[ScottsMomma]

We recently adopted a terrier mix from our local Humane Society. He is my first dog-knew nothing about food so we just picked up the standard Kibbles & Bits for him which he ate just fine. Noticed on his second day with us, how much he was scratching; neck area, face, biting along his legs & paws. Took him in for a visit, was told he had dry skin, to try fish oil, also started reading up on dog food and picked up Earth’s Pride Grain free Duck & Vegetable. He is eating that just fine, no issues with messy stool (does have some gas) not bringing anything up. Took him back today since he has also been shaking his head along with the scratching, doc looked in his ears, said they were clear-just looked irritated. Said it is most likely allergies-which is what I suspect-but allergies to what? We live in Maryland so pollen is not an issue right now-possibly dust? Or food-how do you tell? His fur is nice & soft, but skin is dry and he has some dandruff. No major sneezing or coughing. I’m at a loss as to what to do. Doc gave me a med. called Prednistabs and a drop for his ears. I don’t know weather to try a different food with less ingredients, try Raw (does a raw diet help with both food & inhalant allergies)

[Bunny]

I feel your pain LOL I thought I was alone 🙂

My girl has had random episodes of this for about a year. It really is a really scary thing to watch my poor puppy do. She too gulps, Licks the floor, Tries to eat anything off the floor she can, Licks the air, Swallows hard Repeatedly…

One time when I took her to an emergency vet for this he did an x-ray. I was worried she was bloating but the x-ray showed that the air was passing through. It also showed irritation in her duodenum.

I saw a scope specialist a couple times and he suggested the cause is her having a mild tonsillitis flare-up that is provoked by allergies, she has seasonal allergies. He gave me Sulcrate Which coats the stomach And an anti-acid To give in combination. This seems to fix the problems for a little while. She was good for about six months until tonight. It seems like psychology has a major play in it, like she panics because of how she is feeling and gets “stuck”…the only thing that takes her mind off of it is if I walk her so I took her for a walk and I gave her the Sulcrate…hopefully it fixes it yet again…but the walking I cannot stress how much this seems to help. Not fast, just an easy walk to get things moving, it works for people too 😉

The other suggestion he had is that this could also be either trachea irritation caused by stomach acid (I too use a harness as well, as she pulls really hard in a collar) or post nasal drip from her runny nose from allergies. But judging on experiences I would agree with him as I explained above…

The pondering continues and I am glad to see this thread and hope all gulping pups get better soon 🙂

[Becky]

This may be too simple, but have you tried probiotics? It wouldn’t hurt, even along with new food.

[theBCnut]

It could also be an intolerance to the type of meat protein she is getting. The intolerance irritates the lining of the gut which eventually makes it permeable and the yeast that should be in the intestinal tract gets in the bloodstream. The way to get the yeast out of the blood stream is to starve it back for 8 or 9 months. That means really low carbs, preferably low glycemic carbs. Dinovite’s yeast starvation diet can be fed long term, but you might want to use locally hunted meats for it, instead of ground beef or chicken.

[DogFoodie]

Hi spotcdb,

It sounds like your dog is still having what may very well be a food intolerance. And, it’s definitely not a good idea to have your dog on Ketoconazole three days per week indefinitely. If I were you, I’d take a look at a grain free food that is lower in carbs than what you’re feeding now and that doesn’t contain any white potato – which Annamaet does. I’d even consider feeding a raw diet.

It takes time, but the body can heal and recover from systemic yeast.

[spotcdb]

We live in remote Alaska and we have a traveling vet that comes through once a year! Our Lab, every since age 4 month old, fought with scratching her ears all the time. The traveling vet would just give her ear cream. And then later about age 2 she started chewing on her paws and butt. At age 5 I felt so sorry for I started searching the web (very slow internet) and found out about grain allergy’s ( I was feeding her Iams for 5 years) and yeast infections. We tried Dinovite and it did not work for her. So we contacted another vet in Anchorage (600 miles and $1000 plane ticket). She advised us to send in swabs of her ears, paws, and butt. Sure nuff she was eat up with yeast. She gave us 3 rounds of Ketoconazole 200mg. After each round she would clear up. And then with in 2 weeks start it all again. So I changed her diet to NO GRAINS (we like Annamaet grain free). Still after each round she would start back with all symptoms. We asked the vet for more drugs but she said no she wanted to see the dog. We were going on a vacation for a month so we took her in and boarded her for a month ($36 a day) and told the vet to make her better! So after some antibiotics and a daily dose of Ketoconazole the vet said she will need to have Ketoconazole probably the rest of her life. She is all cleared up. She is eating Annamaet and is now taking Ketoconazole 3 days a week. WE are so happy and so is she. The only thing we need help with now is her shedding hoping the Annamaet fish will help. Good luck and have the dog checked for yeast. The vet said it starts out with a little yeast in the ears and keeps going till it is coming out of skin everywhere!

[gerriwilk]

I have a 16 month boxer that has been having food issues since we brought him home. He poops several times a day with his morning poop being solid but then goes down hill from there. His vet seems to think he has allergies and I did find out he is allergic or has no tolerance for chicken. He was recently diagnosed with pancreatitis and responded very well to his medicine, and his diet of rice and cottage cheese. However, since we incorporated his food (Nature’s Balance L.I.D. fish and sweet potato) his diarrhea is back. We have tried several different foods but I can’t find any that works well with his digestion. Before his pancreatitis diagnosis, his vet suggested hypoallergentic food but with all the different foods out there it is so confusing and overwhelming. So, I don’t know if he has allergies or he always had a mild case of pancreatitis that, until recently, has become inflamed. Any advice would be so welcomed! Thank you.

