[LD L]

Newbie here, just joined this site. I’m currently researching some possible options to replace my Diamond Performance food. I searched (clicked) around on this site but didn’t really find anything that could quickly get me any ideas? with out clicking through a lot of links? For the moderators – I would like to suggest breaking down the Editors Choices even more if possible i.e. HiPro, Overweight, Adult, Allergies, Puppies, categories, etc… I’m not trying to be critical, just some thoughts.

Thanks, LD

[Akari_32]

Aimee, since you’re here, what’s your take on Fresh + Oasis?

http://www.completenaturalnutrition.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=73

It’s one of the more affordable mixes I’ve been eyeing up. I’m unsure about using something that’s almost completely synthetic, almost as much as I am about keeping Bentley on just SSLL, and I’m also unsure about the use of yeast in the mix because Bentley already has his own yeasty problems, and he doesn’t need any help from his diet lol Dang dog and his allergies lol

[Jeannie B]

Dinovite has helped my black lab with his skin allergies. My boys skin cleared up within 2 weeks and no more itchy skin or bumps. Check it out on line, we are so happy we did.

[Kris J]

Same problem here. We fed our dog Wellness small breed for puppy and then adult – and he has unknown allergies that are driving him nuts. We did environmental blood testing and saw high reactivity to mites and mold, and he’s on allergy drops now.

I’m feeding him nothing but sweet potatoes and white beans for eight weeks to see if that affects his itching; I just don’t know if it’s food or strictly environmental.

My confusion with the elim diets is — what if he’s allergic to something in that? Like sweet potatoes? So frustrated.

[Dori]

Hi Cheryl. I will definitely report back once I’ve received and tried the KBPF. How long have your dogs been on grain free and now on freeze dried raw foods. All three of my dogs suffered from wax, yucky ears. Never smelled or anything like that but they were yeasty brownish and gunky. Sometimes they would shake their heads but mostly they were always scratching their ears. None of them had ear infections because I had them all checked out. I had to clean all of their ears every day to try to keep up with it. Once I removed all grains, soy, corn, rice and all poultry (fowl) from their diets their ears cleared up within a matter of weeks on their own. Now that they are on raw foods none of those issues have ever returned. Another thing I did was switch shampoos. I had always been told that if you had a talk with allergies you should use an oat meal shampoo. Well, that is really very wrong. Oatmeal may be soothing to humans but if you are allergic to grains, oatmeal being one of them, you cannot bath your dogs with oatmeal shampoos. I didn’t know any better at the time. Poor Katie. I was constantly bathing her with oatmeal based shampoos because of all of her allergies. Along with her food intolerances and sensitivities she also has environmental allergies. I couldn’t figure out why nothing was working until a light bulb went on over my head and I thought….DUH????? So I switched and she’s all good. It’s been a while since I had to use any particular ear cleaner now I just make sure to put cotton balls in their ears for bathing and then dry them out after bathing. The one ear cleaner called Clean Ear by 21st Century for Pet Health cleans & dissolves was build up. That one worked pretty well actually. You just squirt a little in their ears, massage it in, then they’ll shake their heads and then I would dry out their ears. You have to do it on a regular basis until their new diets kick in and it stops happening. I haven’t had to use it in years but I’m sure it must still be around. There are other over the counter products like that also of course that would work the same way.

[Dori]

Hi Cheryl. I’ve been in Atlanta for 13 years now and still consider NYC home. I sometimes feel like I went on vacation and couldn’t find my way back home. lol We left the North East because we were so sick and tired of the cold weather. Well, I just took a look at the thermometer on my patio while I was out with my three girls and it is 17 degrees. I don’t know kind of global warming this is suppose to be but it’s had the opposite effect in Atlanta.

On cooking the veggies. If I’ve cooked veggies for our dinner then I’ll give them some cooked. Fruits I give raw. Most of the time I give the girls the fruits and veggies raw because I don’t give them for their nutritional value I give them to the girls as treats. I don’t feed any commercial treats whatsoever. Too many recalls with too many treats. I don’t give bones as I said, I certainly would never give them raw hide stuff, most commercial treats include some sort of grain or gluten and I feed grain free. So I give fruits and veggies and don’t have any concern whether they come out the same way that they went in. They’re happy chomping on what they think are treats and I feel it’s better than taking a chance on store bought treats. As to fruits and veggies, it’s also what happens to be in the fridge or on the counter. They love little bits of bananas so if I’m eating a banana I share it with them. Mostly me, little for them.

As to THK and more pooping, my three dogs did initially poop more often at the beginning and then eventually it tapered off and now they only go twice a day regardless of what they’ve been fed. Initially on THK their poops were pretty big too compared to their raw foods but then that went back to normal size also. My girls love THK and also lick their bowls clean to the point that they shine. Glad your girls like it too. It always makes me happy to feed them foods that not only do they love, but do so well on.

Kristin C. I tried Steve’s Real Food for Dogs once and I didn’t care for it. I didn’t like the consistency. I also didn’t care much for what was coming out of them either and they very rarely if ever have loose stools so that was another issue. It’s been a long time since I fed it and eventually gave the rest of the food away. I used to be big on trying different brands and seeing how the girls did. I now have a pretty big variety that they eat with no issues at all but as we went through the trial and error period my local shelter adored me. I was over there all the time dropping food off. One of my girls has a lot of food sensitivities, intolerances and a couple of out and out allergies so the process took me quite a while. That’s actually what led me to feed commercial raw. As long as I always remember to check all ingredients (companies do from time to time decide to make some formula change), Katie no longer has any food issues.

