[pitlove]

No one suggesting starving the dog? What? Obesity is a disease and is not healthy, especially for a dog with hip dysplasia, but even for dogs with no bone issues. My Lab has arthritis and it helps him a lot to keep moving. We limit his exercise, but we do not just not exercise him at all. We also helped him lose weight which made a big difference. Didn’t have to starve him to do it.

[pitlove]

Hi Doginlaw-

Most if not all of the issues your Lab is dealing with can be alleviated with weight loss. Including hip dysplasia, if that is indeed what the dog has. Acupuncture is also something that could be of help in conjunction with pain medication.

I use Victor at the moment, which has a weight control formula. However, I got my Lab to lose weight on Pro Plan weight management. We cut out all treats and increased his exercise as well, which is really important. He is 11 yrs old and can still play fetch and run as fast as my 4 yr old bully mix.

[pitlove]

N B-

Glad hes getting supplements. I’m assuming your vet probably recommended one to you, but figured I would ask.

[pitlove]

@ anon101

Their vet is the one that suggested the home cooked diet…

@ N B

This doesn’t sound like a balanced meal. Did your vet recommend any supplement to make sure your dog is getting proper nutrients or this the meal intended to not be balanced for a certain reason? As far as how much to feed, Tyrion is correct 2-3% of the dogs body weight.

[pitlove]

I understand the urge to look at him as a fragile dog not capable of being a dog, but it’s important not to.

My Lab was highly scared of thunderstorms when I got him at 9 years old. I’ve spent a lot of time over the past 2 years desensitizing him to thunderstorms and yes that means he has to go outside and use the bathroom while its raining/during a thunderstorm. Now he is able to go out and pee while its thundering. He has come a long way. He also still sits under our computer desk but doesn’t drool anymore during thunderstorms. When he does something brave during a thunderstorm he is highly rewarded with praise and pets (his favorite).

[pitlove]

Hi jacquie-

My current addition textbook I had for school (vet tech) says dogs can only digest up to 40% protein on a dry matter basis.

I haven’t personally heard any connection between anxiety and protein.

I would try to find your dog activities to do that build confidence and mentally simulate her. Many dogs who are under exercised and not being mentally stimulated will have behavioral issues like anxiety.

What kind of dog is your dog?

[pitlove]

Hi Nifty-

If RC works for you then use it. The rescue can not decide for you what you feed your pet.

[pitlove]

David-

I never meant to sound brutal! haha. Sorry!

[pitlove]

David-

I’d worry about getting her into basic obedience classes before trying to master all this other stuff. She has no foundation or structure and neither do you. She doesn’t know what is expected of her, so she does what she wants. Find a trainer and get her in some classes, you will see an improvement.

[pitlove]

Patricia-

Will they eat actual raw instead of freeze dried raw? You could probably save some money buying cuts of meat at the grocery store. Primal is so expensive and full of random veggies that don’t really make much of a difference for the dog.

[pitlove]

My lab lost weight using Pro Plan weight management.

[pitlove]

Patti-

Dog Food Advisor does not take anything like this into consideration when formulating their rating system. This may however impact Dr. Mike’s Editors Choice list, but I can’t say that for sure.

[pitlove]

Also I’d like to point out that according to the article Dr. Mike posted “It’s premature to conclude taurine deficiency has anything (yet) to do with the cause.” Reason being that several patients presented with normal levels of taurine. So the link may not be taurine deficiency at all.

Also regardless of if it is based on the fact that the food has too little meat or too many legumes, the only foods in question are grain free, so the problem still remains that particular grain free diets are coming up short. No surprise there though.

[pitlove]

Go to another vet. Not normal

[pitlove]

Karen Becker is a poor choice to quote here. She’s wildly known for promoting myths regarding pet nutrition. One of her most famous ones being that carbs “feed” yeast.

[pitlove]

Tara-

You have a two fold problem here. One the one hand you need to resolve the diarrhea, but on the other hand need to make sure the food she does well on is for large breed puppies. This is critical. Dealing with bone growth disorders on top of diarrhea is no fun.

