[somebodysme]

Could you go through the ingredient list on Stella and Chewy and use some of those ingredients to cook a meal? I also thought about Wysong has a rabbit canned food that’s all rabbit. You could maybe try that and cook some of the vegetables that are in the Stella and Chewy food? Just give some of the rabbit canned mixed with veggies that are OK? That would make it less expensive!

TBH, at this point though…if I were you, I would buy some of the vet dog food and try that. I’ve heard of dogs that have really good results with it. I just would try it if I were you. Maybe your vet can give you a sample of it? At least you could know if she reacts to it.

[somebodysme]

I would absolutely just feed one thing until you are sure that’s OK and then just add one new thing at a time. That’s what you should do for an allergic dog, it’s called an Elimination Diet. It’s the only way to be sure what he’s allergic to. Do NOT discount the idea that the vegetables can be the issue. I just discovered that my dog is HIGHLY allergic to peas and I’m pretty sure green beans too! I had tried to give her some garden fresh green beans and she had a reaction the next day. They are both Legumes.

I would not give any vitamins or supplements etc during your Elimination Diet either because they can also be allergic to those!

[somebodysme]

I’m cautiously optimistic at this point but very happy to see that darn rash on her back vanish.

[somebodysme]

Yes Betsy, I am worried about the potatoes too and yeast. I am feeding a probiotic twice a day. So far she is OK and isn’t stinking from yeast. That is the whole reason I did not want to feed potato in the first place is yeast. The vet said to feed her a novel protein and potato but I did not and now my dog is paying the price for it! At least now she is better. Taught me that maybe my vet might just know a thing or two! HA!

[somebodysme]

So far, ONE week on NB, all of her allergy issues are just vanishing before my eyes. First the rash on her back began to fade and now her feet are healing up. I’m so happy I could just cry! Everything I was doing trying to feed her a healthy food was WRONG and making things worse for her! Honestly I’m kind of POed right now about all the stupid ingredients they are now putting in dog food trying to appeal to us stupid humans! UGH! Our poor dogs are getting sicker and sicker because of it!

I also remembered a couple more foods that I’d given her and trying to time to when she broke out in a rash and sure enough, those foods also were pea carb based. I’m sure that my dog is not the only dog with issues from peas either. I hope others will experiment with getting their allergy dog off of peas just to see!

[somebodysme]

“Is that IT, can’t I have another and another and another and another.” This dog loves food!

[somebodysme]

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?

[somebodysme]

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.

[somebodysme]

I’m in the same boat so maybe someone will pipe in. A light bulb finally came on with my dog. What I thought was all caused by food allergies are partly allergies and partly yeast. When I get her on a food that she’s not allergic to, the rash on her back clears right up but her feet flare up. The feet are yeast and the back rash is food allergies. Or at least this seems to be what we are figuring out. On a low carb food such as Nature’s Variety, the feet heal but her back flares. On an brand new meat such as lamb and/or rabbit, the back heals right up but the feet flare because the only food I tried was too high in carbs. SO now I will try lamb Nature’s Variety but the problem is that it’s not readily available and she has some stool issues with NV.

So if yeast is your only issue, I’d suggest giving Nature’s Variety LID a try. Of course, most people will suggest you need a raw or cooked diet. I haven’t crossed that bridge just yet…HA!

[somebodysme]

I’m bumping this back up to hopefully get an answer, HDM suggests brushing but did not say with what she brushes her dogs teeth with…could you please fill us in on what sort of product you use and also what brush is good? Anyone can answer…HA! 🙂

[somebodysme]

Yes, those are all the typical symptoms of food allergies, my dog has all that but my vet told me it was food allergies. I’m surprised the vet didn’t suggest that you change his food…I actually had TWO vets tell me to change my dog’s food. Also if your dog has been on antibiotics and steriods a lot, he may also be suffering from yeast. I’d add a pro-biotic each day.

Now on to what to feed…UGH this is where we are at right now. I first tried Nature’s Variety Instinct Turkey which did OK with the scratching but isn’t doing OK with her stool which it made too hard and she had issues “going”. It’s a good food but just not for my dog.

Have you gone to the review section and read the hypoallergenic food suggestion article? It will shed some light on what are the most common allergens. I would just suggest to read that and try a different food. It’s just hard to tell you what to try because all dogs are different as to what they are sensitive to. If your current food has corn in it, that would be my first course of action is to use a food that does NOT contain corn, see how that works and go from there. It’s a long drawn out ordeal finding the right food but you may get lucky and it’s simple like maybe you are feeding a low quality food and just feeding a better 4 or 5 star food will help fix it.

Here is the link to the article:
/best-dog-foods/hypoallergenic-dog-foods/

• This reply was modified 10 years, 7 months ago by somebodysme.

[somebodysme]

One thing I might mention is one of the people here told me that if you use epsom salt to soak their paws, you should rinse it off after. When I used it, I did not rinse it off so maybe you could try the epsom salt but be sure and rinse it.

[somebodysme]

The only thing that I’ve found that does NOT irritate my dog’s paws further is this little bottle of dog hot spot shampoo I bought at Walmart. It’s called Pro-Sense Hot Spot shampoo. I am pretty sure I tried every holistic concoction on the web and no matter what I try, it always makes things worse. Fearing she was getting into some toxin on her feet, I have been washing them with this outside on the back porch when we get home from our morning walk, just leaving it on a minute only then wash it off. It’s a good gentle shampoo also. Doesn’t lather much though but I would highly recommend it. Otherwise, I would say to only use warm water and be sure and massage it in good so you get between her toes and into the fur.

[somebodysme]

It’s not really about “scores” on DFA. It’s about what your dog is allergic to! Do you mean he had worse trouble with the other food or do you mean it had a worse score? Like I said, score don’t matter when you are dealing with a health issue. Score be darned is what I’m thinking these days with trying to deal with my little girl’s allergies. If she’d stop chewing her paws, I’d feed a one star at this point. That’s how frustrated I am. She’s on a five star and is worse off now then she was on Purina Pro Plan! GAH!

All I know is you need to immediately get your dog off the NB, not because it’s not a five star food but because YOUR DOG is allergic to it! I can’t tell you what to try from there but right now I have my dog on Natural Balance potato and rabbit….keeping fingers crossed. Poor thing just can’t shake the irritated paws and I can’t figure out what her issues are. She’s has only just started NB a couple days ago.

It really and truly is completely different…one dog to the next. Start out as you have with a LID food and if that doesn’t work, try a different recipe. If your dog had no itching problems on his old food but it’s not a low quality food and you want better, let’s say it was chicken based…well you can guess from that that your dog doesn’t have an issue with chicken and you can try a higher quality chicken based food. Chicken gives you lots and lots of choices!

[somebodysme]

I wouldn’t feed sweet potatoes to an allergy dog…after reading Plechner’s articles about dog allergies. It can make things worse. I would get the food you were feeding before and feed that and take him off the NB that is causing so much issues. He will have to have antibiotics if it gets too bad! Those rashes get infected.

If the food you were feeding is not a good quality food, try and find a better quality ingredients but that is similar to your old food. That’s what I would do. There’s nothing worse than allergies in a dog to deal with…it’s very frustrating! But main thing, get him off that NB NOW!

[somebodysme]

Thread is not showing up in that left hand column(latest replies)…bumping it so maybe it will be listed? I’m very curious about this subject!

[somebodysme]

Just something you may want to think about, What about rosemary extract? I just read about this being an issue for some dogs and it seems like they are putting it in so many foods. May want to investigate that possibility and see if there is any relationship to that ingredient and stomach issues. Some dogs can become violently ill from something like tomatoes.

[somebodysme]

She does have some booties. I will definitely be washing her feet if we visit again…oh and her private area too! GAH! The company is called “TruGreen” if that makes any difference. According to the man that came here to try and sell us, it’s supposed to be “perfectly safe and that’s why it’s called TruGreen because it’s safe for animals and humans”. So is that why they put out the warning after they get through spraying?…because it’s SOOOO SAFE? HA!

[somebodysme]

OH yes, sounds just exactly like my dog with allergies too. She’s a “lab mix”…AKA no one knows!

The vet did the same thing. What I did was go with a limited ingredient diet. I have her on Nature’s Variety LID Turkey which is doing an adequate job of keeping it under control. Remember that everything he consumes can contribute, not just their dog food. Treats and rawhide etc. even vitamins and supplements. People food…it can all cause problems.

Really the antiboitics help heal it up but then it just will come right back because they are killing the dog’s immune system.

I chose the NV food because it had the least amount of ingredients and not potatoes of any kind. I don’t even want her on sweet potatoes either.

Does he stink like strong cheese? If so that is yeast too so you don’t want a food with too many carbs or it will get worse. You’d also want to give a probiotic.

