[meky6ra]

Yes, she has a history of allergies. She was more or less allergy free for two years, then I decided to try the WEF, then BAM! hives! I’m pretty sure that she’s had all of the other ingredients before, if the ingredients list is accurate.

When my husband and I adopted her, we didn’t know anything about dogfood, didn’t know what was in the food that we were feeding her, and struggled with her horrible allergic attacks. Her health was what made us start researching dogfoods. Before we stopped feeding her supermarket brands or Royal Canin (the food our vet recommended) I don’t know if she ate pork or not. Since then, though, she hasn’t had pork and she hasn’t been itchy until now.

I also know that she’s allergic to plastic, which is what the WEF packaging is made of. I thought that maybe it was the plastic, so tried Merrick Pork, which has packaging similar to ones that she’s been ok with in the past. WORSE hives than the WEF were the result. Now she’s back on her Wellness Simple Salmon and Peas. Her hives are going away, so this is why I think that it was the pork.

I also don’t think that a dog has to be on a dog food for very long to be allergic to something. Sometimes a dog develops an allergy over a long period of time, but sometimes not.

[DogFoodie]

So, it sounds like you’ve possibly dealt with other intolerance / allergies that your pup might have had previously. Is that the case? At first, I thought this was his first reaction ever, to anything. It seems like a dog that has any intolerance / allergy, is likely to have more.

I’d probably compare the rest of the ingredients just to be sure. I’d hate to see you rule out pork. Maybe keep it in your back pocket (figuratively) to try again another time just to be sure. My thought was that it could been another ingredient or an environmental allergy…, or depending on the type of reaction, it could’ve been a problem with the food (an ingredient, a chemical, preservative or some sort of chemical reaction).

And, I don’t believe you have to have had prior exposure in order to illicit a response. I have a pup whose food intolerances have me confounded. I believe his food intolerance issues started as a result of vaccinosis as a tiny pup. He’s just turned two and there are very few foods I can feed him. I never know what he’ll react to and I always have a food spreadsheet going.

[pearl i]

Hi,

Our 10 month old puppy has had continuous itchy skin since we brought him home: licks/ sometimes bites the inside of both groin areas, and his front paws, one more than the other. When we got him from the breeder he was IAMS (chicken protein), then has switched to Orijen LBP (chicken protein), and is currently on Acana Pacifica (fish protein.) He started Acana about a month or so ago, and is still itchy. This week was his second time visiting the vet for antibiotics, antihistamines, cream, etc (not prednisone this time, as he was prescribed that in April for the same issue.) Our vet believes it to be a food allergy as per his age, she wants him to continue on Acana Pacifica and give it some more time. However, she mentioned possibly trying venison or rabbit if Acana Pacifica doesn’t work out.

I researched a bit and found Natural Balance LID, it has high reviews in regards to relieving allergies, but the ingredients are listed to average- below average according to this website. I would like to switch him over to another dry food that is highly ranked with a different protein that he has not tried: venison, rabbit.

Anyone have any feedback related to this? Recommendations for a dry food?

Thank you in advance!

[Tina]

Anyone own a Golden Retriever? If so what do you feed yours?
My Golden Retriever Angel is 8 years old and has these problems;
*dry skin
*itchy skin
*red skin
*scabs all over back, chest and tail
*weak hip and joints
*Gains weight really quick
*eats very fast
*Very gassy
She is on Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Senior along with Hill’s Science Diet Large Breed Adult and Wellness Simple Salmon and Potato mixed in. She has only had chicken her entire life. These are the brands that she has tried as a puppy and a adult;
*Eukanuba Puppy
*Purina Pro Plan Puppy
*Purina One Adult
*Hill’s Science Diet Large Breed Adult
*Royal Canine Golden Retriever
*Blue Buffalo Large Breed Senior
*Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Senior
*Wellness Simple Salmon and Potato
None of these I was happy with and none of them did the trick except for Royal Canine (kinda). What can you suggest? I’m open to ANY suggestions, including all life stages dog food. She will eat anything and I mean anything at all. My only stipulation is that I can find the brand in multiple stores. She never gets bored of the same brand or flavor.

Thank You All

[ladyquixote]

Hi all, first want to thank ya’ll for all the great info you supply here. Have been gathering nutrition info for about a year now and have some major budgeting concerns regarding planning cooked meals for my two dogs. Background: Eldest dog, Gracie is 12 y.o./55# (she is much bigger than standard Aussie) and has major yeast and anxiety problems. Found an alt vet last March who prescribed a variety of chinese herb powders which have significantly helped both problems but still a work in progress. Second dog, Tonto is about 3-1/2 (turned up at my front door emaciated last year and ended up part of our family). He weighs about 60 and is experiencing airborne allergies, due for vet check tomorrow for further input. Both are Aussie mixes.

Foodwise, they were on a mix of the 5-star dry no-grain dog foods since beginning of last year, then began adding the usual recommended toppers plus supplements and then transitioned to all-cooked meals over the last three months. It’s quickly begun taking a lot of my time to prepare meals, so this evening I sat down to figure out my monthly cost. Until now I would go out and buy enough food for a week so the cost bite wasn’t so noticeable.

I knew it was getting too costly but the final tally ended up being $15/day for two dogs! Way, way too much. In addition to the food, there are the supplemental herbs and now monthly visits to the alt vet to check progress which should end once both dogs level off with their itchies.

I’ve removed cottage cheese, carrots and rice which make great fillers because both dogs’ itchies worsened. So more meat takes the place.

My question to you is this, if I switch back to at least level 4-star dry dog food and toppers what would you suggest would be the right ratio between the both?

