[Shasta220]

I’m very curious about this: is one protein source better than the rest? (Assuming #1. It’s an animal #2. It’s not by-product or other remnants #3. The dog isn’t allergic to it).

I’m asking this question /mainly/ to settle my curiosity (good thing I’m not a cat, or I’d probably be dead by now! Hahah!), but the food that I’m buying right now has the availability of lamb based, beef based, or chicken based. I’m really not sure which one I should get (all other ingredient quantities are the same), and I’m not concerned about my dogs’ taste preferences. They eat anything.

Do dogs generally thrive better on one protein and do less than another?

Should I do a different one every time I buy a new bag of food, to give their diets as much variety as I can?

Also, is there any /better/ quality to get the “fancy” stuff like duck, venison, turkey, etc. over your beef/lamb/chicken… Other than the fact that a dog might be intolerant?

Thanks for the answers and opinions, even though this is definitely no life-or-death question for my pooches. 😀

[Leah12345]

Please keep us posted once you have tried the food for awhile with good results! My dog also poops a lot so I am “lurking” on these boards to try to find a quality food that causes less pooping – she is also allergic (itching) to grains and poultry. We had been using Fromm’s, but are changing even though it’s good food.

[Spiffyloo88]

It really is better for dogs to digest cooked veggies. My dog is allergic to wheat, chicken, carrots and rice that we know of so we make him hard boiled eggs and cooked oatmeal and boiled sweet potatoes, at the suggestion of our vet. I also need ideas on supplements to add to his food. We just started a month ago to see if we could clear up his rashes and diarrhea and it did so now we slowly add things one at a time and see how he reacts. I read you can buy like powdered vitamin stuff but I don’t even know where to start.
The poor guy can’t even have flavored chew toys so we have to buy plastic bones it kind of makes me sad for him.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 10 months ago by Spiffyloo88.

[kcarter137]

I added a carrot, celery, zucchini, yellow squash, and spinach puree this week along with some frozen blueberries.
I would love to give her eggs as I am over flowing with eggs from my hens but she is allergic to them.

[Dori]

Wow those are some good ones. Does your allergy prone poodle do alright with all of those oils? Just thinking of Katie my maltipoo with the allergies. I’m going to sound ignorant here for a moment, but how do you know when your dog seems to require more omega 3 oil. What should I be looking for. As you probably know I’m fairly new to all this and doing well or should I say my dogs are doing well with the commercial raws. I’d like to be smart about the supplements and oils. Don’t want to mess up too much.

[Akari_32]

Gotcha. So he’s pretty much allergic to anything that bites? Fantastic LOL

Diamond makes ALL of Canidae?? I thought they only made certain ones! Well thats out, then…

Oh, I forgot one other food. Nutrisca. Its a bit expensive for the lamb one, but its not too bag considering the medium sized bag larger than most other brands medium sized bags. Anyone have experience with this?

[theBCnut]

Sorry, I meant if it was just a fire ant bite, not an allergic reaction to a fire ant bite.

You should see results within 2 weeks with either one of those. It takes at least a couple weeks and up to 10 weeks to clear all of the histamine out of the body after there is no longer more being added, but you should see the reaction getting less much faster than that.

Diamond makes all their kibbles.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 10 months ago by theBCnut.

[Akari_32]

I’ve tried all the other flavors of Wellness CORE for the other dogs, and the mix he’s currently on right now has CORE Puppy and Ocean Fish (and Purina One Beyond Lamb), and as far as the dogs doing good on, I’m happy with them, and it is my go-to brand. I’d love to see a red meat based CORE that has the protein profile that the other formulas do, with no plant protein boosters, which is my reservation about the Wild Game one. However, it still does look like its got a good protein level when you factor those out. I don’t think chicken flavors and fats are supposed to bother allergies, because theres none of the protein that causes the problems. Thats the way I understand it, anyways. I could be wrong.

I took mom in Pet Supermarket today to look at the foods, and the she was having a heart attack about the prices. She wants to put him back on the Innova Prime, despite it being more expensive than the Wellness, because she knows he does good on it. Has anyone used it (or EVO) since the recall last year? I have her leaning more toward the Wellness, though, because with coupons, I can get $9 off any size bag ($5 off any bag, and $4 off $20 purchase). If she wants to put him on Innova Prime, I’d rather her spend the extra $3 and put him on the EVO, though. They’re pretty much the same, just EVO is better.

She liked the price of Nature’s Recipe (thats the orange bag, right?) Grain Free Salmon ($14 for a 4 pound bag), but potato is the second ingredient, and its only like 25% protein. I’m wondering since he gets soooo bad on grains, if I should avoid anything that is so starchy? And if she wants that, she’d have to go all the way out to PetSmart for the larger bag, as 4 pounds wouldn’t last long.

On the Diamond note, I was looking at the Canidae PURE or whatever their new grain free line is called, and he could have two of three formulas. Again, they are low in protein (25ish %), but the price isn’t bad, about the same as the Nature’s Recipe, and it looks better than the NR does. Has anyone quite figured out which of Canidae’s foods are made by Diamond? I know they don’t like to let that information out. She also asked about TOTW.

Mom was asking about what she could get at WalMart that would work for him. I’m sure we all know that only grain and chicken free food at WalMart is the Pure Balance Salmon and Pea. It is a good price, and its not too bad, but given his food issues, I wonder if it’d be ok. I guess we wouldn’t really know if never tried. Thoughts on that?

[Akari_32]

I’ve been bitten by fire ants and been left with dime to nickel sized welts. Then again, when I’m bitten by mosquitoes, they swell up to quarter sized. So maybe I’m the one allergic bug bites… lol

But anyways, we’ll take baby steps, to see whats really causing the itching, rather than taking all the factors away at once like last time, like a genius. I’ll start with grass, since thats the easiest, and we’ll treat the yard next weekend (mom works out of town during the week, and other people have planned our weekend this week– how nice). I’ll also be looking into a homemade flea repellant to help keep the fleas from getting on him in the first place, with out interfering or adversely reacting to the Trifexis. Both of those should yield pretty immediate results, correct?