Just out of curiosity, what are you feeding him now?

[somebodysme]

Patty, you don’t think it’s just wishful thinking to connect the two outbreaks with standing and sitting in their grass? Her feet and her privates were itching and she was sitting on the grass so her privates would have been touching the grass/chemicals. We do not use any chemicals at all…yes our grass look just heck but…whatever…HAHA! At least I keep it mowed. 🙂

[somebodysme]

Could you go and get some sample of the mushroom and find out if they are poisonous to dogs? It does sound suspicious that it would be the mushrooms but the food could have been contaminated. I would have that tested as well!

The mushroom thing worries me about my dog too because she is a vacuum cleaner and will scarf up everything. We’ll be walking down the street and suddenly she will stop and eat something on the road before I can even know what’s happening. UGH! It will already be gone before I look so I don’t know what she’s even eaten.

Sorry for your losses! So sad!

[somebodysme]

8 weeks is what I’ve been hearing now too. Back in the day it was always 6 weeks. So you are fine as far as the age.

[somebodysme]

Where’s a good place to buy these HDM? That’s what I’d really like to get is bulk and mix it.

My dog seems like she feels better, like she’s more relaxed and being less of a brat. She’s only 18 months so bratty is somewhat expected but she has been calmer today. If she feels bad, she’s very snippy acting. 🙂

[somebodysme]

Nah, I think that’s pretty much par for the course.

[somebodysme]

bullterriermom, I haven’t had allergy testing done yet, we are just trying elimination and I’m hoping to find a good food. I put her back on NV LID the Turkey one and she is actually doing good on it and the feet are slowly but surely healing all up. Her rash on her back has magically healed up out of the blue. I really can’t help but think it was demodex and just getting healthy and taking supplements and vitamins have healed up up. I really do not know what caused her feet to flare up.

As far as diagnosis, it was just the vet that told me all her rashes and hair loss and scratching was most likely food allergies and he made some suggestions. It was just up to me to research a good food to start with. He wanted to put her on Iams.

I understand is quite pricey to have accurate allergy testing done though.

[somebodysme]

I did manage to find this:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0AsBcSQ8_xK_ndDRkYWo3NmRSWEl4T1NuX290bG5ULVE&output=html

It’s probably too out of date to be much help though.

[somebodysme]

Well darn, it was a chart of the most popular dry dog foods and it listed the calories, I think it may have also listed some other things too. I think that who posted the chart said that the higher the calories also meant the higher the meat protein was. My memory is pretty lame these menopausal years…HA!

[somebodysme]

What spirulina do you buy, the Mercola one? I got one off of Swanson with my DE order. The one I got is Earthrise Spirulina Natural Green Superfood 500 MG.

[somebodysme]

I think that HDM posted the calorie chart about a couple weeks ago and I’m kicking myself that I didn’t save the link. I cannot remember if it was in a thread or in the review section either…boo ME! HAHA!

[somebodysme]

Thanks freeholdhound! My dog is so funny, she’s had so many pills that when I get out a pill bottle, she thinks it’s a treat..HEEHEE! I always give her a pill then a treat (a kibble) following.

[somebodysme]

Emily, is you dog having problems on the BB? If not, then just keep feeding it. I >think< the no potato issue is mostly with allergies and yeast problems. If he doesn’t have problems then a potato formula should be OK. It’s just high in carbs/sugar so it bothers dogs with yeast problems.

[somebodysme]

No not probiotics, she gets the PB8 pill for that and she’s been on those for some time now. The DE I purchased is this one:
http://www.swansonvitamins.com/swanson-premium-digestive-enzymes-180-tabs

I had asked in a different thread which DE you all liked and it was suggested to me. I was looking at the Mercola one and the ingredients are very similar to it. She is eating grass like crazy.

I also purchased some Spirulina. Do y’all give this? I was looking for something “green” instead of her eating grass. I’ve tried to give her cooked greens but it just doesn’t seem to agree with her, she threw up when I gave her some cooked kale. She eats the grass like crazy and she never throws up when she eats grass. I wish I knew what the grass was so I could plant some seeds…HAHA! It’s only this one type of grass and she can hunt it out apart from all over grass.

