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  • #24072 Report Abuse
    BlackandBlue
    Member

    My dog has a lot of food intolerances and I sometimes forget what they are. Here’s the list: Poultry, eggs, sardines, rice, oatmeal, and slightly white potatoes. Here’s the reactions: Paw licking, face scratching, belly rash, ear infection, gooey eyes, butt scooting, diarrhea, rust colored stained fur around her mouth and anus, and flakey skin on her ears. Here’s the dry dog food that she can eat with good results: Merrick Grain Free Texas Beef + Sweet Potatoes Recipe. (I haven’t found any others after trying TONS of different food. I’m still working on finding other brands to rotate.) The canned food: Born Free Salmon Recipe.
    List your dogs’ results here too!

    #24073 Report Abuse
    theBCnut
    Member

    So far with my dog, I know for sure most grains are a problem and chicken is a problem, though he doesn’t have any issues with chicken liver. I suspect that potatoes will be a problem, but haven’t given him potato enough to make sure. And I’m afraid that too many beans, legumes will be a problem for him, because he gets gassy easily, but he has food issues that some wouldn’t call allergies.

    So far he can eat Brothers, all flavors except chicken, Earthborn Holistic Grain Free Great Plains Feast, Nature’s Variety Instinct Rabbit, Nature’s Variety Instinct LID Turkey. And he gets Darwin’s raw except for the chicken, he also gets pork, quail, goat, mutton, sardines, herring, salmon, etc. all raw.

    #24074 Report Abuse
    DogFoodie
    Member

    Hi Black & Blue (AKA Julie :),

    First of all, you have to register separately for the DFA side (Discus) and then the forums (another format that I forget now what it is). It’s weird.

    Your allergy list is a tricky one, isn’t it. Are the allergens that you identified through your own trial and error, or did your vet do some form of allergy testing?

    It seems like eggs in one form or another show up frequently. Ah ha, I think I found one for you! Take a look at Earthborn Holistics Meadow Feast. Unless I overlooked something, it looks like it fits the bill, and would be a good alternate protein source for you.

    My dogs sensitivities (not allergies) are easy compared to a lot of folks ~ grain, white potato, lentils and chickpeas. Two that he does great on are Earthborn’s Great Plains Feast and Horizon Legacy.

    It’s so awesome when you find something that really works well, isn’t it! : )

    #24075 Report Abuse

    Foods that mine have tested reactive to are: chicken, turkey, venison, salmon, whitefish, sweet potato, milk, soy, & corn. I can say I knew most of the above from ugly trial and error with food. I also believe that anything too heavy on peas, beams & legumes can set him off also.
    I just recently found Natures Logic Beef Formula and he is doing AMAZING on it. I have tried the Sardine Formula and he likes that one also. There is one more formula I believe I can try which is their Lamb. I am also rotating in raw beef grinds, tripe, or sardines into his kibble.
    I want to be able to rotate kibble as I believe that is best but at the moment I am stumped at what other brand to even consider. I will start up my research again after basking in the glory of Natures Logis for a bit 🙂

    #24078 Report Abuse

    I have a Doberman with horrible stomach issues. Her culprit seems to be higher fiber and rice. After dealing with it for years(meds, restricted diets etc) her diarrhea and weight loss resolved on Abady granular, Natures Variety raw and Victor Grain free Ultra Pro.

    #24123 Report Abuse
    BlackandBlue
    Member

    Patty, Betsy, FreeholdHound, and Melissa: You are very generous with your knowledge and time. Thx all!

    The allergens (aka intolerances, sensitivities, problems) that I’ve identified are from “ugly trial and error with food.” Ha, ha thx FreeholdHound for that quote. I suspect dog food companies and veterinarians have made mucho bucks off of people like us.

    Earthborn Holistics Meadow Feast is going to be on trial next with my dog (thx Betsy). I’ll post updates.

    BTW, I have two sisters who each have two dogs. They refuse to consider any other dog food than Iams and Pedigree. I mean refuse!! I’ve offered them bags upon bags of opened dog food that didn’t work out for my allergy dog. Acana, Orijen 6 Fish, Wellness Core, Evangers, Nutrisca, etc., all for free! As a matter of fact I have an unwanted and unopened bag of Dr. Tim’s Kenesis (my dog can’t have chicken). I end up donating most of the opened bags to PetSuppliesPlus. Local animal shelters come and pick up the food from there weekly. The unopened bag will go to PetCo who collects it for low income pet owners.