Have you tried the Wellness CORE Wild Game, or know anyone who does?

[theBCnut]

Wellness, Evo, Innova would be my picks, in that order.

Fire ant bites always leave a pustule, not a welt, so I’m assuming he has a flea allergy, but that doesn’t mean that he isn’t also allergic to grass. Put a kitty litter pan by the back door and rinse his feet/lower legs off before coming back inside.

[Akari_32]

Hey guys! Bentley is once again having itching problems as the weather stars to warm back up. We aren’t sure if it’s chicken, grains, grass, fleas or a combination of any of these. He’s constantly chewing his feet and tummy, and scratching his neck and chest, and his skin is bright red all over his body.

We’ve got a little (really little) problem with fleas in the yard, and he gets maybe 3 or so a day just from going out side. I wouldn’t think it’s enough to cause a problem unless he’s allergic to them. He’s on Trifexis, which kills the fleas after they bite. We have stuff to treat the yard, as well that we are going to try. He does get pretty decent sized welts, but that could be from fire ants (the dog is pretty stupid– he likes to play with ants), so it’s hard to say.

As for food, he used to be on the red meat Innova Prime before the recall. And before that we tried just about every brand and meat/grain combination all sorts of brands there is in the area, ending with chicken without grain, and non-chicken with grain, just to be sure. We finally settled on no chicken and no grain as it caused him to itch less and his skin looked better, and used $10 off any size bag Innova coupons, which is the only way we could have afforded it at the time. He’s been doing good since then so I figured I’d try him back on chicken, and he did good for a month or so, so I tried him back on grain. For the last 3 weeks maybe, he’s been on half and half, grain free and grain inclusive, with mixed protein sources, and it doesn’t seem to help much, but it has helped some.

We aren’t really sure on the grass allergy either, as it all started to die off for the winter when it occurred to us it could be grass/weed pollen and started taking precautions for that as well (wiping him down with a baby wipe after going outside). But now the grass is starting to grow back, so I’ll have to see about that.

So basically, we have all of these possible irritants back all at once, and we are back to where we were last year: he’s chewed his back legs almost bald, he’s scratching himself raw on his chest and neck, and his sole purpose in life is to chew the bottom of his feet.

Since fleas and grass are easy to take care of (sort of), I need some help on picking a food. The only catch is, it has to come from Pet Supermarket. It’s the only place close that isn’t a grocery store. AND…. Around here it’s pretty much either Natura or Diamond for (“good”) grain free. Lucky me. Being so close to the South Carolina plant (I live in Florida), I have my reserves about feeding Diamond products, but he’s been on most of the TOTW formulas and my other dogs have been on Kirkland with no issues. Here’s my list:

Wellness CORE Wildgame
Taste of the Wild High Prairie PUPPY
Taste of the Wild Sierra Mountain
EVO Red Meat Small Bites
Innova Natures Table Beef and Red Lentils (doesn’t appear to be available here yet, but I’d like to hear thoughts on it)

He doesn’t like fish, and it makes his breath smell nasty, or else I’d be able to add the CORE Ocean Fish in there, too. I was looking at Blue Buffalo, despite what ever they’re going through right now, but I’m fairly sure all their grain free foods have chicken, don’t they? Any thing else to add that Pet Supermarket carries?

If you could just pick one, because the chances of mom rotating are slim, which would you pick? And what are your top three, if I can get her to? And thoughts or concerns about any of these? Any other tips as far as natural flea treatments, itching relief, and whatever else goes are also greatly appreciated!

[Dori]

Since my dogs are on constant rotation of food be it protein or brands I will start giving it to her either one hour before or three hours after her evening meal. I’d never get away with making her wait an hour for breakfast she definitely would think I’d lost my mind. In the a.m. after walk she flys past me and literally throws herself into her kitchen crate and waits not patiently at all for her breakfast (all three girls eat in their crates a.m. and p.m. only way I know that they are each getting their full share). By the way, thanks so much for your posts on feeding dogs, through your posts I’ve been able to get all three of my dogs to eat raw rotating foods proteins and brands and any given time or whatever is in the freezer or fridge in a relatively short time (three months) and not one single digestive problem whatsoever. I just know to avoid poultry altogether because one of my girls is highly allergic to anything with feathers. She is also the poop eater so whatever she eats they eat too. For a while I was feeding her different from the others and couldn’t wrap my brain why she was still such a mess (itchy, gas, bad breath) then realized OMG! of course, she eats their poop. LOL. Lightning bolt hit me. As some said somewhere you and HDM should seriously get some time together and write a book. I have learned so much from you Shawna and HDM I feel like to ladies should be sending me bills for my education here on this site.

[Susan]

When I asked my vet how long will it take for my boy to ajust to his new food, she said anything from 1week to 3months when trying new foods, but I disagree with that, I notice within 3 days for poos & skin allergies…I’d do what Patty said try a probiotic a good one, there’s alot of crap ones out there, the one I use is kept in fridge {Protexin}..also whats the fibre in this new feed maybe its too high, her old food might have been a bit lower…

[theBCnut]

I started adding just a small amount for one meal a day for the first 3 days, so if there was a strong reaction then I had time to notice and discontinue before feeding much of it. It took 3 days of a food with very little tomato pomace to find out that Micah can’t have that. It took almost a month to get him cleared up again

I also added a protein and a starch at the same time, knowing that if he did have a reaction to one, I would have to go back and test each thing individually. After testing a protein and a starch I stopped feeding them and moved on the the next protein and starch that I wanted to try or I continued that protein and changed starches after I had gone through the proteins that I wanted to go ahead and try. It’s up to you, but I wanted to try to keep his protein level up and carb level down due to past yeast issues.