[adam s]

We just acquired two large breed puppies (golden retriever mix) for our five kids. FANTASTIC. However, my two sons have severe food allergies. No, they are not eating the dog food, but the allergies are also contact allergies. So, in order to keep the puppies, our dogs have to submit to the same food allergy awareness list as my sons. The big issues are gluten, egg, & nuts. I can easily find adult dry food without those three ingredients but puppy food like this is not so easy to find.

We’ve been using California Natural: Herring and Sweet Potato, which I thought would work since it is egg free and wheat free. But it is not gluten free because of the Barley in it….My son had an allergic reaction to the dog because the dog licked his face. This now precludes my boys from caring for the dogs (feeding and grooming and playing) because of the possible reaction.

Please, any advise would be appreciated. I need large breed dry puppy food without egg, wheat, barley, rye (gluten containing grains). I can easily find the gluten free, but almost ALL puppy food has the egg for the needed fats. AND, GO!

[debra r]

I have a 4 year old Miniature poodle who has never had any issues with allegries. But the past 6-8 months hes had outs of skin rashes and now he constantly naws at his groin area to the point of making it raw. At first i thought it was seasonal outdoor allergies, but now it’s winter and he is still so itchy and rashy. The vet gave me a steroid which does help, but i only give it to him when he gets really bad because i don’t like giving him steroids. I want to figure out the root cause. I have been adding omega 3 capsules to his food and Use Canine Life home made muffins (i make them with the mix and my own ingredients) which is his wet food once a day. I have had him on Wellness Complete Health for years and never had any issues with it, but i think this may be the cause. I want to change his dry food but am having a hard time deciding which brand to change it to. The vet is pushing the Ultra Low Allergen Hills Z/D prescription diet, but i feel its lacking nutrients and is super expensive. Any ideas or brands someone could recommend. I just want my pup to stop itching and want to give him a nutrient dense diet… Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[Kris J]

Please help. I’m so frustrated and confused and I just want to help my sweet boy.

Eli is a 2-year-old shih tzu, and his allergy testing showed high reactivity to food storage mites, fusarium mold, bayberry and one or two other environmental things. We’ve done what we can about those, and he’s on prescription allergy drops formulated from his test results (Heska).

All along, though, my vet has been certain he has a food allergy. We fed him Dick an Patten’s LID dry, then, when the scratching didn’t subside, a diet of sweet potatoes and white beans, both at the vet’s direction, with no relief, but she had us do that BEFORE the allergen blood testing. She says that there’s no point in testing for food allergies, as there is no accurate test (though others have sworn by VARL Liquid Gold serum testing).

He’s been on the drops a month now, and I think he’s scratching less.

But now — what do I feed him? I don’t KNOW if he has a food allergy. Can anybody guide me through this fog?

Many many thanks,

Kris

• This topic was modified 10 years, 11 months ago by Kris J.

[Kristin C]

I think you should stick with one protein per meal if your dog has allergies. Omit one ingredient at a time if you can. I make most of my own food so I guess that’s easy. Raw eggs make my dogs’ eyes run, sweet potato makes them itchy.

[DogFoodie]

Hi Ezra,

Glad you posted over here. I was just trying to reply to you on the review side, but was having trouble.

A couple of things…, it’s odd to me that the fish oil supplement your vet recommended used peppermint as a carrier. I can certainly sympathize with your fish woes. You mentioned that your pup also has environmental allergies, but that the fish oil might have made it much worse. While you have things pretty well controlled, I think would I’d try adding fish oil to his food and see what happens. If he reacts, stop and you’ll have your answer about the fish oil. I’ve been using Ovega-3 and Springtime Naturals Skin and Coat Oil. Both are vegeterian and I’d recommend both.

The change in bowel movements could be the result of the increase in peas. Is he gassy at all? I believe, the other varieties of NVI LID, have a bit less pea protein. I really would encourage you to try one of those. I would also recommend adding a digestive enzyme to his food – I had great luck with Swanson’s BioCore, which works great at digesting carbs. Canine Caviar Lamb and Pearl Millet is fish free as is Canidae Pure Sky, which is a duck based food. Canidae is also a Diamond product if that concerns you. Addiction Viva La Venison is also fish free and uses potato as a binder. As we talked about on the other side, Acana Duck and Bartlett Pear (not Singles) and Lamb and Apple (not Singles) would both be good fish free choices, also.

I know you said you feed other proteins for treats, but I really think it’s important to rotate proteins in kibble, too. Even though NVI LID Duck is far and away my dogs best food, I’m constantly looking for others to rotate it with. I rotate brands with varying proteins and binders. I’d encourage you to rotate varieties of ZiwiPeak that you use also.

I think you also said that transitioning him from one food to another food takes a long time. That’s OK, he’ll adjust, the important thing is to keep rotating. If he’s not used to switching, he doesn’t have optional gut health; keep rotating and he’ll improve.

[Jon h]

Hi everyone,

So I’ve lurked here for a while now collecting information regarding nutrition and have come across an interesting topic. I became interested in natural allergy remedies as it seems our Australian cattle dog has some itchy skin problems the vet believes is related to allergies from the environment.

Now before we get on to the topic of honey I would prefer that this be a FACT based discussion not a personal opinion, anecdotal evidence type discussion. Unfortunately as humans we are able to make extremely irrational and unfounded correlations especially when we don’t understand something or want something to be true (ie we desperately want a natural remedy to be as effective or more effective than a pharmaceutical remedy). This has no place in the canine nutritional world (or human) as toying with an animals nutrition based on weak non-scientific beliefs is in my opinion horribly ignorant and in some cases an unethical thing to do. So please keep responses scientific in nature and cite articles if you can (petmd, blog posts and natural canine health daily articles type sources with no references don’t count as scientific!)

