[Lazaro B]

Hello,
I need some help in choosing a limited ingredient dog food for my dog. He is allergic to lamb and it looks like he’s allergic to chicken because he’s scratching. The scratching is not severe or moderate. He scratches he and there, no hot spots, no hair loss, no biting his skin. He does lick his paws on and off nothing major. He’s small and neutered and 7 years and 6 months old. I’m looking for something budget friendly 3 or 4 star rating. If it’s a 5 star rating, great but must be budget friendly. I’m willing to do rotational feedings. I’m even willing to purchase 3 small 5 pound bags. Should they all be mixed into the container where I keep them or not? At the present time, I’m feeding him WEF HEALTHY WEIGHT chicken. Yes, I know it was bought by Purina. One food I’m looking at is FROMM whitefish formula. I don’t want him getting overweight. I take him for walks 4 times a day. Hopefully the food contains not to much fat but just enough around 10-13% is fine.

[anonymous]

My dog with environmental allergies and a sensitive stomach does well on Nutrisca Salmon and Chickpea https://www.chewy.com/nutrisca-grain-free-salmon-chickpea/dp/35033
See the reviews

BTW: Food allergies are rare, food sensitivities usually tend to show up as stomach issues such as diarrhea and vomiting, environmental allergies usually manifest as “itching”
Hopefully it’s a mild case, seasonal….if that’s what it is. Try bathing with a mild shampoo such as Malaseb, see the vet if it gets worse.

[Donna G B]

HI Lazaro,
My name is Donna, I have 3 Yorkie’s and they all
have allergies to one degree or another. My 13 year old boy has had them the longest. I will say, I am not a DVM
Dogtor but I have been learning everyday. You see I won”t have another can or package of dogfood in my house.
I bought them the high price foods and then had to put my older on precription diet. He had blood work to find
Out about his allergies. Some people start off
With ground beef (boiled), white rice (because it’s easier to digest and some ground peas. They feed it for a month or
so, if he hasn’t gotten a reaction then add something else. When you grind vegetables and fruit they digest it better.
If it was in chunks he would’t get much nutrition. During that time get on Facebook and join the site Homemade Food for dogs. Look for Emily and she will help you. You can then begin to stay like you are OR continue to add & eliminate. If you get on that site and don’t see Emily’s name then go to the other site. It will cost you less to home cook your babies meals than to buy dog foods. Especially if you are not sure what the allergie/allergies are.
ANYWAY my older kid was on this precription dog food for
gray and look awful. and during that time he got heart murmer, then startedgoing blind, he has a leaky heart valve, he gets yeast Infection at the drop of a hat. He has High blood pressure, a growth on his Kidney etc., etc. I took a can of this GOOD FOOD to the computer room and typed in to words I didn’t know what was, 1 was a ingredient found in CARDBOARD, yes sir ree, the 2nd was SAWDUST, I Almost fell off my chair. NO CANNED OR KIBBLE IN THIS HOUSE AGAIN.
Good luck you and your little fur kid. Cooking for them is fun. OH YES, when you cook your food you need to add 800-1000 mg. of Calcium Citrate OR 1/2 tsp. egg shells all ground up. Measure out 1-lb of food add it and mix it up until you are finished with the food you made. You can double or triple your food and put it into containers and freeze it. Works GREAT!!!!

[Lazaro B]

Thanks guys for the advice.

[Susan W]

Hi Lazaro,
I’ve had similar issues with my dogs. I went to VeRUS Pet Foods, filled out their contact form & settled on their Advanced Opticoat formula after they sent me some really nice samples. I DID discover one of my dogs had a yeast over-growth, likely due to the food I was feeding before VeRUS (THAT food was horribly moldy). I have also tackled the yeast topically, but the Opticoat helped out a LOT.
VeRUS was given a 4 star rating here a few years ago. They have never had a food recall and their people stay on top of nutritional requirements. They are made in the US & don’t use rendered meat or Chinese products.
BTW – the Opticoat is a fish-based formula.
Do a search for VeRUS and get to their website easily. There is a lot of info there. Also, if you have additional questions, fill out the contact form and a human will email you back. Good stuff, good people.

[Susan]

Hi Lazaro, it very rare for dogs to be allergic to meat/proteins & when they are they will normally suffer with stomach & bowel problems (IBS & IBD) are you sure your dog doesn’t have environment allergies, my boy has both Seasonal allergies, he starts itching, scratching & has red paws when spring starts & he also has food sensitivities, he will have sloppy poo, wind/gas pain & red paws after he eats chicken.. He’s been diagnosed with IBD. When he eats barley, corn, wheat, oats ingredients in vet diets or supermarket kibbles he starts to smell real yeasty & is real itchy but doesn’t have his sloppy poos or wind/gas problems, just become real smelly of yeast….

The only way you can be 100% positive what ingredients he is sensitive too is to do a cooked or raw elimination diet.. Its real easy, if you think he cant eat chicken then cook some chicken breast, cut into small pieces, just bring the chicken to the boil & take off stove & rinse in boiling water & its ready & also boil some sweet potato, you can freeze small meals, enough for 2 weeks..

Do not mix all the kibbles together, Why?? just scoop out of your air tight container the kibble you what to feed & when introducing a new kibble just open both kibbles & add the recommended amount over the 7 day period.. I feed 1 brand kibble for breakfast then for dinner I feed another brand kibble or a cooked meal..

Your best to feed a limited ingredient fish kibble cause the omega 3 is what is needed for the skin, fish kibbles are normally higher in omega 3 fatty acids…

Baths you should be bathing once a week to wash off any pollens & allergen on his skin & paws, I use Malaseb medicated shampoo, it leaves the skin & coat feeling real soft & kills any bacteria on their skin & paws……You can bath daily with the Malaseb medicated shampoo…I walk Patch 3-4 times a day as well & sometimes he’ll come home & start itching, so on his walk a plant or grass has started to irritate his skin & paws, that’s when I have to bath him if he’s uncomfortable with itch, baths make them feel more comfortable when they are itchy,

Fleas, some dogs have Flea allergies they are allergic to the fleas salvia, 1 bite & my boy will scratch for days, so make sure your boy doesn’t have 1-2 fleas that’s causing him to itch, again weekly baths & a flea spot on will help stop any fleas..

Limited ingredient kibbles, “Wellness Simple” Salmon & Potato, “Wellness Complete Health” Grain Free.
http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/dog-wellness.aspx

“California Natural” has kibbles with just 3 ingredients…
http://www.californianaturalpet.com/products

[Lazaro B]

Thanks everyone for your advice. He has no IBS or IBD. He does lick his paws, but they are not red or raw. He does scratch, but not to an extent. The more I read the comments, the more it seems to make sense that it could be environmental allergies. As of right now, I’m almost done with the transition from WEF GRAIN FREE HEALTHY WEIGHT to FROMM whitefish formula. Malaseb shampoo is something I’ve seen and heard of. I’ll have to check it out. VeRUS is something I’ll check out also. I do want him to have some variety when it comes to his dog food which is why I want him eat at least 2 other types of limited protein sources, like bison and venison or beef. I will also look into California naturals and Wellness.

[Author]

Posts