You don’t need to make any of those 20% of the diet to tell if your dog will react to them, for that 5-10% is more than plenty, but after I saw no signs of a reaction for a week or so, I would really push it to test and feed even more than 20% for a couple days, kind of like an acid test for allergies.

• This reply was modified 11 years, 10 months ago by theBCnut.

[Walk Like the Wolf]

Good day!

I am hoping to get some suggestions about my dog. He is a seven year old super-mutt and I’m wondering if anyone has some suggestions with a recurring loose stool/diarrhea problem or has had success in this area.

My boy has pretty much always had some less-than-firm stools. Some days it looks better than others but pretty consistently for the longest time, he hasn’t had firm stools for the whole day. Usually his first poop is good and then it kinda gets smaller and looser. This is something I have brought up with my vet in the past and he has been given probiotics before and not much else. I will address this again next time I bring him in but am not open to trying prescription food in the event my vet tries to push that. I am wondering if any other tests should be run also, which I will ask.

He doesn’t have any accidents in the house, never has. He gets itchy skin occasionally but it doesn’t seem to correlate with diet, more changes in the weather and he reacts strongly to flea bites the couple of times we were unfortunate enough to get fleas (yuck). He is not itching currently. He is active and loves to go on walks, a bit slower in the wetter/crappier weather (has some arthritis in hips). He has hypothyroid as well which is being managed (soloxine once daily plus a half dose 3x week) as well as his weight (he was overweight when diagnosed and now has a non-tootsie-roll figure! 😉 ).

I recently switched my dogs from Earthborn to Orijen adult. He didn’t seem to mind the switch initially. I am feeding him two 1/2 cup servings a day usually with a small spoonful of wet; he was at 62 pounds when last weighed. Based on his steady weight loss I think we’re at a good place for quantity right now. NOW that all that’s out of the way…recently he’s gotten some liquid diarrhea and though loose stools are typical for him, this amount of liquid diarrhea is odd. I’m wondering if maybe he has intolerance to the first ingredient in Orijen adult which is chicken. I have read a lot about dogs who just don’t handle chicken very well. But I’m puzzled because the loose stool thing has been fairly consistent regardless of the food he eats (I have cycled many foods with my dogs in their lives; my girl has no problems with anything, ever…and my boy is always kind of consistent in not-as-lovely stools). I’m thinking maybe trying a different Orijen recipe (red meat or fish) to see if that stops the liquid diarrhea. If it at least gets things back to “normal” that would help, but then there’s also the issue of solving this chronic loose stool issue. As I mentioned, he is getting some probiotics with his meals. In the past I’ve tried pumpkin as well (he loves it) but I didn’t notice a marked difference; maybe it wasn’t enough? And if so, recommendations on amount to give based on his size?

I am doing a parasite check on Monday to make sure nothing’s weird there (he picked up some worms over the fall). But like I said, worms or not, regardless of food, his loose stools haven’t been solved long-term. Does this sound familiar? Any luck? Opinions on any possible condition I should bring up to the vet?

This is kind of a two-part question: 1) does it sound like allergies/intolerance to chicken, or some other ingredient (even though there’s no itching/vomiting…nothing weird going on except diarrhea)? And long-term loose stool advice?

(you know you MIGHT be a dog person when you talk this much about poop…) 😀

Sorry about the novel; just trying to be thorough! Thanks for reading!

[theBCnut]

I’ve heard several different methods for slowing a gobbler down. One was to clamp visegrip to the middle of the leg quarter so he has to gnaw around it. Another is to use cable ties to fasten the leg quarter to a metal tube, like a vacuum hose extension. My dogs don’t get chicken due to allergies, but they eat turkey and when I give them a piece of turkey they usually crunch along the length of the bone several times then sort of inhale it. Basically, they break up the bone before they start actually eating, then they eat fast. Your dog will be fine, just keep working at the chewing thing. He will learn.

[quafferj]

Oh my goodness, I stumbled across this thread but reading it was like a lightbulb coming on! My pitbulls mix has always been a VERY gassy dog with lots of allergies, food and environmental. I finally found Natures Variety instinct, and the first month or two was brutal. She could make guys who try to impress each other with the nastiest gas leave the room gagging. Since then she cleared but to virtually no gas at all, for her. Her food allergies include potatoes, barley, and peas, the minute she eats something she shouldn’t her ears smell yeasty and get infected, before her allergy shots her paws would be red, irritated, and yeasty smelling, and one of her environmental allergies is malessezia, a yeast found on the body of all humans and animals. Yet I never even thought of a yeast allergy! Duh!

[Akari_32]

I’ve used TOTW a few times in the last with no troubles. Bought the small bags for Bentley for the longest time while we were trying to figure out his allergies, and then bought two large bags of the orange puppy one back to back not too long ago. The first bag Bentley liked, but the second he hated. The other dogs were fine on it , so I think it was the fish one in the wrong bag (he hates fish LOL). So, we’ve had like 6-7 bags with no real problems.

Wow, good job Aleksandria! I don’t think you’ll ever have to buy dog food again XD

BB isn’t made by Diamond? I thought they were….