[somebodysme]

I keep hearing good things about Annamaet Aqualuk or the brand in general. Would this work for a yeasty dog? At this point I really don’t know what she’s allergic to. She had been on the Zign. for two weeks with absolutely no signs of allergies as far as scratching goes and it’s a lamb based food but it contains fruits and vegetables. On the NV LID Turkey she still scratches a little bit but her paws were fine on that and it has pretty much nothing but turkey, peas and tapioca and vitamins. Usually I can tell immediately if something is bothering her because she will begin to claw at her sides like when I gave her a rawhide to test, that happened in two days so I knew.

Another weird thing is she seems to do good until I buy a large bag of food but is fine on the tiny bags. Could there be some difference in the kibble used in large bags? I was thinking that maybe they package them somewhere different OR they may use more preservatives for the food that goes into a large bag? When I bought a large bag of NV, there was a definite difference in the appearance of the kibble..I will attest to that much! It also had a lot of “dust” (ground up bottom of the barrel kibble) in with the food which I was kind of miffed over.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 8 months ago by somebodysme.

[somebodysme]

Marie, the last sentence must have gotten auto-corrected, it doesn’t make sense…what did you mean to say?

[somebodysme]

Just white vinegar or do I need the Bragg’s stuff? I assume you just leave that on right?

OH yeah well my last dog we got back around 1990 so I don’t even know if any good dog foods existed back then. I can remember trying to put him on some Iams stuff and he hated it, back then, as far as I know, that was the “good stuff”. We’d never even conceived of the idea of Internet back then. Ya know, how did we find out anything back then? HAHA! Grapevine?

I forgot to mention that when we first got her she smelled really bad of that stinky cheese smell and the rescue people told me to spray her with that Nature’s Miracle odor stuff…GAH! Even people that are involved in dog rescue are clueless about yeast and the effects of too many antibiotics.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 8 months ago by somebodysme.
• This reply was modified 10 years, 8 months ago by somebodysme.

[somebodysme]

I do have the vetericyn but it just seems like any time I use it, it irritates her skin even worse. It’s so hard with her because she has such sensitive skin. The only spray I’ve used that doesn’t seem to irritate is made my Excel Medicated antiseptic spray. Everything else I have used on this poor dog is an irritant. UGH! It could have been that her feet were wet because I rinse them off after each walk, I towel dry them but still they could have been damp and maybe I put her in her crate with wet paws? May have even been something on someone’s grass? I guess it’s hard to say but all I know is I switched her back to NV and her paws are healing up nicely…sheeeew!

I appreciate being able to talk this over with you…it helps iron things out and I’m new to all this dog allergies and yeast stuff. My last dog ate grocery store food and was fine…of course at the time I never heard of DFA! HAHA!

[somebodysme]

Her smell was, to me, like a stinky cheese smell…like if you opened a bag of Cheetos and took a whiff. What does that tell you? Her paws, now that they are irritated, smell like if you’d been handling pennies. I think that’s irritation/infection not yeast? But I really am only guessing. The stinky cheese smell was after I stopped the probiotic pill for a few days. After I started the probiotic back, that smell went away quickly after a couple days. Poor dog, she can’t win for losing!

The vet doesn’t know, all he just says is allergies. He doesn’t mention a word about all the antibiotics she’s been on or anything like that and needing a probiotic. All they do is stick needles in her and the sores heal up real quick and send us home with a pile of pills to take for a couple weeks and give a suggestion to some food and then I’m on my own. I do not want her to have to take more antibiotics but she can’t have infection either! So I’m d*mned if I do and d*mned if I don’t!

[somebodysme]

Yeah that makes sense, she had to wear a cone all the time so she didn’t lick but I think it also caused some irritation so I didn’t keep doing it because it didn’t help. Maybe rinsing would have stopped the irritation.

So anyway, do y’all think that yeast would cause the feet and vaginal area to be irritated but not the rest of her? Also I had stopped her probiotic to see if that caused the back rash and that also did cause her to stink like yeast…I started her back on probiotic and a few days later is when the feet broke out…thought maybe a delayed reaction to the lack of probiotic? I realize there are a lot of factors but mostly I wondered if yeast would cause the feet/vaginal stuff? At least It would make some sense and I can make decisions for her food choices. Right now I’m baffled!

[somebodysme]

I know, I’m so afraid that she’ll need more antibiotics! That’s why I was just panicked! I’m so glad they are healing up. You know, I did NOT know that the epsom salt soak needed to be rinsed off. When her feet were bad before, I’d soak them in epsom salt but did not rinse it off, never read to. UGH! Good to know.

[somebodysme]

I forgot to mention also that her girly parts were itching really bad too along with the paw rash.

