[Johanna A]

I know that this is an older thread, but I’m just wondering if everyone is still continuing to have success with NutriSource. We have a 3-year-old black Labrador that has been battling chronic yeast skin issues for a while now. Our previous vet had been misdiagnosing him for over a year as just having allergies and kept putting him on prednisone, which only masked the symptoms and didn’t actually treat the problem. We just saw a new vet today who said it’s definitely yeast and recommended we try NutriSource. I ordered the seafood formula off Amazon and we are going to start adding low-fat plain yogurt to his diet.

[Kate F]

Hi everyone! Kate from The Honest Kitchen here. I just wanted to help try and clear up any confusion. All of our diets (excluding base mixes) are complete meals that are balanced to AAFCO standards. This means you can feed them as stand alone diets and know that they have the appropriate amounts of nutrients – including protein – that dogs need. If you want to look at the specific nutrient breakdown, you can find the nutrient profiles here: http://www.thehonestkitchen.com/help-center/nutrient-profiles/

The reason that you can’t actually see pieces of meat or fish is because we ground our protein down to almost a powder so that it is evenly distributed throughout the recipe. This ensures that every scoop of food will have protein in – whereas if it was chunks, they could all settle at the bottom of the box and you wouldn’t always have the right amt of protein in every meal.

Our base mixes are different in that those DO require a protein to be added. The base mixes have a balanced amount of nutrients and vitamins except protein – so that all you need to add is meat or fish (cooked or raw) and know that you are feeding your dog a complete diet. This takes the guess work out of trying to feed a raw diet and wondering if your dog is getting all the nutrients it needs. These recipes are great for raw feeders, people who like to make homemade diets or dogs that have severe allergies & can only eat specific proteins like rabbit.

Please feel free to give us a call at any time and we can discuss this in more detail with you. Our customer service team is amazing and happy to answer any questions. 866-437-9729

Hope this helps!

[Naturella]

Oleanderz – I think it is great that you still care so much about your pup’s health, even while away at college. Earthborn Holistic GF are great foods, good choice on that one. You can also have your mom rotate foods and this will allow you to take advantage of online deals for other great foods such as Annamaet, Dr. Tim’s, Victor – all very affordable also.

As for dog boxes, I have not tried them myself, but they look like a fun thing, full of surprises, and new things she can try! As long as she doesn’t have any food allergies, then dog boxes are a great way to experiment with new treats and toys! I think the BarkBox has allergy-friendly options too.

[lovemypuppy]

I wouldn’t say I’m educated, but I’m getting there thanks to sites like this! 🙂 Good point! Knowing what my finicky pup will eat is tricky since it won’t necessarily be the same as another’s finicky pup.

After speaking with some local dog peeps, I decided to switch her to raw with only one protein source (Primal Duck Formula). She doesn’t like most treats but has never turned her nose up to freeze dried meats, including duck.

I’m hoping she likes the new food and transitions well with little GI upset. I’m also hoping the single protein source will aid in sorting out her potential allergies (environmental or food). Once she is settled for a bit, I will start rotating her food … seems like a great idea all the way around.

We are so excited to have our first ever puppy-dog! She is the cutest thing ever and brings so much joy to our family!~ Thanks for the link and food recommendations!

[Dog_Obsessed]

Okay. So this is going to be looong. Sorry in advance. Basically, today we took Lily to the vet because she had been scooting some the last few days. Since her anal glands had been slightly inflamed/discolored before, her vet wanted to actually see her instead of just having the tech do it. In short, they were not pretty. (not that I actually saw them.) The fluid was discolored, which the vet thought might be pus, (hey, I warned you) and there was an area near the anal glands that was inflamed. The vet prescribed a 20 day course of an antibiotic/anti-inflammatory med, and said we should schedule a follow up appointment for when that’s over. I was not thrilled about this, but it might be necessary. I’m planning to give her some yogurt to counter the antibiotic.

The vet said she thought this was a symptom of food allergies. I was afraid that she would prescribe a prescription diet, but luckily she actually knows a thing or two about dog nutrition, and suggested an elimination diet. Basically, she thinks that after she is done with the antibiotics, we should put her on a protein that she has never had before for 6-8 weeks, and then slowly introduce other foods. I pretty much know the drill for this from being on DFA. 🙂 She also suggested home-cooking, but I’m afraid we just don’t really have time for that on a regular basis. I have a bag of Nature’s Logic Venison, and while she has never had Venison in food, she has had it in treats. Is it still okay to use as an elimination protein?