    #24128 Report Abuse
    InkedMarie
    Member

    From what I’ve been able to gather, Boone has an intolerance or allergy to chicken, he ends up with ear infections.

    He’s always been a paw licker; I tend to think its behavioral but just guessing.

    I’ve kept grains & chicken from him, lately, white potato too.

    He does great on Brothers allergy, Orijen six fish, THK Embark & Zeal, NV lid turkey.

    #24130 Report Abuse
    somebodysme
    Participant

    I wish I could add what works but I’m not there yet…ALTHOUGH I did just today make a list of her foods and the only common ingredient I could find in all the foods that have not worked is peas. Maybe coincidence but other than vitamin type ingredients…that’s the only common thread.

    So now of course, I’m afraid of PEAS. Does anyone know what exactly “peas” means? What sort of pea? Just like an English(green) pea?

    • This reply was modified 10 years, 7 months ago by somebodysme.
    #24149 Report Abuse
    tracie
    Participant

    I have a Schnauzer who’s prone to pancreatitis. He was on Pedigree Adult Complete for years and he would have frequent bouts of pancreatitis, constipation, stomach pain, vomiting and his poops were hard as rocks…and looked like them, too. I switched to Blue Buffalo Wilderness Chicken and all 3 of my dogs suffered from frequent soft stools and bad gas, although they absolutely loved the food. The frequent soft stools had me worried for my Schnauzer, so I switched (again) to Victor’s Beef and Rice formula. I transitioned each time in about 7 days time. Now that they are completely on Victor’s…they won’t eat. Should I go back to the BB? I’m a little nervous because of all the complaints I’ve heard about BB. Also, it’s hard to find locally…I really hate to keep switching them, but I’m not really sure what else to do. Any advice is appreciated!

    #24155 Report Abuse
    somebodysme
    Participant

    tracie, could you put a little bit of something on top of the Victor food or maybe try a different one that’s not beef. Is there a chicken and rice one? I have heard that it’s not uncommon for dogs to not like a beef food. I don’t think I’d go back to that version of BB though since it doesn’t sound like that one was working for you.

    I think I’d try a bit of something tasty on top first. Otherwise, when they eat the Victor food do they seem OK on it?

    #24663 Report Abuse
    BlackandBlue
    Member

    Update: Sensitive allergy dog was eating Merrick GF Beef & Sweet Potatoes fine, almost finished a small bag. Transitioned to Nature’s Variety GF LI Lamb. Dog starts shaking head, scratching at mouth (lips itchy?), licking paws. Five days into the transition to NV, I take her to the vet. Microscopic cytology of ears ($28) revealed bacteria and yeast infection. Dog’s on Otibiotic Ointment ($12.50) ear drops for two weeks. No transition switch to Wellness Super5Mix Complete Health Whitefish & Sweet Potato Recipe dry. And dog’s doing much better, no itching and licking but I think her ears will take another week to heal up. So now I’m adding lamb (I think?) to the list of foods she should NOT eat.
    Frustrating to say the least.

    #24664 Report Abuse
    somebodysme
    Participant

    blackandblue…it certainly could be something other than the meat that’s causing issues. That’s what I was doing…going from one protein to the next and finally I realized she’s allergic to PEAS! It caused all sorts of problems including itching ears. Now off the NV LID turkey and on to Nature’s Balance potato and rabbit and all her problems have vanished! But hopefully the wellness will be your answer! I just looked up that food and guess what…NO PEAS! Unless I missed it?

    • This reply was modified 10 years, 7 months ago by somebodysme.
    • This reply was modified 10 years, 7 months ago by somebodysme.
    #24667 Report Abuse

    Ugh! That sucks. Did the ear thing w/ Harry too. Turned out to be Sweet Potatoes in his case. It’s soooo aggravating

    #24669 Report Abuse
    BlackandBlue
    Member

    You guys totally get how troublesome dog allergies are! Somebodyisme (peas) and Freehold (sweet potatoes) both your dogs are allergic to non-meat proteins? Interesting. Maybe my dog is allergic to the tapioca in NV? Could that be possible?
    The Wellness Whitefish & Sweet Potatoes is basically a bag of barley if you look at the ingredients (it’s only got 22% protein). Not an ideal dog food but if my dog’s issues clear up on it, what am I to do?

