals are 345 per cup & Patch does well on it BUT now he has red paws, red around his mouth, he cant eat too much Chicken, the chicken agrees with his IBD/Stomach but not his skin… Have you tried “Wellness Simple” Turkey & Potato ? I buying a bag tomorrow, my cat even likes the Wellness kibbles but she wouldnt eat te TOTW kibble also teh Wellness is palabity money back guaranteed…you have to read thru all the Wellness formula’s ingredients for no lentils, the Natural Balance Potato & Duck or Sweet Potato & Fish doesnt have lentils or chickpeas or Probiotics…
Ive read that Probiotics die by the time we get the kibble or once exposed to heat?? I dont know if this is correct..

Tin Salmon & Sardines in Spring Water or Olive Oil will help balance his diet, Sardines are very healthy, Sardines have vitamins minerals, Omega 3 are very healthy, just read salt % & buy brand with the lowest salt %, add 2 spoons to 1 of his meals a day, also crush up 1 egg shell a day & add to 1 of his cooked meal for calcium…
I often buy tin salmon in spring water, for making sandwiched the smaller cans, I drain all the spring water & add a few pieces of boiled sweet potatoes, 1/2 salmon & 1/2 boiled sweet potato & mix & give only 1/2 for a meal & the other 1/2 the next day… dogs love fresh fish..
I’d look at “Judy Morgan DVM” face book page, look at her videos & “Pancreatitis Diet” her “IBD Diet” she has easy to make cooked balanced meals, you just put everything in a Slow Cooker, then freeze meals, probably healthier then feeding dry kibbles…
Your dog is smart & he can smell the off meat in the dry kibble or he can smell the vitamins & omega oils in the vet diets something is turning him off…

[Ryan K]

Update…
Repeat blood-work showed normal triglyceride level which was a relief. His cholesterol came up as high that time though but the vet said all his other numbers were good so we shouldn’t be too concerned about that. I started him on Science Diet I/D Naturals and he hates it. He won’t eat it at all. He spits it out when he finds it mixed in his boiled rice and chicken. Should I keep up with this food or is his insistence of spitting it out pretty much a NO GO on this specific food? Ughhh! I’m so frustrated. Maybe I just need to throw in the towel and just feed him something that flares the allergies up that he likes but keeps his stomach content? It’s so hard finding something without zero lentils and no probiotic fermentation. 🙁 The nightmare continues!

[pitlove]

We started using the Victor Select Chicken Meal because it doesnt have ingredients Bentley can’t have. Is your Presa going to be neutered or is he already neutered? If not do you plan to keep him intact? Also, do you plan to work him? Or at least keep him active?

As far as rotating. I’m not a big fan of it. When I first got Bentley, I read all of the posts on here saying how important it was to feed a rotational diet and how their GI systems will be stronger and better if you feed multiple brands of food, so I did that. Did not work out. Bentleys allergies were out of control and I couldnt figure out what was causing the problem because he was eating a new food so frequently. Also now as a 4 year old dog, he has to be transitioned to a new food for 10 days or he gets sick, which is something that I was promised wouldn’t happen if he got used to eating different foods all the time.

If you still choose to do it, I would transition slowly to each new food and don’t change his food more than every 6 months or so.

We get Victor from a local feed store that is cheaper than online pricing for both Pro Plan and Victor. On a $/lb basis which is what I was going off it’s cheaper for me to feed Victor currently.

[pitlove]

Hi emmygirl-

If your dog is truly allergic to all the proteins that you’ve listed you will be hard pressed to find a food he can eat aside from a theraputic diet from the vet that has been hydrolyzed. If that was not offered to you as an option then it is likely that a hydrolyzed diet would impact his PLE negatively.

It sounds like at this point home preparing his meals using BalanceIt is going to be your best option. Especially if you are working with the BalanceIt team and your vet to create a diet that is specific to his illness.

My suggestion would be to get a crock pot and cook in bulk for him and freeze the meals. If you are a member of Costco or Sams you could buy meat veggies etc in bulk and it might be more cost effective that way. Most people that feed raw or home cooked meals set aside a day during the week or on the weekend as a “meal prep day”. It can be time consuming, but it allows you to prepare (most people do a months worth) food in advance for him and freeze it, so all you have to do is thaw it out twice a day. That would be my suggestion to you.

[Patricia A]

Hope that his blood levels come back normal. At least this way you’re just dealing with the allergie issues. I didn’t notice any probiotics in this food. Look under reviews to see all ingredients . It’s high protein/ low fat and carbs. Wellness Core Reduced Fat (Dry)> When I top my threes dog food I sort of just eyeball it. I don’t want them to just get full on the chicken and not eat their other food. with your size dog maybe 1/4 chunk of a breast. Good luck again.

[Ryan K]

Oh thanks! I had him on a Nutro and he seemed to like it which was a miracle. That was my only reason for wanting to stick with them. Plus, it seemed to be one of the rare foods to NOT flare up his skin allergies. Darn! I have tried Fromm with him in the past with no luck. He has such weird skin issues that It’s tricky finding a food that doesn’t make him go bonkers with hotspot and air infections. I have found that any foods containing any sort of probiotics seem to really exacerbates his allergy issues for some reason. I have also discovered that lentil seem to be an irritant for him. He does well on Chicken surprisingly and lamb. The hardest part is finding something without a large batch of probiotics mixed in as well as now finding something low in fat. Honestly, I will take the allergies if the food brings his triglycerides and cholesterol down.

[anonymous]

For best results go to a board certified veterinary dermatologist. Food allergies are rare. Food sensitivities fluctuate.
More often than not environmental allergies are the culprit.
The only accurate test for that is intradermal skin testing. The most natural treatment for environmental allergies is allergen specific immunotherapy otherwise known as allergy shots or desensitization.
See my posts, example /forums/topic/hes-got-good-and-environmental-allergies/#post-113364

[Jenny L]

My 5.5yr old yorkie has had food and environmental allergies for a few years now. Per the vet she has been on Hill’s Prescription Z/D food with the corresponding treats. She had an allergy test almost two years ago (after trying to fix the problem with prescription food with no luck) and came back with quite a bit of food allergies. The vet suggested she continue with the Z/D food, however I recently read the ingredients. First on the list is corn starch, and my dog is allergic to corn.

The vet hasn’t seemed terribly open about my interest in either home cooking meals or going raw. However I’ve done some searching and have seen instances where cooking/raw has helped dogs with all types of ailments tremendously.

She is allergic to the following food: pork, milk, corn, barley, peas. She’s also right on the edge of the scale being allergic to: beef, salmon, chicken/turkey, lamb, fish, duck.

Any guidance, suggestions, help is VERY appreciated.

[pitlove]

Hi BaileysMom-

It seems like each time you notice his symptoms come back you attempt to resolve them by throwing a lot at him all at once. Sometimes this is counterproductive because you can’t be sure what is working and what isn’t. I made the same mistake with the dog in my avatar who has allergies and yeast.

What we did that worked for us was an elimination diet. We used Royal Canin Hydrolyzed Protein, fed that food and only that food for 3 months during winter time. We noticed that his symptoms went away. Now elimination diets are tricky because they can not have any treats, any flavored meds, any dental treats, table scrapes, nothing, but that prescription diet. If your dog gets ahold of anything other than that food you must restart the trial.