The theory behind the honey supplementation seems to be this: Local honey supposedly contains local allergens and supplementing with it acts similar to a vaccine by exposing the animal to low levels of an allergen and helping to develop an immune response to the allergen.

Now this sounds all fine and dandy in theory and certainty a naive layman will take this as face value and argue this as being fact (i’m am trying to be an informed layman!). But does this actually have any scientific value? That is what I want to find out.

I have read several claims that in fact there is no scientific basis for this. The argument is that bees do not extract pollen from the common plant sources of airborne pollen which cause the allergic reactions in our dogs. They of course get pollen from flowers and a few other sources, they do not collect pollen from say pine trees or most grasses. Any contamination during transport or in the nest from the common local allergens is said to be negligible and will not help build an immunity.
example of a study on humans:
http://www.annallergy.org/article/S1081-1206%2810%2961996-5/abstract

There is also a Finnish study on humans which took 3 groups, one group as a control, one supplemented with regular honey and one supplemented with a honey that had birch pollen added to it. The Ones taking the honey with birch pollen saw improvements and had to use less antihistamines to control their symptoms while the ones supplementing with regular honey saw no difference.
abstract:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21196761

Now my problem is that I see honey toted continuously on natural canine remedy sites. However I do not see a signal study either in humans or canines showing any truth to the theory. Any evidence is extremely weak correlation evidence with no control or consideration for other variables. All actual scientific studies of this theory i’ve personally come across show that their so no truth to this theory. So is this just a myth?

The second problem I see that REALLY concerns me is there are huge ranges of supplementation dosages. Some references say to feed your dog 1/4 teaspoon per week while other such as the lady in the non-scholarly article below say two tablespoons per day for larger dogs (in her case her lab and staffordshire terrier). Now that is extremely worrisome to me as there are 17 grams of sugar per table spoon of honey. if I am to assume her dogs weigh approximately 80 pounds (upper end of pure lab retrievers and beyond the upper limit of staffordshire terriers) then I estimate their daily requirement of calories (using online calculator) to be 1630. If there are 64 calories per tablespoon of honey (google) this would mean they are getting 7.9% of their daily intake of calories straight from simple sugars. Comparing this to my daily intake of ~2300 cals (because from my understanding canines metabolize simple sugars similar to the way humans do) this computes (if i’ve done my math right) to 48 grams of straight simple sugars a day for me. This is over my targets for the day even making the assumption that my other foods have zero sugars in them…. Now assuming that the dog is already getting sugars from their regular food source you are probably doubling their recommended sugar intake per day. This doesn’t seem right to me at all as a human consistently doubling their recommended sugar intake daily would be a good candidate for type 2 diabetes. So why are people recommending this to do to our dogs?

Michele Crouse interviewed about honey supplementation (under “honey for dogs” section)
http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/10_9/features/Bee-Honey-Products-Help-Canines_15967-1.html

I’m hoping this sparks some interesting conversation. As you can probably tell I am somewhat against this theory. Mostly because I have yet to see a shred of scientific evidence for it and I don’t personally like adding or subtracting things from my dogs diet based on personal opinions and weak, unfounded theories. I’d be interested to see if there is actually research supporting this idea.

Is there any truth to this theory? or are people just pumping their dogs full of sugar and added calories?

[theBCnut]

Kelp and kale are not at all the same thing.

Take your list of foods you are avoiding and sit down at the computer when you have a few hours and bring up Chewy.com. Go to dog foods. Tell it to give you grain free and no chicken. Then order the foods from most expensive to least, and start going through them one by one to look at their ingredients. It took me about 4 hours, but I ended up with a short list of foods to try on my allergy dog. Good luck, I know what a bear it is to find a food when your dog has multiple food allergies.

[DogFoodie]

Hi Barbara,

Yes, I would suggest that you go back to square one and complete a proper elimination diet. Did you conduct your elimination diet using veterinary guidance? Here’s an article that will give you an idea of what your elimination diet should look like: http://communityvet.net/2010/03/diy-elimination-diet-for-the-dog-an-cat/

Elimination diets take a long time, many months, in fact; and require strict discipline. If your diet wasn’t conducted like the one in the article, it’s time to reconsider starting fresh.

You’ve mentioned some other items that your dog cannot have that you didn’t originally mention. Were those ingredients that you unearthed or did they show up on your dog’s allergy test?

Once you’ve identified his allergies, you can safely begin looking for foods. A raw diet, either homemade or commercial is great, but not if it contains any of his allergens. You could consider looking at Rayne customized diets, if you’re unable to find a commercial diet that meets your requirements or are not comfortable making home-prepared meals that contain none of his allergens, and are most importantly, properly balanced.