[Mom2Cavs]

Betsy Greer….thanks so much for your kind words. Lucy is actually doing quite well, except for the lesions she has on her skin and the baldness that comes with them :(. Lucy has never had skin problems, at all, so this was a shock to see these places on her. I first noticed places by her mouth and under her chin. Then the groomer noticed one on her back when he was blow drying her. Looked like nothing I had ever seen before. My first thought was an allergic reaction to something!? It all started about 2 weeks after I began feeding TOTW Pacific Stream so I actually considered it might be the food, but she had never had allergies in the past…though I know they can come on anytime. It just seemed so odd. I took her to my holistic vets and they really weren’t sure what it could be, either. We took a blood test and it showed slightly elevated kidney levels and slightly low thyroid levels. So….we kinda expected the kidney values with her bladder tumor (she’s had for a year now) and we thought she might be having a skin issue due to thyroid. But the vets had never seen skin problems like hers with thyroid before which is why we opted for biopsies to be sure. They took from 3 lesions, which had worsened and multiplied since the groomer found the one on her back. It came back as canine epitheliotropic T-cell lymphoma or CETL. Very rare cancer, happens to mostly older dogs. Can happen out of the blue, no known cause. Prognosis is poor usually and generally no treatments help. Dogs can live a few months to up to 2 years with it. It all depends on their comfort level and the seriousness of the lesions. She wears a T-Shirt around the house so she won’t bother them. Thankfully, she’s accommodating with that. She still eats great, plays more than the Cavs and is her usual self right now. In fact, Lucy’s is the first case in all the years my vets have been practicing that they’ve seen! So….we are taking it one day at a time. My vet gave me a supplement from Vetri Science called Maitake DMG Pro. They’re chews, which she readily takes (and this is a dog that’s very picky with her treats lol). It is an immune supplement. They’re very new, I can’t even order them yet. I can get it in liquid form right now, though, so I ordered that and I’m hoping she likes it mixed with something. Safflower oil has been known to help some dogs, so I have started with that, too. I’ll keep everyone posted on how she does. Again, thanks for the kind thoughts!

[Harpers Mom]

Because my baby’s allergies and not being able to find store treats that work for her we have opted to home made treats, cow hoofs, antlers, etc. We just purchased a Kong toy that is stuffable. What kind of goodies does everyone stuff them with? Her first “kongsicle” was yogurt and pumpkin. Any ideas for other treats?

[Mom2Cavs]

As far as I know, there has been no recall of any Rachel Ray’s food. If your dogs were doing well on the Just 6 and not so well on the grain free it could be because they have an intolerance to something in the grain free that is not included in the Just 6. I don’t know the protein used in the Just 6, but the grain free uses Turkey, I believe. It could be a protein intolerance….or one of the other ingredients, too. I would just put the dogs back on the Just 6 flavor you were using and see how they do. I have a dog with intolerances/allergies and I can tell within a few days if a food is going to work, or not. I really can’t change her up, like I would like, so she eats pretty much the same kibble for a long period of time. To give variety, I give different brands of canned food (without her intolerant protein/ingredients) and cottage cheese, yogurt, sardines, etc.

[IMillerman]

My little 13 year old Lhas Apso has always had allergies. I had him on raw and he improved to not having and reverse sneezing episodes and good coat. Due to a few things like dental surgery and travel I put him on Steve’s powder mix and lightly cooked chicken and turkey. Did not do as well over time on this. A pet sitter over fed him and gave him way too much goat milk and he had a major episode. Stress is also an issue for this dog and IBS. It’s been hard to get him back to normal since.
Vet put him on a cooked 1/3 chicken, 1/3 rice, 1/3 cottage cheese. He liked it but had bad stools and upset tummy – likely dairy maybe? Now he has him on RC Vet Rabbit and Potato. He seems to just go through this food with lots of poop and bad stools. It’s been over 2 weeks now. We just added 1 TSP pysillium for fiber, a probiotic as well as Standard Process Okra Pepsin 2 x’s daily. Vet wants to scope in a week if no improvement. My dog has never had Rabbit so Vet wanted a novel protein but I’m not so sure his condition is just diet related – maybe his system does not agree with this food.
Any thouights or suggestion greatly appreciated.

[mellowmutt]

Well, the food’s already mixed… I’ve read this advice a lot, but the only links I’ve come across are to those marketing rotational feeding. Maybe one in ten dogs I’ve ever known had food allergies (mostly to “bad” grains); most of the rest lived long, happy lives on the same food day in and day out, mostly dry kibble of dubious quality by today’s standards. I have two very good, related reasons for mixing rather than rotating.