Gracie’s daily calorie target: 1037, Tonto’s daily calorie target: 1280
Here is a sample 1-day meal divided into two meals for Gracie:
— Chicken Liver pate, (chicken liver smothered then pureed): 2 TBSP 47 Cal
— Chicken Hearts, (lightly smothered then chopped fine): 1-1/2C 402 Cal
— Turkey, Ground; 93% Lean: 1-1/4C 425 Cal
— Mixed Veggies, 1 Cup Cooked then pureed: 40 Cal
— Pumpkin, Canned; 2 TBSP: 13 Cal
— Berries, 1/2 C: 36 Cal
— Alternate Every Day: Either 1-Egg or 1/2 tin Sardines in Water: 65-72 Cal
— Supplements include, Probiotics, 1/2 tsp finely ground eggshells, 1-multi, fish oil or coconut oil.

I’d be interested in your input as well as hearing what your average cost per day is for two medium sized dogs! Thanks so much.

[Jenna]

Hi Paige

There has been some research done into protein sources that are similar (chicken and turkey eg) that suggest that there may be a connection between sensitivities to both. However without trying, you won’t know. Many times food intolerance runs concurrent to inhalant and environmental allergies, and often the symptoms are the same. You are very limited in what is available based on your criteria, so I might give a single source protein turkey or duck and option, and I might not rule out grain, rather choose one that has had limited exposure like Oatmeal etc. I use the GO! Sensitivity + Shine. Are you sure that chicken and Salmon is out, as many foods using those protein sources contain many other carbs that contain protein such as alfalfa, flax, carrots, eggs, etc.? Is home cooking an option? You could have a nutritionist formulate something, and this could work?

[Harpers Mom]

Merrick is a rich food so it is common for dogs to have runny poos if they aren’t used to something like that. I would look for a food maybe slightly lower protein, but definitely get off Science diet, not a good food. I’m not too familiar with weurva, but others on here are. Why type of skin problems do they have (allergies, dander, etc)?

[Melissaandcrew]

What type of skin issue do they have? Schnauzers are not a high skin issue breed do I surprised yoj h as ve more than one with food allergies?

[Susan]

With food allergies dogs can have hive like lumps over their body, red itchy skin & diarrhea & other symtoms, it doesnt happen straight after eating, can take a couple of days for the reaction to show, maybe he needs his fur trimmed as summer is coming up if ur in America..vets normally have real good shampoos & conditioners for dry skin, I found shampoos & matching conditioner with oatmeal have helped my boys skin..

[Susan]

Hi, Omayra has ur little man been fleaed? as that is probably causing his itch, a nice bath & a good flea product like frontline should keep the fleas away Frontline make a really good spray, I dont know if it can be used on pups u’d have to check..food allergies are rare especially a 3month old pup, only around 5% of dogs will suffer food allergies, some may be intolarant to certain foods, & have food intolarences also look at the Fat% on ur treats alot of treats are high in fat & you can only give a few treats a day as they can cause diarrhea & muchy poo.. its best to use ur dogs daily kibble (Blue Buffalo) as a treat when training…..make sure you keep up with his worming….sounds like u are both sharing ur little boy so make sure that you both arent giving treats at different times & just use some of his kibble as a treat…
Someone else will have to help with the Raw as my boy is on kibble & home cooked chicken & pumkin..sounds like ur little boy has a loving caring home..

[Omayra R]

Hello all.

My sister adopted a puppy last month and he is the first dog to be our family member. He will be 3 months old tomorrow (June 8th).

We were told to feed him dry mixed with wet 4 times a day, up until July 19th. After that, 3 times a day dry.

His dry is the Blue Buffalo holistic life protection brand, and his wet is Wellness for puppies. For training treats we have Organix peanut butter cookies and Fruitables pumpkin and apple flavor.

Now his poop is finally coming out solid, but at the end it’s a little mushy. From my understanding, poop must be solid and not that smelly. At first he was pooping diarrhea, but that was before he got his deworming shot. After the shot, no more diarrhea but would like it his poop to be more solid and a tad bit smelly. This morning he pooped a lot! He hasn’t pooped since. I asked my sister how often does he poop now and she hasn’t been paying attention, so bare with me. As I don’t live with my family and the dog. I stay over the weekends to watch over him. Since I have a more flexible schedule, I can take him to the vet etc.

I notice after he eats, he gets itchy. I’m wondering if he has any food allergies? I know this mix is prone to skin sensitivity. I want that itching to stop. Also read that tear stains are more proned to his food, not breed. We clean his eyes often but would to see that decrease. It’s not excessive though.

Can anyone here suggest me a new diet, please? I’m looking into the raw brand route but i’m not sure how many times a day with these foods. Sorry, this all so new to me.

I’m also in the process of looking for a well reputable holistic vet. I’m just do terrified of all the horror stories with vets and diets I’ve been reading online.

We want the very best for our little guy.

Thank you 🙂

[Susan]

Yes, Shasta 220 is right.. treating the outside is just as importatnt with dry itchy skin, you need a real good medicated shampoo that kills bacteria (yeast) I use Medicated Malaseb shampoo & bath every 5-7 days as soon as Patch starts his scratching its bath time…His feet are real bad at the moment cause we are having heaps of rain so I fill a shallow bath & put a couple of caps of Detol Antiseptic lotion in water & soak his feet they smell awful like corn, you can smell him when he sits next to me like a bad yeasty bread shop a real yukky yeasty smell, after I soaked his feet, then I washed his feet in some Medicated Malaseb shampoo the reddness has gone & he has stopped licking… so we’ll sleep tonight..try to get a medicated shampoo that kills bacteria of the skin.. with food low carbs no potatoes, sweet potatoes, any foods that converts to sugar are NO good as they make yeast… scratching can start the bacteria breeding & spreading, so bath weekly…. If you cant find Malaseb look for Paws (Pure Animal Wellbeing) Nutriderm Replenishing Shampoo & Conditioner for dry itchy skin.. I bath in the Malaseb shampoo then the Paws Conditioner, the conditioner u leave on their skin to moisturise & soften the skin..u’ll need to do this routine probably for the rest of his life even though they start to look real good & stop scratching you can then maybe bath fornightly, in winter Patches itch slows down, then when summer is back so is his seasonal allergies..