• This reply was modified 10 years, 8 months ago by somebodysme.

[somebodysme]

That’s a good idea, I’ll go ahead and put that food all wrapped up good in the freezer. I’m thinking it just has too much fruit and veggies(carbs). I could probably even alternate it in every few days. I’m giving her some pumpkin and she LOVES IT! HAHAHA! I’m going to try the lamb NV LID next and see how that is. A small bag only lasts a week if that.

I guess it could be the “healing crisis” but dadgummit…her paws were bleeding all over the carpet and she was chewing them and absolutely miserable. I couldn’t think of anything to do but get her off that food and back to NV. I gave it a few days hoping it would take care of itself but it only kept getting worse. After she’s back on NV, the feet are healing.

Thanks!!!!!!

[somebodysme]

Seems that her anal gland issues are pretty much the same regardless of the food she eats as long as her poo is hard enough to expel them. On the Zignature Lamb and when she ate Avoderm Duck for a week, the poo doesn’t smell. Before the NV it didn’t smell on the Simply Nourish (petsmart’s) grain free. Just on the NV LID Turkey. Actually, I wish he Simply Nourish had a food without chicken…her digestive system and glands were perfect on Simply Nourish but she scratched…we can’t win for losing! HA!

• This reply was modified 10 years, 8 months ago by somebodysme.

[somebodysme]

Which probiotic and digestive enzymes do you recommend? I give her PB8 probiotic now which seems to be OK. Do you use the Swanson digestive enzyme or something else?

[somebodysme]

No gas though, just horrible smelling poo.

[somebodysme]

One thing I would definitely cut out is the cheese..find something non-dairy to put on it. That could be why she’s scratching more on Darwin’s.

[somebodysme]

So most of you are buying your raw from My Pet Carnivore? Do I understand this correctly?

emchide, please watch all those treats because most don’t really have too great ingredients in them. I’ve been making little meatballs(teaspoon sized) out of ground turkey, I cook them in a skillet on a low temp covered then drain them on paper towels. They go straight in the freezer and when I need them I just get a few out. When they begin to thaw, I use a very sharp paring knife to slice them into four pieces. These make good training treats, healthy and good enough that she will actually pay attention. Of those 1/4 pieces, I usually tear those in half as a training treat. So she only gets a tiny piece. Then if it’s just a quick reward for being a “good girl” I keep her kibble in my fanny pack as the majority of training treats, they are no bigger than a pea. So I can treat treat treat but she doesn’t get much. You definitely do not want to use any sort of biscuit to treat, it’s not good quality food plus is way too much.

[somebodysme]

This has turned into a wonderful informative thread! Thanks!

[somebodysme]

I have a few questions to clarify a few things:

I feed kibble only right now and I see mentioned that it’s good to feed cage free eggs. My question that always comes to my mind when eggs are mentioned is this; do you feed the entire egg shell and all and if so do you food process it or just crack it and put it in the bowl to eat raw shell and all? Also, do you wash the eggs off if you give the shell? She weights 50 lbs, so ONE a day?

Another question: She LOVES to eat this one particular grass that in a runner type grass but I don’t know what it’s called, I live in Ohio so something native to our area. I’d rather give her my own grass that I know is safe so I saw HDM mention both wheat grass and sprouted flax…my question is; would one of these give her what she’s seeking out and which one? How do you sprout flax and how much would I give? If wheat grass would be the better option, where do you get that and how much to feed?

Not trying to highjack the thread…these are probably questions on others minds as well. A lot of dogs eat grass I think…

[somebodysme]

Thanks for asking these questions ehubbman! In the morning when I’m not sleep walking, I’m going to get a cup of coffee and read all this! These are a lot of questions I wanted to ask but just got tired of asking so many questions…HAHAHA!

[somebodysme]

UPDATE: I did stop giving this for four days(Aug. 1,2,3 & 4) and what happened was, she started getting yeasty and stinking so I started her back on it and the stink went away immediately, like the next day! OH and not only did the rash not improve but it actually got much worse. She’s been back on the probiotic for 3 days(Aug 5, 6 and 7) now and the rash is calming down and the pustules are gone. GAH! When I was looking up yeast information, I saw dog photos of skin infections from yeast and it looks just like what she has. So I’m guessing it’s yeast because she’s been on Anti-biotics and cortisone (also Ivermectin) so much since she was a puppy that it’s just killed all her gut flora. UGH!

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