[Ajchavis]

Do you know of any good brand can dog food that doesn’t have soy products in it..dry too for that matter and treats? My dog is allergic to soy in any form and it is so hard to find retail products that omit soy. Ajchavis

[Molzy]

Wow! Thanks for all the responses. Sorry I haven’t been responding, my internet at home was down, and I am not talented enough with my smartphone to respond on it, but I have been following all the wonderful information. But a quick overview of where we are at today – attacks are down to about once every two weeks, and I am able to keep them from escalating to vomiting by massaging his belly to push out any gas build up (meaning I am up every hour or so all night those nights). I am feeding him Honest Kitchen Keen, and he gets 2/3 of cup at 7am, 5-6pm, and 10-11pm. He doesn’t get any other treats or human food. I will try to reply to each post below:

Cbgmom – So far we have been using the harness (and even taking that off when inside, since our home has double entries with a front porch and back mudroom so no risk of escaping). I think it *is* helping some, since he does still occasionally start an attack when he rests his head funny (so that something pushes on his throat).

Billy – the boarding definitely was stressful for him, and I wish we hadn’t been forced to do that. However, I don’t think he is confused anymore, and certain other events (such as staying with my mom for almost a week) were not related with any sort of attack. They will often start at night while we’re watching TV and he is basically sleeping/resting, though once they start there is definitely a stress component. I don’t think it is a habitual thing, as he clearly gets freaked out when it happens and wants it to stop (not to anthropomorphize). We have tried boiled rice and chicken – did NOT go over well with him (he did not digest the rice at all, it came out the other end looking the same). Our best luck so far has been a wet diet (honest kitchen or canned dog food). I will definitely work in increasing his physical activity, been a hard winter here with wind chill advisories most weeks it seems, and he is not tolerant of the cold at all. Thanks for the advice!

Bunny – the first time this happened, I definitely thought it was bloat!! I don’t think I slept at ALL that night, I gave him some gas-x and just laid next to him. I called the vet as soon as they opened the next morning, but since he was still eating and defecating they weren’t concerned. He has never had one of his episodes AT the clinic, and my vet is very unconcerned about whatever is wrong since he is otherwise healthy. We haven’t even done an endoscopy at this point.

I have been considering post-nasal drip recently (Pepcid doesn’t seem to really help, so I don’t *think* it is completely related to reflux). However, he can also be triggered if his throat gets touched oddly, so I am leaning towards trachea damage. We adopted Quincy at the end of July – I know they used a choke chain at the shelter with him. However, he had NO issues for the first 10 days we had him, then I had to board him for 4 days due to a family wedding and it started after that. I will always wonder if something happened to him while he was boarding, as he is TERRIFIED of the guy we boarded him with (I took a training course there a few months later, and Quincy would hide under my chair from the guy, so we stopped going because he would force Quincy to let him pet him).

I will try the walking, as I could see that helping. The best thing I have found so far is lying next to him and massaging his belly to push the gas out. I’ve been doing that for the past 6 weeks or so and have managed to avoid the escalated attacks (vomiting and what appears to me to be severe discomfort).

AnotherEmily – SO sorry to hear what you’re going through! As relieved I am that my dog isn’t the only one, I wish I was the only one, because I hate hearing that other dogs are suffering as well. It sounds like you’ve really tried everything, so please keep us posted. How is he doing without chicken? I have considered food allergies, but what I don’t get is that he can be FINE for two weeks, and then have an episode. I try to be VERY careful about not giving him anything “extra”, not even any dog treats recently. I really can’t see a pattern to why and when it happens, even with keeping a calendar.

WParsons – Again, I am sorry to hear that you’re going through this too. It is so heartbreaking to watch. I have also started feeding more frequently (Quincy gets 2/3 cup, 3x a day now), but there seems to be *some* sort of link to bedtime, because he gets the attack around 9pm (which is only 3-4 hours after he ate dinner, so it shouldn’t be an empty stomach?). I’ll try the Pepcid again as well, I have some on hand just wasn’t sure it was really making a difference (GasX seems to maybe help more?).

Slappppy – Interesting that there is another cattledog with this condition (Quincy is a cattledog as well)! What type of bowl do you use that works well with wet food? I have been considering investing in something like that for Quincy, because it is hard to slow him down. I know what you mean about the differences – we call Quincy’s attacks either the “gulpies” or the “swallows” depending on their severity. The swallows can also escalate into the gulpies at times.

Steve Johnson – glad you found something that works! I will check that out, I have seen it in my web searches but thought that it might be a little gimmicky…I am basically willing to try anything though, it is terrible watching him when he doesn’t feel good!

Khouston – sorry to hear that your dog has this as well, but I am glad you found something that works! I understand about the landscaping – I was lucky and I’m still renting, so all I had to do was sacrifice my houseplants.

Mmt – I will ask my vet about Sulcrcate. I have tried using slippery elm in the past, I think it is supposed to be similar (you make up a paste for them to eat before food, it is supposed to coat the intestine).

Again, thank you ALL for your contributions to this!! It is wonderful to hear that some people have found some relief for this, so I will keep watching this thread. Give all your puppies a big hug, they are so lucky to have people who care this much for them!

[Sully’sMom]

Thank you both, Shasta220 and Pattyvaughn!

You know what? Yes, I definitely knew about grain-free dog food, Sully’s been on it for months, even before we knew the cause of his allergies, but I didn’t put together until I read the way you worded it (avoiding all grain) – I need to be buying grain-free treats. Duh!

The dusting suggestion was helpful too…many household changes coming up here!

So thankful for DFA 🙂

[Sharon Buchanan]

Sully’sMom ~

My Mystery started life with a dandruff problem. At 10 weeks, when we got him, he was flaking all over the place. A trip to the vet to find out if he had bug problems turned up negative but the vet gave me an Omega supplement. A month later the condition was worse. I emailed the breeder and asked if any litter mates were having problems. They weren’t, and he suggested adding Canola oil to Mystery’s food. Nope – we don’t add anything that has been linked to cancer.

Finally, I came across an article in Dogs Naturally Magazine that said coconut oil was good for any number of issues, including skin problems. Further research indicated I should start with 1/4 teaspoon per 10 pounds to Mystery’s food. It was mentioned that adding coconut oil might cause a bit of diarrhea initially so I only added it to his morning food.