First, the different kibble sizes, and one kibble being “preferred” really slows down Amiga’s feeding rate. I don’t want her “inhaling” her food, which she does when all the kibbles are the same size/smell. Mixed, she’ll try picking out the Orijen kibbles! Of course she winds up eating most of the other kibbles along with, at which point I guess she figures she may as well finish the meal. But it does take her twice as long to eat, this way, and gives me control of what she’s eating with no fuss because…

Second, she’s one of those picky mals who drive their owners to despair with hunger strikes, this being a well-known feature-bug of many individuals of most arctic breeds — which evolved to be headstrong, independent, and require less food than other dogs of similar size. If I rotate the food, which I did try, she’ll just ignore the food dish until what she wants gets put in it — which turns into a battle of wills the human usually loses (I know I’m a sucker for those sad puppy-dog eyes with whimpering), best not let it start if I want her growth rate to be steady not spurty, though.

http://wildpaw.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=8333
http://wildpaw.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=4462
(list goes on)

I also think Amiga’s spoiled enough without letting her choose her own menu, but it’s a real challenge to get her to eat what I want her to eat, regardless of when she eats it. For instance, when she was protesting NVI Rabbit she got away from me, into a neighbor’s house, and chowed down a whole bowl of Kibbles ‘n’ Bits. Came when called, after a short delay, licking her chops and grinning while the neighbor shooed her out of her house… pinned her ears back and rolled over on her back at my feet in a typical-malamute show of faux-submissiveness (neither hind leg straight), then ignored her own food for two more days. Which turned into four when she figured out how to raid the cat food for a few seconds before I caught her at it, then ate the rest of my sandwich off the countertop while I relocated the cat dish. 🙂

This can also be an issue when using toppers, but I’ve figured out how to train around this. I’m redirecting Amiga’s prey drive into SAR training (informally, can’t train with other dog/handler teams until she’s more mature about working when other dogs are present, there’s a reason so many SAR dogs are Goldens). Aside from disliking all forms of transport (no rhyme or reason for it I can figure, which I also hope she matures out of), all the aptitude for SAR work is there, her kibble OCD really shines through in “re-find” work. Her name is well-chosen, especially where kids are concerned; if the scent she’s on is animal she pricks her ears forward, but pins ’em back submissively for any and all humans… excellent potential despite being a malamute, even on tracking work.

She knows the difference between “food” and “umm-umms” and has figured out what I mean when I say “umm-umms on your dinner-food” — a big reward delayed until dinnertime instead of little treats over the course of a long, physically-demanding training session (which she sees as playing hide-and-seek in the forest for a few hours, at this stage). She’s very treat-motivated. Oh, she’ll still skip a meal here and there, but that just lets me know she isn’t getting enough exercise — that and the zoomie circles around the yard. Both of which I’m currently chalking up to being in season, total psycho malamute puppy on my hands atm.

Some Amiga videos here, the one running next to the bike was taken a month ago while the ones playing with the neighbor Husky are from last week, and aren’t mally pups just adorable before they become terrors?

http://www.veoh.com/list/u/bikefat

What worries me is topping kibble with raw/freeze-dried due to the different rates of digestion. If I just feed the toppers as a meal, I’m worried she’ll lose the correlation with it as a treat, and hold out for it as a regular meal by again spurning her kibble — perhaps even the Orijen. With the mix, when she’s hungry she’s really quite excited about being fed, with none of the malamute games we played when I tried rotating five foods and she’d only eat one of ’em.

YMalMV. 😉

[theBCnut]

It can take up to 6 or 8 weeks for all the histamine to clear out of his system from the last reaction, but you can usually tell within days that he is starting to get better. It depends on how strongly he reacts to a food how long it will take to see a reaction. It looks like he reacts strongly to rice and showed a reaction pretty quickly, other things could take days.

NVI LID is a good starting point to try to work this out. Has he ever had a lamb food before? You usually want to start with a protein and starch source that he has never had before and feed it for 6 to 8 weeks to clear all the histamines out of the body. Then start adding back one single ingredient for a few days to see if he reacts to it. If he has a reaction, then go back to what you know worked until the histamine clears again and then start again. Keep records of what you tried. Keep ingredient lists of foods that worked for him and foods that don’t, so you can try to figure out what ingredients in those foods were the trigger.

I’ve been going through this with my dog for a year and a half now and finally have 3 different kibbles he does well on. Now that I have a handle on his triggers, he lives a pretty normal life.

[Susan]

Sure glad I’m not dealing with any mast cell tumors!
Learning about dog food ingredients and how they effect animals is very interesting and frustrating. I want my dogs to want to eat, stay out of the vet’s office, and act, look and smell healthy and clean. The almighty $ seems to be the only issue for some dog food companies.
Thanks

[KaiRyssdog]

Hello,

I signed up last night after finding this forum on a search for dog food allergies. Here’s what’s going on with my dog.

Adopted a miniature schnauzer 8 weeks ago. He had had a UTI right before we got him and so was on Royal Canin’s Urinary SO formula – we got his bag of food when we got him. Then we took him to the vet for a general checkup and bought another small bag there. Everything was fine and he had a lovely silky soft coat. Then took him back to the vet for his 2nd lepto vaccination and bought another bag of the RC, but this time a bigger bag. Didn’t open it right away, as we still had some of the small bag left over (this was about two weeks ago). A couple days after opening and starting the new bag, I noticed the following symptoms (so this was maybe a week ago), increasing in severity:

– when he’d fart (which he hadn’t really done too much of beforehand), it seemed like it hurt him as he’d turn around and look at his butt and then run away
– he got a couple small bumps on his back
– I could smell his anal glands
– small bumps increased in numbers
– licking forearms
– scratching like crazy
– small bumps turned into open, bleeding sores mostly down his back but now on his nose, in his ears, top of his butt, and I just saw one on the tip of his tail – it seems every time I look at him he has a new one!
– didn’t want to eat his food

The first sore appeared Xmas eve, then more on Xmas day. Today I took him to the vet who got a sample of the oozing on his nose and said he had an infection and so put him on prednisone and an antibiotic that is supposed to be geared toward skin infections (don’t have the bottle in front of me).

