My dog has food allergies

[kermit]

So about two months my JRT developed a rash on his belly and red, itchy feet that he could not stop chewing on. I took him to the vet and she determined he has food allergies. One month on prednisone and she told me to bath him with a special shampoo and completely change his food. After much research and trail and error, I have found Naural Balance by believe it or not **** Van Patten. I have put him on the all vegetarian, and hes been on it for about one week. Thank god he's a good eater but I am hoping that this fixes the itching. I have completely taken away all corn, wheat, soy, and animal proteins. He seems to be healing and not chewing as much. Does anyone have experience with this? How long before I know that this food is working? I've read it can take 6-8 weeks before you really know? Is that true? I use topical creams and have given him a benedryl a couple of times. My poor little man, his name is Rebel by the way. The guy is the photo.

[wildhawk]

My little corgi had allergies too - we put her on an all natural vegetarian food by Nutro and started added fish oil to her food. Her allergies are gone. Your little fella will respond to the change in diet - a couple of weeks I would say. And add the fish oil - he will like the taste and his skin and fur will look and feel better.

[andtckrtoo]

Good luck to you and your buddy, Rebel! Food allergies are such a pain to deal with. Sounds like you're doing the right thing. Personally I don't feed my dogs anything with corn, soy or wheat anyway. I just don't think it's good for them. And my little eskie has cushings and diabetes so I home cook her food. Yeah, by dogs are spoiled.

[OakLeaf]

I would worry about a vegetarian diet that excludes soy. Be careful there's enough protein.

Two of my dogs had allergies, and they did well on California's Natural and Wellness brand foods.

[Aggie_Ama]

Mine are allegeric to peanut butter. The fish oil does help but watch out, mine's breath smells well fishy!

[BethG]

My understanding is that it does take 6-8 weeks to determine if a food source is working, but you should probably check with your vet, especially if he's still itching.

Did the vet talk to you about introducing new food sources once Rebel's itching calms down? (I'd worry about the lack of protein, too)

You might also ask here: http://www.dogwise.com/forums/

I would research any advice you get, off course, but it's a good way to get started. In fact, I sometimes find it more useful to ask for sources of information, rather then just advice, when looking for info on health issues.

[singletrackmind]

Allergies, yech!
I had an extended test done on one of my Tervs long ago and he came back positive for 96% of the things tested and borderline on all but a couple others. That's plants and trees (allergic to all but borderline mullberry), foods (most), fibers (allergic to all but sisal), animals (allergic to birds, cats, dogs, horses, etc.). So long carpet, open windows, fuzzy chew toys, etc.

He did good with Nutro's lamb and rice, and a stainless steel bowl, thank goodness.

[Flur]

Mine doesn't have allergies per se, but he as a really sensitive stomach/digestive tract. He's fine on his current kibble, Eagle Pack, but if DH gives him too much bread, cheese, etc., or if he eats plants on his walk, it's dog-arrhea all over the floor. Some treats cause it too. We still don't know exactly what's causing the problem.

[ibcycling]

Poor doggy! My Great Dane has allergies too. He does very well on Natural Balance Fish & Potato and I'm careful about what treats he gets. I'm guessing with him it's a grain allergy and "hay fever" since there are a couple times during the year he is more itchy. The food has really helped and WOW does my dogs have nice shiny coats. Love that fish oil!

Good luck!

Lora

[Miranda]

Oh, I know your pain well. My yellow lab I have posted about on here that's on Rainbow Bridge now ate that brand. We used **** VanPatten's Natural Balance Duck and Potatoe allergy formula in a yellow bag. It's not as expensive as vet rx food, but pretty close. We paid about $50 a bag for it. Very limited suppliers carried it too locally. But, as soon as she went on it she was cured. We tried many other things, but this was the ticket.

She still had some of the foot chewing issues. Before Natural Balance her food literally went straight through her. A lab is a big dog and that makes for one big mess in a crate to clean up first thing in the morning. Bleah.

To this day, I am not exactly sure what happened to her. We have a new black lab now, same breeder, and same starting food. Iams large breed puppy. I am not sure if my yellow girl got triggered by something she ate in the yard? A cheap chew treat? And heavens forbid, post Mother's Day cookout I shared my treat with her in the form of a nice T-bone steak bone.

Then it all came... sick sick sick doggie. She was getting really thin too. After Natural Balance, she got fat. We fed her TOO much. It's a great high quality food with notta weird chemical stuff too.

FWIW... hope your pup gets better.

[Trek420]

When I got my mutt she quicky developed alergies. They had not shown in the pound because I think she just was not eating She soon had little fur on her rear. Her vet said that while we sneeze, get rashes .... dogs get itchy no matter what they are alergic to and thought it's inhaled stuff like grasses.

Avoderm helped some. Then Richard Van Pattens or any food that is no grain was suggested. She now has a wonderful coat

Dogs eat meat. I don't eat much meat, nearly vegetarian but she needs high protein I think

[Cyclenewbie08]

I adopted a dog from a shelter about a year and a half ago. He is a golden retriever/chow mix. He kept getting these horrible hot spots all over his body that looked like burns. It seemed he was constantly on prednisone and antibiotics. We finally decided to have allergy testing done on him and I am so glad we did. We never would have determined all that he was allergic to just by taking certain things away in his food. He is allergic to all meat except for fish, all grasses, all trees except for 2, soy, barley, cats, birds,dust, mold, etc. I now have him on a holistic brand food by Eagle Pak. It contains salmon, sardines, and anchovies. It sounds disgusting, but doesn't smell too badly. He is doing so much better now. I was basically poisoning him by feeding him the food I was giving him. It was a high end food, too. He still gets sores every once in a while due to seasonal allergies, but nothing like he had before.
So my suggestion is, if you haven't done it already, is to have allergy testing done. It cost me about $250 but in the long run it saved me money because every few weeks when I had to get steroids and antibiotics, it cost me $50-75 each time. I know exactly what he is allergic to and found him treats and dog food that fit his needs.

It took about 4-6 weeks to notice a difference in his skin and coat, but he is a happy dog once again(albeit a lot spoiled!)

I hope your puppy gets better in no time. Just wanted to add my 2 cents.

Chris

[tc1]

Don't forget the flea control. My experience with an itchy scratchy dog was that she also would get flea dermatitis. No matter how clean your house is, the dog is still gonna get fleas when he goes outside to do his business. Hope Rebel feels better soon.

[TxDoc]

Well, my dog does not have food allergies, but he is very allergic to insect bites - especially fire ants. Whenever he gets bit by a flying/crawling something we have to run for a cortisone injection asap!

[kerryhb]

My terrier has a perpetual mild itch..nibbles on his feet too. The vet has suggested changing his food, which we have...he also gets Missing Link supplement, but I would like to try the fish oil. Is it people fish oil from the vitamin section, or special veterinary fish oil? Can you get the liquid in a bottle, or do you squeeze the capsules over their food? Thank you!