Unfortunately, the first mistake you made was switching her food when you first got her. Although I agree that she should not have been feeding Beneful, it is always recommended to keep a new puppy on the same food the breeder uses for 3-4 weeks before slowly changing it. Puppies are usually stressed out from the transport to the new home and from being in a place they are not yet familiar with. Adding a dietary change on top of that will almost always stress the GI system more.

Also, correct me if I’m wrong, but it doesn’t sound like you switched her to each new food by mixing the old and new food for 7-10 days. Or at least you didn’t mention if you did. If you didn’t do a slow switch, that is also part of the problem.

You will likely need to put her back on Beneful for a few weeks, make sure you are not overfeeding, and see if there is improvement. If so then you can do a very very slow transition to a large breed safe puppy food of your choosing.

[pitlove]

Jacky-

Having a seizure is far worse for the body than being on phenobarbital. Please bring your dog to the vet and get it the appropriate care needed to manage the seizures. There is no quality of life for a dog with any type of unmanaged seizure disorder.

[pitlove]

Stacy-

Many of the grain free foods on the market now are majority protein from legumes. If the legumes are even remotely high up on the ingredient list (the food you’re feeding has them in the first 5 ingredients) are going to be considered to have legumes as the main ingredients.

Companies making and pushing grain free foods are now realizing they can cut corners with their foods since the grain free craze has taken off so much to the point that many people believe that if the food says grain free its by default better than a grain inclusive. They don’t even bother to check how much of the food is peas, chickpeas, lentils etc.

[pitlove]

I agree with c4C. My dogs have literally zero issue digesting grains. In fact we have to use a grain inclusive food as I’ve stated multiple times because of Bentleys stomach. Peas will send him to the vet instantly.

We recently switched from Pro Plan to Victor (not because Pro Plan wasn’t working, but to cut cost) and are very happy. I’ll continue to use Victor as long as they continue to do well on it and the price at our local feed store stays lower than chewy.com. We even switched the cats to Victor too!

[pitlove]

As far as meeting other dogs go, its best to start with friendly, calm dogs you are already familiar with. The worst thing you can do is bring her to a dog park. The play is not structured and you never know what sort of temperament the dogs will be there. There are people that bring dog/toy aggressive dogs to parks because they just dont care. That and not everyone vaccinates there pets and has them on flea prevention, so you never know what she can pick up. Keep letting her play with your friends dogs and get comfortable with them.

[pitlove]

Ok I had a feeling she was from a shelter. The biggest thing you can do for her and I can’t stress this enough, is do NOT treat her like a delicate shelter pet that is too fragile to be a real dog. I see too many owners who sink so far into the “shes a rescue” excuse for why their dog is so poorly behaved. Just as you would do with a small puppy from a breeder, you need to begin to desensitize her and reward her for facing her fears. Petting her while shes scared only reinforces her being scared, it doesn’t calm dogs down like it does to children. Remember they aren’t human children. The best thing you can do is allow her to be a dog and respect her needs as a dog.

You haven’t been taking her outside because “she” is scared. However, often times owners project their own fears on to their pet. Take her everywhere with you. Allow her to see and experience things even if its just from a far. This will help socialize her. And no she doesn’t have to meet people right away, just see them. And if someone gets angry that they cant come pet her, tell them shes in training. Socialization isn’t always about meeting every dog and person you encounter. Sometimes its just about experiencing being around something unfamiliar. If you start building her confidence in that way, she will begin to act like a normal dog and be more interested in toys.

Get her into obedience classes. She will gain confidence from doing well in the classes. But not classes like at Petco. Go to a real trainer, preferably one that has dealt a lot with retrieving and hunting breeds. You may also want to consider getting her into some type of dog sport when shes older. Dock diving for example. Again, this builds confidence.

[pitlove]

Hi David-

What is the history on this dog? It sounds like it came from a shelter with the behavior you are describing? Can you give me some background on your dog? It will help me on how to advise you. Also sorry, but I don’t agree with Zak George and frankly, IMO, he is a joke. You may want to go a different route with training.

[pitlove]

Hi Sweet Pea-

Do you have any history on this dog at all? Knowing some of her history might be helpful in understanding her food issues. How does she behave when shes offered food? Does she seem nervous? Does she seem unsure? Or just sniffs and walks away like she doesn’t care about it because it doesn’t smell good to her?

Consider getting a full vet exam, blood work, x-rays etc at a vet you trust to make sure there is not an underlying medical condition that is causing her to be underweight and picky due to pain or not feeling well. Also see if you can find out how her eating habits were at the shelter/rescue she came from. Could be the stress of a new home, once again.

You can use websites like BalanceIt.com to create recipes for homecooked meals if that is a route you are interested in. She may enjoy homecooked meals more and it may help with her appetite. Victor is a great kibble, but it doesn’t do much good if she won’t eat it.

[pitlove]

Hi David-

CLP is censored because the validity of their testing has not been proven and they refuse to disclose their raw data to consumers who have repeatedly demanded it. Until they choose to be more open and transparent to the consumer, Dr. Mike asks that CLP not be discussed here on DFA.

As for your quest for the best food, there isn’t one. Each dog has needs too individual to that particular dog and its lifestyle to be able to make a blanket statement like “Food A is the best dog food period”. What is the best food for my dogs will not be the same as what is the best food for your dog. You can use websites like this one and CLP to guide your choices on which products to try if you choose, but don’t make the same mistake I did several years ago and get so caught up in ratings that you ignore when your dog is doing poorly on a highly rated food.

[pitlove]

Hi Jacky-

I have one dog who after having a seizure after a surgery can not have certain flea preventions like Trifexis. We use Bravecto now on the advice of our vet/my boss and he has not had any issues. I don’t give flea preventation all the time, but I try to give it as much as I can. I never skip heartworm prevention though.

[pitlove]

Hi Karen-

Here is a list Dr. Mike made of large breed puppy foods. Several are all life stages and they are notated on the side as “ALS”

/best-dog-foods/best-large-breed-puppy-food/

[pitlove]

I did a research paper on Total Hip Replacement and how dogs were used in biomedical research for the testing. Its really interesting how far the technology has come.

[pitlove]

Hi RollTide-

Rotational feeding gets brought up a lot on here. There seems to be two extremes when it comes to peoples opinion on rotational feeding. Either you believe in it or you don’t. Thats just what I’ve noticed.

My personal experience with rotational feeding didn’t turn out so well, so I’m rather cautious now in my recommendations for rotational feeding. Though I will say honestly, part of the problem was that we were rotating between foods that my dog was allergic to and I didn’t know it because I was changing his food so frequently.

Now if I change his food, I have to do a 10 day transition between foods or he gets sick. When I first ventured into feeding a rotational diet I was told that wouldn’t happen. I was told I would be making his GI system healthier. Seems it had the opposite effect on my dog. When he was younger I was able to change foods with no transition, now after getting sick on so many foods we switched between he can no longer swap to a new food cold turkey.

So my advice to you is, know your dog. Also if you are going to do a rotational diet, start off slow with only a couple brands and do the normal 7-10 day transition between each brand. See how he does and go from there. Let your dog tell you how he feels about the food changes. You’ll know pretty quickly if a food is not working out for him.

[pitlove]

Marie-

I wish you a speedy recovery! Hope you’re well.

[pitlove]

Hi Sandy-

Grain free and potatoe free have nothing to do with yeast in dogs unless your dog has an allergy to grain (fairly rare) or potatoe (also fairly rare). This is a popular internet myth. Dogs with yeast are not necessarily allergic to the food they are eating either. Yeast overgrowth on the skin is secondary to a larger problem like allergies, but environmental allergies can also cause yeast.