A month later and I stopped finding dead skin in and around his crate every morning and the only difference in his stools was that they were consistently normal – neither hard nor too soft. He’s been getting about a tablespoon (since the oil is solid I just eyeball it using a regular spoon), every morning for three months now. He’s still clear and his coat is sooooo soft.

I can’t speak to allergies but from everything I’ve read, it can’t hurt to add coconut oil to Sully’s diet.

The best oil is going to be organic, extra-virgin, cold-pressed. I found mine at Sam’s. Hope it helps!

[theBCnut]

Anything that helps skin quality and repair helps with environmental allergies. I’m sure you know that avoiding all grain is necessary for the storage mite issue, but did you know that putting a couple drops of neem oil, clove oil, lemon oil, or any of the others that naturally repel bugs, in a sprayer of water for dusting helps with dust mites? Never dry dust, always use a damp rag, so the dust doesn’t get in the air.

If your dog was having allergies to pollen producing plants, I would definitely recommend feeding bee pollen granules, but I don’t know if they would be any help in your case.

[Shasta220]

I’ve honestly never dealt with an allergy-prone dog (except food allergies), so I honestly have no idea if it would help or not. I’d go ahead and give it a shot though, coconut oil is great for dogs, mine all get a scoop of it! I’ve heard someone say they have dogs with awful skin problems, not seeming to be food-related. He got the dogs on a good multi-vitamin and a tablespoon of local RAW honey twice daily. They cleared up in a few weeks.

I’m sure other people on here will have better suggestions, as they’re much more experienced I’m sure.
I hope you can find something that works for your guy! 🙂

[Sully’sMom]

I just mistakenly posted this under a potato grain free forum…this is where I intended to go (that’s what I get for rushing while I’m at work!):

Hi all, I’ve been silent for a while. I did pose this question on a forum under Supplements, but thought I’d come back to my reliable group and post it here as well, as there’s always so much invaluable help and not sure if all the same parties participate in the different forums. Thank you for your indulgence:

Sully (1 yr, 7 mo yellow lab) has recently been diagnosed with allergies, most specifically to dust and storage mites (there are others, but these are the biggies). If anyone remembers us, we’ve been dealing with this for awhile, so this is actually a welcome finding – at least now we can proceed with some action! I was reading an article in the Nov 2013 issue of Whole Dog Journal about the wonders of coconut oil, and I thought this might help. Can anyone offer opinions/advice? Recommendations? It seems from the picture accompanying the article that there is no shortage of product options!

Appreciate any help I can get, as I’d like allergy resorts to be a last resort, not a first. Thank you!

[Sully’sMom]

My dog Sully (1 yr, 7 mo yellow lab) has recently been diagnosed with allergies, most specifically to dust and storage mites (there are others, but these are the biggies). I was reading an article in the Nov 2013 issue of Whole Dog Journal about the wonders of coconut oil, and I thought this might help. Can anyone offer opinions/advice? Recommendations? It seems from the picture accompanying the article that there is no shortage of product options!

Appreciate any help I can get, as I’d like allergy resorts to be a last resort, not a first. Thank you!

[Giles123]

Just found out yesterday after their allergy tests came back that our dogs are allergic to corn, soy and potato. The vet initially had them on hills ID because they were having many stomach issues. I guess now we know why. That food contains the components they are allergic to. We need to find them a food without these ingredients but I am so worried because there seems to be constants recalls on brands. Does anyone know of a good quality food that doesn’t contain these items and isn’t a feared recalled brand? Along with their probiotics they have to take Benadryl right now to keep the symptoms down. I need to find them a good food fast- please help

[Giles123]

Hi Sue this is Kelly. Just read your post and we are having similar trouble with our dogs. We finally had testing done for food allergy as along with bloody diarrhea they get yeast and bacteria in their stomachs constantly and we could find no reason as to why. The vet had initially put them on hills ID for sensitive stomach however since troubles continued and they actually would turn a little pink a short while after eating we did the allergy test. It’s just a blood test that they do and then see if their blood shows positive reaction to certain foods. Came back that they are actually allergic to corn, soy and potato. Apparently if your pet is allergic to something in their food or environment it can cause an allergic reaction that makes an overgrowth of yeast and bacteria in their stomach. Not sure if this will fix your babies troubles but if nothing is working maybe an allergy test might help to determine if their food is causing the problem. Best of luck to you I know how hard it can be seeing your baby struggle

[Kmsharp]

I’ve had shih tzus for 30 years and have tried all diets (we eat organic ourselves). Watch out for yeast if problems with dry skin or itching, may be also related to stomach issues. It looks like you can find lots of foods with high ratings here. We sometimes cook for our dogs – ground turkey, oatmeal, some veggies, olive oil. Make a large batch & freeze some – we do this to use all organic products. My dogs also do fine on a high quality dry food & wet food mix. I mix it up, add a bit of eggs when we eat them. One dog was allergic to beef. With a small dog like a shih tzu it’s easy to give them bits of healthy (fish, meat, sweet potato, cheese) leftovers too as a supplement (though some people never spoil their dogs like this!)

Good luck – these are fabulous, loyal, loving dogs!

[kcarter137]

I have a 1 1/2 year old 13 lbs chihuahua mix. She has a long story and I need help so here it is. She has been plagued with various ailments since we acquired her. After a couple months of raw feet and hairless patches on her body I took her to see an allergist/dermatologist. We did a food elimination diet and determined she was severely allergic to chicken, rice, and wheat; somewhat allergic to eggs, dairy, and fish in higher quantities. She has been eating cooked pork, 5-10% cooked liver, 15-20% pureed sweet potatoes with skin on, 15-20% raw beef, and every other day she gets half a sardine or canned salmon. She eats no bone but I supplement with calcium. She takes a glucosamine/chondroitin/msn supplement because she has bad knees. We recently started her on a wild salmon oil because my vet said she needed it also. He also told me that she’s not eating a balanced diet so she also needs a multivitamin. So I ordered one from b-naturals. I don’t know what else I can do for balance her diet out. My other half says we cannot feed her raw or bones. Help, please and thanks in advance!!