    #24670 Report Abuse
    theBCnut
    Member

    Allergies can be to anything that has protein in it. That’s why it’s so difficult to pin them down. So far my dog is some grains(I haven’t tried to find out which ones he is fine with yet, or if it is pretty much all the common ones) and chicken. There is still something that he gets ocassionally that sets him off that I haven’t figured out yet, so I’m still going through food trials. I’m finding more things that he can eat every week and that is kind of exciting.

    #24671 Report Abuse

    I tried to try NV when I got a sample pack – Harry refused to go anywhere near the bowl- that was a cheap -n- easy food trial LOL

    #24675 Report Abuse
    somebodysme
    Participant

    blackandblue, the NV LID has PEAS right after the tapioca so don’t dismiss it’s the peas. The symptoms of pea allergy with my dog are: red ears, watering eyes (mostly just one eye), hairless dime to quarter sized rash with pustules on her back and one large one on her tail, red/raw underside of her neck, red rash all over her chest, irritated genitals, completely raw paws with bloody pustules, scratching of her sides and thinning of the hair on the sides from scratching, pimples on her chin, irritated elbows, gnawing on knees. That’s about it, I think…UGH!

    Natural Balance potato and rabbit is the only food, so far, that has worked for her…and it’s basically a bag of potatoes but I don’t know what else to do…she has to eat and she loves the food and it seems to very much agree with her. Not only are her allergy symptoms going away, she also has a very regular digestion and no anal gland problems like she had on the others.

    • This reply was modified 10 years, 7 months ago by somebodysme.
    #24677 Report Abuse
    theBCnut
    Member

    Anal gland problems are another allergy symptom, problably the one I hate the worst.

    #24679 Report Abuse
    somebodysme
    Participant

    Patty, it would just seep out when she was sleeping. We’d be sitting around watching TV and she would be asleep on her blanket and all of a sudden the air would fill with that nasty dead fish odor.

    OH and she is also allergic to beef rawhide and beef chew bones they sell packaged up like the Red Barn bones.

    • This reply was modified 10 years, 7 months ago by somebodysme.
    #24681 Report Abuse
    BlackandBlue
    Member

    Ooh nasty anal gland problems (thank goodness my dog hasn’t gone there). For now I’m going to “bask in the glory” (thx Freeholdhound for that quote) of Wellness Whitefish & Sweet Potatoes. Never thought I’d say that about a 3 1/2 star dog food. Cause I can’t tell you how many food trials I’ve done with my dog, including raw medallions, dehydrated, and homemade. And you’re right Somebodysme, peas could be a problem for my dog and food with peas will be avoided.
    At the vet, they suggested my dog go back on Royal Canine Potato and Whitefish veterinary diet. Yes, my dog did OK on it, except for really goopey eyes that disgusted my kids (caused by white potatoes). So, I refused the food and found the Wellness Whitefish. Anyway, there’s some Royal Canine Veterinary Diets that are only available in Canada that may work for my dog. Such as the RC Catfish kibble. I don’t know why they don’t sell that in the US? (Sorry I’m stooping so low as to be seeking out Royal Canine dog food but I’m in ear infection fallout.)

    #24684 Report Abuse
    somebodysme
    Participant

    Ya know bandb, my dog does have some eye boogers (HA!) and I bet you are right, it’s most likely caused by the potatoes. I think for now we’ll “bask in the glory” too! HAHA! It’s a very small issue compared to before.

    #24691 Report Abuse
    theBCnut
    Member

    When it comes to allergies, you go with what works first and worry about quality after. First you have to just find one food that works.