Now as far as his seasonal allergies go, we’ve been trying to manage them with medicated baths either with https://www.chewy.com/malaseb-medicated-shampoo-dogs-cats-8/dp/119232 or https://www.chewy.com/miconahextriz-shampoo-dogs-cats-16-oz/dp/114184 if Chewy.com is out of stock of Malaseb. I try to bath him once a week and soak his feet frequently (though I admit I slack on it). We also just the other day got him the Cytopoint shot as well. It works…unless he goes outside and comes back in. Then he still licks. The problem with Cytopoint is that it is not guarenteed to work for every dog. It also isn’t guarenteed to last for a specific amount of time. Also just as a note, Apoquel is not a steroid, though it can have some long term side effects. IMO it would be worth trying even for a few months to see if it helps at all. I think that is the next step for us with our allergy dog.

For us, we’ve come to find out that as long as we do not feed Bentley a grain free food, he doesn’t have any of his food allergy symptoms. The peas are what we’ve seen to be the issue for him. We fed Purina Pro Plan for over 2 years and that went very well, but we recently switched to Victor because it was a little cheaper than Pro Plan for a larger bag size. So far, so good.

A low carb food will not help at all. Carbs do not feed yeast on the skin. The only thing that will cause a secondary yeast infection from food is if the dog is sensitive to an ingredient in the food. Not to mention dogs can only react to protein, not starch, fat, vitamins, minerals, carbs.

[BaileysMom86]

Hi Susan, yes I am seeing a dermatologist. The Cytopoint didn’t help Bailey at all unfortunately 🙁 Apoquel, Atopica, and several different steroid pills didn’t help either. A steroid shot helped but only for a few weeks. I’m going to stay on the prescription food while I introduce him to different proteins, carbs, etc one by one to see if anything makes him flare up. I’m just surprised he is so itchy on the prescription food. Even if he has environmental allergies, the itching has increased since being on this food and I think it’s the high carb content since there’s alot of cornstarch. I’m going to try a lower carb food after the trial is over and I’m hoping that will help.

[anonymous]

For best results go to a board certified veterinary dermatologist. Food allergies are rare. Food sensitivities fluctuate.
More often than not environmental allergies are the culprit.
The only accurate test for that is intradermal skin testing. The most natural treatment for environmental allergies is allergen specific immunotherapy otherwise known as allergy shots or desensitization.
See my posts, example /forums/topic/hes-got-good-and-environmental-allergies/#post-113364

/forums/topic/hes-got-good-and-environmental-allergies/#post-113364

[Susan]

Hi Baileys Mom,
Join this face book group, link below, 2 Dermatologist frequent this group + 1 of the Admins dog suffers with Yeast, her dog is allergic to her own yeast, it’s rare but it happens… https://www.facebook.com/groups/240043826044760/
As they age their allergies get worse… Are you seeing a Dermatologist?

My boy also gets yeasty paws, red around mouth & yeasty smelly skin but only when he eats certain ingredients he is sensitive too & when he walks on grass & wet grass..
He suffers with Food Sensitivities, Seasonal Environment Allergies & IBD, this last Summer has been his WORST Summer he has ever had in the 5 yrs I’ve owned him.
I live Australia & we did not have a Autunm this year, it went from hot Summer straight to cold Winter, my vet also said she is seeing heaps more dogs suffering with Environment Allergies last Summer 2017-2018….. Cause of climate change & our Summers are getting hotter & hotter, animals, plants etc are all suffering…

Make sure when you cook or do a raw diet it’s balanced properly & is high in Omega 3 oils, as Omega 3 is Neutral anti-inflammatory. Here’s “Balance It” site, https://secure.balanceit.com/

*also have you tried “Rayne Canada” vet diets? http://www.raynecanada.ca/canine-diets/
Ranye has Kangaroo, Crocodile & Rabbit formula’s, ingredients in Rayne formula’s seem a bit better
….also did you try the TOTW Sierra Mountain Roasted Lamb that’s what Patch ended up doing really good on for 2 yrs then he became very unwell last Novemeber after I moved he stopped eating his TOTW… listen to your dog if he doesnt want to eat something, dont feed it, return the food & get a refund….We have just had a heap of dogs die & get Megaesophagus in Australia from the Advance Dermocare formula.. Test that were done found very high in toxins, everyone is still waiting for test results…the poor Police dogs are feed the Advance Dermocare or Advance dog foods..
Patch never did well on the Australian prescription vet diets for his skin, they would clear up his skin problem but not his red paws & then he’d start reacting with his IBD cause the fat was too high.. One good thing the Skin Vet Diets are very high in Omega oils, but this upset Patches stomach, he gets bad acid reflux, I wonder if that’s why Bailey is feeling yuk & miserable..being a Shih Tzu mix, they can suffer from Pancreatitis, so be careful with high fat diets, we don’t realise cause we just want them to stop their itching & scratching it drives me nuts so imagine the poor dog feeling so itchy 24/7..

I use “Sudocrem” on Patches paws & around his mouth & anywhereon his skin that’s red, Sudocem is a anti-fungal, anti-bacterial healing cream for Dermatitis, Eczema, Nappy Rash, Pressure Sores, I apply every night before bed so he has a good sleep & in morning on his paws before he goes outside for his walk, the Sudocrem is a thick cream & also protects their skin & paws from allergens.

Also “Canine Skin Solutions” on FaceBook is Dr Karen Helton Rhodes, DVM, DACVD & Dr Terri Bonenberger, DVM, DACVD both are Veterinary Dermatologists. Good site with true information..
https://www.facebook.com/CanineSkinSolutionsInc/

* Here’s their “Facts & Myths about Yeast Dematitis in dog”s..
http://www.healthyskin4dogs.com/blog/2015/9/8/facts-myths-about-yeast-dermatitis-in-dogs

There’s alot of bad information on the internet about why dogs get yeasty, smelly, itchy skin, ears, paws etc potaoes, high carb starchy foods, high sugar diets are suppose to cause yeasty smelly dogs….Not true… its only when your dog is sensitive to certain ingredients they will get yeasty itchy smelly skin, ears, paws…. Patch can’t eat rice, oats, barley, tapioca causes red itchy paws & smelly yeasty skin, bad farts sloppy poos & carrots cause very itchy ears & he shakes & shakes his head/ears..

The only way 100% to find out what foods Bailey is sensitive too is to start a food elimination diet BUT cause he probably has environment allergies as well it’s hard cause you might feed him say rice & then he starts scratching 20mins after he has eaten the rice or new ingredient your testing but he might be re acting to tree or flower pollen from outside in garden?, so I always recommend you do your food elimination diet is the cooler months, Winter when allergens aren’t as high, as they are in Spring & Summer months…
Patch is at his worst every March just when Summer has finished also keep a diary & you will work out what months seem to be the worst for Bailey. Patches vet said she sees Patch every March when his IBD flares up really bad cause his immune system goes into over drive & Patches IBD flare up really bad also high potency Vitamin C is good, also probiotic to strengthen the immune system… Prednisone is a bandaid as soon as you stop giving the Prednisone the itchy skin all comes back…. have you tried Cytopoint injections yet? this is why it’s best to join the “Dog Allergies, Issues & other information support group” right up the top is their link…

[crazy4cats]

Dear BaileysMom-
Please keep your pup on the prescription food. That poor thing. How stressful for all of you! There should not be anything in that food that would cause a reaction. It’s typically used for an elimination diet. Was that mentioned to you at all? Make sure he does not get anything else. No treats of any type. I know that can’t be easy. I’m not sure how long you have to wait before adding any other food.

If your dog keeps up with all the itching, it probably is environmental allergies. Luckily, I haven’t had to deal with allergies. But, I have read and heard a lot about them on this site. Please stick to the hydrolyzed diet to finally help figure out what his intolerances are. Good luck!