When he went off his food Xmas eve/Xmas morning, we fed him turkey (plain) and brown rice. Right after that meal he was itchy right away, so the next meal (Xmas dinner) we gave him turkey only and again gave him turkey only for today’s meals.

The top of his nose was a matted mess with his whiskers so we cut some off thinking that he was rubbing his nose because the matted hair was bothering him. We’ve given him two oatmeal baths and I’ve put lavender oil on the scabs, both actions seem to soothe him and give him some peace.

So now some questions:

1) does this sound like a food allergy
2) how long is it going to take before he stops feeling so itchy
3) if he is allergic to an ingredient, how long after he eats will he have a case of the itchies (meaning, do I have to wait days before deciding that something doesn’t work or do the itchies tell me right away)
4) how often can I give him oatmeal baths
5) do I need to be feeding him anything else (something to boost his immune system or help with digestion) supplement-wise
6) how do you decide what to add and when (like potato or pumpkin or yogurt or ??)

I went out and bought him some Nature’s Variety Instinct LID in Lamb formula – does anyone have feedback on this food? I want to be considerate of his recent UTI issue, but I feel like this acute allergy reaction needs to be addressed first – is there something I should specifically stay away from?

I’m sure I have more questions that I forgot to ask but will come up later. He’s my sixth schnauzer in my lifetime and most recent dog (other two are rottiexGSD sisters) in my current family of dogs, and I’ve never dealt with anything like this before.

It breaks my heart to see him in such distress – help!

Thank you,

Susan

[theBCnut]

Someone whose dog had a mast cell tumor listed a few high histamine foods and because I was having a problem at that time with my dog, the tomato pomace stuck in my head, the others didn’t, but I don’t know where I saw it. It wasn in an unrelated topic, because of someones random comment. I haven’t started researching it myself yet.

I googled “foods to avoid with mast cell tumors” and got this
http://www.mastocytosis.ca/symptoms.htm
which led to this
http://www.mastocytosis.ca/MSC%20HT%20Restricted%20Diet%20Nov2012.pdf
I definitely know my dog does not have problems with many of the foods on their list, but they even say that some foods will trigger for some individuals and some won’t, so it still all comes down to doing the detective work to figure out what your own dog’s triggers are.

Then I found this
http://chronichives.com/useful-information/histamine-restricted-diet/#allowedrestricted

• This reply was modified 12 years, 3 months ago by theBCnut.
• This reply was modified 12 years, 3 months ago by theBCnut.

[Susan]

Pattyvaughn-
I am staying away from tomato pomace also. What are other histamine foods in dog food?

[theBCnut]

No, but unbalanced probiotics in the gut and/or insufficient digestive enzymes could certainly cause the gas. Poor digestion of protein allows anarobic bacteria to feed off of it, causing an abundance of smelly gas. Adding probiotics and digestive enzymes helps.

[nunyanunya]

Would anal gland issues cause chronic flatulence? My 10mo. old puppy farts all the time! UGH!!! Stinky and gross. He’s done this since I adopted him at 2mo. old. I don’t feed him treats just Solid Gold Wolf Cub puppy food.

[theBCnut]

BTW, anal gland emptying can be a fiber level problem, however the amount of fluid produced can be affected by food allergies. So if your dog has food allergy issues, keep an eye out for anal gland issues too.

[theBCnut]

I’ve discovered with Micah that tomato pomace is a problem and since then read about it being a high histamine food, so that has me wondering if he will have problems with other high histamine foods just because he is prone to histamine reactions.

[Susan]

I have cleared up the ear problems with my dauchshund mix with grain free food and ALWAYS rinse her ears out when she gets a bath every 3 weeks or so. Moisture in her ear will cause problems. The rinse I use is from Dr Foster’s and Smith, but you can get same from the vet or PetMeds. Haven’t had an ear flare up in two years now!
For her anal glands it is about the fiber in kibble. When she starts having a problem, dragging her butt on the ground etc, I add pumpkin or yougart and it works for her.
She doesn’t eat grains or potatoes. I tried Nutrisca brand and they didn’t like-too much peas. Nutrisource GF lamb was a good food, but started not agreeing after second bag. Currently using Earthborn Meadow and they love it and both my dogs are doing very well. Sample of Earthborn Great Plains for their treat and the love the bison too. I use the tub for a spoon of topper, but remove the whole garbanzo bean, creates gas, whoa,. I might need to add some pumpkin, fiber count is a little low for them.
Hope this helps!

[Akari_32]

Chicken flavor is said to not bother allergies, so it should be fine.

I used Innova (prime and regular) almost exclusively for several months until they had that crazy recall. They may have figured themselves out, I’m not sure. I’m not thrilled about P&G buying the company, personally, but it may not be bad now. I have yet to look into the indregients and see if they’ve changed at all, though. Some googling should find you a better answer.