    #24694 Report Abuse
    Mom2Cavs
    Member

    As you all may remember, I’ve been battling things with Laverne. She would have anal gland issues and goopy eyes, she would lick her forearm and scratch her back sides. Sometimes she would lick her back knee?…I guess that would be what it’s called lol. She would scoot only sometimes. Her stool would be loose to full blown diarrhea at times, except when we tried NV LIDs…then she was too constipated (they all were) and the other symptoms were still there. Finally, one of her breeders told me that her brother and mother could never have poultry! So….I’ve been working on getting poultry out of the house. We have tried Zignature, still didn’t do the trick (maybe I didn’t give it long enough). We then went on Holistic Select grain free. Things were a little better. Now, I also top with canned food (and something tells me sometimes it may be the canned that’s causing the problem). I’ve narrowed the canned down to a few kinds whereas I was using quite a lot of different kinds before. Things were a little better, still not where I would like, though. In there as well I used some Natural Balance I had in the dog closet to see if it would be better than the Hol. Sel. I had the Lamb & Rice and the Swt. Pot. & Fish. Things were even a little better. I used to like N.B. but am leary of it now..bummer. When I finished with the N.B. I transitioned in a small bag of Acana Lamb (from the dog closet, of course!) This is what they are on now. We’re only on the first day with only Acana Lamb & Apple as the kibble, but so far so good. I’ve stopped treats for the time being, as well. I’ve been using the kibble, which they all readily take (even picky Lucy…don’t know how long this will last). Today I gave Acana topped with Wellness 95% Salmon for breakfast and only dry Acana for dinner. I think that’s my plan….kibble and can for breakfast and dry for dinner. They also get part of their dry right before bedtime as a snack. It’s really too soon to tell but today has been fine with this arrangement. I pray it keeps on working….I like Acana and maybe eventually I can use other flavors, like Ranchlands. I’ll keep y’all posted. Please keep us in your thoughts.

    Oh, I wanted to mention that I did order some Big Dog Natural in beef. While the dogs all loved it very much, it really did a number on Laverne’s bowels!! Too, too much for her so…..we will not be using it in the future.

    • This reply was modified 10 years, 7 months ago by Mom2Cavs.
    #30148 Report Abuse
    BlackandBlue
    Member

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

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

    #30665 Report Abuse
    Susan
    Member

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

    #30666 Report Abuse
    theBCnut
    Member

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

    #30667 Report Abuse
    theBCnut
    Member

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

    #30669 Report Abuse
    nunyanunya
    Member

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

    #30670 Report Abuse
    theBCnut
    Member

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

    #30672 Report Abuse
    Susan
    Member

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

    #30673 Report Abuse
    theBCnut
    Member

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

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

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

    • This reply was modified 10 years, 4 months ago by theBCnut.
    • This reply was modified 10 years, 4 months ago by theBCnut.
    #30681 Report Abuse
    Susan
    Member

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

    #33916 Report Abuse
    Leah12345
    Member

    Even though this is an inactive post, I wanted to add in case some new dog owner (like me!) was reading through. My dog has poultry and grains (not sure which ones) problems that lead to excessive itching, paw biting, skin bumps. Fromm’s beef and Fromm’s fish kibble are working, but I have ruled out the low rated kibbles like IAMs and purina puppy chow that I tried before finding this site and Earthborn. Pattyvaughn thank you for your input that is always thoughtful, helpful, and accurate.

    #33917 Report Abuse
    Mom2Cavs
    Member

    I posted back in Sept. and wanted to update what I’m doing now that’s working. For about a month now the dogs have been eating Annamaet Option for their kibble. Before that it was Fromm Salmon a la Veg and that was working fine, too. I’ve been adding as a topper canned foods. Mostly Wellness, either 95% Salmon, Lamb or Beef and Beef Stew. I also use Instinct Healthy Weight cans and Mulligan Stew Salmon and Fromm 4Star Beef or Pork. I use enzymes and pre/probiotics each meal. The ones I rotate with are Fresh Digest, Wholistic Pet Digest All Plus, Vetri-Science Mega Probiotics. Lucy gets a Maitake mushroom supplement from Vetri-Science for her cancer. Sometimes, actually rarely, I’ll add in a 3/6/9 supplement from Springtime, Inc. They also get a Fresh Factor chew from Springtime, Inc. in the morning. Recently, I tried substituting the morning meal for premade raw, but after about a week Laverne started having mild pancreatitis symptoms so I’ll probably stop doing that for now….I’m thinking about doing 2 morning premade raw meals a week and try that, instead of every morning. Maybe Tues. and Fri. I’m also thinking of actually trying some Annamaet Lean kibble….I know it’s chicken based, but I just want to see how Laverne does on it. I should be able to tell rather quickly if it’s bothering her. If it does, the others can eat it with no problem. I would also like to try Victor kibble (we may have it locally soon). Dr. Tim’s looks great, but I just don’t know, yet, if I’m up to trying it.

    #59681 Report Abuse
    zhiba
    Member

    @theBCnut, I know this thread is a bit old, but your comment about histamine intolerance was interesting. I looked it up, and in some cases supplementation can help. I was curious if you can tried something like this –

    “Diamine oxidase (DAO) is an essential enzyme in the body that breaks down histamine.”