[BaileysMom86]

Hello, I have an 8 year old Lhasa/Shih Tzu mix (our best guess since he was a stray) named Bailey that we adopted him from the humane society 6 years ago. Bailey has licked his paws and everything else (the floor, the couch, us) since the day I adopted him and I have gone to many vets over the years, tried all different kinds of foods, etc. He has been on grain free food since a few weeks after I adopted him. We tried many brands over the years, but Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream was what we fed him for years because he would actually eat it (he’s very picky) and didn’t seem to bother him. He started to like it less and less and I had to coax him to eat. So at the beginning of August last year, I went to the pet store and asked if they would recommend a food that Bailey would eat and one that had very good nutrition to help my other dog shed a few pounds (she has no licking issues, she was just a little overweight that exercise wasn’t helping). He recommended Acana Singles lamb and apple. I transitioned him over and things went well at first, Bailey loved the food and I hadn’t seen him excited for meal time like that before. Then, at the end of August/beginning of September, things changed. One day, pretty much overnight, he went from licking his paws to biting them to the point they bled. He attacked all 4 paws and his “armpits” to the point they lost all fur and were a mess. We put an e-collar on him to prevent further damage and went to our vet. He was given medication for a staph infection, along with ketoconazole pills. His wounds healed, slowly, but he still attacked his paws every time we took the e-collar off. He would also contort and get to his back paw every now and then even with the e-collar. The vet pushed for hypoallergenic food and Apoquel. I told her I was going to switch him back to Taste of the Wild instead and she prescribed him a course of Temaril P to help with the itching, which did not help one single bit. I tried a lot of shampoos, olive oil in his food, Sulfodene ointment, seasonal allergy chews, basically anything I could find over the counter to help him so we could finally take the e-collar off. Nothing worked. I bathed him in Zymox shampoo one day and he broke out in red bumps down his back and extending to his belly and legs. They looked like hives and formed greenish/tan crusts. So I went to a different vet that was recommended by my mother in law. That vet recommended a Cytopoint shot so we had it done and it did absolutely nothing for Bailey’s itching. They also gave powder to put in between his toes to stop the itching and a shampoo to help his skin. Nothing helped and he was still having to live in the e-collar. So they thought it might be sarcoptic mange and gave him a Frontline injection, which did not help. Then they recommended Apoquel. I had a lot of concerns about that medication, but desperate for some relief for Bailey, I gave it to him. It helped a tiny bit, but not enough to take him off the e-collar and not enough to make me want to continue. Also, a small mass he had on his gums where he had lost a tooth swelled up to the point that I was very concerned so we stopped the Apoquel. Thankfully, the mass shrank back down to the size it was before the Apoquel and today it is gone completely. Then they recommended allergy testing and that was very far out of my budget given the pretty hefty bill I had already accumulated at that point.

So, frustrated and desperate to find answers, I did a lot of research online to see if anyone else had experienced the issues Bailey was facing and learned about systemic yeast infection and correlation to food…which I have also recently (in the past 2 days) read many feel are unrelated. But anyways, in April this year, I put him a home cooked diet of ground beef (73/27), hard boiled eggs including the shell, Nupro Gold supplement, and an omega 3/omega 6 oil blend made by Ark Naturals. The changes he went through while on that diet were interesting to say the least. After about a week in, his white/cream fur turned dark pink in many places-down his legs, around his face, on his rear. This happened pretty much overnight and I was excited, thinking this was the yeast coming out (as I had previously researched). The fur color went back to normal about a week later. Then, his fur started falling out on its own (we had him in an e-collar still). It happened in patches. He didn’t get any ear infections since I started the diet though. In fact, his ears were cleaner than they had ever been since I adopted him, so that was a positive sign I held on to despite the loss of fur being a shock. Then, about 4 weeks in, he started getting a thick, green discharge from his eyes and some of the fur around his eyes fell out (but not all of it) and the skin was red. And all of the fur on his chest and neck fell out and the skin was red, hot and inflamed. He smelled terribly of Fritos and my house smelled terrible. All of this was very, very concerning but I told myself this was still the yeast and bathed him regularly with a holistic anti bacterial neem/tea tree shampoo and tried to keep him comfortable. A week later, he was still experiencing the fur loss/red skin and he also got a bad ear infection and his ear was swollen worse than I had ever seen it. The fur on the underside of his ear came off easily in chunks when I tried to clean his ears and put drops in. Then, the following day a benign cyst he had on his tail from the day I adopted him burst. I expressed as much of the black gunk as I could but was concerned about the bleeding and risk of infection (and everything else that was going on) so I took him to the vet again the next day. I told them about my systemic yeast theory, everything I was doing with his diet and everything he had experienced. They were concerned that he was possibly allergic to the eggs or beef I was feeding him and told me those were highly allergic foods. I was shocked and didn’t want to give up after being on the diet for less than 6 weeks, but I was very concerned about the state he was in. They gave him a steroid shot, more medication for his ear infection, a new chlorhexadine based shampoo and mousse, and a prescription for Purina Pro Plan Hydrolyzed food. They also sent me home with prednisone pills to use if the steroid shot didn’t help. I transitioned him to the new food. His ear infection cleared up with the meds. The steroid shot gave him some relief from itching for about 2 weeks, but it progressed back to him being very itchy. I called the vet and started him on the prednisone pills, but they didn’t help at all. Now, 5 weeks after I started him on the prescription food, he is absolutely miserable. He is still in an e-collar. He has been able to get it off a few times and he has chewed his paws bloody in a matter of seconds. I know he has not been on the food the recommended amount of time to truly evaluate it, but he is so itchy, rubs himself on anything he can, licks his e-collar constantly and will try to chew his paws the second he is done eating.

I can find a lot of information on yeast online, but very little on the symptoms dogs face during yeast die-off, only that it will usually get worse before it gets better. I know every dog is different, but I can’t find any personal accounts/experiences which is confusing. Then, I also recently read that many people say diet can’t create or eliminate yeast issues and that was a myth perpetuated by a vet on the internet. I’m so confused with information overload and saddened that my dog has had to live almost a year in an e-collar and is so miserable. Does anyone have feedback on the symptoms I described to determine if it was an effect of yeast die-off, or an allergic reaction to beef or eggs like the vet thought? I have been doing research on the internet this week trying to decide what move to make next in regards to getting my dog some relief from his itchiness and I’m trying to decide between keeping him on the hydrolyzed food, switching him to another food, going back to homemade, or doing something else. Thank you and I’m sorry this is so long!

[pitlove]

Hi Jennifer-

What about Royal Canin are you not liking besides how much you are feeding? They make some great large breed puppy foods. If you can tell me more about your dog I can help with why you are feeding so much. There is also a possibility that you are over feeding him.

My favorite large breed puppy food is Pro Plan personally and it does not contain any of the ingredients your son is allergic to.

[Peter H]

I would love some advice on this as well. My golden puppy has severe food allergies, so I usually just cut up her regular dog food to use as treats, but I need something higher-value for her mobility/support training sessions. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Susan]

Hi Pennelope,
I use to have a Boxer her name was Angie, she was a white Boxer with a tan Patch over her left eye, she was the most beautiful dog I’ve ever owned, a real lady she was, so gentle, now I have a 9yr old English Staffy another rescue pound dog, he’s very friendly has to talk to everyone when we go out & has to tell people when he has his sore stomach, he starts whinging then he lifts his right paw up so they rub his stomach, where Angie, she kept to herself when we’d go out….
My boy has IBD-(Stomach, Acid Reflux, 20mins after eating meal food/water comes back up into mouth, his Sphincter flap in Esophagus doesn’t close), Food Sensitivies & Environment Allergies…
Last Summer I thought he had EOE (eosinophilic esophagitis) vet did Endoscope + Biopsies & said no to the EOE.