As for TOTW, I’ve used it here and there. No real issues yet. I once bought a bag of the High Prairie, and one of the dogs wouldn’t touch it. I suspect it was a case of a mislabeled forumula, though, as that particular dog absolutely hates fish, and the other dogs loved it.

• This reply was modified 12 years, 3 months ago by Akari_32.

[BlackandBlue]

Update on my certain ingredient intolerant dog. After a 2 month veterinary diet food trial that ended badly with a UTI and skin infection, I really was fed up. I’m a stay at home mom and all my kids are in school. It’s just me and my pets during the day so I’ve been REALLY observing my dog for the last month. You know what sets her off besides chicken, lamb, fish, white & brown rice, soy? GREEN STUFF! Sea meal, seaweed meal, kelp, alfalfa meal, green tea -all bad for my dog. I’ve learned Natural Balance LID’s are excellent for dogs that can’t have green stuff (among other things). If you suspect your dog has the same issue, buy a bunch of different NB LID cans and bags and try them out one at a time and really observe your dog. With my dog I can tell within an hour of feeding her something if it causes excessive licking and scratching and it’s not going to work out.

Unfortunately so many of the better (4 & 5 star) dog foods have too many “extra” ingredients for my dog. Right now I switch my dog daily on the NB LID duck & legumes dry and bison & sweet potatoes dry and she’s just fine. I’m worried though that she’ll start developing intolerances to these current proteins so I’m always on the lookout for something else to add to her rotation.

[Harpers Mom]

After finding out my Bull terrier mix, Harper is highly allergic to grains and chicken it is time to start looking for new foods. She is currently on Simply Nourish High Protein- Grain Free adult food, but we will soon be switching her to something different. I have read that rotating foods help limit allergies to certain foods, but i have no clue where to start when it comes to starting a rotational diet. How many food should be included, how often should they be switched? What are good food to use? I prefer sticking to about $45- $50 for a 30lb bag of food. HELP!

[InkedMarie]

Why can’t you feed him separately? Feed him in another room or a crate. It’s not always feasible to feed three dogs the same food. By the way, a dog with allergies should probably be on a grain free food; rice isn’t the best ingredient for him.

[DogFoodie]

I know Cyndi already bumped up your post, but I am too.

Bless your heart, you’ve really got your hands full! Just curious, has your vet checked his thyroid? Also, do you see a vet who practices traditional veterinary medicine or do you use an integrative / holistic vet? I’d visit a holistic vet; here’s a link to help you find one (it’s not all inclusive, but a good start): http://www.ahvma.org/Widgets/FindVet.html

It sounds as though, in addition to the environmental and food allergies, your little guy might have a systemic yeast infection which has evolved into a leaky gut. Someone has probably been feeding your poor little guy garbage for his entire life. I would start right away supplementing his diet with coconut oil and probiotics (you need to begin repopulating the healthy bacteria in his gut). It looks like your food allergies are: salmon, poultry mix, eggs, milk, wheat, and white potato. I’d look for something minimally processed ~ raw if possible; but if you’re choosing to feed kibble, I’d go for a grain and white potato (probably sweet potato, too) free food to switch him to as soon as possible. The first food that comes to mind is Nature’s Variety Instinct Limited Ingredient Diets.

[pfegan77]

I just learned that my 3 year old Sheltie is highly allergic to Brewer’s yeast. I’ve been checking all the labels on the Halo food, various nutritional supplements and treats. There are a lot of different yeast products. Do I need to be wary of any type of yeast, not just Brewer’s Yeast? Does Brewer’s Yeast go by any other name(s) which would be listed on the ingredients?

Thanks so much for your help!

[Samoan81]

only help on food I could suggest is that A lot times its suggested to switch from land to sea then to air. SO if you pet is allergic to lamb or chicken which many are, switch to a food blend that contains fish formulas . If that doesn’t work go to air like turkey duck etc

That’s a big list of allergies. Poor baby needs a portable doggie bubble

I would wash all his new bedding clothes with dreft baby detergent

Im sure you can find plenty of items that are hypoallergenic

[Angeldogs]

Thanks Patty, I’ll read up more. I did find the info on the Jean Dodds DVM website. She measures differently from serum, but I don’t see much that’s different. I’m a little perplexed, though, as the allergic response is still controlled in the dog by the mast cell, as it is in humans. In human medicine, the medical field doesn’t usually separate intolerance and allergies. They are all considered a histamine response, and that’s the same mechanism that activates in a dog, whether you are measuring IGG, IGA, IGM, or a complement cascade. Because I suffer from extreme histamine reactions myself, I’ve studied the mechanism in order to LIVE, as my reactions are downright life-threatening. Hmmm…..

[A.Sandy]

Hello Rhonda,
There are plenty of good choices like spring naturals, merrick, taste of the wild, petcurean, Fromm and many more. Try fish flavors to soothe skin, and transition slowly. All made these mentioned are made in the USA. The good thing about your size dog is it’s less expensive to feed even very high quality foods. Don’t be afraid to rotate flavors frequently so she doesn’t get bored, and stay away from science diet and grocery brand pet foods to prevent illness and upset tummies. good luck!!
-Ana
pet nutrition expert/advisor
@pupcatfacts
pupcatnutrition.com

[RhondaP]

I had my mixed Fluffy Chinese Crested breed on Science Hill wet food.. She got bored with Chicken and so we gave her beef.. I am pretty sure she was allergic to the beef, and now the chicken seems to be bugging her as well. I am at a loss for what canned good to give her. She does not like dry! She is 10 pounds.