The best thing you can do if you want to rule in or rule out food allergy is a elimination trial. This is the only realiable why to diagnois a food allergy. Using a food from the vet like Royal Canin Ultamino or a homecooked diet of a novel protein and carb for 3 months are your best options. But the dog can not eat anything else, but that diet for the full length of the trial. Then the idea is to challenge the dog by putting him back on the old food and see if he has a reaction. If the symptoms went away during the food trial and came back with the old dry food, then you will know its a food allergy. If the symptoms show no improvement on the elimination diet, then food is not the issue. If food is not the issue the next step is a veterinary dermatologist for environmental allergy testing (if you can afford it).

I couldn’t afford the dermatologist, so I’ve been managing my dogs seasonal allergies with frequent bathing in Malaseb shampoo or Miconahex+Triz by Dechra. Both available on chewy.com.

[pitlove]

Hi again Celt-

I think you misunderstood my post. I wasn’t suggesting you didn’t know your dogs or about the breed. If you can post some before and after pictures it would be really helpful.

Have you brought this concern up to your vet? What do they think about it?

[pitlove]

Hi Celt-

Do you by chance have any links to pictures of him at the condition you prefer him at vs the condition he’s in right now? This would help in evaluating if he is indeed too skinny.

Also is he getting a lot of exercise? He could possibly be losing fat and gaining muscle which makes him appear skinnier, but not actually be too skinny. Heres an image of an Iggy thats in really good shape; http://www.sighthound.net/dashlookgood.jpg
Does your boy look anything like this?

Also if he’s maintaining his same weight, not losing muscle tone, has a shiny healthy coat, eats well, has energy etc, I’d say it could be that your preception of what healthy weight looks like could possibly be skewed. I think we’re used to seeing overweight dogs now and some people believe this is healthy. It’s far better for a dog to be a couple pounds underweight than overweight.

Heres a great picture of another breed (Pit Bull) that people often think are too skinny and malnourished when infact a dog like this is in peak physical condition. https://k50.kn3.net/taringa/6/7/0/4/A/9/elieceradd/972.jpg

[pitlove]

I’ve seen a lot of KD dogs not like Hills. I would try Purina or Royal Canin.

[pitlove]

Hi Jeanine-

Lowering protein and phosphorus in the diet has been the staple gold standard treatment for KD patients. Raw diets tend to be high in both, so I can’t say I would recommend going back to his old diet.

Which KD canned diet is he on right now? If he doesn’t like this one, there are two more companies that make a KD specific diet you could try for him. .

[pitlove]

HI MJ E-

Geez, sounds very similar to what my bully mix goes through. His tends to be localized to his underside though. We’ve come to realize that most of the skin allergies we see with him are a reaction to something in his environment. Maybe the same is true for your dog?

Have you tried eliminating certain items from his inside environment? Like bedding, blankets, things like that that he lays on that could cause some type of contact allergy? A lady I knew found out her dog was allergic to the wool blanket he’d been sleeping on for years. Also washing the dogs bedding in something like All Free Clear instead of something with dyes and fragrances.

However, if hes reacting to something in his environment, but its outside thats a bit harder to manage. Bathing once a week in a medicated shampoo such as https://www.chewy.com/malaseb-medicated-shampoo-dogs-cats-8/dp/119232 or https://www.chewy.com/miconahextriz-shampoo-dogs-cats-16-oz/dp/114184 has really helped our dog. I notice a difference with him when I don’t bathe him regularly, especially in the summer time.

As far as the doctors and testing goes, it definitely does seem like you’ve made a grand effort to get him a diagnosis. Doctors aren’t perfect and sometimes tests aren’t either. However, it does sound like someone at some point lead you astray when they offered you a test for food allergies. I’m assuming (but correct me if I’m wrong) that it was a blood test. Blood tests are by and large infamous for false positives and false negatives and are generally not recognized as a true diagnostic test for food allergies.