Salvia, Fur & Blood testing gives false positives, the only true way to know what foods your dog is sensitive too is to do a food elimination diet or feed a Hypoallergenic vet diet, after eating vet diet for 6-8weeks & your dog is doing well, not reacting, then you start adding 1 new food to his diet for 6 weeks to see does he react, if he reacts stop the new food, start keeping a diary & write down everything…

There’s a few Canine ME groups on facebook, you’ll met alot of pet parents who are going thru what you’re going thru everyday….

This year I started feeding my boy “Wellness Core” Large Breed, Patch seemed to be reacting to everything last Summer, Patch also takes a Proton Pump Inhibitor (PPI) started taking 20mg Pantoprazole (PPI) in March this year after I nilly put him to sleep, 2 yrs ago he started taking Omeprazole (Losec) & he did really well, he stop burping & stopped food coming up & stopped his acid reflux, then around Xmas 2017 Patch went down hill after we moved, his vet said his allergies are really bad making his immune system go into over drive causing him to have a IBD flare, it was awful watching this once happy go lucky dog go down hill so quickly, he just gave up, his food just kept coming up he can not eat any wet wet foods, only dry kibble seems to stay down the best, I feed him 5 smaller meals a day, 7am & 9am-1/2 a cup kibble both times, 12pm – a wet vet diet Royal Canine, Gastrointestinal Low Fat, 1/3 of the can or Hills I/d Digestive Care, Chicken, Vegetables & Rice Stew a small can, I have to remove all the carrots & boiled rice, Patch can’t eat carrots he starts getting itchy ears & shakes his head & scratches his ears & the boiled rice goes thru Patch, boiled rice irritates his bowel, he gets rumbling, grumbling loud noises whe he eats boiled rice…5pm- 1/2 a cup kibble & 8pm-1/3 cup kibble..
I have found Sweet Potatoes & Boiled Potatoes are excellent with Patch also alot of dogs with ME & IBD do really well on boiled potatoes/sweet potatoes or a dry kibble that has potatoes/sweet potatoes…
I wouldn’t put all ur eggs in 1 backet with the allergy test your dog has had done, what ingredients was he he eating when he got this test??
My vet said normally the ingredients the dogs are eating at teh time of theses allergy test will come up high, when I asked for a blood test years ago, she wouldnt do it, she said, I’m not wastiing your money & said we’ll started Patch on the “Royal Canine” Tapioca & Duck vet diet its gluten free or she said, cook him lean turkey mince & boiled potatoes & start the elimination diet…
Have a look at “Natural Balance”LTD Sweet Potato & Bison or Sweet Potato & Fish” or
“Wellness Simple” Salmon & Potatoes but I think all Wellness grain free dog foods have peas??
This is where you’ll need to start a proper food elimination diet & test the ingredients that the allergy test said your dog is sensitive too.. most grainfree pet food have peas & the grain kibbles normally have rice, so the only option is to feed a vet diet, look at “Royal Canine Select Proteins” PR-Potato & Rabbit wet & dry formula’s or there’s PW, Potato & Salmon aswell, or Hills has their Z/d or Potato & Duck or Potato & Venison formula’s or look at the “Ranye Canada” vet diets http://www.raynecanada.ca/canine-diets/
Rayne has Kangaroo, Crocodile & Rabbit wet & dry formula’s but you’ll have to be careful with the fat, it needs to be low/med, carbs need to be low & protein high….
The Royal Canine Select Protein vet formula’s may be the best to start your dog on.. he doesn’t have to stay on them long term, just till you work out what foods he can & can’t eat, it can take 20mins, 1 day up to 6 weeks for a dog to show symptoms & react to a certain food ingredients.. Takes Patch 20mins after eating a food he’s sensitive too & react, his paws go red & hot,
For his environment allergies, it’s best to bath them twice a week or weekly, to wash off any allergens on skin & paws, I use “Sudocrem” cream, it’s a Anti-Fungal, Anti-Bacterial Healing thick white cream for Dermatitis, Eczema, Nappy Rash, Pressure Sores etc, it stops itchy skin, reddness, yeast, every night before bed I check Patches whole body & I apply the Sudocrem or Cortisone 1% cream when his paws are really red, this normally happens after we have had rain for a few days & he walks on wet grass or the wet morning dew on grass of a morning, Ialso use teh Huggie Baby Coconut baby wipes & wipe Patch down after we have gone for a walk or he’s been outside & I dont want to bath him after he has rolled & rub his whole body on the grass..
Once you get into a routine, routine makes life easier.. plus dogs love a routine they feel safe & stable…
If your on face book put “Megaesophagus Canine groups” in Search bar, I’ll probably see you over there..

[anonymous]

What type of “allergy testing” was done?

Per the search engine here:
/forums/topic/help-me-my-dog-vomited-everytime-he-eat/#post-115615

/forums/topic/hes-got-good-and-environmental-allergies/#post-113364

[Pennelope E]

My beautiful boxer has been diagnosed with idiopathic Megaesophagus. He also is allergic to so many things. We’ve had an allergy test taken with 6 being ultra high level and 1 very low. His list includes pea & rice-4, lamb-3, corn, turkey & venison-2, Duck & oat-1. I am not including the molds, weeds, trees, grasses, epidermals, mites, molds or insects he has allergies to. I am really struggling to find a high quality, nutritious food for him that doesn’t have any of the items he is allergic too, choosing between moistened dry or strictly wet canned. How often and how much? I have so many things I’m worried about with him! If anyone has any ideas or advice I would really appreciate it. Thank you

[Sue K]

My dog has vomiting problems actually he regurgitates his food which is different from vomiting. Vomiting is and active process, gagging, heaving and retching are the body actively expels the stomach contents. The dog will give some sort of warning if he is about to vomit. If your dog does this then he is vomiting. Regurgitation is passive. After dealing with the problems similar to yours for 1 1/2 years changed Vets. First we treated my dog has having allergies, but when the problem continued my Vet ran various blood, x-rays and other tests, the results of these test determine that my dog has Megaesophagus a treatable but not curable physical problem that affects the way food is transported into the stomach through the esophagus. I would suggest that you either talk to your Vet about running tests to determine if he has underlining problems such as this or change to a Vet that has more experience with problems of this nature.

[Charles B]

anon101, Im aware of the environmental allergies – the linked topic above is our other dog 🙂

Tex has the environmental allergies, Jake definitely has a food based allergy. I could move him back today to Acana Duck and all his itching would go away. That’s why we use it as our control. We will switch up his foods, and then use the Acana to level him out again and he’ll go back to having no allergy symptoms.

Last night we gave him the Annamaet Adult which we use for our other dog, and within 30 minutes he was violently chewing his front paws. So we will be switching him back to the Acana for the rest of the week to level him out again.

I remember that Fromm had a Duck, but I cant remember why we dont use it. We use to use only Fromm with him as a puppy but we ended up switching things up for some reason.