[A.Sandy]

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Thank you Patty! I would satill be running in circles had I not suggested the hypoallergic PV. They are reformulating he dry – due mid -lated Feb but I bought a large bag so I hope to have enough till then and shop ashe continues doing well- wood please!!

[GizmoMom]

I think Gizmo is allergic to See Spot mix. I decided to switch cold turkey from THK Preference to See Spot mix. Still using ground bison. He was chewing his feet and scratching his ears about 5 minutes after eating. I haven’t add any oil yet. The only change is from THK Preference to See Spot mix.

[GizmoMom]

That’s interesting! I’ll try the plant based for now. Since he’s allergic to fish, he might be allergic to calamari.

[Suziemorgs]

Thank you for replies, she was on Origen until I found out she had allergies at the moment I’m feeding her grasslands Acana but since being on the grasslands has developed tear staining 🙁

[Suziemorgs]

Hi my Bichon Frise has been allergy tested ,she is allergic to Beef,chicken,salmon and soya can anyone recommend a dog food that don’t contain these ingredients as a lot of the food contain salmon oil 🙁

[GizmoMom]

Just got my order of See Spot Live Longer Dinner Mix in the mail. What kind of oil can I add to the mix other than fish oil/salmon oil? My dog is allergic to fish oil and salmon oil. I think he’s also allergic/intolerant to fish.

Do I need to gradually switch the food? He’s been on THK Preference with cooked ground bison for about 3 weeks. Before this he was on K9 Natural freeze dried lamb, K9 Natural freeze dried venison and Wysong Epigen 90. And before this he was on many brands of premade raw. I’ve also tried PMR, but can’t keep up with it due to freezer space.

[Lori J.]

Hi,

I’m seeking out some new ideas….Currently feeding my Aussie mix Zeal (Honest Kitchen)…while we’re figuring out possible food allergies…and realized there’s egg in there…I’m looking for “simple”…not a gazillion ingredients.

Also, she’s got a yeast infection on her paws we are treating, so trying to avoid carbs now….

Ideas out there?

Thanks!

[Shasta220]

Jeff, thanks so much for the info on honey!

We are by the Oregon Coast (the land of liquid sunshine…aka rain…aka sideways rain!), so luckily things stay fairly constant with us, and the dogs don’t seem to get seasonal allergies. I’m not sure what Loki had, but when we adopted him last spring, he was sneezing non-stop, sometimes if we ran him hard, it’d get to the point of where he couldn’t breathe and started choking. I took him to the vet and asked them, they looked up his nose and said everything’s normal, but he might have some grass seed lodged in his snout. I kept an eye on him, and within a couple weeks it went away. It hasn’t come back yet, but I will wait and see if something about the spring blossoms caused it.

Loki is totally healthy other than that, he has the softest, shiniest fur out of the 3 dogs. I wonder if his sneezing was just from his initial acclimation to a new environment? We adopted him from a shelter that was about 50mi away, in a city. We live out on 5acres, about 2mi away from the nearest small town. If the sneezing starts up in spring though, I’ll get onto that honey for him!

About the shampoo…that’s a genius idea! I just hope my super wiggly Loki would come to the idea of liking it, LOL! (He can’t hold still for more than a fe moments…but heck, he’s a 2-3y.o. Kelpie/Aussie, who can blame him?) Our lab randomly got a nasty hot spot on the underside of her foot – she gnawed in between the toes until it was raw. In all her 12yrs, she has NEVER gotten a spot on her foot, it’s always been her back/rump. Luckily, I put some ointment on it and it went away the next day, but should it happen again – should I try the wash method using her Virbac Hexadine shampoo in he he ziploc bag?

@Sue, that’s weird your vet said no honey. I do see why they might say it’s sugar, but if it’s local raw honey, and just a tablespoon, the benefits are WAY greater than the chances of your dog having too much sugar! Be sure your dog isn’t at all sensitive to wheat/grains when you put it on the toast though. 😉

[Susan]

When You say you give ur dogs honey how much do u give them & how??? I was giving my boy honey on 2 pieces of toast no butter just the honey when he has his Colitis of a morning as he wouldnt eat nothing else, this help stop the gurgling noises in his bowels, I told my vet & she said stop with the honey it has sugar.. But I thought that honey was a natural sweetner..My boy has seasonal allergies worst in spring & summer gets better in colder months..Instead of the shampoo with their feet I use Detol antiseptic I put a couple of caps of the Detol antiseptic in a very shallow bath with cold water sook my dogs feet & all his reddnes & swollen feet go away also good for ant bites, Betadine Antiseptic Liquid is also excellent but it gets too dear the Detol or homebrand antiseptic works out cheaper.

[Badboris27]

:o) To be honest, when we heard about giving honey to the dogs, it made complete sense if you believe that allergies are the root cause. We were so desperate that we would have tried almost anything!

The impact of “something in this combination or the entire combination”, whether it be the honey, yogurt, non-poultry grain-free food and-or the vitamin, did have a very dramatic effect on our dogs. The sores that were so bad that they used to BLEED went away completely and their coats started “regenerating” for lack of a better word. The hair got thicker and a LOT softer. Prior to that, the ONLY progress we ever saw was when they were on antibiotics and steroids. When those medications were done, the problem always came back. Not anymore.

I’ve scoured the internet for information about giving honey & bee pollen to dogs since then and everything I’ve found has been very positive.