    From Swanson’s
    http://www.swansonvitamins.com/health-library/products/daosin-histamine-intolerance-supplement.html

    #59682 Report Abuse
    theBCnut
    Member

    My dog doesn’t actually have those particular issues, I was just reading about it due to another loosely connected incident, and since my dog has a food hypersensitivity to tomato, the tomato on the list stuck in my head. If his food sensitivities change and he starts having histamine issues, I may keep that in mind though, thanks.

    #60072 Report Abuse
    Amy C
    Member

    Hi Everyone,
    This is my first time here and I’m hoping someone can help. I got Sadie, a Treeing Walker Coonhound last year at 3 months old. She kept getting yeast infections in her ears and no medication would clear it up, so we changed her diet to grain free. A few weeks ago I decided to try Rachel Ray’s grain free wet to add to her dry, Canidae land and sea. She was just on Avangers wet buffalo, beef and some chicken, mostly buffalo for wet food. She is such a picky eater though, so that’s why I tried the RR wet, in comes gookie ears!!
    I immediately pull her off of the RR and home make food for her. I made chicken thighs, string bean, sweet potato, peas and carrots. This way I know what is in her wet food. Well now she is pooping more and they are soft and squishy, and more often… She went this am at 5:30 and again at 10:00…. So could this be due to the change, maybe the chicken thighs are too rich for her, or the veggies?
    She’s been having the mixture for almost two weeks now. This past time, I did save the broth, which is like a jelly, to add also, to much fat?
    Also, her ears aren’t completely cleared… Could the ears be seasonal, it is about the same time of year. She is 1 year and 5 months.
    Sorry this is so long! thank you

    #60081 Report Abuse
    theBCnut
    Member

    Thighs do have more fat, so that can contribute to loose stools. It could also be the veggies or one of the other ingredients. Broth is almost completely nonfat unless you have fat floating on top and that can be skimmed off. Have you tried to figure out what your dog is reacting too? Could it be chicken or rice? Those are both common for allergens and food sensitivities. Try something like turkey and pumpkin instead.

    Sometimes dogs are picky because they know that their food is upsetting their stomach, so it might be time for a food change.

    I wouldn’t expect fat level to be the issue if she was OK on Evanger’s canned. They are known for grossly underreporting fat content, amoung other things even less savory.

    • This reply was modified 9 years, 4 months ago by theBCnut.
    #69628 Report Abuse
    Liz S
    Member

    I know this is an old post, but I’m compelled to share! My little scruffy rescue thing is an allergy pup. We’ve been dealing with his food allergy & intolerance issues since he entered my care at 6 months of age, and even more so after I officially adopted him at 9 months (2010) via elimination diets & trial/error. He seems to acquire new allergies every few months to a year. I work in the veterinary field, so after a recent rapid decline in his health (and trips to the emergency vet) I bit the bullet and we allergy tested him.
    He is allergic to chicken, duck, turkey, beef, bison, venison, rabbit, lamb, fish, dairy, egg, barley, flax & pea. He is intolerant to raw carrots (cannot digest them – vomitting), corn & soy (tear stains, upset tummy). (Enviro allergies are bayberry & corn pollen).
    That’s nearly every protein source available to us. Our options are pork (did not react), possibly boar, possibly kangaroo, possibly goat & possibly brushtail. Try finding ANY of those foods in high-quality kibbles (none), canned without pea or egg (none), raw without flax or egg or barley (two – OC Raw Dogs Goat & Addiction Raw-Dehydrated Summer Brushtail) so it looks like raw will be the winner! He is currently eating Orijen Six Fish & Cetirizine HCL SID or he breaks out in hives DAILY.

    I might add – he also did not react to oats, green bean, pumpkin, sweet potato, potato, rice or alfalfa. Small miracle.

    #69635 Report Abuse
    aquariangt
    Member

    Zignature has a new kangaroo formula

    #69747 Report Abuse
    Liz S
    Member

    Thank you for the suggestion! I just checked it out and unfortunately it won’t work for us. 🙁 It contains flax & is loaded with pea. If only!!