Sooo…Basically I just want to know what you guys think about all of this, and if you have any ideas. I was thinking about giving her a anal gland supplement such as Glandex, but if it is food allergies then I feel like that would be just masking the symptoms rather than solving the problem. Is it still a good idea? Thanks!

Also, an update on Lily’s leg, she is still doing well and not limping much. We’re just crossing our fingers that she stays that way. 😀

[CockalierMom]

One of my girls has all fowl and tapioca allergies so I am creating charts with protein and ingredients for the potential foods she can eat. From the information I have gathered so far, I can point you in the direction of a few brands that have varieties that meet the lower protein and no potato criteria — California Natural, Tuscan Natural, Spring Natural, and Natural Balance LID. If there is not an oat allergy, you might look at Pinnacle Trout & Sweet Potatoes or Wellness Simple Lamb & Oats. These foods are lower protein than you are currently feeding (I saw in another post that you are feeding Purina Beyond and it has a dry matter content of 31% protein).

[Mary S]

Food allergies ~ though all of this information on each dog food product is outstanding, I need a way of quickly scanning the ingredients of each dog food so it can be eliminated from my search. I have a dog that is allergic to specific ingredients, e.g., potatoes, green beans. Second, she needs a low protein value due to compromised kidneys. A low protein value eases the kidney function and reduced the bladder leakage found in older dogs.

So a graph/chart of the dog foods with protein percentage and ingredients would speed up, make my search more efficient.

Thanks!

[Susan]

Hi sound like he has IBD, I would try a vet diet as these diets are formulated for these type of problems…they have to right amount of soluble fibersn the right amount of fat%..the diets you have mentioned have toooooo many ingredients, you will never fix the problem…
Every time your dog has diarrhoea you are causing irritation to the bowel & then this will cause inflammation of the bowel (Colitis).. My boy has IBD I have him on a vet diet, I had to in the end, even if you put him on a vet diet just for 3-6 months to let everything settle so you can start to work out ur next stop..this will not just go way..
You have to work out, does he have allergies to a certain foods, does he need a lower fat diet, does he need less fiber or less protein???
With vet diet they just have 1 hydrolized protein that has been broken down & 1 carb, I’d go back to vet & either try Royal Canin Hydroallergenic diet or their Allergenic diet or the Hills Z/D ultra or the D/D diets… like I said he doesn’t have to stay on these vet diets forever, just to calm everything down & let everything heal…. also boiled rice is a no no as the boiled rice irritates the bowel more, grounded rice is OK in kibbles buyt not boiled rice..if he gets diarrhea from pumkin, then I’d say he needs a low fiber diet, I feed the vet diet “Eukanuba Intestinal” not the plus just the Intestinal, its a low residue diet that breaks up real easy & digest real easy & is low in fiber…my boy wasn’t digesting his food he’d vomit it up 6-8 hours later that was the Royal Canin Hypoallergenic, he didn’t do well on any Royal Canine vet diets..the R/C didn’t seem to digest & the kibbles were very hard…. I have him on the “Eukanuba Intestinal” within 2 days poos were firm again, once he was pooing good I waited about 6months & tryed the premium foods from pet shops, He just doesn’t do well on them, vet said that they are formulated for healthy dogs that don’t have stomach & bowel problems….. Now I’m trying the Hills I/d Low Fat GI restore kibble, its suppose to heal & help the bowel, you don’t have to pay to see the vet again just ask the ladies at the front desk can you put him on a vet diet like the vet wanted before & google the vet diet food & see which has a low fiber, The Hills Z/d Ultra has more insoluble fiber & less soluble fiber so I haven’t tried it yet where the Hills I/d Low Fat GI restore kibble has more soluble fiber & less insoluble fiber… you need to work out is it his small bowel with the problem or his large bowel…. with the small bowel they need less fiber, if its the large bowel that has the problem, then he needs more fiber…..