[Dori]

Barbara P. Thought I’d jump in and say that one of my dogs has many many food sensitivities. In my opinion, (and it’s the path I took three years ago) dogs with multiple allergies do best on either a home made food, home made raw, or commercial raw dog food formulas. I feed commercial raw dog food formulas (complete and balanced). Unfortunately, it’s the most expensive way to go. I also feed some freeze dried and The Honest Kitchen dehydrated food. I’m not inclined to spend time making dog food at home. I barely cook for my husband and myself. I also don’t want to worry about whether I got everything complete and balanced. My three dogs are small so the cost of feeding them in this manner is not outrageous. Before I started feeding raw, Katie would scratch 24/7, horrible breath, gas to clear out a house, not just a room, yeasty smelly ears, shedding all the time (she’s a Maltipoo…they are not suppose to shed), really coarse hair, goopy gunky eyes, runny loose stools and diarrhea, I could go on and on and on. I am happy to say that all those issues are a thing of the past. She doesn’t have a single one of those issues anymore. She’s a real happy camper now as am I and her two little sisters as they all eat the same foods. I believe in rotating proteins within brands and also rotating brands. Let me also add that the only time she needs to go to the vet now is her yearly physical. Before the change to commercial raw dog foods she was always at the vet, allergist and dermatologists trying to figure out what was going on with her and they always had her on different prescription anti-histamines and wanted to put her on steroids (I didn’t allow that). Those costs were way more than it costs me to feed all three of my dogs commercial raw dog food. I am also happy to report that Katie does not need any anti-histamines anymore. None!

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

[Susan]

Hi Karen you’ll have to just try it & see, I know when the vet wanted Patch on Hills Z/d the vet nurse told me that a lot of dogs get diarrhoea when they first start this vet diet, so I never tried it, but all dogs are different, just introduce very slowly, it says 7 days to change over, I’d do it slower over 14 days… if it helps & relieves ur dog from skin problems it’s worth a try, you can also feed the Z/d wet as well once you have introduced the kibble…
Royal Canine has their Hypoallergenic kibble if the Hills Z/d doesn’t work they are both money back if you do have a problem…
I have my boy on the vet diet Eukanuba Intestinal this kibble worked the best for him, he has food & environment Skin Allergies & IBD, it’s was very hard to find a food to fix both health problems & yes the Eukanuba Intestinal has corn grites in the ingredients, the corn doesn’t seem to bother his skin problem like the potatoes, sweet potatoes, barley, wheat, oats, rye, peas did….

[karren w]

Dos hill zd work for dogs with food allergies from wheat potatoes sweet potatoes rice and chicken? Has this worked for you ? Or has it made more problem s with all the carbs in it ?as I would love to know so would see weather worth trying or not ?

[Bobby dog]

Hi jane t:
I don’t know if you read the first page of this forum where this is mentioned, but you may find the Dog Food Wizard tool helpful. Here’s the forum thread discussing it and there is a link in the first post from Rachel M to the Wizard. Good luck!!

/forums/topic/so-i-made-a-tool-for-dogs-with-allergies/

[Akari_32]

Oh boy, this’ll be fun lol

Haley and Dweezle: Natural Balance Ultra Small Breed. Only got it because it was $1 a pound after coupons– I’m not very happy with, so after the two bags I have are gone, I’ll not buy it again. However, they like it. But they like anything, regardless of how eatable it is lol They also each get a salmon oil pill in their food. Next will be Wellness Toy Breed Complete Health Senior and Wellness Toy Breed Complete Health Adult, mixed 2:1. These dogs are 60 and 130 lbs, btw LOL after that will probably be Ideal Balance puppy, then Wellness Core Puppy and Small Breed mixed, then who knows. I have a good sized stash to chose from. I try to keep it interesting.

Bentley: SSLL mix, with coconut oil (won’t eat the mix plain, the little brat!) and a nice de-boned raw turkey leg. He gets a random pick of turkey or chicken (bought whole and cut up and separated into white meat, dark meat, and bone-in meat), ground pork, or beef or chicken hearts every day.

Ginger: half Wellness Small Breed Simple Salmon and Potato, and half Wellness Toy Breed Complete Health Healthy Weight. She’ll be moving to Purina Veterinary Diet Joint Mobility when I have the money in my account to order it, her Wellness Simple was running out, so I’ll put it off a bit longer, so she’s not switching arounf too much. Her stomach just can’t handle it. Nothing Purina is my first choice except for a very select few of the canned cat foods due to cost, but I’m at my wits end at what I can do to help her poor old joints, and not break the bank (not that there’s much of a bank to break at this point…). I can get it less than what the same size bag of Wellness is, so it’s worth a shot. Her treats today was a half of an Amoxicillin pill in the morning and tonight. She eats it like it’s the most delicious thing she’s ever tasted, so I just let her think that LOL

Usually they all get some form of Zukes or Pet Botanics treats, but no one got any of those today, except the cat, who did high-fives, shakes, and up’s for his G-Zees treats :p He also got 3oz Wild Kitty raw cat food mix (made with chicken) for breakfast, and a 5.5 oz can of Friskies Ocean Whitefish as a very special treat. I don’t do fish or any other Friskies other than two flavors of Special Diet for him very often, but I’ll grab something fish based every now and then for something that isn’t turkey, chicken or beef. Gotta have something different when your crazy mommy limits you to very specific flavors from very specific brands lol I’ve also been giving Bentley a few pieces of Natures Variety Instinct Raw as a treat a few times a day. He loves to eat the little pieces still frozen. I think he likes the texture, and the fact that it’s red meat, something I can’t afford for his rotation very often. Innova Prime Red Meat used to be his favorite kibble before we realized he had carb allergies and before Innova got bought out.

Just a side note on the Wellness Toy Breed Complete Health forumlas: I’m extremely happy with all of them. Typically, even in the rest of the Wellness line, senior and diet foods are just complete crap, but these are comparable to other puppy and adult grain inclusive foods. They have good protein (close to 30%), and low fat (which is what my three old farts need), and are still high calorie (high 400’s!). Would definitely recommend either of these to anyone with a dog that needs a low fat diet, or to any owner who likes to feed lower fat diet food, small or large breed. It’s pretty decently priced, too, especially if you have coupons 😉

[InkedMarie]

Both of Darwins duck have sweet potatoes; the others all have yams. Anyone know if sweet potatoes & yams are the same thing in relation to dog allergies?