[Kay G]

I am currently feeding Fromm GF dry & rotate the proteins. I also had in raw toppers once or twice a day. I have 3 Springers and 1 Cavalier. My oldest Springer (7) has numerous health issues which I have been told are immune related, one being bad allergies/yeast. He has had double ACL surgery, sees a chiropractor regularly and on supplements for his joints, immune system etc. but he just doesn’t seem “right”. After doing research, Nature’s Logic was suggested to me because it does not have the starchy carbs that feeds the yeast (potatoes, peas etc.) that is in the Fromm food. My only concern is the millet in the Nature’s Logic. I bought a bag of Chicken to try, so we will see how he handles it. I am also leaning toward switching the other three dogs over to Nature’s Logic mainly because it is easier for me to feed all four dogs the same thing….. does anyone have feed back on this they could share with me?

[Akari_32]

You guys may recall, my moms dog, Bentley, is always itchy. Right now, his back half is almost completely bald, and his skin is bright red. No matter what we do, what foods he’s on, what protein and carb sources the food has or doesn’t have, fleas or no fleas (obviously we strive for no fleas, but we have some sort of freakish super fleas around here, and he’s so small he’s like a flea magnet in the grass). It just doesn’t matter. We yell at him for scratch so much that he actually goes and hides so he can scratch. Crafty little terrier… Lol

He also smells. Doesn’t matter of he just had a bath or not. He’s stinky. I think it’s a yeast thing?

I’m 99% sure most of it has to do with seasonal allergies, as he gets much better in the winter, and almost all his hair grows back by the time is warms up again for spring.

I always hear of these stories of these dogs that are doing terrible on any kibble, no matter what kind it is, and then they are put on raw and all their problems go away, or are greatly reduced to the point where they can actually be dogs again.

Does anyone have tips on how I can do an extremely cheap raw diet? And is it cheaper to go with a RMB base and not supplement calcium, or to do mostly muscle meat and supplement the calcium, etc associated with bones? Money is defiantly an issue, but we can’t have this freakish Chinese crested/poodle/terrier Frankenstein love child looking thing. There is a Save-A-Lot near the house, which I know would help with the cost, but I’m not sure the quality of their meats. We usually shop at Publix or SAMs Club for meat, depending on what we need. We also have Winn Dixie. I know they do great deals on meat, as well.

He’s about 8 pounds, very active (so fat isn’t too much of a problem), and loves him a good raw bone (I’ve given him chicken necks, pig knuckles, a few others before).

And back on the supplement thing again, is it possible to feed raw with no supplements? What supplements are some cost effective ones?

I’d love to hear of some of your recipes and weekly meal plans and such, as well 🙂

[Bobby dog]

Hi Kritterlady:
The only suggestion I have for enticing your dog to eat coco oil is trying to melt it and see if he will lick it out of his bowl.

Only one of my cats will eat coco oil in his food, but it can’t be mixed completely in (or melted) because he won’t touch it. I have to hide a small solid amount in his food. The other cats will not touch their food if something is hiding or mixed into it. Sometimes they eat it alone in solid form or melted, when all else fails I just rub it onto their fur. My dog absolutely loves it no matter what and if I don’t watch him he will lick it off the cats fur! lol

Sometimes added supplements don’t agree with our pets and he may also be telling you this by not eating it.

As for the honey I have never had a pet with seasonal allergies, but definately would try either local raw honey or local bee pollen if they did. Since honey doesn’t interest him, I would look into bee pollen. I would imagine it is easier to administer. Here’s a few links with more info on bee pollen and honey. Good luck!

/forums/topic/bee-pollen/

http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/10_9/features/Bee-Honey-Products-Help-Canines_15967-1.html

http://ottawavalleydogwhisperer.blogspot.ca/2014/01/honey-good-for-dogs-cats-honey-is.html

[Tina]

Anyone own a Golden Retriever? If so what do you feed yours? My Golden Retriever Angel is 8 years old and has these problems;
*dry skin
*itchy skin
*red skin
*weak hip and joints (she is on cohesion for this)
*sometimes over weight
*eats very fast
She is on Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Senior along with other small bags of stuff mixed in. She has only had chicken her entire life and as a younger puppy/adult was on;
*Eukanuba Puppy
*Purina Pro Plan Puppy
*Purina One Adult
*Hill’s Science Diet Large Breed Adult
*Royal Canine Golden Retriever
*Blue Buffalo Large Breed Senior
*Nutro Natural Choice Large Breed Senior
None of these I was happy with and none of them did the trick except for Royal Canine (kinda). What can you suggest? I’m open to ANY suggestions, including all life stages dog food. My only thing is that I need it to be inexpensive, not cheap but not like $80 for a 24lb bag.

[Shasta220]

I only just skimmed through the posts, so I might be a replaying record – but if you’re not able to track a food suspect, it might be environmental allergies. I heard you mention mosquitoes – that’s very possible, also some dogs are sensitive to grass, pollen, etc.

Maybe try adding a little spoonful of raw organic LOCAL honey to his food daily and see if that eventually helps. I’ve heard of honey working miracles on itchy allergy dogs. If you want a “quick fix”, then you could try Benadryl (or the equivalent for dogs, I’m assuming you can find allergy tabs)

[ab1028]

I do rotate foods. Right now he is eating Orijen adult, and he has also eaten Acana Pacific, Wild Prairie, Grasslands, and Now! Fresh. I am wondering if it is seasonal allergies as well. There is also a strong possibility that he is getting bitten from mosquitoes. During the winter, we were supplementing his food with fish oil and he was definitely not as itchy. Not perfect, but not bad either.

Thank you so much for the links!