There’s a really good group on Face Book called “Dogs With Inflammatory Bowel Disorder” you should join you get a lot of help from that site also another on Yahoo called “IBD Canines” a few ladies on the Face book group are going thru the same thing with their dogs, 1 was just put on the Royal Canine allergenic, I think its called & she is trying enzymes & has gotten her dog doing nice firm poos.. another lady is trying the Hills Z/d & her dog is doing really good now & remember only try 1 thing at a time, other wise you wont know what helped & what didn’t, if you need more help.. go to the Face book group, You will get help there……if you really don’t want to try a vet diet try the “Brother Complete allergy” egg recipes… here’s his link but after trying the Brothers complete & if it doesn’t work then please try a vet diet

http://www.brotherscomplete.com/VENISON-EGG-ALLERGY.html
a few ladies have their dog on the “brothers complete allergy” its working for their dogs & do not give any other foods while trying a new diet wait until dog is stable with no diarrhea.. Good Luck

[Tammy H]

Hi there
Any dog food you guys can think of that has no seafood, or even omega, no peas and no canola oil? I tried to find like a chart that you can sort of punch in what you don’t want to see and it would spit out a list of foods that don’t have those ingredients, but I cant seem to find it.
I’ve been looking at specific brands and reading labels but wanted to see if maybe anyone here has the same issues and what they’ve found?

Thanks in advance!
Tammy

[Kathy B]

Thank you for the reply. I will continue on the on the supplement and take your advice on the research of each of the dog food products. If you switch kibble that often do you not have to be concerned about digestive upsets? Seems to be where I am with Merrick at this time. My male is okay with it ,but my little girl cannot have a firm bm without some pumpkin and rice. And Rice is not something I want to do long term with allergies.

[Jane S]

All our dogs are scratching continuously. Vet seems to think it may be allergies as this has been ongoing for a while and various medications and baths have not relieved the issue.
the vet has suggested getting a new dog food, that has more protein. We currently feed all 4 Science Diet Light. She would not give recommendations.

any suggestions for a replacement dog food to reduce the scratching.

Thanks Jane

[theBCnut]

NuVet Plus has some nice antioxidants in it, but it won’t cure allergies. Three food changes a year is really not many. I change my dogs’ kibble weekly and they get something different added to their food every day. Maybe get the ingredient lists from all three foods you have tried so far and see if you can determine what ingredients they have in common, and try to find a food that doesn’t have any of those ingredients.

As an example, my dog is allergic to chicken, turkey, tomato, flax, and all grains. It has taken me 3 years to figure all of that out, and I may still find that he reacts to other things as well.

[Kathy B]

Has anyone used this product? I have had my cockers on this for a year for allergies and on grain free food. At this point, they ended up on allergy meds and I have change food 3 times in a year. I do not want to keep them on these meds and I am beginning to doubt these supplements as well.

[Sally C]

I am new to this site and a fairly new dog owner. Here’s the history of my pup: we adopted a 9 month old yorkie from a local rescue in November. He came to us eating Eagle Pack dog food which I kept him on. He was also coughing a lot, then he started itching and chewy his hind legs. He developed severe ear infections, then diarrhea and then he finally started vomiting roundworms. This was all over the course of 6 weeks. Before the worms were found (despite 3 stool samples), we were certain he had allergies. So, I tried him on Blue Buffalo Basics which was not helpful and caused diarrhea then switched to Nature’s Variety limited ingredient Salmon meal. He has completely quit scratching and the hair on his hind legs is starting to grow back. His skin is also less dry. The problem is that he really smells, he has gas, his breath is awful and his stools are very soft , large and smell awful!!! Now I don’t know if he really has allergies or if it could have been been getting worms.

I have read about raw diets but I just don’t know if I could do it. Maybe if it was already prepared. Dry kibble would be my first choice, but I don’t know if it will help him. This has been a very long process of trial and error and any advice would be wonderful! I have wasted so much dog food!

[Carolyn G]

I’ve tried all sorts of dog shampoos, Johnson’s No More Tears (it’s supposed to be gentle), and now I’m on Head and Shoulders 2 in 1. It seems to be doing the trick in decreasing Gracie’s itching. The first time I tried it she was itch free for days. Now, she itches a little bit, but it’s also partly due to her diet – she has food allergies. For now, I’m staying with H&S. Let me know if you or anyone else thinks this is a good or bad product.

[Susan W]

I have a 8 yr black LAB and 3 yr old Beagle on the CaniSource Grain Free Fish

Generally, when I mention this product, it is unknown to 90% of people I talk to; yet the marketing sounds like product is too good to be true; they claim product is 100% human grade; inspected with the same process as human plants – but then that being said, how good is the human grade meat and inspection ?