While his symptoms don’t sound food allergy related, it doesn’t hurt to rule it out. Since we’ve just started summer in the US, I would get with a regular vet and discuss a food trial. This is the golden standard for ruling in or ruling out food allergies. There are a couple different approaches you can take to what food you choose for a food trial but the end principle is the same. They must eat that food and that food only for the 3 months they are doing the food trial. No treats, no flavored meds, no table food, no nothing. As far as what food you use goes, you can choose to do a homecooked diet of one novel protein and one novel carb for 3 months or you can use a diet from the vet like Royal Canin Ultamino. With Ultamino, the protein source for the food is amino acids that have been extracted from feathers. The proteins molecular weight in daltons is so low (under 1000) that the body’s immune response doesn’t trigger because the molecules are not a threat. Royal Canin actually borrowed this science from human medicine involving babies with allergies to milk.

If after 3 months (and you’ve done the trial correctly) there is no improvement in his symptoms, the idea is that you can effectively say food allergies are not at play. After that you may want to go back to the derm specialist and try the therapy that anon101 suggested. They will basically inject various common/regional allergens under your dogs subcutaneous layer of skin (think of a TB test in humans) and measure the reaction your dog has to each. They will then cocktail together a “vaccine” that you give your dog as a method of desensitizing him to those allergens. It will likely be a lifelong treatment and can cost (at least what I was quoted from LSU vet school) around 200$ for a 6 month supply of the vaccine for your dog. However, results for most pets are usually very good with this course of treatment. It may also be safer and more cost effective depending on the size of your dog than say a drug like Apoquel or an allergy injection like Cytopoint which isn’t guarenteed to work on all pets.

[pitlove]

They shouldn’t be canning their Lamb formula differently than any other formula, unless a different canning facility is doing it. There are companies out there that have different canning facilities canning different formulas. No idea why. “Dave’s” did that for a while too, until the Evanger’s recall.

I would ask them who they use for canning. If they won’t tell you, I wouldn’t use the product again.

[pitlove]

Glucosamine as proven positive effects, but the problem is that it’s often looked at as a miracle supplement and given past the point where it will benefit the dog. Once damage has already begun or set in it will not reverse it, but it can aid in preventing further damage to the joint.

If the dog has been clearly diagnosed with HD, losing weight and surgery are going to be the best options.

[pitlove]

Hi Junebugandmike

The issues that happened with your cases of cans actually is typically not the fault of the company at all. Cans tend to get damaged in transport from the canning facility to the warehouse or pet store. When I worked for an independent pet store we often got deliveries of cases of cans that were dented or had even “exploded” and we would have to return them to the distributor. It was obvious that it happened in transport because we could see that the cans had heavy boxes on top of them or had been smashed against the side of the truck.

Chewy should not having knowingly sold you dented cans that had popped lids or any other issues, so I would hope that they would refund your money.

[pitlove]

Hi M X-

I have some personal experience with Purina Pro Plan Sport, I fed the 26/16 formula for over 2 years. I only recently switched because I needed a cheaper food.

My dogs had the complete opposite response to the food than what your dog is having. They were a great weight, shiny beautiful coats, small perfect stool, energy for days and they loved eating. One dog is 4 the other is 11.

I have no concerns about any ingredients in Pro Plan, but it doesn’t sound like your dog is doing well on this particular formula. As far as weight gain goes, this is a high calorie food, meant typically for working dogs or dogs with high metabolisms. If your dog doesn’t get a lot of exercise (which you can change) this may not be the right formula for him. Or you may have been overfeeding him. Dogs need to eat less of a calorically dense food to meet their daily nurient requirements.

Pentobarbitol was not found in Purina foods just as an aside. That was Evangers, which is not made by Purina. Purina hasn’t had a recall since 2016, which was not involving Pento.

[pitlove]

Hi Rosemarie-

What about chopping the mackeral up into cubes and adding it that way? Or deboning it yourself? Also if you’re on Facebook, join “The Raw Feeding Community” page. Someone there could be able to help.

[pitlove]

Great conversation guys!