[Andy B]

We just received His Blood work back and hes Extremely allergic to sweet potato’s & peas. Also has to be grain-Free and rosemary free. Anyone have any ideas for me for a Dry Kibble? I was thinking about using a half raw diet from Darwin’s raw diet and a kibble mix. It is extremely hard to find a kibble with not having these ingredients.

[stephanie b]

My problem is so many foods have peas and pea protein in them, one of my Boston’s major allergies.

[Barbara P]

Thank you so much crazy4cats and DogFoodie,
I truly appreciate your recommendations. Colby’s allergies include beef, salmon, poultry mix, eggs, soy, lamb, kelp, and green peas. After looking up the foods, I noticed that peas is the third ingredient in the Nature’s Variety Instinct LID and there is salmon oil in the Natural Balance. The Natural Balance carries the same 2+ star value as the Natural 26 that I am feeding him now but it does not have all the corn (GMO?) that Natural 26 has.
I just got his ears and his scratching under control but I’m nervous that it is making him old before his time. I’m still perplexed.
Thank you for your input.
Barb

[InkedMarie]

Don’t feed the duck; they both have sweet potatoes. Every other one has yams; does anyone know if they’re the same as sweet potatoes in regards to dog allergies?

For grainfree kibbles,I like Dr Tims, Annamaet, Farmina and Brothers. You’ll have to look and see what formulas might work.

[stephanie b]

We just found out our Boston has some severe allergies to specific foods (sweet potatos, green peas, barley) we were looking to start on Darwins raw diet but also wanted a good quality kibble (pref grain free). Any suggestions?

[crazy4cats]

Hi Barbara-
I’m not sure of what the allergies are, but have you looked in to Nature’s Variety or Natural Balance’s Limited Ingredient foods?

[Barbara P]

My 4 year old golden, Colby, has been allergy tested and has several food allergies. The two dry foods recommended were Blue Seal Natural 26 or Perscription Diet d/d potato and duck. I’ve been feeding him the BS Natural 26 since June but his face is turning white since starting this. Can anyone tell me if the Perscription Diet would be a better choice? There’s not a lot of info on limited ingredients dry dog foods. He is only 4 years old and he’s beginning to look like he’s 7. I’m open for suggestions.
[email protected]
<Golden allergy foods>

[nilockhart]

Susan, I would love to have the recipe for the Oatmeal Apple cookies you feed/fed Patch. We have an 11 1/2 year old English Bulldog (Memphis) with IBS for about the last year and kidney failure (diagnosed from an ultra sound and monthly blood work which has been holding pretty steady for awhile). He has also suffered with horrible skin allergies for about the last 8 years, and we’ve had several allergy tests done on him which aren’t worth the money you pay. Memphis has tried Royal Canin potato/venison for about a year, then Purina E/N (both at the suggestion of our vet) for quite some time, with Purina Gentle Snackers for treats. He did great for a while, but then he started with constant diarrhea and vomiting, and for the last 6-8 months “gagging” like he’s choking on spit, and even vomiting large amounts of thick spit, so our vet suggested 10 mg Pepcid every morning. I’ve been cooking a mixture of rice, boneless, skinless chicken breast and little mixed veggies for him for quite some time (again, at the suggestion of our vet), but he’s still having serious problems, with terrible bouts of diarrhea off and on (mainly on). We recently weened him to ground turkey breast (99% fat free) instead of the chicken because our groomer thought it could be the chicken, still no improvement. Memphis is still not doing well. He takes Metronidazole off and on when he has blood in his feces, but that has to be the worst medicine ever invented. He is lethargic and barely eats the entire 10 days he’s on it. Then, he’s only good for another 2 or so weeks again before we have another horrible bout of diarrhea. He also takes 5-7 units of Pro-Pectalin (probiotic) 2x a day when he’s sick, which does wonders for him, but we’re supposed to stop when his diarrhea stops (usually 2 days). I’m strongly considering (a) a new vet, (b) leaving him on about 5 cc’s of probiotics every day, (c) switching his food to Canine Caviar or Victor’s Ultra Pro, and (d) wondering whether he has an allergy to rice or corn. We realize he’s on the older end for an English Bulldog, but if it wasn’t for the stupid diarrhea, he is fairly healthy, even for only having one functioning kidney! We just want the diarrhea to stop; our poor little guy has to be miserable!!! Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Sadie’s Mom]

@ Nut – I guess I could do that. She always ends up on steroids in the winters because her back flares up. My parents probably couldn’t afford them year round. My dad got a new job a took a significant pay cut, so nice things are somewhat unattainable. Would the regular glucosamine chondritin supplements work? And if so what strength?

@ Dog Obsessed – All four were actually on Victor Grain Free Yukon River formula, but it ended up being too expensive. My parents went back to Beneful, but I’ve just about talked them into buying Evolve from the local HEB. It’s a 4 star food with no corn, wheat, or soy, which seem to trigger one of the dogs allergies. The dogs won’t eat Merrick for some reason. I haven’t looked at the Pure Balance though. Thanks for the suggestion!

[theBCnut]

Ear infections are strongly correlated with food allergies, so that’s really good that your vet is jumping on this. Most vets just keep treating the ears and never look any further until there are serious problems. Good luck working this out.