[anonymous]

For best results go to a board certified veterinary dermatologist. Food allergies are rare. Food sensitivities fluctuate.
More often than not environmental allergies are the culprit.
The only accurate test for that is intradermal skin testing. The most natural treatment for environmental allergies is allergen specific immunotherapy otherwise known as allergy shots or desensitization.
See my posts, example /forums/topic/hes-got-good-and-environmental-allergies/#post-113364

[Susan]

Hi Charles,

The only way you will know 100% what foods your dog is sensitive too is to do a food elimination diet, you start by feeding 1 novel protein, a protein source he hasn’t eaten before & add 1 carb….this takes a while to do but you get results, I picked ingredients for the elimination diet that were in kibbles he had eaten & ingredients in kibbles I wanted to feed him.
Raw was the easiest way to do the elimination food diet as you dont have to cook & Patch reacted within 20mins of eating raw chicken breast, his back paw went red, swollen & hot, he was licking & licking his back paw, I had to put an ice pack on his back paw, so I knew straight away “NO more chicken”, then I started cooking his elimination diet as I didnt want to give him raw grated potato, raw carrots etc cause he has IBD & I found cooked carrots made his ears itch & he’d shake his head & scratch his ears, if you dont want to cook or feed a raw diet for the elimination diet then ask your vet about Hypoallergenic vet diets, would be your next step, once your dog has been eating the vet diet for 6 weeks & dog is not scratching, no red paws etc then you start adding 1 new ingredient for 6 week peroid or as soon as you see the dog reacting you stop adding the new ingredient, it can take anywhere from 1 day to 6 weeks to see a reaction to an ingredient..

Alot of people will blame an ingredient in a kibble, there’s so many ingredients so they blame the potatoes, peas, chicken etc like I did, then when yrs later I did elimination food diet & I tested cooked potato then 1 month later I added cooked sweet potatoes, my dog he didnt react at all, no itching, no red paws, no gas, no sloppy poos, so for 2 years I had avoid buying any dog foods that had potato in them, also kibbles have too many ingredients in them so its very hard to know 100% what ingredient is causing the skin, ear or paw problems…. also normal pet shop & supermarket dry kibble become cross contaminated while being made or while being cut into the kibble shape from the cutting machine, so you’ll never really work out what ingredient your dog is reacting too in a dry kibble… Vet diets are suppose to not be cross contaminated…..

If you don’t like Hills, Royal Canine or Purina vet diets then there’s “Rayne Canada” vet diets they have Novel proteins Crocodile, Kangaroo & Rabbit formula’s..
It’s sooooo hard to really know 100% what your dois reacting too cause you also have the envrionment allergies aswell that he might be reacting too that day 🙁
But with my Patch he reacts to foods within 20mins of eating them he starts scratching & gets reditchy paws & start to lick them, & his gastro problems can take anywhere from 6-8hours to 1-2 days depends, Lentils he reacted within 6 hours of eating a kibble that had lentils in it…
I found it best to do your elimination food diet in the cooler months when environment allergens aren’t as active…..also as the dog ages their allergies become worse, Patch had the worst Summer last December & this January it was awful his immune system went into over drive & made his IBD flare up, I nilly put him to sleep, I couldn’t handle watching him suffer, he couldn’t swollow his food, everything he ate was coming back up into his mouth, his vet begged me to hang in there & wait 1-2 months for Summer to be over before you put him to sleep, I’m very lucky, well Patch is very lucky to have a really good vet, he wouldnt be here now…. Make sure your dogs diet is high in Omega 3 & give Probiotics daily, one thing about the Vet diets for skin problems they are very high in omega 3, so make sure if you’re not feeding a vet diet & doing an elimination diet or feeding normal dry kibble, start adding fish/salmon or Krill Oil capsules, Krill Oil capsules are suppose to not cause stomach problems & are better for dogs who suffer with Stomach problems…
Good-Luck
Here’s the Rayne Canada site.. http://www.raynecanada.ca/canine-diets/

[pitlove]

Hi Charles-

Dogs only react to protein, not fat, carbs, vitamins or minerals. All of the ingredients mentioned above are either vitamins or minerals, so it is not possible for your dog to react to them as they contain no protein.

It is very possible that your dog has no food sensitivities at all and that the only issue is his environment. Has your vet mentioned doing an elimination diet for your dog? This is the golden standard for assessing food allergies, but it is challenging to do correctly. If you are interested in knowing more about how this works let me know and I’d be happy to explain.

[Charles B]

Ok – Our one boy we have figured out his environmental allergies and are on route to controlling them.

Our other food, has a food allergy. He is 100% on Acana Duck and Pear, however our vet doesnt like how much legumes are in it with the Golden Retriever Taurine issues.

So lets say the Acana is our control. This was the food we settled on after a lot of trying and paw licking.

We have also tried Acana Freshwater Fish, Acestry Duck and Potato, Wellness Duck and Oat, Canine Caviar Open Plains, Farmina Cod and Orange, and Farmina Lamb and Blueberry.

Ive created a spreadsheet, which can be seen here: https://tinyurl.com/yd9yxmuo

After a lot of comparison, I determined the following are all shared between the foods, except the control. If their names slightly differed I included them.

Biotin 5/7
Choline Chloride 5/7
Copper Proteinate 4/7
Copper Sulfate 2/7
Manganese Proteinate 4/7
Manganese Sulfate 2/7
Pyridoxine Hydrochloride 5/7
Riboflavin 6/7
Thiamine Mononitrate 5/7
Zinc Proteinate 5/7
Zinc Sulfate 2/7

[Jeff F]

I need some advice about what to feed my 9 yr old Miniature Schnauzer. Five years ago he had two surgeries to remove medium – large calcium oxalate stones. At that time his vet prescribed Royal Canin Urinary S.O. dry dog food. Now, four years later, his triglyceride level is 4X what it is supposed to be. The vet was very concerned, and had us change to Royal Canin Low-fat Canned food. (The most disgusting smelling stuff ever, but the dog loves it.). His x-rays show that he again has some tiny stones that are the size of a grain of sand. Can anyone suggest a food (preferably dry) that is low fat/carb and will help with the stones. Also, he is allergic to beef. So we also have that to deal with. Thanks for any help provided.

[Jennifer W]

Hi there. My son is allergic to some foods that are commonly found in dog foods. Meaning that if our puppy eats any of those allergens and there is any pet licking then my son has a reaction.

I am trying to find a healthy large breed PUPPY food that does not contain peas, chickpeas, lentils.

I have been searching specifically for a kibble. Right now we use royal canine large breed but are not in love with it. It calls for ya to feed him nearly six cups a day which seems like a lot!
Thanks
Jennifer

[jessica n]

Hi Raw Food Experts –
I have been feeding my dog Nature’s Instinct Variety Raw (Beef + Lamb) his entire life. He is a French Bulldog, and with all their allergies and health issues, he does extremely well on this diet, so we’re careful that he only gets this food.

Nature’s Variety has changed this food and I am very concerned. The primary change I can see if that it went from 95% meat to 85%, and the fruits went from 5% to 15%. It is clear that they did this to lower price.

They’ve also introduced a new frozen raw food line, now their “Signature” frozen raw line that maintains the 95% meat, and is only sold at independent retailers.

What do you guys think about the change to 85% meat and the new recipe? Will this still be a 5 star frozen raw food? Or, should we consider moving to their new Signature recipe (if we can find it!)?

Details here:
https://www.instinctpetfood.com/newraw

[Kalii16]

I have my daughters beautiful 10 year old Pit Bull girl Kalii. Recently took her to the vet for her checkup/shots & the vet said she’s 12lbs over weight. She should weigh 55lbs and weighs 67lbs. When we play in the yard, she does come back in limping. She definitely has arthritis and the extra weight is not helping! My daughter had her on Taste of The Wild – smoked salmon. Recently I was told to put her on Zignature Catfish Formula. She’s been eating that for two days now (mixed with her Taste of the Wild). In the past, we have had issues with her skin. So we assumed she had allergies & took her off grains and chicken etc… and her skin cleared up. I guess my question is, is this Zignature food the best choice for her and will it help her lose weight? I give her two scoops a day. Also, what should I be giving her for the arthritis? Should I consider a raw diet and if yes, how do I go about that? I know zero about any of this! I just want her to be healthy and to live as long as possible pain free and happy. Thank you to anyone who can help me. Appreciate it very much!
Jean & Kalii

[anonymous]

/forums/topic/french-bulldog-allergies/#post-113902

[Carrie V]

Our seven year old Boston Terrier mix has tested allergic to flaxseed, beef liver, pinto beans, barley and potato. I believe he is sensitive (or allergic) to coconut oil and hemp oil, as well.