[Dori]

Hi Serena. I don’t feed any kibble but definitely canned would be better. Kibble food generally has a lot of different ingredients in them similar to most kibble foods including whatever binder they are using to keep the kibble in tact. Your dog could still have issues with canned food depending on what her ingredient intolerances are but it’s easier to keep track of ingredients and intolerances. A lot of dogs with allergies and intolerances do better on canned, imo, than kibble.

When I first started doing an elimination test with Katie, the first ingredient was chicken. Then discovered that she is badly intolerant of all fowl. It’s not the same with red meats. Beef, Bison, Kangaroo, Rabbit, Goat, Lamb, Vennison will have completely different reactions from each other. Katie cannot eat Lamb or Goat but she does fine with all the others so far anyway.

If you’re going to switch to canned food please try to make sure that the cans themselves are BHA free, No Carragean (sp?) and also look for the least possible ingredients made from human food ingredients. My rule is that if I can’t pronounce or would not eat it myself then my dogs don’t eat it either. Another way you can feed your dog is to try rotating with freeze dried foods. Closer to raw, but not exactly. There again, keep in mind what the ingredients are (human grade) and what he may have an issue with. I’ve had my hands full with Katie and her allergies and intolerances since I got her at 9 weeks old. She’ll be 5 years old on 6/24/14. It’s been a challenge and she and I have suffered through it. She always comes up with something she once ate that can no longer tolerate. Some of her latest have been alfalfa in any form and kelp in any form. So you just have to keep trying.

Oh, with the canned or any food, just cause it says Beef doesn’t mean that they haven’t added somewhere in the ingredient list chicken fat or lamb or some other protein so please please please read all the ingredients. Good Luck. Sorry it took me so long to respond. I’ve been busy with my older gal Hannah, almost 15 year old Maltese who was finally diagnosed yesterday with bladder cancer so, understandably I’m in denial and totally freaked out. My best to you and your dog.

[Darenka]

While I do a rotational diet switching between dog foods, everyone in my house gets the same dog food from 6 month old to 15-year senior. It makes my life easier and unless there is a specific reason (allergies, kidney, liver disease or such) there is little compelling reason to keep numerous bags of dog food around–everyone benefits from good protein no matter what the age. Blood work on seniors is perfect even with proteins in the 30%+ category. They just get fed less to make up for a more sedate pace. Does the Foxhound get fed prior to exercise or gulp his food? If the throwing up continues, talk to your vet and rule out an illness.

[neezerfan]

My last dog had food allergies and we fed her only zd until she stopped having symptoms. Then we tried one food at a time for a few weeks to see if it caused symptoms. If it did, we started the whole process over again until we found a food that worked. When I used it about 6-10 years ago it did not have chicken in it. It had hydrolysed protein so it would not trigger allergies.

[Bobby dog]

Hi ab1028:
I give unrefined organic coconut oil internally and also use it externally for both my dog and cats. Initially I used it to help alleviate and improve some skin conditions both had. Now I use it for maintenance to keep their skin and coat healthy and moisturized; I really like the results. I feed it a few times a week and apply externally to one cat that has dry skin patches.

The most improvement in their skin and coats came from changing and improving their diets. You wrote that you tried to limit food. One suggestion I have for you is to try dog foods with different proteins (and starches if you feed kibble) to see if it may be a protein (meat or plant source) that does not agree with your dog. Keep the ingredient lists of each food and compare them if you observe a reaction to determine if they contain common ingredients that may be the culprit.

Another thing to consider is maybe your pup has seasonal allergies. I have never had a pet that suffered from this, but there are several posters on DFA that do. If allergies were an issue I would consider feeding local bee pollen or local honey to my pet. Here’s a link to a DFA forum on the subject and also a few articles about bee pollen and honey:

/forums/topic/bee-pollen/

http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/10_9/features/Bee-Honey-Products-Help-Canines_15967-1.html

http://ottawavalleydogwhisperer.blogspot.ca/2014/01/honey-good-for-dogs-cats-honey-is.html

Here’s some links to articles about coco oil you may find helpful, good luck!

http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/the-health-benefits-of-coconut-oil/

http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/16_11/features/alternative-treatments-updated_20861-1.html?pg=3

http://ottawavalleydogwhisperer.blogspot.com/2012/02/coconut-oil-is-good-for-your-dogs.html

[Happy Dog]

Yes the vet gave some anti-histamine pills. When its really bad, I give the dog 1 pill and he’s fine (& very sleepy). But once he’s off it, its scratchy-scratch.

I feel the same about the oatmeal shampoo. It worked great with my previous Chi (passed last year at 14yr), made her all fluffy and soft feeling, smells great!
On Happy (the JRT-CHI mix), it seems to have the opposite effect – makes his fur dry and smells more ‘dog’ after 1-2 days of the bath.

Just wondering:

Canned vs Kibble. Canned is better (thanks for the Mercola link to Dr Karen Becker). Would canned food be less likely to cause allergies although it may have a similar ingredient make up as the kibble? I have been feeding grain free kibble with the exception of the Acana & Lamb. Could it be possible that the way kibble is processed just isn’t very good on the whole for dog with allergies, regardless if it is grain free or grain inclusive?

And would an allergy to a certain protein mean the dog would be predisposed to be allergic to similar proteins for example:
Chicken -> Duck, Turkey (all birds?)
Beef -> Bison, Kangaroo, Lamb (all red meats?)

I ordered the Mercola Probiotics. Hopefully some probiotics would help.

[Dori]

Hi Serena. One of my dogs has a lot of food intolerances as well as environmental allergies. Definitely going grain free will help. Also try to avoid foods with corn, soy, white potatoes and too many peas. As far as the shampoo is concerned, notwithstanding the fact that oatmeal shampoos are typically recommended for itchy dry skin, my girl does much worse when shampooed with an oatmeal shampoo. I’ve tested this out with her. I use dog shampoos for sensitive dogs, usually soap free are more gentle.

[Happy Dog]

Thanks for the replies.

Yes, I did go to the Vet. The 1st vet ruled out any issues. Same with the 2nd vet. They felt it’s either food or environmental allergies or both.

