[Sheila H]

Acroyali:
I agree with you. The home cooked diet I use includes potassium chloride and calcium powder with rice and cottage cheese. To that I add the G.I. Balance Digestive Blend Supplement for Dogs and Cats due to her issues.

[Sheila H]

So sorry for your trouble. Our dog has long had occasional diarrhea and loose bowel movements, so apart from other ingredient changes to our home cooked food, (protein change from boiled chicken to cottage cheese) I bought “G.I. Balance Digestive Blend Supplement for Dogs and Cats” on Amazon. It is working very well for her. I make a three day (3 meals each) supply for her and add 1/8 tsp to it. She has done quite well since June. Good luck.

[Sheila H]

There is an article on this website about menadione in dog food:
The Controversy Over Menadione in Dog Food

[Sheila H]

I have our third Shiba Inu with multiple allergies. I had to resort to home cooking with her but this has turned out easier than one would think and requires a simple list of ingredients and no crockpot. I got the recipe from “Home-Prepared Dog and Cat Diets,” by Donald R. Strombeck, DVM, PhD. He has a website: http://www.dogcathomeprepareddiet.com. Because he is a vet and has been doing this for so long I trust him implicitly.
She also has a heart valve problem and has successfully lost the required amount of weight on this diet. I am now keeping it as maintenance.
I use his “Poultry Meat and Boiled Rice Diet (low fat).” I make her food twice a week and store it in a large zip loc bag. it uses rice, ground cooked chicken and a few beneficial additives (salt substitute, bone meal powder, salt). You could easily add veggies you know your dog can handle, but I feed mine a separate bowl of frozen, slightly thawed in the microwave (50 sec), cut green beans. Our dog is on a weight loss diet and the beans in the extra bowl of food perk her up for very few calories.
I buy prepared rice which comes in 2 cups per bag, and cooks for 90 seconds in the microwave. I cook a large breast of chicken, usually larger than the 6 ounces the recipe specifies, but I increase the other ingredients accordingly. She gets fed three times a day, and also gets a pet multi-vitamin and half a Dasuquin as treats.
Her allergies are under control her coat looks good and I don’t have to read the fine print on can labels.
She is at her desired weight of 20 pounds. She receives 3/4 cup chicken-rice mixture and 1 cup of cup of green beans three times a day.
You can go crazy with every idea on the internet. Trust a vet who has devoted his life to this service.
Good luck

[Sheila H]

Could you tell me what specific “dog friendly” fruit and veggies you use? Thanks so much.

[Sheila H]

Thank you so much for posting this. I am just about to start our Suzy on a round of Apoquel which has given her diarrhea in the past. She has a long history of allergies, especially yeast in her ear canals. I make her food at home, using chicken and rice. I will now use vegetables ground fine instead of rice to fill it out. She also gets a hearty side dish of cut green beans. No more carbs may just be our answer.

[Sheila H]

Check reviews on Amazon. Mixed reviews, but primarily positive. However, it contains corn and wheat, according to one reviewer.

[Sheila H]

We have had three Shiba Inu’s and have experienced any and all of the same issues with each one. With each dog it has resulted from both food and environmental causes, but primarily food. I am having great success feeding Annamaet Salcha Poulet Formula currently. I know you can’t feed chicken, but look into the brand name website at all the variety of labels/ingredients and winnow them down to what you know so far regarding reactions.
What got my attention first off was that the label specifically mentioned ear infections, our current Shiba’s primary issue.
Do see a veterinary dermatologist as another forum contributor mentioned. Our dermatologist was quite helpful from the skin angle, but our regular vets have also been quite helpful, and the combination of their experiences works for us. The derm was able to give us products to relieve the awful pink tummy and misery of itching.
Do blood work testing in addition to consultation and you won’t have to depend upon hit and miss food buying, even though the two types of docs may have varying opinions about its efficacy. You are right that is food is the major factor.
Yes, this is going to be expensive.
Good luck. Your dog will appreciate your efforts and will be happy again when you hit the right formula.

[Sheila H]

Hi-
I use Annamaet Salcha Poulet (chicken, etc.) and they print their info on the bag as well as on the website. Nothing about amino acids per se, but it does show Omega 3 and 6 levels.
http://www.annamaet.com/products/Salcha_Formula

[Sheila H]

Please take a look at the Annamaet Salcha’s. There are 3 different Salcha varieties. My Shiba Inu eats the chicken-turkey-duck variety and is doing very well. She is allergic to beef, lamb, corn, maize, fish, peanuts, wheat and anything else stored long enough to develop mold of any kind. Her strongest reaction to other foods caused constant ear infections. While she has done well on this grain free food, I have had to put her on a weight reduction diet due to a heart valve condition. She is currently eating 1/4 cup of the Annamaet dry food, a smattering of poached chicken on top and 1/4 cup of frozen chopped green beans for a first course for breakfast and dinner, with an additional 1/4 cup frozen chopped green beans for a quick follow up after each meal. Mid day she gets two servings of frozen green beans and a Dasuquin chewable. She is losing weight nicely at a slow pace and finally has no itching, no ear problems. I will increase her diet when our vet approves it. She was 23 pounds when we adopted her almost two years ago and is now 19 lbs. Just a few to go. She is a 10 year old little girl who was rescued from a puppy mill and is very happy in retirement.
One online provider has Annamaet reasonably priced as a subscribe and save choice.
Good luck.

[Sheila H]

Please look into Annamaet Salcha. There are a few different flavors. We have had 3 Shiba Inu’s with variant combinations of allergies, inclufing many of the items on your long list. The latest has had severe ear infections. This product has worked for us. Good luck.

[Sheila H]

I went to Wyson Vegan checked the (huge) ingredient list (snore…). No fish oil or fish is listed but it does contain Omega 3 and Omega 6 oils. These generally come from fish.
Another thing to try is to make your own food. I did this for one of our dogs and i recommend it only if you have a lot of patience. There are many good books on this subject. My favorite was “Home-Prepared Dog and Cat Diets,” by Donald R. Strombeck, DVM, PhD. At the time I also subscribed to a Yahoo group called Totally Home Cooking. They had many diets available as spreadsheets and you could enter your dog’s weight and age and customize them. I can’t find it now, though. Most of those dog owners pets were afflicted with IBS. If I had not hooked up with Annamaet, which does contain a human grade fish oil, menhaden, I would start looking into home prep again. It will not be kibble, but where does it say dogs must have kibble? Especially if you have special needs.
On the other hand, if all that bothers you is fish breath you could start brushing your dog’s teeth…Good luck.

[Sheila H]

Hi again-
I was interrupted and lost my train of thought on my first post. Menhaden oil is used in human fish oil pills and humans don’t like to have fish breath.
Also, this company has this posted on its website:
“New to Annamaet, our products now contain algae! Algae is a stable and totally sustainable source of Omega-3 fatty acids.” I assume algae smells better than fish.

I also have never smelled a fishy odor on our dog.

[Sheila H]

Hi-My dog is allergic to many kinds of fish, like cod, haddock, salmon and she even reacted to salmon oil in one food I tried. I recently found Annamaet dry food. It contains menhaden fish oil for omega-3 and so far so good. I believe elsewhere on this site they discuss menhaden oil. Good luck.

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