Currently on Nutrience SubZero Canadian Pacific:
http://www.nutrience.ca/dog-food/nutrience-sub-zero/dry-food/canadian-pacific/
There’s something in there making him itchy and flaky…coconut oil maybe? I figured I’d try him on this because his Mastiff sister does incredibly on it. Not going to work for him.

Was on Smack Chunky Chicken a few weeks ago:
Chunky Chicken (DOG)
And did phenomenally, with a silky, dandruff-free coat…but the cost, eeek!

He’s being switched back to Smack now. If that’s what he’s got to eat for the rest of his life to be happy and healthy, I’ll fork out the bucks…but if there is a less expensive–but still top quality–option, I’d love to know about it!

I feel like all I do, all day long, is research dog food so I might ramble a bit. 😀 Thanks for reading all the way to the end!

[Susan]

Hi Jennifer,
I have a Staffy with Food Sensitivities Environment Allergies & IBD, I would be making her your own raw diet with human grade meats, no pre-made raw dog food, I went thru animal nutritionist in Australia & we started PAtch on a raw elimination diet to work out what ingredients he is sensitive too…
Dogs have a short digestive tract, their intestinal tract is make to digest a raw diet quickly so if the meat they have eaten is spoiled etc it quickly moves thru their stomach then onto their small bowel onto the large bowel then a small poo, kibbles are high in fiber & some grainfree kibbles are even higher in fiber especially if it has peas, lentils, chickpeas, I have found kibbles that have sweet potatos & potato work the best for Patch, if you do go back to a dry kibble look at “Natural Balance” LTD Sweet Potato & Bison or Natural Balance Potato & Duck formula or look at “Wellness Simple” Turkey & Potato formula..

If you can afford it look for a Holistic Vet in your area.. My boy went down hill last December & now I’m feeding my boy “Frontier Pets” Freeze Dried dehydrated raw thats free range grain free raw diet human ingredients, I started to slowly introduce & give to him at Lunch time only they’re small balls & you add warm water, straight away he started to get better I saw good results like you have seen he also eats “Wellness Core Large Breed dry kibble he isnt large breed dog but this Wellness Core large breed formula is high protein-36%, low/med in fat-13% low in carbs-31% low in Kcals-345Kcals Per cup… & has no lentils or chickpeas…You need to work out what agrees with your dog…or even join a few Raw feeding groups on facebook someone will help you get your dog onto a balanced raw diet with homemade ingredients not a pre-made raw….
Start with 1 meat protein she hasnt eaten before & you blend some green veggies & fruit,I used peeled apple, take out any seeds, broccolli, celery & parsley blended then put in ice cube tray cover with cling wrap & freeze, you add 1-2 spoons of the Veggie/fruit mix 1-2 frozen veggie/fruit ice cubes to 1 cup of meat…I balanced diet with Natural Animal Solution Digestavite Plus powder….

[anonymous]

I am so glad that you got a positive result from consulting a specialist 🙂

It is what it is, allergies just don’t go away but there is effective treatment.

Now, the next step, avoid vaccines, talk to your vet, ask about a medical waiver for the rabies vaccine.

[Christina H]

After several days of both dogs having diarrhea we have stopped cold turkey! We will give your method a try fingers crossed. Our allergic dog suffered from severe itching as well, we were so frustrated that we had allergy testing. Found that he was allergic to pork, flaxseed and grass of all things! We now give him a shot monthly, it has been life changing for all of us! Thanks and I hope things continue to go well for you! -Christina

[zcRiley]

Immediately stop feeding everything you just listed.

Fast her by skipping one meal as you run out and get a bag of Zignature Zssentials, dry grain free kibble for all ages, #1 for pups with various allergies (which you can do a test panel for).

Take a poop sample and test it for Clostridium (a separate test from the regular Giardia fecal test). Have the vet give her a short IV fluid treatment for severe dehydration.

After test results/or possible antibiotics treatment, get Proviabal (2-day paste, 10 day probiotic pill sprinkle over food).

I went thru the same thing and I had to figure all this out myself, took years. I’d also look to finding a new vet.

[Kenneth A]

I posted a question approximately two months ago about food recommendations for my English-Style Male Labrador. Thanks for all of the feedback I received and I decided to switch food from Pro Plan Focus to Acana Heritage. I must admit to having this nagging feeling that I am trying to fix something that is not broken (dog has no skin allergies, coat looks great, no digestive issues and no gas) but I want to feed him a higher rated food (better quality ingredients). So, I am going to try him on Acana Heritage.

I currently feed Earl (Lab) 3 cups of Pro Plan per day. Some pet store employees have told me I will feed less of the Acana but I wanted to reach out to the folks here to determine your experience. How much Acana would you recommend I feed Earl to replace the 3 cups/day of Pro Plan? He is at a healthy weight of 80lbs and I do not want more weight on him.

Thanks,

Ken

[Dave W]

One of our dogs also has an allergic reaction (in his case non-stop itching, so not as severe as your case) to other dog foods, so we used Earthborn. We have had no issues until now. The cold turkey followed by easing them back into it still going well. Good luck Christina! – Dave

[Christina H]

Thank you very much Dave for sharing your findings! We are still monitoring the situation and do hope for the same positive outcome you are having since it is not easy for us to switch dog foods. We have a severely allergic dog that has allergies to some typical ingredients used in premium foods, it is quite challenging at best! I still find all of this rather strange…….

[Terry C]

Hi Everyone!

I was doing an internet search for an alternative to Dr. Marty’s Dog Food for my 15 pound Yorkie Vinny. Boy, am I glad I found you!
I bought 12 bags of this stuff a few months ago and you are right—mostly sawdust! And to make matters worse—Vinny won’t eat it wet!—only dry! He does like the bits in the bag! He was on a human food only diet so I was very happy that he ate this dog food! But he won’t eat the sawdust, so I am stuck with about 8 bags of inedible dry food dust!
I am concerned about this food, not only because it is outrageously expensive but Vinny has recently broken out with seborrheic dermatitis. Since this food has so many different ingredients, I don’t know if he is allergic to the beef or another food ingredient in it since he has never had this skin problem before! So it’s more money for a vet visit to figure out why he suddenly has this rash and if it is because of this food !
Also, since purchasing the product, Vinny’s vet was very interested in the nutritional/vitamin information, so I brought a bag to her office. This info. is not listed anywhere on the package…feel free to check! So since February 12, 2018… I chatted online numerous times to reps who have no idea what they are talking about and with the excuses of: we have forwarded your questions to our research dept. and it will take 2-4 weeks for an answer; I don’t have that information available…I just take customer orders for the food….end chat on their end …is always what happens!!! I have called many times… oh, my computer just went down…let me put you on hold…disconnect…constant ringing when I call back; oh, we have been experiencing power outages, hold on…disconnect…constant ringing when I call back; you can call this 1-800 number (which was the number I called and got this rep.!) ..disconnect…constant ringing when I call back…; you can go to Dr. Marty’s website at http://www.drmarty.com…go to contact us…and his vet practice will personally answer your question….I did this and got a “undeliverable address message in my email! Now when I try to chat online during their CA business hours…I get a pop up message that they were not available…I think they blocked me! So I can not get in touch with Dr. Marty Pets Food at all to try to return the bags and get a refund!
I will definitely try to find other dog foods that you have recommended but I hope that they have smaller bags for a 15 pound Yorkie, especially if I try it and he doesn’t like it! I will continue to read everyone’s comments and advice! Thanks!

[Cathy J]

My 4 year old 90 pound Pitbull/??? mix has patellar luxation and has been recommended for surgery. I’m wondering if a trial of supplements and some type of Joint/diet special dog food might help the problem and maybe avoid surgery. Any suggestions of a reasonable dog food and supplements? He also has some allergies so add grain free to that request.

[Lisa D]

Hi I know this is a long time ago, but I have a dog that has potential IBD, pancreatitis, and acid reflux, not sure what she is allergic to, we are in the trial and error time of trying to figure everything out, I would love Susans recipes of homecooked meals, can someone provide those, I am unable to see her email or blog site?

thanks
Lisa
toothsweetie@comcast.net

[Cathy D]

My sick dogs are in Petaluma, California.
I returned the food yesterday. I attached the lawsuit artical to the bag.
The pet shop owner said he had an email last week last week about the champion products being discontinued soon.

I wish I had asked more questions but with sick dogs & a lack of sleep , I just wanted to get home.

I have switched to Merrick fish single ingredient . My dog is not eating a full meal yet but I’m comfortable with Merrick. I am just sick about it. I tried for the best food. I never heard my dog whimper before but this last week was non stop. The vet said inflamed swollen ears, maybe allergies. She also chewed her food pretty good.

My 15 y/o Min Pin started having nightmares last week. I thought it was time for the sadest drive to the vet. She would jump up still asleep and run into things or fall of the couch. She is too frail for that 10 times a day. I gave her a few for treats for 2 weeks. They stopped now. She’s had a perfect 24 hours.

This the second day my dogs are off the food and they are so much better.

Again, my heartfelt thanks to you all for posting.

[Cathy D]

I subscribe to dog food advisor three weeks ago to get the list of the top choice of dog food . We took the list to the store and I bought Acana single ingredient . Just had the dog at the vet yesterday for allergies to something ears are swollen she’s biting, scratching more than usual and whiny. She doesn’t feel good and today I read this .

When this happens maybe the food should be placed on a watchlist so somebody can read the article and decide for themselves . it shouldn’t stay on the “best list “?

Years ago I gave my lab Nutro. Her ears swelled up so bad and the vet said it was an allergic reaction to the food. I can’t believe I didn’t see this .

Thank U all for posting , you saved my girl, Carla Chanel, 1.5 y/o in training for service.
God bless you all

[anonymous]

Per the search engine here:

/forums/search/environmental+allergies/

[kathleen p]

Some skin allergies can be caused by your dogs food. My dog (weimaraner) was having issues as well…gas, itching, teary eyes, loose stools, etc. I found a brand of food called Sport Dog Food (sportdogfood.com) I noticed a difference within 2 weeks of use! They have just now changed their formulas so now I have to slowly introduce him to a new one. They have some foods that don’t include all that “extra” stuff dogs don’t need in their diets. I plan on going for the Tracking Dog formula which is closest to what I have been using. Go to their site and check out the ingredients on their formulas and you might be able to find something to suit your dogs needs. They are on the somewhat expensive side and only sell large bags right now, but I think you could find something to help. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

My dog is having a skin allergy and ailment. My vet suggests me to feed my dog with premium dog food but it’s not working. I have heard that organic dog food are best for skin allergies because they are nutritious.
Is it good to feed my dog with organic dog food? If yes, then which brand is best?

[Susan]

Hi emmygirl,
sorry my post is so long but as I’m writing I’m remember heaps of information & what I did with Patch….
You have written everything I have been thru with my IBD boy Patch who is nilly 10yrs old, I nilly put him to sleep in January, instead we did another Endoscope-Biopsies on esophagus & stomach, I thought he had stomach cancer…
Find a vet that does Endoscope + Biopsies & a vet that knows about IBD, you must get the biopsies done if you ever do Endoscope, some vets dont think to do the biopsies when looking at the stomach & small bowel, these vets are lacking experience in IBD, Patches stomach looks perfect when he had his 2 Endoscopes but his the biopsies told a different story. Biopsies tell the vet so much information what is wrong with your boy intestinal tract….Ultra scan was a waste of money, you cant really see the stomach & the vet can see the bowel but only if the bowel is thickening, vets thought Patch had thickening of the Bowel but he didnt, this happens after the dog has diarrhea for years, I wouldnt like to be a vet, 1 dogs cant talk & tell the vet were is sore what hurts etc, so vets have to do alot guessing sometimes when test come back OK.

*Food
Over the years my good vet told me to keep a yearly diary, cause you cant rememeber every single thing you’ve done & they have done.. now I look back thru Patches diaries when I need to remember what was Patch eating when he was doing so much better, write what your feeding, times, meds, what were poos like when he’s eating ?? etc
Is he doing OK when he’s eating the cooked Turkey, Squash & Oatmeal, how are his poos? one of Patches first vets told me in the beginning, to look & see when dog is pooing, does the poo come out of bum properly formed poo?, then when it hits the ground it turns to slop cow patty poo? the vet said this is OK as long as poo’s are formed when its coming out of the bum & as long as the dog is just doing his normal 1-3 poos a day & is not pooing at all thru day & night at all hours, vet said to me this might be as good as your going to get Patches poos, he was eating the Royal Canine Hypoallergeniic dry kibble… but I ended up getting Patches poos firmer when he started teh TOTW kibble & I ended up trying the Royal Canine Hypoallergenic wet can food last year it was better then the dry R/C HP kibble, then after trying all the Intestinal vet diets Hills, Royal Canine & Eukanuba Intestinal Low Residue worked the best but Patch skin was yeasty itchy & smelt bad then after joining the Canine EPI f/b group dogs were doing really well on TOTW or the Kirkland Signature, Natures Domain, Turkey & Sweet potato & Salmon & Sweet potato formula’s so I started Patch on TOTW Sierra Mountain Roasted Lamb & the Pacific Stream Salmon but teh Pacific Stream Salmon made him vomit he does firm poos but kept vomiting up the TOTW Smoked Salmon later I seen TOTW Pacific Stream Salmon is very high in toxins & another 2 fish formula’s brands Patch kept vomiting are very high in Toxins after being tested, then 3 yrs later Patch refused to eat his TOTW Roasted Lamb kibble, something had changed with TOTW kibble it smelt different, looked different & kibble size became very small….so now it makes me wonder if these kibbles are high in contaminates & toxins making my boy IBD have a flare??? thats why its best to cook their meals or find a really good dog dehydrated dog food that uses human grade ingredients.. as Patch has gotten older his acid reflux has gotten worse so he cant eat kibbles that are over 15% in fat now..
loow for lower fat around 10-13%-fat & low carb diet higher protein

Have you tried adding scramble egg with his meal? also the egg shell dry it out & crush & add 1 egg shell 1 teaspoon egg shell to one of his meals a day for his calcium, slowly start adding the egg shell if you fed home cooked diet……..Patch cant eat any kibbles that have fish or salmon oil in them he gets bad acid reflux from the fish oil also the fiber is very low in those Farmina vet kibbles 1.10% -fiber…Patch would be doing sloppy cow patties eating the Farmine vet diets that are very low in fiber..