To your question – Yes, we will absolutely keep giving the honey because of the “micro-climate” area we live in (So Cal wine country, 25 miles inland of the coast and just at the edge of the desert – lot’s of variety in that). On top of that, a drought or a wet season can cause certain plant species to flourish while others don’t do as well. The local beekeepers must have a Co-Op of some sort because all of the raw, local wildflower honey in our stores is all packaged the same but some weeks it is darker, lighter, thicker or thinner. I suppose that depends on where that batch came from. My wife gets the honey at the smaller, natural stores and not the big name chains. Farmer’s market’s also have the local honey around here – and again, all packaged the same.

Lastly, the more I read the more that I keyed on the allergens getting into the feet. We walk our dogs 2x a day no matter what. Often, we’re out in nature on grass, in the weeds, in the dirt, in shrubs, bushes, whatever. Our vet taught me how to scrub their feet using 1 gallon Ziploc bags and I do that a few times a weeks (the theory here being that dogs walk and “spin” in all of that flora which puts everything deep in those pads…then, they lick them and lick their fur, etc.). Take two Ziplocs, fill each one about 1/4th of the way up w/ warm water. Squirt some shampoo in one of the bags for the “wash” cycle and leave the other one as-is for the rinse. Stick your dog’s foot in the wash bag and from the outside of the bag, use your fingers to work the shampoo in between the toes and up inside the pads. Rinse the same way and dry with a towel. My “dog kids” are used to it now and they actually LIKE it, I think!

I’m not a vet and I’m no expert at any of this. All I can attest to is that this worked for us. Like anyone else going through a canine allergy problem, I was ready to be fitted for a straight-jacket!

If ANYONE has any other questions or observations, I’d love to hear them or help if I can.

One other note, our dogs also used to be on Soloxine for a thyroid condition and we’ve been able to get off of that, too.

Best to you,

Jeff

[Shasta220]

Jeff, I’ve never heard using honey could work, but that does make sense, as honey truly is a wonder food! Do you give your dogs the honey/yogurt even when their skin is fine, or only when you know allergies are coming?

We have two beehives (funny story, really…we got the hive, then a friend gave us one of his swarms. That swarm left within a few weeks, but some wild honeybees moved in and STUFFED it w honey in just a couple months! We won’t harvest it until summer though, of course. Have to make sure they’re settled in), so I’d imagine giving her a piece of the honeycomb daily would work, doesn’t get much more organic and raw than that!
Now I’m craving a spoonful of honey…:P

[Badboris27]

Hi – While looking through dog food reviews at this wonderful site, I looked at the Forums section and stumbled across your email. I felt that I had to reply. For the past 2+ years, my wife and I have been dealing with dramatic skin issues with our 8+ year old Huskies. We’ve had severe loss of fur from round skin sores that become very aggravated and sometimes bloody. Yellow flaky material was found around the edges of the sores. Both of our dogs would lick these sores and make them even worse.

We tried EVERYTHING including sprays, Neosporin, special shampoos, bathing the dogs every week or two, changing foods, you name it.

Everything we read and everything we learned indicated that this entire issue was allergy-based. We had (and still have) no idea if it was airborne allergens or food allergies.

At this time, our oldest Husky, who’s condition was the worst, is completely free of ANY sort of skin issues and his coat has completely replenished itself. Our slightly younger female is making excellent progress on the same program. Here’s how things got better for our dogs, in a hurry:

A life long friend in Texas was fostering a dog in their home and it had significant skin issues, sores and hair loss. They called the shelter for whom they were fostering the dog and here’s the advice they were given:

1. “Allergy” dogs do REALLY well on grain-free food, GOOD quality dog food and especially one that is of a fish & sweet potato variety. “Alternate” protein sources like venison or bison are good, too. Stay away from chicken / poultry based food.
2. Give the dog a tablespoon of raw, LOCAL honey every morning and every evening. this helps their immune system adapt to allergenic pollens that get on their coat and in their feet. It MUST be LOCAL to get the pollens that are in your area.
3. Give the dog a tablespoon of unsweetened, plain yogurt every morning and every evening. The pro-biotics help their digestive system. We use “FAGE Total 0%”.
4. Help the dog’s immune system with a good quality multi-vitamin given per the manufacturers’ directions.
5. Shampoo as follows: Use a Benzoyl Peroxide Shampoo (“Vet Solutions” BPO-3 Shampoo for about $10 on Amazon) and next with a Hexadine shampoo (large bottle of Virbac brand is about $14 on Amazon).
6. Spot treatment is a good idea until the food-honey-yogurt-vitamin formula “kicks in”. We used “Virbac Chlorhexadine Gluconate Flush” from a local horse veterinary store. 12 oz was about $16.

After about 8-10 weeks, we have NO signs of any skin problems. This was such a relief after 2+ years of extreme frustration, anguish and expense.

The Texas shelter advised that extreme conditions could take up to four months as some dogs respond more slowly to the honey pollens.

Hope that this may be of help to you!

Jeff

[GizmoMom]

JASTECH, Thanks. I know I can release his AG manually. I prefer not to do it though. I usually take him to the groomer to get it done when needed.

RescueDaneMom, Thanks. I contacted THK and they said I can double the meat if I wanted to. As long as the meat stay within the recommended ratio (min. 1:1, max. 2:1), the balance will still be there.

Another question I have is the meat I add too lean? The bison I’m using is 10% fat. His coat has been drier than usual. Should I use meat with more fat? Maybe 15% or 20%.

I just started adding coconut oil to his food to see if it helps.

I think Gizmo is allergic to fish oil and salmon oil. When I gave him fish oil, his eyes would turn red and he tries to scratch them. Same with salmon oil.

I haven’t try flax oil. Not sure if he’s allergic.

[GizmoMom]

Just wanted to add that I will be rotating proteins in the future. I am monitoring him to see if this helps with his allergies.