Drew, you really nailed it with your post to Anon. I could not agree more. I work as a vet tech currently and we have many clients that have been seeing the various vets I work with for years and then go and read something on the internet that states the opposite of what the vet says, and decide they no longer want to see that vet. Its all very emotion based.

[pitlove]

We started using the Victor Select Chicken Meal because it doesnt have ingredients Bentley can’t have. Is your Presa going to be neutered or is he already neutered? If not do you plan to keep him intact? Also, do you plan to work him? Or at least keep him active?

As far as rotating. I’m not a big fan of it. When I first got Bentley, I read all of the posts on here saying how important it was to feed a rotational diet and how their GI systems will be stronger and better if you feed multiple brands of food, so I did that. Did not work out. Bentleys allergies were out of control and I couldnt figure out what was causing the problem because he was eating a new food so frequently. Also now as a 4 year old dog, he has to be transitioned to a new food for 10 days or he gets sick, which is something that I was promised wouldn’t happen if he got used to eating different foods all the time.

If you still choose to do it, I would transition slowly to each new food and don’t change his food more than every 6 months or so.

We get Victor from a local feed store that is cheaper than online pricing for both Pro Plan and Victor. On a $/lb basis which is what I was going off it’s cheaper for me to feed Victor currently.

[pitlove]

Hi Margaret-

Victor is definitely a good food, I agree with you. All of Victors products get between 3.5-5 stars according to Dr. Mike’s rating system. NutraPro gets a 4.5 star rating which is not at all bad.

For me personally, I don’t use the rating system on here to choose a dog food anymore as I’ve found other criteria that Dr. Mike does not consider in his rating system to evaluate foods. There are some great articles on this site and I enjoy the conversations with people, but the rating system is no longer useful to me.

When I was refering to a food that was not on Dr. Mike’s list of large breed puppy foods earlier to Matt O. I was speaking about Purina Pro Plan.

[pitlove]

Hi Matt-

It was actually cheaper to use Victor so we switched to that. I’m trying to save money right now. It’s not on Dr. Mike’s list because of the rating it gets.

[pitlove]

Hi surplus-

Thank you for putting a lot of effort into this list and expanding off of HDM’s list.

For some of the values that you weren’t able to get Dr. Mike has a Best Large Breed Puppy food list as well, that has some of those listed as appropriate foods. /best-dog-foods/best-large-breed-puppy-food/#best_lbp_food_list

Also it might be beneficial for you to contact Dr. Mike directly to work with him on your list, since it seems that you have some foods listed on your list as not appropriate, but he has listed as appropriate. For example, Origen Puppy Large and Eagle Pack Large and Giant Breed Puppy. Not saying your list is wrong and his is right, but if people decide to use your list and end up comparing it to Dr. Mike’s list the discrepancies will be confusing.

Also, I’ve contacted Purina many times for nutrient analysis values as I used to feed Pro Plan and never had a problem getting them to respond to me. In fact, I’ve had a woman spend an hour on the phone with me from Purina Pro Plan. I would recommend calling them directly again to update the information.

*Edit: I would also like to give you a brand suggestion to review as well; Victor.

[pitlove]

Hi emmygirl-

If your dog is truly allergic to all the proteins that you’ve listed you will be hard pressed to find a food he can eat aside from a theraputic diet from the vet that has been hydrolyzed. If that was not offered to you as an option then it is likely that a hydrolyzed diet would impact his PLE negatively.

It sounds like at this point home preparing his meals using BalanceIt is going to be your best option. Especially if you are working with the BalanceIt team and your vet to create a diet that is specific to his illness.

My suggestion would be to get a crock pot and cook in bulk for him and freeze the meals. If you are a member of Costco or Sams you could buy meat veggies etc in bulk and it might be more cost effective that way. Most people that feed raw or home cooked meals set aside a day during the week or on the weekend as a “meal prep day”. It can be time consuming, but it allows you to prepare (most people do a months worth) food in advance for him and freeze it, so all you have to do is thaw it out twice a day. That would be my suggestion to you.

