Food issues, bad allergies

Okay so lola's allergies are getting out of hand. She is not itching a lot but she is licking her feet a lot. She has been on raw for about 4-5 months now. I found from doing an elimination diet that she can't handle poultry of any kind including turkey. Beef is somewhat okay but she gets eye discharge while eating it. Lately she has been on venison but she seems to be having some crazy effects from it. So what I am really asking is what food can I feed her that can be bought? Obviously it needs to be low in protein because she can't handle high amounts of it. It needs to be either fish or red meat as she just can't handle poultry at all. Any recommendations?

Natural balance has a fish and sweet potato formula. Honest Kitchen also came out with Zeal, their fish based food, which I have been feeding my pugs.

Ah! Welcome to the multi-allergy pug. It might not be proteins entirely. I have one dog who can't eat any bird--not duck, not turkey, not quail, not chicken. Tried them all and big issues.

There is a possibility that she's reacting to things other than food. Could be contact allergies--if she's walking on anything at the park or your yard. Feet itchies are classically food related, but not always. Runny eyes tend to be more related to seasonal allergies.

I try to stay away from beef and bison--although I have one dog that can beef but not bison, and one that can do bison but not beef.

I also have several dogs with allergies to some plants. I'm really careful about plants--if Lola has any seasonal allergies you need to stay away from chamomile, feverfew, burdock, alfalfa, calendula, chicory, flax.

I've been feeding a whole carcass diet for my two biggest allergy guys--it's just that--the whole carcass ground up without any fruits or vegs added. I use a company called Carnivora, but not sure they sell outside of Canada.

And I use unique proteins--but avoid salmon as I have a dog that reacts to salmon. I feed venison, lamb, elk, goat, boar, rabbit, mackerel and tuna. I only used canned fish, however, as I don't trust raw fish right now with the issues of parasites.

I don't know if you add omegas to her diet, but you have to careful with them as some of the omega 3/6/9 combinations will use flax, burdock and other plants. Also I don't use salmon oil--only herring for now.

Ohh... I've had a long haul with my Cocker and her "allergies." I hope I can help a little...
The food that Maddie did best on was Primal (pre-made raw). The second opinion vet put her on a perscription diet, but she got WORSE so after 2mos (that's the time period they said to rule out food allergy) I tried Natural Balance for a bit, and then back to Primal. I guess it is very common for grains to aggravate allergies.

I've heard good things California Naturals, too.

But... I wanted to post because I recently went to a dog dermatologist and I strongly recommend them to anyone who has a dog with skin and/or allergy issues! I went back and forth to the vets many many times before someone suggested a dermatologist to me... and I'm so grateful to that. The dermatologist I went to was actually cheaper than one of the vets I went to (I wanted a second opinion... it was pretty much a waste of time). We were stuck in a vicious cycle of antibiotics and steroids (which I didn't want her on!) and it lasted for so long, I wish I would've taken her to a dermatologist sooner. It turns out, Maddie's "allergies" were not allergies at all! But, I'd expect a specialist to see that... Her symptoms were like "just" allergies, so I don't blame my vet at all.

HTH!

brattina88 wrote:Ohh... I've had a long haul with my Cocker and her "allergies." I hope I can help a little...
The food that Maddie did best on was Primal (pre-made raw). The second opinion vet put her on a perscription diet, but she got WORSE so after 2mos (that's the time period they said to rule out food allergy) I tried Natural Balance for a bit, and then back to Primal. I guess it is very common for grains to aggravate allergies.

I've heard good things California Naturals, too.

But... I wanted to post because I recently went to a dog dermatologist and I strongly recommend them to anyone who has a dog with skin and/or allergy issues! I went back and forth to the vets many many times before someone suggested a dermatologist to me... and I'm so grateful to that. The dermatologist I went to was actually cheaper than one of the vets I went to (I wanted a second opinion... it was pretty much a waste of time). We were stuck in a vicious cycle of antibiotics and steroids (which I didn't want her on!) and it lasted for so long, I wish I would've taken her to a dermatologist sooner. It turns out, Maddie's "allergies" were not allergies at all! But, I'd expect a specialist to see that... Her symptoms were like "just" allergies, so I don't blame my vet at all.

HTH!

So.....inquiring minds want to know--if it wasn't allergies, what was it?

Yea to be honest I have no clue what it is. I feel that a lot of the issues are food related but there could be more to it. We don't keep any plants in the house and other than the grass, weeds, and dead leaves in the yard there isn't much for her to come in contact with. I have really kept strict to the raw recipe on the forums by sticking with 1-2 proteins along with green beans, carrots, Sweet potato, potato, pumpkin, and greens like kale, lettuce, or bok choy. The only two things I have been adding into her food are Coconut oil and ground kelp. My theory is that the raw protein is too much for her. So I was thinking of switching over to a dry kibble to see if it will settle her allergies some.

On a side note, lola has also started having anal leakage. I have had her anal glads expressed not even 2 weeks ago when she had her bath and nail grinding. I don't know if this could be related but who knows.

Well, she was diagnosed with Vitamin A Responsive Dermatitis... I suspected thyroid problems, and my vet was worried about things like cushings (another thing to scare me away from steroids) but all of that was ruled out by blood work prior to the appt.