Any help would be greatly appreciated… I will only use American manufactured brands:)

[theBCnut]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7848179
http://nutriscan.org/the-nutriscan-difference.html
http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2011/07/26/a-great-tool-for-dogs-with-rumbling-tummy-gas-diarrhea-or-vomiting.aspx
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2111&aid=143
http://www.1800petmeds.com/education/food-allergies-intolerances-pets-33.htm

https://www.tumblr.com/drjeandoddspethealthresource/25934674990/dog-food-sensitivity-versus-dog-food-allergy

http://www.webmd.com/allergies/features/food-allergy-myths

[Angeldogs]

My understanding is that allergies and intolerances come from a mast cell response, much as it works in the human body. Can you please direct me to some reading material? Mast cell mediators include histamine. In the human, GI symptoms, itching, etc are all mast cell mediator responses. (I have mastocytosis).

I frequently see hyperactivity, too, as a symptom of food allergies.

[theBCnut]

Is your dog having true allergy problems or intolerance problems? True allergies are rare in dogs, hives, anaphylactic response, facial swelling, breathing issues, and dogs that have true allergies may be much more sensitive than dogs with intolerances, which are far more common. Intolerances cause generalized itchiness, intestinal upset, body odor, greasy coat, yeast infections, ear infections. A dog with allergy/intolerance issues can have generalized reactions to all proteins from a particular source, but is is still a protein reaction. And there are other types of intolerances that are to other things like MSG or chemicals, but they aren’t “allergic reactions.”

[Angeldogs]

I’m not sure how that works. I just know with my own allergies, that I can’t have eggs, chicken, and will react to down. I assume that the dogs are the same.

[theBCnut]

Allergies are to specific protein sequences, so no, not necessarily. I have a dog that can’t have chicken muscle meat, but is just fine with chicken livers. Chicken fat should not have any of the chicken protein in it at all because of how they process it. I’m not saying that it is impossible for your dog to have a reaction, but it is highly unlikely.

[Angeldogs]

I rescue deaf dogs of all breeds. Allergies are really common. I highly recommend finding a vet that sends allergy tests out to Spectrum Labs. The results include food proteins, carbs, grasses, trees, and other common household issues like dust, etc. It’s been very helpful for us. Just wish finding a kibble for the allergic dogs was as easy…..some of our dogs are raw fed so we can control the ingredients.

[AReim]

I have an 11 yr. old American Eskimo with chronic acute pancreatitis. I’m beyond worried now as he is consistently losing more weight. He should be around 21 lbs and he is now at 15 lbs.

We have struggled with his condition for years and at this point I have no faith in what the vet recommends. I stumbled across this site this morning while researching solutions for my other dog – a very itchy mixed breed (I’ll deal with that is a separate post). There seems to be a lot of well informed people here and I am hoping someone may be able to help me.

After a severe attack several years ago, a full work up (labs, x-rays … the works) the vet informed me that his intestinal and stomach lining are “thicker than normal” and that it was likely a birth defect.

With that diagnosis, he was put on Hills Science WD canned formula. (Cerenia was also prescribed to treat the acute attacks.) We’ve tried other “vet recommended” foods but always end up back with the WD formula because he seems to tolerate it the best. I’ve even spoken with Hill’s Science “dieticians” but they are ALL CLUELESS (including the vet) as to what else might work better. The vet & dietician have always advised that hi-fat content is what will usually triggers the attacks but that is all they can tell me. They have never recommended grain-free or organic – or addressed potential food allergies as an aggravator.

All of his routine check-ups & labs show him to be otherwise healthy. His poop is usually normal. (However, we do have a poop eating problem and I sometimes wonder if it’s because he is SOOO hungry because he’s not getting enough nutrition.)

His attacks are episodic. Sometimes he is fine for weeks – other times we may have a couple of attacks in a week. His typical symptoms include any combination of: gurgling tummy, vomiting (sometimes bile, other times completely undigested food), abdominal pain (he won’t lie down for hours – I’ve had to hold him so he could sleep), and refusal to eat. On a rare occasions he’s had diarrhea and I’ve had to take him to the vet for an IV due to dehydration several times over the years.

Any help, advice, or recommendations that will help me get some weight back on him and help with the pancreatitis would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!

[boxermum]

Can anyone suggest a better alternative to Natural Balance LID Sweet Potato & Fish dry food? My 1.5 yr old boxer has been on this food since he was a young puppy up until about a month ago when he suddenly decided he didn’t like it anymore and I stumbled across this site and saw it was only rated at a 3 anyway. I’d like to get him on a food that he both likes and is better for him, but I originally started him on it a year ago because it was the only food that wouldn’t give him diarrhea, and I’m discovering this is still an issue. I don’t know if the problem is a sensitive stomach or allergies. If it’s allergies, I haven’t been able to narrow it down to anything specific.