You’re right, the lamb and apple has oats in it. I decided to stop the lamb kibble and get back on 6fish. The next time, will probably rotate on the canned formulas..at least I can just get a can to try instead of committing to a bag of kibble.

[Shasta220]

I’m agreeing with Amy. Maybe try an elimination diet…if you’re switching Kibbles, try to make a list of identical and different ingredients and which kibble he did good or bad on.

There’s that possibility of environmental allergies as well. I think you can get allergy pills for dogs, so you might try that if you’re pretty sure it’s not food related. Try giving raw local honey daily, too. I know many people who swear by it for theirs and their dogs’ allergies.

Only way to see if the shampoo does it is by ditching it and seeing if that makes any difference. My lab is occasionally itchy, so I use a medicated shampoo (I can’t remember the name of mine, but Malaseb is very similar I think).

You also might try another shampoo: Shea Moisture African Black Soap shampoo. It’s not designed for dogs, but it is an organic shampoo that has ingredients to help dandruff and itching. I use it myself and we loooooove it. (You can prob find it online, but it’s usually at Walmart, Target, and Walgreens for about 10$)

Shampoos usually won’t fix a problem though, just mask it. Get a skin scraping done to make sure it isn’t something like mange. Best wishes and hopefully you can get through this!

[LexiDog]

Have you had him to the vet to be checked? When my dog was itchy, I took her to the vet and he did a skin scraping on one of the itchy spots to check for mange. The skin scraping didn’t show any signs of mites. Even then she was still treated for Sarcoptic mange to rule that out because the mites can rarely be seen under the microscope. I treated her with Revoluiton and still saw no difference. So it was probably not Sarcoptic mange. Then you have to look at environmental allergies and food allergies.

The one thing that stands out is that he started getting itchy again when you added the Acana Lamb & Apple. If it is the old formula (I don’t think the new one is available for purchase yet) it is grain inclusive. So it could possibly be due to the grains. One way to find out if he is sensitive to one type of food, you could do an elimination diet. I personally have not done this, but others on here have. So they will be more helpful with that.

As you will find out that some types of foods are better than others. For example, canned is better than kibble. Homemade raw is better than canned and so on… You can check out Dr. Karen Becker’s rankings at http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2010/07/21/13-pet-foods-ranked-from-great-to-disastrous.aspx

[Happy Dog]

Glad to have found this site, it’s a wealth of information.

Needing some advice for my dog I adopted from the local shelter last August.
He came with the itches, pink/red patch on his belly, under his chin, face, around the eyes etc. Fur was really coarse yet greasy to touch. Chews his paws till it bleeds.

The fosterer recommended that we put him on a fish kibble. They weren’t sure what he was allergic to but it may have been chicken. So we put him on Wellness Simple –Salmon & Potato. Since then he has gone through:

Wellness Simple
Wellness Core Ocean
Acana Pacifica
THK Zeal
Orijen 6Fish

Topper: Fish 4 Dogs Salmon or Trout Mousse. Cooked salmon or any other fish once a week.

He was on Orjen 6 Fish till recently. We had him on through 3 bags, and he gets 1/3 cup + 1 /4 pack of Fish4Dogs Fish Mousse per meal. Twice a day.
He actually did quite well on it, less itchy, and started putting on weight. Still chews his paws though, I think he may have some allergies to grass. He was also getting quite chunky.

I thought I should started rotating him on different protein so he can eventually get some variety in his diet and went for Acana Lamb and Apple.
Before I committed to the Acana Lamb & Apple, I mixed a can of lamb and tripe to his kibble and he ate fine.

He’s been on it for 2 weeks. I mix the Acana Lamb & Apple (1/4 cup) with the Orijen 6Fish (1/4 cup). I had the kibble serving reduced as he was putting on weight.
I also switched to an oatmeal shampoo.

He seems to be worse now. Scratches more, the dry coarse fur is coming back, pink around the eyes, nose and under his arms, paws. One ear seems to be red inside, the other is fine (is it normal to have 1 inflamed ear instead of both?). Smells more ‘dog’.

So should I ditch the kibble? Or could it be the shampoo?

I was hoping he could eat more than just fish based food. I’d like to have him on a mix of kibble, canned food and homecooked meals 2x to 3x a week. Raw – I can get Primal, Addiction and some THK.

He didn’t do too well on THK zeal though. Went through 2 packs of the Zeal. He was pooping 4x a day (poop had stalks and bits of stuff that.. doesn’t seem digested), ate lots of grass (grazing like a cow), and was losing weight that’s why I put him on 6Fish. I though he needed more protein.

Any suggestions? I could go back to 6Fish, or I could go with another fish kibble like Core Ocean?

[Nancy A]

Hello, We have a mini long-haired Doxie mix (with what, we wish we knew!) who has food protein allergies, and a long-haired Chihuahua mix (again, the mix is a mystery) who has had frequent bouts of pancreatitis (he has been stable for quite awhile now). We prepare the food for our allergic dog using a product called BalanceIT.
https://secure.balanceit.com/
BalanceIT was created by a vet (formerly on the UC Davis faculty) and products include supplements for making homemade food as well as a product that you simply add to a protein source (if vegetarian, either nuts or tofu) and gives you the recipe. I’ve recommended it three times on this forum today alone (I swear I’m not an employee, it just works for us). Good luck–when our little guy ends up in the hospital my husband thinks I need a psychiatrist (I probably do).

[Nancy A]

Hello, We have a mini long-haired Doxie mix (with what, we wish we knew!), who also scratched himself silly. We learned from the doggie dermatologist that food allergies rarely respond to steroids (the “P” in Temaril-P is prednisone). His scratching did not respond to steroids, which indicated a food allergy. His food had just about every common allergen (see article on this site regarding allergies). We switched him to a buffalo-based canned food (he hated it) because it was unlikely he had been exposed to that protein (he has a tender tummy and many of the novel proteins and hypoallergenic foods are higher in fat). It took about 2 weeks, but his licking stopped and he was cone free! After 6 months we were told we could add one of the proteins contained in his previous food. Because he loves, loves, loves chicken, I poured some homemade chicken broth on this food. Within about 24 hours, he was attacking his body again. He is now on an all-beef diet, which is hard to find because it seems like there is some kind of chicken in every food or it is too high in fat… sigh.