Here's what I typed up about her whole thing in case anyone is interested.
https://www.facebook.com/notes/dana-trent/maddie-has-vitamin-a-responsive-dermatosis-in-the-american-cocker-spaniel/497370416973

http://www.dermatologyforanimals.com/vitamina.html -- overview of VARD

http://www.purrfectpet.com/ -- Dr. Jeromin's website. She's awesome! :) She also has articles about allergies and other skin conditions, if anyone wants a good read

We were going to do allergy testing, but after seeing her Dr. Jeromin knew it wasn't allergies.

Well, to further confound you, two of my dogs react to leaf mold--so I know if they walk through fallen leaves in the fall--especially if the weather has been wet, they will have itchy feet.

And two of my dogs react to any squash like pumpkin and sometimes sweet potato. Since I'm also battling systemic yeast issues, I avoid any food that converts to sugar like pumpkin, sweet potato, virtually all fruits, etc.

As to kibble--you might want to try canned first as it is the next most bio-available after raw. Wellness makes some good canned foods.

If you do go with kibble--there are a bunch of good no grain kibbles out there. Nature's Variety instinct Rabbit is pretty good, but not sure how high the protein is. And the other concern with them is that their rabbit is sourced from China.

I like Orijen and Acana--but protein may be too high for you. Natural Balance is decent as are Wellness Core varieties. The selection these days in no grains is much bigger. I have used California Natural Lamb and Rice for Tank while I was weaning him off of his pred dose. And I think Wellness makes a kibble called Simple Solutions which is one protein, one carb.

Dboardman wrote:Yea to be honest I have no clue what it is. I feel that a lot of the issues are food related but there could be more to it. We don't keep any plants in the house and other than the grass, weeds, and dead leaves in the yard there isn't much for her to come in contact with. I have really kept strict to the raw recipe on the forums by sticking with 1-2 proteins along with green beans, carrots, Sweet potato, potato, pumpkin, and greens like kale, lettuce, or bok choy. The only two things I have been adding into her food are Coconut oil and ground kelp. My theory is that the raw protein is too much for her. So I was thinking of switching over to a dry kibble to see if it will settle her allergies some.

On a side note, lola has also started having anal leakage. I have had her anal glads expressed not even 2 weeks ago when she had her bath and nail grinding. I don't know if this could be related but who knows.

No one diet is perfect for every dog. The only way to know for sure would be a true elimination diet, or allergy testing. I can't sit here and say RAW IS THE BESTEST FOR EVERY DOG (although sometimes I'm tempted to lol!) but dogs are individuals, a just like humans, not all diets work for everyone

In Maddie's case, she was also having anal gland issues... and it was related... I'm not familiar with the raw diet on the forums (I'll have to go look into that ). How much bone is she getting? Is she appearing constipated at all?


I know how you feel & I can sympathize. I'm sending {{{{{{{get well soon vibes}}}}}}}} for your sweet baby

I am totally over the low protein thing. If a dog is growing or working hard it needs a LOT of protein, all the rest still need a fair amount, more than humans but not as much as a cat.
Sometimes we think there is an allergy to the protein (will be to one enzyme or another) but it turns out to be a reaction to high levels of fat in the meat (poultry and beef are big offenders here) or there is a slight metabolic disorder which needs to be counteracted by adding a binder of some type. Personally I am not a fan of unique protein sources, I will avoid the one triggering reactions in an individual but try to get a variety into them so their systems are coping with little amounts of lots of things and not a lot of one single thing which may create future problems. Sorry, I'll get down now and make some positive suggestions for you.

Try replacing the coconut oil supplement with fish oil in her diet in case she is reacting to those fats and make sure that all meat is really lean. Decrease the starch (potato, yam, pumpkin, carrot) a little and increase the dark green veges. The only way to really find out what she is allergic to (if a food) is an exclusion diet, which is very very hard to do.

Not every dog has a reaction to grains, it is the bulk filler type grains they throw into kibble to allow extrusion moulding that seem to be the culprit, I happily add home-made rice and oatmeal without trouble. They will also get a little wholegrain wheat in the flour of their treat bikkies, but not very often, as they are more likely to get dried meat as a treat.

I would second the dermatologist consult.

I had allergy testing done on Chyna several years ago. I already knew that she broke out in hives and pustules if she ate any poultry, beef or lamb. I fed her Addiction Kangaroo dry kibble for a bit then I switched to Addiction Summer Brushtail Dehydrated Raw. Chyna does fantastic on it. Her ears are mostly clean now except a few times a year when certain things are blooming. The food is easy as comes dehydrated so you just add water to it. We travel a lot so I did not want to try the whole raw diet. I order online through www.k9cuisine.com, and they have great service. The protein isn't too high because she also has bladder issues which means she needs a lower protein. I tried Addiction's can rabbit, but that gave her immediate diarrhea. It was extra bad since she has no control of her bowels!! I don't add any supplements or oils to her food, and she can't chew on any type of real bones, rawhides, etc...

I've seen many dogs test positve on allergy tests to potatoes and other things that you would not think would cause a problem. Many of the other raw diets that I have seen are pretty high in proteins, but whether or not your dog can handle the higher amounts is just going to be trial and error