[OhBichonPlease]

I definitely think you should switch to higher-quality foods… for the picky eater especially – what little he will take down needs to be properly nutritious and high quality since he isn’t eating enough/well. I would transition slowly to minimize upset or selective eating of familiar kibbles and try fasting for a day with no treats or extras [I know it’s hard] before introducing small amounts of a new kibble. You can even try providing 2-4 different kibbles at a time – maybe something in the mix will appeal to your dog especially. You may want to look for a kibble that has a slightly higher fat content or salt as both of those are appealing and will encourage eating and may help get your picky eater to a better state of health. The different ingredients can help your dog adjust to new foods better and will only help/improve nutrient absorption and gut health provided there are no allergies/intolerances. Many local pet shops can provide free samples so you can try adding small amounts of new kibbles without spending much money. Adding some wet food or high quality meat toppers might also entice and encourage better eating habits. You may have to experiment, but tuna, salmon, plain cooked shredded meats, yogurt, canned pumpkin and other pantry items may help establish better habits and digestive health. Warmed peanut butter can also be drizzled over kibble instead of mixing and clumping it up in the bowl. Sometimes piles of food can be intimidating and food may need to be spread out more. Or your dog might not like her food bowl for some reason – try switching to a cereal bowl or a pie tie and see if that helps. Some dogs like to be sneaky eaters so hiding food in several places or the putting the dog bowl in unexpected places or outside might help. Feed your dogs separately [and maybe even at different times of the day], feed well [high quality kibbles and nutritious toppers/extras/treats] and congratulate, encourage and reward with enthusiastic praise every single time your picky eater takes a mouthful of food and actually swallows it.
You may also try making your own dog treats out of the above ingredients or buying canned food and instead of serving it at room temperature or warmed, try freezing it in ice cube trays giving those to your dog on a towel or an easily cleaned floor. Laying down a special mat or picking a quiet corner and acting like a mealtime is very special may also help her your picky dog more excited about dinner. Some dogs really like munching on frozen foods even when they won’t touch them at other temperatures.
When my picky eater isn’t eating I give her a little pepcid [we suspect semi-regular heartburn] and then act really excited about opening a can of high quality wet dog [or occasionally cat or puppy – vet’s recommendation for getting food in when nothing else works.] The smellier the better [canned green tripe works wonders but is best fed outside. I also had amazing luck with small cans of Weruva – it looks/smells like human-grade baby food and is expensive, but the quality is obvious and the food was eagerly consumed both wet and frozen].] I give her a little straight out of the can right off the spoon so she feels like it is human food and a nice treat and then drop some in a dish with kibble. I won’t mix it in anymore because too often she has shunned to food once she discovers the hidden kibbles and I don’t like throwing food out [the neighborhood cats have gotten very friendly since her leftovers get tossed on the pavement for them – I am sure it’s better than whatever they are fishing out of the trash, small birds, squirrels, etc]. But sometimes she will eat up the wet food in one section and then start eating mouthfuls of kibble afterward – progress!
When our girl is especially reticent about eating kibble we move her food into the room where we eat dinner and hang out in the evenings and sometimes have to pretend to eat kibble, hand feed her or toss pieces onto that evening’s dinner plate to get her to start eating. Once she realizes she is indeed hungry she usually goes back to her bowl and only needs encouragement to keep eating [Good girl! What a good dog you are for eating kibble! Good dogs eat their food!] every other bite. She still looks at us for encouragement while eating and I sometimes have to tap to bowl or shake it to remind her there is still food to be had.] I give her a half cup of food at a time and she never eats more than half at night and usually doesn’t empty her bowl entirely until the next afternoon. [She is slightly less than 15lbs and eats approx 300-400 calories a day in food and treats, as far as I can figure.]
I had never met a dog previously who didn’t like and look forward to dinner time, but our rescued Bichon needs to be coaxed and encouraged to eat almost every bite, every day.

Good luck, keep experimenting with higher-quality foods and ingredients and don’t give up!

[RescueDaneMom]

Hi BlueEyedGirl-

First, if you want to upload a picture as your avatar you need to go to gravatar.com. You can also add a picture to a post using photobucket. Copy and paste the image link into your post and it should show up.

Now onto the food…Wellness Core Puppy is a great food, but it is a BIG step up from Hill’s. To play it safe, you might want to gradually step up the quality food. You could start with Nutrisource Large Breed Puppy. Nutrisource has a reputation of being an easy food to switch to. Then you could transition to Wellness Core. 3-4 foods in a rotation is good. That would be my minimum. If your dog doesn’t have intolerances or allergies then you could find many foods to keep switching through.

Because you don’t know if she is a large breed or not, I would play it safe and feed large breed puppy appropriate food. Feeding lower calcium won’t hurt a small/medium breed dog. In my opinion, it’d be better to err on the side of caution.

I think that the amount of calcium that they get from treats is pretty negligible. However, if you are very concerned, I think dehydrated/freeze-dried tripe would be a good choice. Tripe has balanced Ca/P and I believe it is lower in calcium than some other treats. Freeze-dried liver may also be good.

There are more knowledgeable members on here that can give you more feedback and correct me if I’m wrong. I hope this was helpful to you. Have fun getting ready for your pup. It’s so exciting getting ready to bring a new dog home. 🙂

[Mom2Cavs]

I don’t know what his allergies are exactly, but from what I’ve read Nutrisource grain frees may be a good fit. The gf lamb and their seafood select don’t have potatoes at all, I believe. Check ’em out here nutrisourcedogfood.com.