When I read your post about your dog can’t eat most ingredients I knew its more then just the ingredients he is reacting too, sometimes it’s not the ingredients they cant eat, it reminded me of Patch when I first rescued him, he does have food sensitivities that I worked out BUT later I worked out there’s In-soluble Fiber, Soluble Fiber, Crude Fiber & Dietary Fiber, dogs with IBD need to work out what fibers agree with them & there isnt that perfect dry kibble diet for our dogs even vet diets dont help Patch or if a vet diet did help Patches IBD he gets his itchy smelly yeasty skin paws & ears.

Have you tried Royal “Canine Gastro Intestinal Low Fat” wet can food??? I bought a 12 can pack last week I had credit from a pet store I had forgotten about & at Lunch time if I think Patch doesnt seem well I open a can of R/C Gastro low fat & I take out the meat loaf from the can as it has heap of oil in the can so I pat dry the loaf with paper towel then I cut into 1/3 & he gets 1/3 of a can & I put the rest in bowl cling wrap bowl & put in fridge Patch does firm poos on the R/C Gastro Low Fat wet can & 5 yrs ago when he ate the R/C Gastro Low Fat he had diarrhea, so sometimes you have to re try foods or wet can or kibbles again cause sometimes its not the ingredients they are reacting too… its something else wrong either their small bowel or large bowel in the beginning it was Patches small bowel S.I.B.O now its his large bowel….
I would start the B-12 weekly injection ASAP you can buy & do yourself, if you join “EPI” Canine face book group they can help & tell you which B-12 tablets to get from chemist & where to buy the B-12 liquid for injections, you can never over dose your dog with B-12′, if they’re feeling crap or have had diarrhea the B-12 can really help them feel heaps better, alot of the EPI dogs take B-12 injections or tablets, I was going to get the tablets for Patch as B-12 is good for them & us humans when we are run down & unwell…..

Try & work out does your boy do better when you cook & add pumkin a soluble fiber soluble fiber is very easy to digest & dissolves in water or does he do better eating Lentils & Chickpeas they’re Insoluble fiber & Soluble fiber food? My boy doesn’t do well on Lentils or Chickpeas he gets instead dirrahea that night if he has ate a kibble with lentils..
google foods that are soluble fiber & foods that are insoluble fibers?

Try & stay feeding the home cooked diet or try a limited ingredient Freeze Dried raw if you I’m slowly introducing a new freeze dried dehydrated raw free range diet we have in Australia called “Frontier Pets” they’re small balls & you add warm water, so many dogs that can’t eat & have IBD symptoms are doing really well on this free range, dehydrated Frontier Pets dog food, it has no lentils, no chickpeas like most of these new grain free foods have now & my Patch is doing firmer poos then what he does when he’s just eating his Wellness Kibble…
I have to feed my boy dry kibble for some of his meals cause his sphincter flap isnt closing now & his food comes back up his esophagus into his mouth causing bad acid reflux, then sometimes the acid goes into his wind pipe & he becomes so unwell, cries, whinges, its awful to watch him when he becames so unwell, I wanted to put him down in January out of his pain, these last 5-6 yrs Ive tried everything & something always seem to work, I had him on Taste Of The Wild, Sierra Mountain, Roasted Lamb the Australian formula, has no chickpeas or lentils like the American TOTW formula’s have…. I could always fall back onto his TOTW if he started to do cow patty poos again when I was rotating his kibbles his vet said cow paddy poos is the large bowel where yellow sloppy poos is a small bowel problem but when he stopped eating it in December I had no kibbles that I knew worked & didnt iratate his IBD, his vet said please wait 1-2 months before we put Patch to sleep, his environment allergies are real bad at the moment & have put his immune system into over drive, we had just moved as well, so I didnt put him to sleep plus I couldnt do it, I just wanted more help, I wanted a miracle but vets cant always help the dog sometimes no matter how good my vet is, she always tells me Patch is her favorite & she always thinks & wonders how is he going when she doesnt see us but she said she knows he must be doing better cause I havent come…
Have you tried Metronidazole (Flagyl) tablets when he become unwell with vomiting & diarrhea/sloppy poo’s, I have Metronidazole in the cupboard with repeat scripts so I can just go chemist & get them out if I need them saving at $60 vet visit & as soon as I see he’s becoming unwell doing sloppy poos, vomiting or when Im introducing a new food, I put him on the Metronidazole for 14-21 days it helps him, Metronidazole has an anti inflammatory & antibiotic in it, so it helps a few health problems…
With a dry kibble, I’m feeding Wellness Core Large Breed at the moment even though Patch isnt a large breed dog, he’s a senior & when I email Wellness they said yes their Large Breed formula’s are OK to feed a senior dogs, they are high Glucosamine & Chondroitin for their joints & high in DHA, Patch is small to medium English Staffy weights about 40lb -18kgs, the Wellness Core Large Breed formula is high protein-34%, Deboned Chicken, Chicken Meal, Turkey Meal, then potatoes, peas, Patch can’t eat chicken he gets red paws but I had no other kibbles left to feed him & the man at Pet Barn said, if anything happens just bring it back all dogs food are money back Guaranteed, I got the 5,4kg bag 1/2 price $40 so I tried it, Patches paws went red but his stomach became better, he had no acid reflux, poos firmed up not 100% firm in the beginning but better then when he was eating a kibble that had grains, I can pick his poos up now on our walk & not leave a poo stamp on the grass, Wellness Core Large Breed is low-med fat-13%max, low Kcals-345 per cup, carbohydrates are 31% you must read the Kcals per cup when looking for a kibble, stay under 360Kcals per cup the higher the Kcals the more dense the food & harder to digest…
also have you tried giving your boy a acid reducer? Patch was taking Losec-(Omeprazole) for 2 yrs then this year I change it to Somac (Pantoprazole) what i take & he stopped eating grass everyday so he mustnt feel sick as much now, sometimes you have to do things yourself when you know in your heart what the vet is doing & advising you isnt helping your dog, & I saw my vet & she now wrote me repeat scripts so I can get the Pantopraozole from chemist cause the vets dont have Pantoprazole in Australia, Pantoprazole is used by American vets… but know if my vet & Patches other vet that does his Endoscopes & Biopsies see a dog like PAtch & cant work out what to do with the dogs bad acid reflux they can rememeber what we did with Patch & touch wood he seems to be getting better he has some bad days but I have his acid reflux under control no & I really want him on this Dehyrated free range, grain free food..
Try the new food just for 1 of his meals, thats what I do now, I feed new food for his lunch 12pm this way Patch has his kibble from breakfast 7am in stomach & small bowel then he eats something different for lunch a small meal then he gets his dinner 5pm kibble again & it seems to work for Patch when Im introducing a new food he gets it at luch time cause you can’t mix kibble & dehydrated raw wet food with a dry kibble, it would probably upset Patches stomach & the Holistic Vet Kathy that help formulate this new Frontier Pets dehydrated raw dog food droped off Patches new food + some samples to try & she said take baby steps, it took 1 of her patient dogs Bernie 6 months to get him onto the Frontier Pets, he was doing well then when down hill but yiou just restart again she said search for “Frontier Pets” on facebook & scroll down, look for Bernies Story” Italian Greyhound story, it will give you some hope…

[anonymous]

For best results go to a board certified veterinary dermatologist. Food allergies are rare. Food sensitivities fluctuate.
More often than not environmental allergies are the culprit.
The only accurate test for that is intradermal skin testing. The most natural treatment for environmental allergies is allergen specific immunotherapy otherwise known as allergy shots or desensitization.

See my posts, example /forums/topic/hes-got-good-and-environmental-allergies/#post-113364