[pitlove]

Hi parisdog-

We did the same thing for the same reason. Pro Plan is an excellent food. I won’t be convinced otherwise! Glad your dogs are doing well on Pro Plan.

[pitlove]

Hi Sabrina-

Despite having normal hard stool, my bully mix will sometimes need to have his anal glands expressed. My boss/his vet explained to me that some dogs just do not have correct anatomy that allow them to express their anal glands on their own. You may simply need to learn how to do it at home, or bring him on occassion to the vet to have them do it. Sounds like you know what fiber % helps and what makes it worse, so find a food that has that fiber % and keep him on it.

Our dog also gets an annual ear infection in his left ear. We treat the symptoms and they go away. It happens at the start of summer time. I have ear meds on hand at all times.

As far as the dander goes, you didn’t mention how often you were bathing him and what you were bathing him with. Too frequent bathing can cause what you are seeing. Also how long did you use the fish oil supplements for and was the source of the fish wild caught? I did not notice a difference in my dog for a little over a month when I did fish oil supplements the first time. After about a month I started to see a difference.

Also it is ok to get a second opinion from another vet. I’ve done it even though I like the vet I see.

[pitlove]

Hi BaileysMom-

It seems like each time you notice his symptoms come back you attempt to resolve them by throwing a lot at him all at once. Sometimes this is counterproductive because you can’t be sure what is working and what isn’t. I made the same mistake with the dog in my avatar who has allergies and yeast.

What we did that worked for us was an elimination diet. We used Royal Canin Hydrolyzed Protein, fed that food and only that food for 3 months during winter time. We noticed that his symptoms went away. Now elimination diets are tricky because they can not have any treats, any flavored meds, any dental treats, table scrapes, nothing, but that prescription diet. If your dog gets ahold of anything other than that food you must restart the trial.

Now as far as his seasonal allergies go, we’ve been trying to manage them with medicated baths either with https://www.chewy.com/malaseb-medicated-shampoo-dogs-cats-8/dp/119232 or https://www.chewy.com/miconahextriz-shampoo-dogs-cats-16-oz/dp/114184 if Chewy.com is out of stock of Malaseb. I try to bath him once a week and soak his feet frequently (though I admit I slack on it). We also just the other day got him the Cytopoint shot as well. It works…unless he goes outside and comes back in. Then he still licks. The problem with Cytopoint is that it is not guarenteed to work for every dog. It also isn’t guarenteed to last for a specific amount of time. Also just as a note, Apoquel is not a steroid, though it can have some long term side effects. IMO it would be worth trying even for a few months to see if it helps at all. I think that is the next step for us with our allergy dog.

For us, we’ve come to find out that as long as we do not feed Bentley a grain free food, he doesn’t have any of his food allergy symptoms. The peas are what we’ve seen to be the issue for him. We fed Purina Pro Plan for over 2 years and that went very well, but we recently switched to Victor because it was a little cheaper than Pro Plan for a larger bag size. So far, so good.

A low carb food will not help at all. Carbs do not feed yeast on the skin. The only thing that will cause a secondary yeast infection from food is if the dog is sensitive to an ingredient in the food. Not to mention dogs can only react to protein, not starch, fat, vitamins, minerals, carbs.

[pitlove]

Hi Jan-

What you attempting to do currently for your dog would help manage symptoms of arthritis, but not really hip dysplasia. Depending on the severity of the luxity of the femoral head, you may see little to no difference with what you are doing.

For HD dogs, keeping them lean and surgery are your best options at making them comfortable. The surgery is called a Femoral Head Osteotomy and what is done is that the head of the femor is removed and scar tissue is built up around the femur and acts as an anchor to the acetabulum. Without surgery, his pain will likely get so out of control that he would have to be on pain medication for the rest of his life.

Also just as an aside, it is a falsehood that raw food and kibble should not be fed together.

[Author]

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