If you find that it is a food allergy–and you can figure out the offending ingredient–you may want to consider a product called BalanceIT. BalanceIT was designed by a vet (formerly on the UC Davis faculty) and products include supplements for making homemade food as well as a product that you simply add to meat if you want to make homemade food. I understand from our vets, as well as a recent peer-reviewed study, that it is extremely risky to make food for your dog without the proper supplementation:
http://news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=10666

With vigilance and a good plan to rule out problems, you will figure it out. Hope this helps. Good luck.

[GizmoMom]

I believe food is a factor in ear problem. Some dogs are allergic to chicken. Does your dog have other issues that might indicate allergies?

[jane c]

a raw mix -no potato – chicken OR beef with fruit/veg/eggs/alfafa/kelp etc. but she really does not like it.
I am considering going back to kibble-Horizon Legacy.
Maybe because I have to dispose of raw when she leaves it…
DFA says “10% of allergies are food related”
so food is not a huge factor in the ear problem?

[GizmoMom]

What are you currently feeding?
Best food for dogs with ear problems are grain-free and starch-free.

Avoid food with grains, potatoes, and sweet potatoes.

Allergies can also cause ear issues. Try to figure out which food your dog reacts to.

[Angela R]

Can anyone help me decide what is the best food for my English Bulldog – we live in a hot and humid climate and although she did really well on the Royal Canin English Bulldog food, this is not available in my new country of residence – for ease I changed to the French Bulldog, but this has more fat content and she picked up weight, after trying various options including K9, Orijen and Acana – non of which she either liked or just gave her an upset tummy, we ended up with the Royal Canin Obesity from the vet and she has lost weight, and we are now managing her weight with difficulty. I did not want to keep her on a medicated diet and the vet suggested due to bone issues that I should mix it with the Royal Canin Mobility diet – unfortunately during this time on both of the vet products she was itching, red and starting licking her paws that it drove us all crazy. I understand that it could be allergies from outside factors, but she really has never been quite as bad – I therefore decided to change her again (always changing her diet over time…) and decided on the Zignature brand of dog food which is supposed to be allergy free. Although she loves this food – and has stopped licking as badly her face and paws are still quite red but she is definitely picking up weight again as the fat content is higher again, but my biggest concern is the amount of water she is now drinking on this food, and the amount of poops she is having (she used to eat and almost go immediately – now it is 3 to 4 times a day and sometimes at night which she never did before) and she has a serious gas problem which she also never suffered before and it is causing her some distress… I have just bathed her and noticed some little red spots appearing on her tummy – she is full of “beans” and happy and as active as she can be in this heat and humidity but she seems uncomfortable and does not seem to be able to relax as much as she did before… I really am not sure that this new food is doing her any good and now trying to research alternative options but I just don’t know where to turn? Any help or suggestions would be much appreciated. I cannot do raw as with the cost of meat here is ridiculous and with the heat and humidity – I just dont trust it and also she was not that keen on the K9 anyway! We can’t get everything here but the latest one on my agenda is the Pronature? Thoughts?

[Mike Sagman]

I can understand your frustration with some of the topics that have been created by other members.

However, these forums were never intended to limit any discussion to “the Editor’s Choice foods” as you suggest. The only restriction here is that one must be a member to participate.

And although ideally it would be nice if members would stick to subjects related to which dog foods they consider to be the best, we also recognize the need for many pet owners to introduce additional topics that are important to them and their pets.

So, these discussions frequently include topics like cancer, allergies, kidney problems, cost savings and (yes) even dog treats. The only time we feel compelled to delete threads is when they have nothing to do with dogs.

And of course, as a member, it’s always your choice to select which ones you choose to read or reply to.

[Dori]

Hi Brenda. I’m not sure if you would feed commercial raw, but Vital Essentials Raw and also Natures Variety Instinct Raw are both great. I have three toy dogs, a Maltese that will be 15 years old in September and weighs around 7.5 lbs, and a 4 1/2 year old Maltipoo (has tons of allergies/intolerances to foods and also environmental allergies) and weighs 6 lbs. and I also have a 4 1/2 year old Yorkipoo that weighs 5 lbs.. They all do really well on both these foods including Katie, my allergy girl. Both brands make the raw food in what would be sort of a kibble like size (bites) so you can just scoop the amount you want into the bowl, wait about 10 minutes and feed. The patties are more cost efficient but you, as I, aren’t concerned about the cost. For me it’s because my dogs are so small (they eat 1/4 cup twice a day) that the cost is not prohibitive. I’m assuming that would be the same for you. Anyway, hope I’ve helped. I don’t feed any kibble because it’s just too difficult to find anything that Katie can tolerate. She came to be at 9 weeks old with food issues and I have not found any kibble that she can deal with so I gave up. Dori

[Nicole K]

I have been battling bad cases of diarrhea in my border collie pup since we got her. We’ve tried every quality food from TOW, BB, Wellness, and Acana. Nothing seemed to work. After ruling out food allergies, Maci was diagnosed with fiber responsive diarrhea and prescribed Royal Canin Gastro. Well….EVERYTHING cleared up and for the first time, our dog (now 11 months old) is having regular potty – no fountain anymore! However, I am not a fan of the ingredients! Has anyone tried anything else that is easily digestible, low fat, and high fiber that isn’t junk? I run her in agility and I’d love to have a quality dog food in her system that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg for chicken bi-product. Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated! Thanks!

