[Ramona72]

Great information, Hound Dog Mom. It just didn’t seem right to me, but my vet recommended hypoallergenic cookies which contain hydrolyzed chicken. I like this vet, but I’m not sure she understands a thing about nutrition. Seems to be common…

Thanks so much for your help.

[Ramona72]

Mom2Cavs — Do you use human probiotics or vet prescription probiotics? When my last Cavalier was undergoing chemo, the vet told me that I had to use Purina (Rx) because dogs needed different strains of probiotics than people and that they shouldn’t be getting dairy-based probiotics. However, I know several dog people who use people probiotics. So, I am confused! Maybe the vet hospital just wanted to sell their product.

Shawna — Oh, great! Sadie loves, loves, loves chicken & turkey! However, the lamb kibble I gave her offered no relief from the staining. ???

[Ramona72]

interesting connection. I never thought of that. I know dirty ears can cause icky eyes. What foods give her problems with her eyes?

[Ramona72]

Not a bad idea, Jackie B… Do you give your dog treats? Or any people food? I’m thinking maybe I’m giving her too many different things to assimilate?

[Ramona72]

You know the heads of those huge companies only have six homes, four yachts, two jets, right? Poor things. They’ve got to get those homepathic pellets off the market so they can get more stuff!

[Ramona72]

It’s so frustrating, isn’t it? You just keep trying all sorts of things, and none of them works! Glad to read that the grain-free food did the trick for your poodle. Sadie is still on grain-free — every kibble I’ve given her is grain-free. I’m wondering now if it’s her treats. I rotate Sojos lamb, Blue Buffalo duck/potato, & Natural Instinct rabbit. When her stools get mushy, I almost go into PTSD! That’s the first symptom I saw with my other dog who had IBD, but it wasn’t diagnosed… She does get real (cooked) chicken, turkey, ground beef, and ground bison, too. The stains are really bad now, but we are beginning our cedar season down here which is brutal for anything that breathes. That explains some of the staining, but not what has been going on before the cedar hit. I just can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong.

I didn’t know that about Angel Eyes, but I instinctively did not want to use it. To keep Sadie’s eyes from being stinky, I dilute a small amount of hydrogen peroxide in some water and apply it with a Q-Tip or a baby toothbrush. She seems very grateful when I do this. Doesn’t do a lot for the stains, though…

BTW, thanks to everyone who has posted their thoughts about this topic. Every little bit of information is helpful.

[Ramona72]

I’ve got chemical sensitivities of my own, so I’m pretty careful about keeping stuff that might be allergy-triggers out of the house. I do live in a condo, so I have no control over what nastiness might be used on the common lawn areas. I allow my dog to have some people-food, but only if it is meat, vegetable or fruit. I buy organic produce, but more and more, “organic” doesn’t meant what it used to.

I’ve been feeding grain-free kibble, but have allowed sweet potatoes to be included in the formula. One of the treats I give my dog has white potatoes in it, but she only gets that treat every three days as I rotate them.

Maybe I should be looking at the items farther down in the list of ingredients, as legitposter wrote. I never thought of peas as being a problem, but who knows? It’s such a guessing game — buy a bag, feed it a week, see no difference, buy another bag. It looks like a pet food store in here! So many products are made in Diamond factories, and I am leary of them. Perhaps that is unwarranted?

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