    #157424 Report Abuse
    Alice H
    Participant

    Hello everyone. I am a dog groomer and I came across this thread. I have had many issues with own pets and clients pets and having itching issues. While I was grooming dogs I would pay close attention to what their vets would say about an issue I had refer them to. Most of the time it was due to rashes, ear infections, itchiness (mostly feet, belly, butt), copper collor around eyes, mouth and feet and a few other issues. I had one mini poodle that had the most swollen, red, and inflamed ears and feet I’d ever seen. She was so itchy her vet had put her on a medication to just simply stop the itch (I wonderd if it stopped itch, what else was it stopping and affecting?) because they didn’t know what to do. I like more natural ways to try and combat things. Years ago, as a female myself I heard that women can get too much yeast “down there” and become very itchy from an overload of yeast (yeast infection) and it seemed similar to my dogs problems. I did some research and found out that sugar is the main source of yeasts food. Now, straight yeast product in particular is even more crippling to the system than just straight sugar is. Now if you go and read the back of MOST kibbles, you will find that they all add almost over 2 different types of yeast product to their kibble to “keep it together” and it’s usually towards the end of the ingredient list, some even have it as one of the first 5 ingredients. I have changed many of my clients dogs to NATURAL BALANCE (DUCK AND POTATO) with absolutely WONDERFUL results. Itching and rashes/redness can subside within a few days if the yeast and sugars have been eliminated from the diet (I have personally experienced this myself as well). I personally have my two dogs on this brand of food as well and I recommend it. Just make sure there is absolutely no yeast in the food OR TREATS you are feeding your dog. Now, back to the mini poodle I mentioned earlier, she had the worse case I had seen so far. She was on a very limited diet and pretty much only ate canned and kibble food. Sometimes it would seem better and sometimes would come back with a vengeance and her ears were almost swollen shut the poor girl. Vet didn’t know what to do either. I finally asked the owner, is there ANYTHING even a small amount that you feed her of anything else, ever? And she goes, well… My husband feeds her a piece of toast each morning but it’s plain, there’s nothing on it. And I said, that it! It’s the bread. Take that away from her diet and see me again in a couple weeks. She came back and she was amazed and how different her dog was.. Her skin was perfect. Her ears, perfect. No more copper color, no more chewing her paws.. No more pain. I was so happy! And ever since then I have been telling people about the dangers of yeast overload and the dangers it can cause. Yeast overload can minick an allergic reaction so the owner things it could be something more serious like maybe the poultry, fish or grains, when infact it was the yeast the whole time. Eliminate anything that can “turn” to sugar in the body. Dog biscuits or any crunchy dog treats are almost straight yeast/starch and full of things that can turn to sugar in the body, so watch out for sugary treats as well. Coconut oil is a great, natural relief from yeast rashes and yeast related problems. It is good for the coat as well, you can feed a tablespoon to your dog a day to keep their system regulated from yeast, but it does work better topically for yeast specifically. Coconut oil is also antibacterial and antimicrobial so you can use it just about anywhere (on you as well) your dog is having issues as a bit if relief from the itchiness, it kills the yeast. A lot of ear infections also stem from the yeast diet (I advise against coconut oil in the ears, talk with your vet first and see if it’s an option for your specific dog). If your dog has ear infections often, or has itchy, copper colored feet, or red inflamed itchy rashes it could very well be suffering from yeast overload. Remove anything that can turn to sugar in the body, that would include treats and people food as well, like breads, noodles, crackers, tortillas, chips and even potato turns to sugar and will feed the yeast that naturally reside in the body. Starches do turn to sugar during digenstion. If you have a dog with no itch issues, but has tear stains, it could also be suffering from overload of yeast and cause that discoloration of the fur. The yeast in the saliva is what stains the fur.
    Also, if your dog is scooting and doesn’t have worms or diarrhea it usually means their anal sacs are having an issue or they are full and/or impacted and need attention. Vinegar is also a natural way to neutralize areas that are common with bacteria like private parts. And on a side note, a tiny spray of your favorite liquid fabric softener on your dog just before the rinse of a bath can make your pup smell so good for a several days at least. Try not to put it directly on their skin. Rinse very well.
    I hope I have helped you all in some way. Have a wonderful day.
    Peace, Love and Happiness.

    #157527 Report Abuse
    T B
    Participant

    Hi, we got our first 2 rescues in 2006, and they started doing a lot of scratching after a few weeks, one of them developing a hot spot. After doing some research on possible food allergies we switched them to Wellness grain free dry & canned recipes and it stopped their itching immediately. We’ve fed all our dogs Wellness exclusively ever since.

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