[Susan]

With the Elimination diet you must only give the 1 food for at least 2 weeks, my vet said 1 month, but I saw Patches reaction within 2-3 days after giving sweet potatoes, you cannot give any ather foods, nothing else, no treats, no oils nothing, then if ur dog isnt scratching or has diarrhea then you add another food like rice or I added pumkin, its very hard & takes time, Ive stopped at the Chicken, pumkin, boiled egg, bannana, But if u can afford the Holistic Select this is an excellent kibble the Anchovy, Sardine & Salmon, meal for scratching & itchy skin, its the best seller at our Pet Barn with the itchy dogs, I cant use that flavour as my boy has Pancreatitis so Ive got Patch on the Senior, Holistic Select cause the fat is low 10%..then when his itch clears up, Holistic Select has Duck Meal, Lamb & Rice meal & Chicken & rice they also have a grainfree turkey & lentils. you can rotate feeds so when 1 bag has finished buy him a new flavour & see how he goes the Duck kibble is just duck as the protein so is the lamb meal so if ur dog does have any food allergies but its rare for dogs to have food allergis only 5% of dogs, but stay away from the high carbs potatoe, sweet potato, rice is OK its a low Gi carb its a good carb.. it gets complacated, so Ive been just sticking with the Holistic Select & Patches Vet Pescription kibble as he has a few health problems & he’s been doing good with his skin, stomach & bowels, I dont want to push it…Good-Luck hope Chance is looking beautiful & shinning in a month, you watch his fur after being on a good premium food..he’ll shine…

[Susan]

Hi, what foods do you feed Chance, I put Patch on an elimination diet about 2 months ago cause of his itchy skin & red sore paws inbetween his toes & itchy ears… Patch has seasonal allergies around Summer & Autumn at his worst, when I started doing Patches elimination diet he was doing good then as soon as I added sweet potato with his boiled chicken breast 2 days later his ears started to itch & I had to use his Dermotic ear drops, excellent product clears his ears up straight away, so I stopped the sweet potato & he stop ripping at his ears.. Ive read you need to choose foods with low Gi carbs for itchy skin problems helps to keep the sugar levels constant…stay away from kibbles with potatos, sweet potatos, peas found in a few grain free kibbles…Have you tried a good fish based kibble…Holistic Select has Anchovy Sardines & Salmon meal, this kibble helped my friend Staffy, he had terrible red itchy skin when he was 9months old, she tried vet pescription diet kibble, then she tried the Wellness complete health the whitefish with sweet potato recipe & it didnt help, then she tried the Holistic Select Anchovy,Sardines & Salmon meal & now Bronson has beautiful itch free skin, she also mixes a couple of tin sardines in spring water with his kibble..but not all dogs are the same, you can only try & see if you see any change… look for a low carb diet with fish as the protein & see if things improve…

[Akari_32]

Not sure what his allergies are to, but NutriSource Super Performance is extremely high calorie (529 per cup, I want to say?). It is chicken and grain based, though. NutriSource also makes grain free foods that have various protein sources, that are also high calorie (just not quite as high).

When I needed to get weight on my 11 year old lab mix, I used Wellness CORE puppy with really great results.

[Dru N]

I was told my American Bulldog had food allergies, and I tried a million different kinds of foods. It turned out he has some food allergies but worse skin allergies. We bathe him every so often (once a month or so) in Dr. Bronner’s and while the soap is on, we rub in Neem Oil and while Neem oil is stinky, it completely clears up his skin allergies. In a day or less after a breakout and a bath, his fur is super soft and all the redness goes away.

[Dru N]

My 9 year old American Bulldog has a inoperable tumor and has been on prednisone for the past year. His appetite is extreme. We have been feeding him FreshPet Select for about a year now. He also gets a lot of snacks. He is still losing weight and rather than increase the FreshPet which is expensive, we would like to give him a high calorie dry food in addition to the FreshPet to keep his weight up.

He should be about 120 lbs. He’s lower than that now, probably closed to 105 to 110. The last time we tried to give him Blue Buffalo he got really bad gas. He also has a lot of skin allergies. Do you have any suggestions on a dry food that would be good?

[goldie d]

My dog has very bad allergies to poultry and fish also has pancreas issues so she needs food that is lower in protein and fat. 24% protein or lower 12% fat or lower. Any help would be much appreciated.

I will not do raw food.

[Jessica B]

So I had my dog Cinnamon allergy tested. In addition to being allergic to pretty much every kind of grass out there and every kind of tree and dust, she’s also pretty allergic to green peas, eggs, sweet potato, and peanuts. She’s been eating Blue Freedom Grain Free but there’s something in it that she’s allergic to (can’t remember what it is off the top off my head which ingredient it is) so I need to switch her to something else. Honestly, I am overwhelmed trying to find the right food for her–I want something that’s of comparable (or better) quality, but it seems like every time I find something that doesn’t have one thing in it, it has something else in it. Anyone know of any place that has a table of ingredients in various dog foods that I could reference? Or just know off the top of their head? 😉

Thank you so much!

[Megan S]

My 4 year old Papillon, Bandit, has had recurrent problems with crystals (struvite) in his urine for the past nearly two years and had to have surgery to remove bladder stones a year ago. The two or three times a culture has been done the crystals that have been found were not bacterial based although I do think he’s had some urinary infections at times as well, he’s been on several rounds of antibiotics over this time frame. Anyway, after the surgery a few months later x rays showed small stones again beginning to form so I started him on Solid Gold’s berry blend twice a day over his Wellness CORE Oceanfish food. After about 6 weeks we did another x ray and the stones appeared to be dissolved so I thought the problem was solved. Recent urinalysis have shown he again has crystals in his urine however… though again not bacterial in nature according to the culture. Because of this my vet said it might be time to try the Science Diet C/D food….she knows I’ve been reluctant to do this and she was reluctant as well. In addition to my loathing of all things Science Diet Bandit also has a long list of food allergies (corn, chicken, eggs, rice, and wheat) of which two are in this food (chicken and corn). There has been a very short list of foods I’ve found that do not have these things in them, and I have worked hard for four years to get his allergies under control. I just didn’t feel like I had any choice but to try this, I can’t put him through surgery for stones repeatedly…my question is does anyone know of any better quality foods that are alternatives to Science Diet’s C/D for this problem? I can’t be the only one who has a dog with allergies that this is an issue for but I haven’t had much luck with my research thus far… There’s got to be some combination of nutrition levels I need to look for that C/D has that helps this specific issue…

Thanks in advance for any help anyone can give me!