[christine p]

My dogs are itching. What are the best grain free dog foods for allergies?

[theBCnut]

Not DF but, food allergy test for dogs are known to be inaccurate, giving both false negatives and false positives. This is because the tests only test for one type of immune response and dogs actually have several different immune responses to allergens, and they can have the one type that is tested for for more than one reason. If you go to the websites of the various companies that put out all these tests, they all post the disclaimer that their tests are not accurate and the standard for diagnosing food allergies is a properly run elimination diet. If the companies that make the tests suggest you do a food trial instead of using their test, I would listen to that bit of advice.

[theBCnut]

The article today is about food fraud in dog and cat food. I don’t know how we people with dogs with allergies survive getting our dogs fed.

[LindaW]

Would love to see info published/discussed about the above topic title. I’ve been informed about how most dog food companies use synthetics that are *usually* from China or India. There are only a handful that have whole food vitamins. For instance, sodium selenite used for selenium, is derived from drain cleaner and lye. There was a great article in Dogs Naturally magazine that blew my mind. Never knew about the premixes before. Quite a lot of food allergies, the article stated, are actually not from any one food but from the chemicals used in the vitamin/mineral premixes. Good to know.

[Susan]

Hello Tabitha, Patch was dignosed with Lymphocytic Gastritis, Helicobacter infection & also suffers from skin allergies from food & environment, When I googled Lymphocytic Gastritis the helicobacter infection & Celiac disease comes up, you can only find L/G for humans & its suppose to be rare, I’m putting Patch on a Gluten free & grainfree diet, I found a vet diet Royal Canin “Sensitivity Control” its just Tapioca & Duck, & is only 9% fat he also can’t have too much fat… Ive also been researching “Lectins” as Lectins can cause heaps of health problems especially the GI tract…With the Tapioca would Tapioca be high in Lectins It says that Tapioca is Gluten free,
I always thought Patch was allergic to Starch cause he’d get real bad diarrhea & break out with a rash all over chest & stomach area & itch after eating potatos, sweet potatoes made his ears itch, peas, rye, barley gave him bad wind & sloppy poos but now Ive read that Potatoes, peas, rye, barley are high in Lectins, so he probably wasnt allergic to starch, its the lectins, do you know much about Lectins…. I’m trying to find foods that are lectin free & alot of foods have lectins in them…How do I find out if Tapioca is high with Lectins….
I just read the link that u put up for Naturella, Its sounds like ur girl Keva has acid refux, my boy was doing the same thing 12am-3am he had a Endoscope + biopies done 3 weeks ago, that’s when vet found the Helicobacter infection & has been put on antibiotics & Zantac for 3weeks, maybe try Keva on a lower fat diet & a small feed around 9pm so the acid doesnt come into her throat early hours of the morning, thats what Ive been doing also the Zantac has helped… by the way I love ur Fat Protein & Carb converter..

[T]

Skin issues can be so frustrating! If he’s chewing the skin, it’s most likely itchy. Causes for itchy skin can include: inahalant or food allergy, food sensitivity, gastrointestinal imbalance, external parasites, or less commonly autoimmune disease, liver disease, etc.

Skin problems are one of the most common presenting complaints in the patients I see. I’ve had some good success with concentrating on optimizing gi function, feeding whole foods, using acupuncture and herbs. Avoid strong meds unless it is a real emergency. Steroids and antibiotics may suppress symptoms for a while, but the problem is still there! Symptoms are the body’s way of telling us there is a problem and we want to address the problem, not just suppress the symptom.

Hope that makes sense… I have some articles on my blog about food, allergies, and skin if you’d like to check it out: http://naturalalternativesvet.com/category/blog

I’m a holistic veterinarian in Bloomington, IN and food/skin issues are one of my obsessions! Best of luck to you.

Tabitha

[Naturella]

Dog_Obsessed, he usually stops chewing on it when oils are on it. And it literally looks like clear, healthy skin – is that what hot spots look like? I don’t know much about them. I just looked them up actually, and they look nothing like Bruno has – in fact they look like something Snowy has, on both her sides of the thighs, red, irritated, almost raw, skin, on the fold between the legs and the torso, and hers clear up very well with coconut oil, but her family is not very consistent with it and they come back.

As for foods, we started transitioning today, so it can’t be from that. Other than that, no change in his normal food routine. Until today he was on Back to Basics Open Range with usual THK and BDN toppers, plus fresh food toppers. Today we began introducing Castor & Pollux Ultramix GF with Duck, Turkey, Lamb, and Salmon meals. But the spot was there before, I saw it yesterday actually.

As far as seasonal or environmental allergies, it may be that, not sure. When he had the scrotum spots, I did see one flea on him, and there may have been more, but so far I haven’t seen any on him around the leg spot… But there MAY be some? The oil treatment helped last time, and I will try it again I guess, and if he gets another itchy spot, I will ask a vet.

[Dog_Obsessed]

It sounds like a hot spot, which can be due to various different things. It can be due to allergies, though if he is not showing other symptoms then that isn’t terribly likely. Have you tried any new foods lately? The most important thing right now is getting him to stop chewing on it, which unfortunately may require him to wear a cone or cone-alternatave. You could try a soft or inflatable cone if he doesn’t try to reck it and it stops him from going at the spot. You could also ask the vet for advice. If this reoccurs or if he shows other signs of being itchy or hair loss, then allergies, either food or seasonal, are likely.