Curious
1) why it does not have “complete and balanced” on the box ?
2) why is the rating 4, not 5 on this website ?
3) can I believe the marketing – no more allergies, 100% human grade etc ?
4) should I be concerned with a straight “fish diet”
5) generally, why is this product not popular – it appears over expensive, but you feed less
6) why are the vets so against it ?? –

I do have a lot of questions, but why do I keep feeding it – the results I see in my Lab is why I have continued –

My black Lab has elbow dysplasia and was taking glucosamine;
Since the switch to CaniSource, I have discontinued the glucosamine, and if anything his leg is better; he has a higher energy level on this food (almost like a puppy), and what really stands out is his coat is nice and shinny, where before it was dull and coarse.

After reviewing this website, I am thinking of trying a switch to ACANA,

[Jane E]

This is worth reading I think. http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/landing/food-allergies.html/?st=PPC

[Dog_Obsessed]

The Dog Food Wizard is a tool for dogs with allergies made by Rachel, another user on DFA: http://www.dogfoodwizard.com
You still have to read the ingredients, because sometimes there are errors, but it its a good place to start.

[Sophia C]

my dog has been suffering terribly with allergies for last 6 months. we had blood allergy test done and found that one area to address is food, she is allergic to venison, lamb, and flax. I’m finding it difficult to find a good quality limited ingredient kibble that doesn’t include the flaxseed. Any suggestions of food that might not include these? I’d also like it to be grain free.

TIA
Mom to Bella

[Alea S]

both my rescue dogs are severely allergic to any poultry and grains, rices, pastas and bread. Somewhat less allergic to beef, lamb, rabbit, wild boar, bison. Any suggestions on dog foods? Been feeding Natural Balance venison and now kangaroo since these are what they are least allergic to.

[DogFoodie]

My Golden reacts to fish, among other things, and his ears immediately get yeasty when he eats any fish. My Golden doesn’t have any true allergies, but plenty of food intolerance / hyper-sensitivities. I’d look for a new limited ingredient food that is a different animal protein and binder and is as different as possible from what you’re feeding currently.

[theBCnut]

It’s true that true food allergies are uncommon, but yeasty ears aren’t associated with true food allergies as much as they are with food hypersensitivities, which are an Ig response, just not the same Ig as true allergies, and also aren’t as rare as true food allergies.

[Jane E]

Have you taken your Golden to the vet and had the vet determine if it’s yeast or bacteria? His ears need to be treated effectively . True food allergies are not very common. It’s much more likely that the sweet potato (starch and sugar) is aggravating and feeding the yeasty ears IF that is what he is dealing with… I would look for a food without sweet potatoes and even one without potatoes altogether. Pure Vita has some nice foods,Fromm,Zignature. I would look for a single source protein (you may have success with a novel protein) and of course grain free.

[Karra L]

I have an 11 year old Lhasa that I believe is suffering from food allergies. She was on Eukenuba Adult dry food until a year ago when she had pancreatitis. She spent the weekend at the vet, and came home with Science Diet Low Fat GI Restore. We use the dry formula. She has terrible allergies, and seems to always have a yeasty ear infection. We have taken her the vet more times than I can count, and he said she has environmental allergies ( we live in Florida), and pretty much told me to try Benedryl. We took her to a specialist and had a consult, the treatment and testing was going to be over 6,000.
Lately, her mouth area has become swollen and red and has the smell of yeast as well. She has crusty material in her beard that is coming from her swollen mouth area. She is always scratching and licking her paws.
My gut is telling me that she has a food allergy. I want to switch her food, but am scared since she has had pancreatitis a year ago, and we almost lost her.
If anyone has any suggestions, I would appreciate it! Thank you in advance!!

[Dog_Obsessed]

If the drainage is colored when it comes out, I would recommend taking him to the vet. It could be an infection. If he comes back with a clean bill of health, then you could look at the possibility of allergies and/or changing his food.

[Rachel M]

I would start by trying a limited ingredient diet, I’m fond of Acana singles pork and apple. I also like Orijen Six Fish as a place to start for digs with allergies. Allergy testing is expensive, I’ve found that an elimination diet was a less expensive and more accurate way to determine what my dog could eat.

Check out DogFoodWizard.com for my food selector tool, you can tell it to exclude foods that contain poultry and any other suspected allergens for your girl and it should give you a whole list of foods she can eat.