[RVPets]

We have a 7 year old German Shepherd and we have been struggling to control a systemic yeast infection for the past 9 months. Our old vet (I do mean old now) kept putting him on antibiotics, saying it was not yeast, but never doing a skin scrap. Our new vet checked first and immediately told us it was yeast. He wants him on a no carbohydrate/lo. starch diet and has suggested a more holistic approach to controling the problem. We are very pleased with the results so far. He’s grown back most of his hair and his odor has diminshed considerably.

We add Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar (with the “Mother”) to his drinking water and we wipe him down with a vinegar and water mixture (50/50) and we are cleaning his ears with the same solution daily. We have hi on a partial raw diet that we have been adding a high quality dog food too (about half raw half dog food).

My problem is that we are having a hard time finding a food that he can eat due to food allergies. Has anyone tried Canidae Grain-Free Pure Elements for dogs? It does not have anything on his “don’t eat” list, but I’m not too sure about having sweet potatoes in the top 5 list of ingredients.

Has anyone else tried this with a “yeasty dog”? Did it help or make it worse? We are trying very hard to find a solution, but we simply cannot feed an all raw diet right now.

This is a list of ingrediants:
Lamb, turkey meal, chicken meal, sweet potatoes, chickpeas, peas, chicken fat, menhaden fish meal, potatoes, suncured alfalfa, natural flavor, minerals (iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite), vitamins (vitamin E supplement, thiamine mononitrate, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, niacin, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin, vitamin D3 supplement, folic acid), choline chloride, dried enterococcus faecium fermentation product, dried lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried lactobacillus casei fermentation product, dried lactobacillus plantarum fermentation product, dried trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, mixed tocopherols (a natural source of
vitamin E)

[Dog Warrior]

has any one ever tried this product on how to make homemade recipes, I am actually thinking of getting it to help me prepare more recipes for my little cutie. i don’t know whether to buy it or not. but i need something my she’ll love very well.. what do you guys think? should i get it? @somebodysme can you help me out here.. anybody??

[somebodysme]

Yes, with the help of her rescue, we figured out what she can eat. She is now perfectly fine. Once she stopped eating all these supposedly 4 and 5 stars foods and got on a food that had no allergens (to her) then she just healed right up and is doing fantastic. Just because a food is rated 5 star at this place doesn’t mean it’s going to be the fix all for an allergy dog. She is extremely allergic to rice and peas and lord only knows what else…but not allergic to what the people here will tell us are common allergens…for my dog she apparently is not allergic to “common allergens”. I no longer look to DFA for assistance when it comes to dog food. She’ll eat this(horrible terrible sickening food) until it no longer works or until hell freezes over…whichever comes first…HA!

[shawnapage]

WOW! im new on the forum and i hope your poor dog is feeling better since it is 3 months later…but if not… I have found that my local RESCUE groups..(not pounds) have a HUGE knowledge of everything that can go wrong with a dog.The rescue i got my dog from has a forum on her website.She also tells in detail how she is handling different things that are going on with some of her rescued dogs with health problems.(For example she just rescued an entire litter of pups with mange.They were so compromised healthwise that she could not give them the regular demodex (not sure of exact name) dip that they give mange infected dogs.She had experience and treated them in several holistic ways until they were strong enough to receive the strong stuff.) Maybe a local rescue would have some tried and true fixes for you! Good luck!

[cherikeeusa]

I will be getting my large-breed puppy in about a month. My pup is a Goldendoodle, a Golden Retriever/Standard Poodle mix; they are well known to have a propensity toward grain allergies. I would like to provide a rotational diet for him, adding homemade meals (Sojo balanced) as well as grain-free, white potato-free dry foods topped with canned foods, sardines, etc. Can anybody help me with what sort of time-table for changing up his meals should be? Also, I’ve seen someplace that pork is a definite no-no, and chicken has a fairly high risk of allergy. True? Or…? In addition, any suggestions you might have for which brands I should start with would be very helpful. A full dietary plan would rock since I know next to nothing! LOL! I know…newbies suck right?!

[Jeancar]

My vet is suggesting a food trial for my 5 yr old cocker spaniel. He has unidentified allergies(chews his feet, and “goobery” eyes). We’ve tried several allergy meds, and he is presently eating “GO” salmon. He recently had crystals in his urine, so he’s taking a supplement for stone prevention. He will have to stop taking supplements during the food trial. He also has a sensitive stomach, he takes Pepcid to control acid production. Are there any foods that deal with more than one problem?

She has suggested Hill DD potato venison. She feels the protein level is low enough to avoid bladder stones. This sounds reasonable to me, just interested if anyone else has the same issues, and possible feedback.

[gmcbogger38]

Sorry. I started off with ACANA (not potato free) from Nutro and that is when I started seeing issues. Thinking it was yeast, I then switched them to a grain free and potato free food. I have tried several high quality brands, and even raw, but nothing is helping. So, I wondered if the ACANA with potato could have triggered allergies and if that would even be possible? I then wondered if switching them back to a grain inclusive food would help, since they did fine before with grains. I mean my ultimate question is this: is it possible that some dogs do better on grain inclusive foods? It just seems like everyone says grains are bad.