[Alexandria A]

I’m aware that some allergies could be driven tour the environment but being my dogs never had this Issue before I know it is from either the east starvation recipe or the supplements. As far as the box saying that there is customer service that our nutritional veterinarian assistance or whatever they call it it doesn’t really seem that these people have much knowledge on the product or on any type of recipes as I have called I have been getting really limited information. I honestly and going with my instincts here and I feel as though the customer service really doesn’t care about the customers or the dogs health it is a little suspicious that they have customer service from 9 AM to 5 PM that tells me that they must have a lot of people calling with issues from the supplements.

Since both my dogs never had this type of issue before I will never use this product again.

[tecknik]

What some don’t realize is that your dog’s allergies may not be food related. That turned out to be the case for my dog. Here I was trying all different food concoctions, then the useless Dinovite and it turns out my dog has many environmental allergies including Wool, willow, dust mites, mold mites and about 20 other things.
I’ve always had her on a raw diet (Abady) which is helpful and keeps her coat nice and shiny. (less poop as well due to minimal carbs, too) I also add unrefined coconut oil for more nutrients as well as a good dog vitamin.
As for dog treats, I buy $3.99lb london broils or stew beef then grill it medium rare, then cut into bite size pieces. I will buy in bulk and freeze the remaining. It’s a little work but not that much and if you look at the ounces of a bag of good dog treats, you will find that you are paying over $10 a pound! (usually $4 to $5 for a 6oz bag of treats) It’s the best type of treat to give your dog and you know exactly what is in it.
For my dog’s treatment, we first had the allergy testing done. Yes, it is expensive and thank God I have insurance so I get reimbursed. ($500 because dog has to have anesthesia)
Second step was to remove as many of her allergens as possible from the environment. That meant giving up my two brand new wool carpets. :/ Now I clean an extra day a week as well to ensure there is no dust.
Third step was medication to cure her symptoms. She had ear infections, yeast infections and sores from all the scratching. The doctor prescribed a slew of medicines including prednisone which really stopped her scratching. Unfortunately, this can not be used long term because it can be harmful to the liver and other organs.
Fourth step (and this is where we are now) Allergy shots. It started every other day and now we are at once a week. The scratching is down to a minimal and hopefully over time her immune system will work against her allergies and she will be a happy dog for good.

[CockalierMom]

My dog has environmental and pollen allergies, and I have recently discovered any food with tapioca starch causes her to have severe scratching at her ears, eyes, chin and neck, and chewing on her legs. I was beginning to think she was allergic to almost all foods until I realized the common ingredient was the tapioca starch.

[Akari_32]

I recently had the same issue with my older lab mix. It was to the point where I would run my hand down her back and come up with literally a handful of hair. And I could do it over and over and get the same results. Having a collar on just for a walk would also result in a bald ring around her neck. I finally took her to the vet thinking maybe it was a thyroid problem, and it turns out it was only seasonal allergies. Thankfully he didn’t charge me to tell me that! He prescribed prednisone, which I filled just in case but never picked up. She doesn’t do well on it, so I didn’t want to give unless she continued to get worse. I upped her fish oil from one pill a day to two pills a day, and it cleared up on its own in a week or so. I would take your girl to the vet just to be sure its nothing serious, and go from there.

That said, Eukanuba isn’t the greatest of foods, and I can assure you there is much better for the same price, and even less. Its also made by the same company that makes your candy bars (Mars), and before that, a chemical and “etc” company (P&G). I use a lot of Wellness, all varieties, and I couldn’t be happier with it. I’ve also used NutriSource Super Performance and certain Nutro Natural Choice formulas in the past and was happy with both of them. Breeders an interesting lot. They tend to use foods that have a lasting reputation, rather than foods that are actually healthful. Don’t let him force you into feeding a something you’re unsure of.

[zhiba]

Ever since my dog’s allergies became a big factor in his life, we’ve switched to freeze dried and limited ingredient treats (as well as food).

We get treats from Orijen Singles, Stella and Chewy’s Carnivore Crunch, Sojos Simply, Etta Says, Whole Life, PureBites, and Vital Essentials.

Recently I discovered the VE cat food on Chewy. It makes for excellent training treats! They are smaller nibblets than the dog food, with a few additions that I like. Comparison –

Turkey Nibblets (dog)
Ground turkey with bone, turkey heart, turkey liver, herring oil (natural source of vitamin D), mixed tocopherols (natural antioxidant), d-alpha tocopherol (natural vitamin E)

Turkey Nibblets (cat)
Ground turkey with bone; turkey heart; turkey liver; boneless skinless turkey breast; raw organic goat’s milk; raw organic apple cider vinegar; herring oil; mixed tocopherol; d-alpha tocopherol

[Melissaandcrew]

Heliobactor is a bacteria, not a virus-It is the Genus name that contains (I believe) 35 or so strains. The most common is H. Pylori. I have not looked into it in years, so please google and don’t take my word for 100 percent accuracy. I do recall reading back then that there was a potential for it to be contagious-though I do not recall all the details.

I think what you are calling Lymphocyctic Gastritis, is actually Lymphocytic-plasmacytic enteritis(LP), and is the most common form of IBD in dogs. “They” do not know for sure what the cause of this is, but its believed that it is an immune response set off in response to environmental allergies, diet etc.

Google Lymphocytic-Plasmacytic enteritis for lots of info.