[Sarah W]

Katy,
The vet assumes it’s a food allergy because that is usually what it is. I feed them Merrick canned and dry and they both have Mike’s 5*’s. I can try a different meat because it is chicken which can usually be a culprit in food allergies. I’m going to try the Wellness turkey or duck. I give Sammy fish oil the vet suggested and he get’s it with breakfast. I have organic certified coconut oil in the house. I’ve never heard of giving that.

[Sarah W]

My vet said it’s not processed with other meat and dog foods. Is that a good choice for my 2 small dogs with allergies? I’m not happy giving my dogs Royal Canin or Science Diet prescription wet and dry food.

[l h]

What an excellent read on this! I too am leery of this food had e-mailed back and forth and kept getting scripted vague answers, such as bone content is not important we use the whole carcass, fermented veggies and fruits are more digestible. Anyway, finally got no response when I said I found it very odd that there was no nutrient panel, and no bone, muscle, organ ratio something disclosed by most every raw company I have dealt with.

As for the fish formula and peoples dogs getting ill, I for one would not feed raw fish, and there are varying opinion, but many who say fish, and pork are two meats to stay away from in raw, dehydrated or frozen for various reasons, bacterial level and other.

Yes their food calculator is way off, but then I have found the same thing with a number of brands… including darwins and vital essential freeze dried. A food with high protein and fat GA … yet food like Stella and Chewys, Primal with added veggies etc and lower fat I need LESS of, but with VE, a richer food, which you would assume you need less of, in fact you need MORE calorically.

Hard to trust so many foods, one of my dogs has major allergies, and GI sensitivities. I had hoped to add BDN into the mix, but am leery as to their lack of forthcoming info that is easily disclosed by other companies.

On their positive side, the whole bacteria and air drying process.. that is a catch 22… any food that is air dried( think people that used to make jerky long ago not in an oven) will risk that. Even frozen raw has bacteria once thawed… you cook the meat over a certain temperature, and BDN having supposedly bone in content, then you risk cooking the bone, and making your pup very ill. Plus a healthy dog, should be able to eat all these forms of raw… no issue and digest.

If BGN ever decides to disclose more info I may try, but I find their responses and secrecy very strange… sad as it does look like a good option, with the fermented veggies and all as a better way for the dog to process and digest, rather than pooping them out the other end. That being said, not fond of the potato in it although they insist only 3% as everyone knows starch and raw meat and bone digest at different rates.

Oh, and lastly for those that feed pre made raw, MOST companies Darwins, S&C, Primal with their added vitamins the vitamin E/tocopherol mix, and any Lecithin of course are most always soy based. So if you have a dog with soy among their allergies like mine, many of these foods are a no go, one of the reasons I had hoped to try BDN no synthesized vitamins, which again, unless a company claims are usa sourced are usually from China.

Yes I have researched and contacted many companies… sigh…

[Akari_32]

I’ve got a dog that hates fish oil. He gets coconut oil instead and he loves it.

Random question, this isn’t the only dog you have, it is?? She doesn’t need any larger than maybe a 12-15 lb bag of food for herself…. Lol

That said, I’ve been testing out Purina Veterinary Diet Joint Mobility on my 14 year old Dachshund. She’s only been on it a couple weeks and I already see a difference. A 6lb bag runs something $25, a 15(?) lb bag is $40-ish, and the 30-whatever lb bag is around $60. I pay half price working in the veterinary field, so I don’t recall the exact numbers, but i do recall the large bag being comparably priced to most other foods. I was skeptical at first, but having tried many other things, and with fish oil causing her terrible stomach problems, I was ready to try just about anything. Your case may be a point in where you might want to try this food. Just a side note, I’ve looked at other vet diets (for joint health and otherwise) and this is the only one I would ever consider feeding, as it has a good amount of animal protein in it. If you have other dogs, a big bag wouldn’t hurt anything at all, provided there are no allergies to any of its ingredients.

[Naturella]

C4C, thanks!

BCnut, no known to us allergies, maybe I should get him tested? His food has duck now, which is sort of new for him, idk if that may be it?

Also, no blood vessels showing, and it has been kind of windy here in GA but his eyes water a lot even inside. Another thing, Bruno and the roommate’s dog lick each other’s eyes all the time, maybe they put too much bacteria on each other? And maybe my wiping irritates his eyes more, though I try to be super gentle. Maybe I should just dab the corners of his eyes with a Q-tip and let it suck the moisture like that?

[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

[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 11 years, 3 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 11 years, 3 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 😉

[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