[Shasta220]

He’s a classic Heinz 57 (he has, without a doubt, at least 6 breeds, b/c I knew the dad, mom, AND grandma…all were 2+ mixes)… I’ve never bought a purebred dog, and I doubt I ever will… Too many great rescue pups out there…

I don’t think Diamond naturals is the culprit, honestly… His smell came on fairly gradually, when he was still on Nutra Nuggets lamb n rice (he’s been on it all his life and never had a problem until several months ago). DN is a 4-star dog food, and honestly we can’t afford anything over $1 per lb (3 dogs, chickens, ducks, cats, pony, and cow…food bill is pretty high as is).

I’m starting to think his problem might be combination between possible food allergies (I still just don’t understand why an allergy would gradually start…especially when he was fine just a while ago), and a couple other things.

[Shasta220]

Hm. That’ll be rather tricky to figure out, for sure! I’ll be sure to do my homework now, I guess… LOL! Sighs, if only I had the money/resources/freezer space to do a raw diet for the pooches. At least he’s not a horse allergic to grain…(and I do know of one!)

[theBCnut]

The price of the food doesn’t matter if it is a food intolerance, the particular ingredient does. It is definitely not a case of overwashing, you could even wash weekly. It’s called seborrhea, and is often associated with allergies and other skin irritations. It is an overproduction of body oils. Try comparing ingredient lists of the foods that you know he did well on with those that you know made him stink. My dog reacts to chicken and many grains, those were easy to figure out, but he’s also reactive to tomato, that was a bit harder to figure out. Others have had dogs thay react to chick peas, peas, fish, potatoes, you name it. Some of the ingredients are found in better foods, but rare in the cheap ones, go figure.

[theBCnut]

“Why would a company be listed there that has continuous issues with recalls and salmonella contamination (such as Innova, Merrick, etc…to name a couple). I am just bringing up a valid argument.”

Since this statement is utterly false, how can this be a valid argument? Neither Innova or Merrick has had continuous issues with recalls of any kind. If you go up to the red bar at the top, you will find the library. There is an article titled “How We Rate Dog Food.” You should read it. And you should also keep in mind that there is no method by which a future recall can be predicted. Past recalls are not a reliable indicator. Many companies have had a single recall and never had another.

As far as renal failure goes, do a little more research. Excess protein does not cause renal failure.

As for the rise in allergies, I have seen allergies increasing over a much longer period of time than that. Whether it’s from poor breeding practices, environmental pollutants affecting the immune system(my personal favorite theory), or sourcing of dog food ingredients, I don’t think anyone really knows yet.

As far as dog food companies go, they are businesses. They are in it to make money. There are a few that seem to actually want to do their best for dogs, but most are definitely only in it for the money, nothing else.

Statistically speaking, 20% of all dog foods will get a 1 star rating, 20% will get a 2 star rating, etc. If 20% are going to get a 5 star rating and there are very few truly great foods, it stands to reason that some of the foods on the 5 star list(a great deal of them) will not be top notch. Of course, my standards definitely aren’t yours. In fact I would go so far as to say this is not the site for you, because our feeding philosophy is definitely not yours.

[katana]

Hello,

Just making observation here. I notice that listed under the “best dog foods” tab that many are or have been recalled. Why would a company be listed there that has continuous issues with recalls and salmonella contamination (such as Innova, Merrick, etc…to name a couple). I am just bringing up a valid argument. Why would we invest into these foods if there are continuous mention of food recalls and salmonella contamination but yet they made the “best foods list” on this site. Also, some of these foods have extremely high protein that is over the scientific veterinary research according to VetMD where an adult is a maximum of 30% protein but some of these foods boast a minimum of 36-40% protein thus increasing the nitrogenous waste in the kidneys post catabolism of the excess amino acids. I have seen more dogs having renal failure that have been fed say Wilderness and Merrick as pets today do not forage for their food and burn the proteins they once use to over 90 years ago before modern dog food.

However, on a side note I am not happy with one single pet food company. They either take quality control too lightly and are always on the recall list; don’t fall within veterinary research nutrition guidelines as far as min-max nutrients per day (percent protein, fat, calcium, etc…); or they don’t specify exactly where their ingredients come from. Some will boast “organic” and as a scientist I laugh at this because many of the organic farming sectors it is legal and within regulation to use pesticides such as methane which is actually worse than say ethene in “inorganic” farming. Sometimes I actually wonder what this world’s logic has come to. Many know that dog formulas have changed in almost every company this past year. A correlation to this (not necessarily a causation) from speaking to many pet owners I have seen an increase in so called “allergies” rather it be environmental or food based. Without getting too detailed into immunology and immune responses with different allergens the point here is that: have any of you noticed an increase in pets itching and having reactions to food since all these companies changed formulas? Science backs that it is more due to environmental issues but as mass media is abundant and communication is easily obtained I have found many pet owners having issues across the USA and they all feed different foods but yet the environmental allergens are variable within regions. Could this be due to a common “farm” where say potatoes, rice, vegetables, or meat sources are mass produced and sent to companies individually? Many boast “made in USA” but which specific farm, etc? Any information out there on this?

Many of my friends have tried varied foods, etc…all the common treatments and running bacterial tests on tryptic soy agar plates and running antibiotic resistant tests all prove negative for bacterial issues where the common diagnosis when vets (without PhD and backed research) don’t know what it is-is “oh it is bacterial or fungal.” Tests on sabouraud dextrose agar plates post autoclave was negative as well for fungal concerns so the common diagnosis we see is invalid. I find it odd that there is such an increase nationwide in pet allergies when 2 years ago it was far less common and timing just so has it after all these companies change their formulas. The growth has been exponential I noticed from research. So this is why I might ask…is there a common farm these food companies get their products from that may be causing this?

Again, just observation and thought it would make an interesting thread here.