[Juliet C]

My border collie has skin issues. The vet was of no help and order £100’s on blood test etc. Apart from keeping him free of fleas obviously I went down the line of possible food allergies. Plus when we bath him we use ordinary dandruff shampoo. After 6 months of constant scratching, rolling and the rest an incredibly itchy dog does. We settled a cheap brand of supermarket dog food out of desperation and their also cheap mixer. It turns out our boy can’t handle all the the fancy additives and supplements that the expensive brands contain. He comes from a long line of farm dogs. That were basically fed on what was available. Table scraps, sheep pellets. Rabbits shot on the farm. So sometimes its ok to go back to the basics. We thought we were doing right by the poor dude by giving him the high life food wise. Instead we were hurting him. I threw out the stuff the farmer gave me thinking it was crap. I learnt a lesson!

[theBCnut]

Responsible people are perfectly capable of preventing unwanted puppies. They don’t neuter over much of the rest of the world. And for every health benefit, there is a health detriment.

Irresponsible people are the problem and neutering by responsible people won’t cure that issue, and the irresponsible people still won’t do the responsible thing and neuter their dogs.

Betsy did the right thing and neutered her dog with an undescended testicle and I did the right thing by neutering my dog with food allergies, but that will not affect the over population problem, because neither dog is running around loose to go breeding puppies anyways.

[Jan T]

Hi,
I’m new here and need some help with all these ratios, etc. I have an 11 week old GSD who started out on Fromm Gold large breed puppy. She had some a bacterial infection in her gut that we had to treat while she was on this. The vet suggested we try Eukanuba large breed puppy, but she doesn’t like it so much. She is always scratching, so think she may have allergies. So question: should I get vitamin supplements, leave her on Eukanuba or go back to Fromm or something else? Whatever we do, it will be gradual. If supplements, any suggestions?

[Dori]

Akari the reason I think she may have an infection is the sudden teeth chattering, acting anxious and distressed and also Ginger suddenly wanting to be very cuddly with you. And let’s not forget the poop incident. Some of those symptoms looking at them separately might be explained away but they’ve have all come on together. A sign that something is going on internally. Before refilling her antibiotic I would take her into the vet or at least call in and speak to vet and let him know what went on. Vet may tell you to just refill that antibiotic or recommend a course of a different one. Most vets will want to see the dog but since your vet knows about Ginger and has already seen her a few times you may get away with a phone call. Remember there are different antibiotics for different infections. Having worked at the vet you know that one antibiotic is not a cure all for all infections. Don’t you wish it was that easy? I sure do. Do you happen to have The Honest Kitchen Perfect Form at home. If you do I would start adding 1/8 of a teaspoon into each and every meal of hers. The recommended dose says to add more but I find that their recommendation is way to high. I’ve never given the girls anymore than 1/8 tsp. and sometimes just a little sprinkle. I find it works much better than pumpkin, or anything else out in the market. When Katie was at her worst with the food allergies and everything and the constant diarrhea (what a friggin mess…..I feel for you girl having to have cleaned up that mess) I used it all the time. I think through the years with Katie I had tried everything on the market until I came across The Perfect Form.

I’m glad you’ve taken her off canned food. The canned food may simply have too much fat in it for her. Also canned foods generally have guar gum and/or carraggean (sp?) which may be ingredients that she also can’t deal with. I’m glad her poops are better today. I’d keep her off canned foods forever and ever. Like I said, if she does well long term on the Wellness Small Breed Salmon and Potato then I would just keep Ginger on that and forget about rotating foods with her. It’s really not worth it in the case of a dog like Ginger. It’s, no doubt, much too difficult on her gut which I’m sure is in bad shape due to her previous owner or owners and what they fed her.

Even if her poops are better today I’d still get her checked out just to rule infection out but somethings up with all those sudden symptoms coming on at once. Again, please post her progress. Worried about Ginger.

If you don’t already have my email address this is it. [email protected] If you want to email me and send me your address, I have a few extra dog beds around that I haven’t been using. (I’m a bit of a dog bed addict). Dog food addict. All things dog addict. You get the picture. They’re in good condition and since I have small dogs that would be the perfect size for Ginger. : ) They can all go in the washer and dryer.

• This reply was modified 11 years ago by Dori.

[Nancy M]

Thank you Susan, and theBCnut……I will take all of that into consideration. For right now, and following an allergy shot today at the Vet’s, the plan is to let the medication give relief and keep her on her current food. If the itching doesn’t stop or doesn’t last more than a couple weeks, then most likely it’s the food. Then I’ll need to start switching over to something else….another obstacle…..which one????? Not an easy task, as we all know about when we have a dog with food allergies. Vet says to try switching to a fish or duck based food; although if it’s got any of the other ingredients in it, we’ll be in the same boat. For the time being, I’m seeing a noticeable decrease in the “itchies”.

Susan, no I have not noticed a yeasty smell at all, but I’ll be checking that out more. I’ll definitely check into the shampoo you recommended and see where I can get some. Where do you purchase it? For now, I won’t add or detract anything for the next week or two, until I see how long the relief actually lasts, which might help identify the cause, food or something else. We’ll see…….

Thanks all!

[aimee]

Hi Vicki,

Yeast infections are nearly always caused by Malassezia, a fat loving yeast. Yeast infections are usually secondary to something that is altering the surface of the skin such as food allergy/adverse food reactions, environmental allergies, hormonal conditions, and parasites. If an underlying primary problem isn’t controlled the problem continues.

Food’s primary role in yeast infections is if the food is causing an adverse reaction. The proportions of fat/ carb or protein in the diet has never been linked to Malassezia dermatitis nor been found to help control it in any way. A food elimination trial could be done to identify if that is playing a role.

This article is a but technical but hopefully you can find it helpful http://www.pinnaclifeanimalhealth.com/sites/default/files/research/Malassezia%20Matousek.pdf