[USA]

Hi Leslie

Would you consider making your Jack a homemade diet? If he has no food allergies or intolerances a homemade diet using chicken, beef, turkey, fish, pork and other meats would be beneficial for your pup. You would use lean meats, 10% fat or less. Lightly cook the meats. Add about 20% non-starchy pureed veggies and fruits. Occasionally add some organs and sardines.

Supplement with Omega 3 oils, digestive enzymes, probiotics and a vitamin mineral mix like Steve Brown’s See Spot Live Longer Dinner Mixes and you have the basics of an economical, highly nutritious, species appropriate low carb diet that would help your precious pup do the best he can!! Turmeric is an excellent supplement for dogs with cancer. Slight adjustments to the diet with fiber would depend on the needs of your dog.

This is not that hard to learn and there are plenty of people here to help you along the way! I wish you and your pup the BEST!!!

[Susan]

Its just that you say that when ur dog was 5months he was diagnosed with Dermodectic mange now he’s 1yr old, it should be all cleared up by now, unless the treatmant didnt work properly.. Big Dog Rescue rescues Dogs from pounds that have Mange & within 3 weeks you see a big improvement with their skin, you could send a msg to Mina at Big Dog Rescue on F/B & ask her what treatment she uses for the pound dogs that have had mange.. I know she just feeds them Royal Canin kibble as it gets donated to big dog rescue by R/C, so food doesnt seem to make a difference with mange as its mites that are living on the dogs body..
I’d have another skin scraping & see if the mites are still there….or maybe ur dog has another problem with his skin, I feed Patch vet prescription diet Eukanuba Intestinal cause he has Pancreatitis & IBD & that has corn in it & his skin cleared up when he was put on the Eukanuba Intestinal..weird I know corn is suppost to bad, I have also started a elimination diet 2 months ago & realised that sweet potatos & potato made him itch, then vet said that Patch has seasonal allergies from pollens grasses etc… & was put on an Anthistimine & hydrocortisone cream, I just use my cortisone cream, as soon as I see him starting to scratch, I put the cream on where he’s scratching if he hasnt had a bath within 7 days he has his bath & I have to leave his shampoo on for 10mins then rinse… its time consuming but in the end it all pays off when he’s itch free…not keeping me up at night licking & scratching…

[Susan]

Did you have a skin scrapping to see if it was mites or yeast infection, it should of went away if it was mites & treated properly be now, my friends white staffy was real bad, real red skin & hairless in the end, she was put on vet prescription diets that didnt help, in the end she was put on Holistic Select Adult health Anchovys Sardines & salmon meal this helped her & she looks beautiful know…Holistic Select have a grainfree puppy Anchovys Sardines & salmon meal but it has potatoes in it…. they have just released a new grainfree called ‘Deboned Turkey & Lentils recipe’ that has NO Potatoes..Its worth a try or the Adult Health Anchovys Sardines & salmon meal.. you have to also treat the outside..I bath Patch every 5-7 days with Medicated Malaseb shampoo & I use a hyrocortisone cream as I dont like medications.. The best is an elimination diet that way u’ll know what makes him scratch, he may not have food allergies, he may suffer from eviornment allergies, or flea allergies, have you googled ‘Atopic dematitis in dogs’..also keep a diary, write when he’s real itchy, what foods he was eating at the time & over the years u’ll start to see a pattern, patch has seasonal allergies worst summer & the end of summer Autumn..also he may need an Anthisimine Patch was put on Iramine 8mg tablets theyre a dog anthisimine not human..maybe find a new vet, I see one vet for Patches skin then the other vet for Patches tummy & bowel they are both in the same surgury but sometimes some vets specialise more in certain areas, well thats what Ive found, Sue’s better with Patches skin & Johnathan is excellent when it comes to Gastro & stomach problems..Give the Holistic Select a try http://www.holisticselect.com

[Dori]

ab1028. I’m wondering what food your feeding your miniature poodle. In my case I have three tiny toy dogs. Until I switched their food to a grain free, poultry free their ears were always matted. Typically the mats around and behind the ears is because they scratch their ears a lot when their ears are bothering them. I didn’t put it together for quite some time. It wasn’t until I was doing elimination diet because one of my girls has lots of allergies/intolerances to foods, and environment that the first thing I did was remove all poultry including any type of foul. Then I switched to grain free. After a while was when it dawned on me that because she was not scratching her ears anymore she no longer had the matted ears.

I guess I should actually answer your question on the hair detanglers. I’ve always had long haired dogs (I’m 65 so there have been quite a lot of them) and the detangled never ever worked for any of the mats. I tried a lot of different brands, followed the directions, etc.

They do make detangling combs and such and they seem to work pretty well. I comb all my dogs out probably every other day or so and none of them have mats behind the ears. My Maltese will occasionally have a mat somewhere on her body but that’s because I keep her hair long (show coat) and at 15 years old she still playing and running hard with the other two.

Leah12345. I don’t use the leave in conditioners. I’m not a fan of them. The dogs seem to attract more dirt for some reason. I bath my girls every 7 to 9 days and professionally groomed probably around every 6 weeks. Some times less. Depends on how my health is doing.

[Katherine S]

I have an American Bulldog who has many food allergies. Does anyone know of a good venison based dry dog food? Venison is one of the few meats he can eat that does not make him sick. Thank you.