Question for all the all the food allergy dog owners

scrbear11

I'm fairly certain Zehen has a food allergy based on his on going skin problems- My vet has mentioned it to me before and I'll talk to her further about it when he goes in for surgery next week. It wouldn't hurt Zuna either- although she doesn't have the skin problems she seems to have an irritable bowel, and I'm sure easier to digest food would help her out.

So tell me- what do you have your dog on for their allergy? Does your dog have as much energy as before? Is he able to hold his weight the same?

My concerns are that because Zehen is a harder keeper, he won't be able to hold his weight as well on the allergy foods while are lower protein and lower fat.

weimdogmom · Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 9:27 am Post subject:

What food(s) do you think Zehen is allergic to? What food is he currently eating?

Jazz is an allergic dog -- at least to things such as grass, dust mites, etc... We have not had her tested for food allergies. She's been on Natures's Variety Salmon and Brown Rice and has been doing OK. We're going to try a grain free and got a bag of Wellness Core yesterday... we'll see how that goes. We got the fish, but may try something else later.

The vet tech at the clinic where Jazz sees the dermatologist also has an allergic dog. She feeds him one of the Natural Balance foods and says he does very well on it. His coat is great and he has lots of energy.

The vet diets for allergies work for some but not all dogs. If you're not sure what Zehen is allergic to, you might want to try the vet diet until the symptoms are gone (or it is obvious that it's not working). If you decide to stay on that then your search is done (at least for now...) If you want to try a commercial kibble, you might try a limited ingredient (one novel protein/one carb/maybe grain free) and see how that goes. Add to it and change as needed until you find what works. But changes should be done slowly unless there is a clear bad reaction, and should be given enough time if there is no immediate change to know if it's working or not.

Adding fish oil, yogurt, kefir and other supplements may also help both allergies and sensitive tummies. Just remember not to add/change too many things at one time or you won't know what is making things better or worse.

Are you sure the allergies are all food related and not environmental?

Weim · Housebroken Joined: 19 Jul 2008 Posts: 60

Best would be real food - meat, veg, fruit etc - has the least additives, specially if you can get organic.

scrbear11 · Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 3:09 pm Post subject:

Zeh has had ongoing skin and ear infections since he was a puppy. He started out on Nutro LB Puppy. We switched to Taste of the Wild after he started having a hard time keeping his weight up on the Nutro. He currently eats the prairie formula (venison and bison) and the pacific formula (salmon) mixed together. We are switching both over to just the Pacific formula. Zehen has had folliculitis on his neck and shoulders for over a month now- antibiotics helped, but as soon as he went off it flared up again. He doesn't wear a collar unless we are walking.

Zuna's stomach just doesn't seem to like dog food much. She always has loose stools. And she too has started having some skin problems.

My vet mentioned before this last episode maybe starting him on the Royal Canin Potato and Venison formula for his skin, but it's not formulated for growing dogs, and it has very little protein and fat in it. He's such a hard keeper I worry about him loosing weight and not having any energy.

I think I'm going to holf off on paying $80 for a bag of food till I get them switched all the way over to the Pacific formula and see if that helps them.

cockyweim · Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 9:20 pm Post subject:

Blitz tends to have ear and feet problems. His ears are doing great but we clean them weekly especially when it is hot and humid like this time of year. We started him on Nutro LB lamb and rice and of course you know the problems Nutro has had. We went to Canidae All life stages and he did not do so well. Chewing on the feet and not eating. My vet said dogs with allergies seem to do a little better on a lamb diet. Dont ask me why. We also give him Benedryl for the itching and fish oil for his overall skin. We used to do yogurt but for some reason got away from it but if I notice ear problems I may go back to yogurt. The fish oil really seems to help him out as does the benedryl. I know that some dont give their Weims bath on a regular basis but I have found that bathing blitz every 3-4 weeks really helps his skin. It seems to get the allergens off of him and I see less sctraching and biting. Of course I use oatmeal and aloe soap free formula so I am not worried about drying out his skin or anything. All dogs are different but I think Benedryl and fish oil really help blitz out. I feed him twice a day so I give him 2 benedryl and 2 fish oil at each meal.

weimdogmom · Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 9:34 pm Post subject:

Pinchc44 · Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 8:11 am Post subject:

My girl has horrible skin problems due to allergies. Luckily she is NOT allergic to food but we still feed her a grain free food. I would definitely try your pup on one of the vet foods like the venison and potato and see if that helps. Don't give him anything else to eat for at least a month and see if helps. You have to rule out everything that's why they suggest you just feed that food and nothing else. Before we got our girl allergy tested we did a month on the special food while giving her nothing else to see if she had food allergies. She did not and still continued to have skin problems so we had her allergy tested and found she is allergic to several things outside. Good luck.

Christie & Sade

cockyweim · Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 11:31 am Post subject: