Dogs with Allergies

[Fisher-Dude]

Have any of you had to deal with dogs with allergies? Mine breaks out with a rash on his belly. I haven't been able to isolate what it is...I'm feeding him $70/bag allergen free Prescription Diet dog food from the vet, no other treats or food of any kind. I've also locked him out of the bedrooms where there is carpet. He doesn't have fleas or ticks. He still breaks out.

I have to keep putting him on Vanectyl tablets to combat the rash, but they aren't the answer long term. What is your dog allergic to?

[MooseNuts]

My lab has a protien allergy, her ears get really stinky and she scratches them a lot. I have changed foods (medi-cal hypo allergenic something or other) and I have had no problems since. The food is very pricey but I know longer have a monthly vet bill. The one thing that the vet said she can eat is moose. I kept the leg bones from the moose we got. I cut them into 4"-6" pieces, cooked them and then froze them. I give them to her as a special treat.

[270WIN]

I know my buddie dog will ich like hell if she eats any food with corn in it

[270WIN]

Have any of you had to deal with dogs with allergies? Mine breaks out with a rash on his belly. I haven't been able to isolate what it is...I'm feeding him $70/bag allergen free Prescription Diet dog food from the vet, no other treats or food of any kind. I've also locked him out of the bedrooms where there is carpet. He doesn't have fleas or ticks. He still breaks out.

I have to keep putting him on Vanectyl tablets to combat the rash, but they aren't the answer long term. What is your dog allergic to?

i know my buddie dog if she eats any type of food with corn in it she will ich for a few days

[Rod]

What brand of food is it? (some of the vet foods although SUPPOSED to be allergy resistant) do have some other nasties.

I have several highly allergic dogs and am able to control all with no meds. If you let me know what you are feeding I can possibly see in the ingredients what could be the issue.

Many of the vet foods BTW are full of BHA / BHT which are non human ingredients but more like antifreeze sourced and keep your dog addictiec to the food lol.

Beverly (from Rods PC :) )

[mtnmax]

My last dog developed an allergy to milk bones. The way I found out was by going right back to just dog food and then slowly introducing one of the treats. It took a couple of months and a bunch of money. Her skin on the ear would seperate from the cartlage and then would have to be drained and stiched. Each ear per sergury was $250 dollars. $750 later I found out milk boned was the problem. I know that lamb is touchy as well with dogs. That vet diet stuff is not always the best. Maybe try nutro or iams for awile? Do you have a fresh cut xmas tree yet? There are lots of different mold in them trees.
m2c
mtnmax

[craigchaplin]

Our "house" dog get wicked hot spots and rashes from just the odd flea. Haven't had any problems with my huntin buddy aside from the odd ear or eye infection. But the other one all it takes is one er two flea bites and he's done fer.......does he sleep in a kennel? could be his bedding or the kennel itself. Does he get baths or swim alot? Hard to say but i think yer in fer alot o trial and error. But definitely check fer just the odd flea as i know that is the culprit in our house as i check both dogs frequently even in the winter. And they are both on sentinel which kills the egg /larva stage but the adults still can live fer a while......usually just long enough to bite him apparently. Good luck!

[Fisher-Dude]

Here's the list of what we've done:

Food: He is on Z/D Hill's Prescription Diet non-allergen dog food from the vet. It's got altered proteins (14%) to minimize protein reactions. Before that, he was on Nutro Lamb & Rice (2 years no problems until we moved to a new house). He gets no treats or other food of any kind anymore. Beverly, he gobbles down the vet's food so your theory on addiction is probably right ($70/18 lb bag :eek: ), what brand(s) do you use?

Fleas: He's on Sentinel for flea/worm control. The vet has checked him numerous times with no signs of fleas.

Bedding: Washed often

Xmas tree: none

The next thing on my list to isolate is our tap water, as he never had any problem at our old house. He stays only on laminate and lino flooring. I'm running out of things to test!

[craigchaplin]

Sounds like yer doin all you can.......sorry and i hope you can figure it out!
good luck.

[Buchaneer]

Our dog developed an allergy at around 5 years old. We could never figure it out until a third vet told us it was allergies. We believe it to be an enviromental allergy (ie. grass etc) we tried all the food stuff and nothing worked. Rash, yeast infection on her paws, bad smell all came with the allergy. Before we found out what it was we had to bath her daily. The only thing that has worked is a daily vanectyl pill. She is now over 12 yrs old. Even now if we miss a pill for one day the rash returns - plus we can't sleep because she chews at herself all night long. We didn't like the pill idea at first - the only other choice was to put her down. However, now 7 years later we are thankful that the pills were available forher benefit and ours.

[Fisher-Dude]

Beverly, here's the ingredient list of the dog food (lucky I could do a cut n paste from their website, it's a LONG list!) :

Ingredients: Starch, Hydrolyzed Chicken Liver, Soybean Oil (preserved with BHA, propyl gallate and citric acid), Hydrolyzed Chicken, Powdered Cellulose, Dicalcium Phosphate, Calcium Carbonate, Glyceryl Monostearate, Potassium Chloride, Iodized Salt, Choline Chloride, vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), DL-Methionine, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), Taurine, Ethoxyquin (a preservative), Beta-Carotene.

[deerhunter]

We have a dog some might call a rat that has allergies and have had success with Natural balance food.We feed the duck and potato formula for wet in the morning and Natures recipe healthy skin for a dry kibbles and found it works ok ,not perfect but he's happy and does'nt snort as much.Hope this helps Rick

[Rod]

Beverly, here's the ingredient list of the dog food (lucky I could do a cut n paste from their website, it's a LONG list!) :

Ingredients: Starch, Hydrolyzed Chicken Liver, Soybean Oil (preserved with BHA, propyl gallate and citric acid), Hydrolyzed Chicken, Powdered Cellulose, Dicalcium Phosphate, Calcium Carbonate, Glyceryl Monostearate, Potassium Chloride, Iodized Salt, Choline Chloride, vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), DL-Methionine, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), Taurine, Ethoxyquin (a preservative), Beta-Carotene.

BHA- is known to initiate birth defects and cause damage to kidneys & liver. Although this can be found in some human grade foods one must remember that we do not eat the same food daily and therefore are not affected as your dog would be long term ingesting daily.

Ethoxyquin- not only is this listed as a preservative but it is likely also used to preserve some of the other ingredients prior to becoming dog kibble. Ethoxyquin IMO / researchers opinions is pretty much the same as adding a bit of antifreeze or other poison to your pets food each bowl :-( (google it some time) It's been associated with immune deficiencies ( allergies are sometimes misdiagnosed and are actually an immune problem) Personally I would never feed a kibble preserved in ethoxyquin or BHA / BHT. Go with something that preserves with citric acid which is natural and doesn't hurt your dog. Good food for dogs should not contain things that could possibly make them ill.

The foods most vets carry Medi-Cal and another that I don't recall at the moment....the one kibble producer didn't even have a research facility until they were bought out by the other a year or so back:mad: and that facility is only about 10 years old. Many of the ingredients WERE ok way back when but have since been proved not good for long term. They just keep making the same crap and sell it because people generally do not question that a vet has the best interest at heart. Conventional Vets have very little knowledge of canine nutrition in actuality (same idea as your family doctor sending you to a nutritionalist because they do not know) but Vets do make great commissions off those dog foods they pass of as nutritionally sufficient.

If I had to guess at what might be bothering your dog in this kibble (besides the fact that there is no real food in it, it's all fillers/ additives nothing wholesome) I might point at the soy or chicken fat as prime culprits.

I have 5 dogs all with these allergies combined:
Salmon / wheat / corn / soy / beet pulp /flax / beef / cranberries and well other stuff too :roll:

One in particular developes allergies to food after she has eaten it for a year or so then I have to switch again. The problem is that most kibbles contain something she is allergic too already. I currently feed this dog Wellness Simple Solutions Venison. Aside from the vitamins and minerals all it contains is venison plus brown rice.

Iams and Eukanuba I would not feed any dog (I know people are fond of these brands but do have a look at the info out there and do some research on ingredients/processing) Both are also full of corn which is a likely allergen (and almost always #1 ingredient in those brands. Dogs are not cows they do not need fillers/ grains)

My other 4 dogs here even with combined allergies, are all able to eat Soild Gold Wolf King which is Bison/Salmon based. When choosing any dog food, if meat (real meat not floor sweepings/byproducts) is not in the first 2 ingredients...it is generally junk.

If you have no clue what your dog is allergic to you might want to try a food trial (which is how I finally figured out most of the allergies here). You begin with a protein you know your dog is not allergic to or has not tried before, they eat that with plain white rice for weeks then you add in a new ingredient...let me know if you'd like to know a bit more on that as it is a bit lengthy.

Beverly (from Rods PC)

[Rod]

We have a dog some might call a rat that has allergies and have had success with Natural balance food.We feed the duck and potato formula for wet in the morning and Natures recipe healthy skin for a dry kibbles and found it works ok ,not perfect but he's happy and does'nt snort as much.Hope this helps Rick

This is another excellent food...unfortunately it had one ingredient that I could not feed. Note also that if your dog has an allergy to chicken they will almost always react the same to any bird based protein :-(


Watch for foods that say they are Venison or other such protein...some are actually preserved in poultry fat which defeats the purpose of being good for allergies lol!

Beverly (from Rods PC)

[ellellbee]

You mentioned you wash the bedding lots. Any chance he's reacting to the laundry detergent?

[MooseNuts]

Beverly (from Rods PC), thanks for the information.

[phoenix]

Fisherdude,
I too have a dog with allergies, chewing himself raw, problems with his ears, all of that! Our vet, Elliot Kaplan, Tri-Lakes Animal Hospital had us try everything, shots, expensive food, pills and nothing seemed to work until we got him on the magic diet, Sweet Potatoes(not yams) and Pinto Beans. Lots of work as he is a 100 lb. dog and eats a lot One month and he is clearing up really well but is still loosing weight so now we are feeding him small bits of other types of dry food to see which one he can eat and then we will put him on that. Real pain in the you know where but we love him and he's worth it. I was told that if you switch whatever food you feed your dog every few months for something with a different protien source the allergies don't happen as often but I don't know that for sure. We are trying that on our other 2 dogs though.
Kim

[Beverly]

Wanted to add...if something works for your dog hey go with it. I had a Malamute that after vaccinations developed a severe intestinal problem we thought was IBD (inflamatory bowl disease) or intestinal cancer :sad: .
Finding a food that worked for this dog was an incredibly frustrating process. I tried every possible allergy formula, duck / bison / kangaroo / venison / vegan (at up to $90 a bag!), raw, home cooked (lamb at about $20 per day for this #160 dog!)...mths and mths of trials.

What ended up working for him was a cheapo full of crap kibble that I loathed lol! After almost 2 years, weekly vet visits and a $3000 exploratory surgery I was able to switch him to a better food and my vet had to admit that it was the vaccinations that pushed his immune system over the top. This dog is quite healthy today but can never be vaccinated again in his life.

I might also suggest that some of the topical flea treatments/ sprays / pills....could be an issue for dogs with allergies / immune system issues. With 5 here I have never had a flea at any time ....I give them brewers yeast once in a while and because I am such a suck when it comes to them hot oatmeal a couple mornings a week with garlic in it. :) I once got topical Advantage on my hand when applying it to one of the dogs....I never used it after that based on the reaction (like drinking 40 pots of expresso lol). I just got a bit on my hand so thought wow what the hell is that full tube like on my dogs?

ellellbee- good call on the laundry soap.

I was thinking about this starting on his move and wondered if there is something at the new house? Different trees/plants in the yard? Neighbour who sprays chemicals on grass? Mold in the walls you may not know about? Different cleaning products being used? Cedar around? (this can cause respitory issues/reactions in some pets. ) Those plug in air fresheners (they release non-detected oil droplets into the air)......could be a zillion different things lol.

[Radar]

A friend on mine's dog has allergies, after trying all the special food etc, they now make the food fresh each meal! Cleared up the allergies and the dog looks awesome, a lot of hard work on their part though, got to admire the way they look after their dog.

[Cdn-Redneck]

My dog has a wheat allergy. So we tried Medi-cal Skin Support for a while. We didn't get a noticable change in her ears(yeast in her ears). One thing to keep in mind is that part of the vets income comes from the foods they sell you at a very large mark up. We are trying Nutro holistic food from Petsmart right now. If I was to get a pup now I would go to a B.A.R.F. (bones and raw food) diet. I asked my vet about this but they were not to reseptive to the idea. One thing to keep in mind is that you have to keep the meat fresh for them. If it smells bad enough you wouldn't eat it don't give it to your dog. You can do a search for tons of articles on this here is a link to a breeder that feeds this way and has lots of info on it

http://www.tollwest.com/barf.html

[ellellbee]

Not sure I agree about the meat having to be fresh. When it comes to dogs, the stinkier the better. Caught our dog eating cat shit once! He dragged a frozen horse turd in the other day to chew on. Needless to say ours is not a household that lets the dog lick your face. We feed Iams but I think he finds it boring so we flavor it with a small amount of leftovers etc. Everytime we open a can of tuna of salmon, we drain the can and save it to put over his food.

[Sasquatch]

My Griff has allergies that affect his ears and after numerous trips to the vet, we had the lab do bloodwork to find out exactly what he was allergic to.
Turns out, some of the ingredients in the allergy specific treats and dog food I was buying at the vet, had ingredients that he was allergic to. I have put him on duck and potato food and treats and he hasn't had a problem in months.

However, some of the things he is allergic to are plants found locally and other than regular shots, there is pretty well no way to avoid them if you have an active dog.

The bloodwork and shots are pricy, but if you are going to keep the dog and treat it continuously, it actually works out much cheaper in the long run to find out exactly what the problem is.

Good luck.

[GoatGuy]

Have any of you had to deal with dogs with allergies? Mine breaks out with a rash on his belly. I haven't been able to isolate what it is...I'm feeding him $70/bag allergen free Prescription Diet dog food from the vet, no other treats or food of any kind. I've also locked him out of the bedrooms where there is carpet. He doesn't have fleas or ticks. He still breaks out.

I have to keep putting him on Vanectyl tablets to combat the rash, but they aren't the answer long term. What is your dog allergic to?

My dog isn't allergic to anything.


My advice: Quit bringing randoms home from North of 49! :|:|

Years of that and penicilin has left you immune, but not your POOR DOG!

[Beverly]

However, some of the things he is allergic to are plants found locally and other than regular shots, there is pretty well no way to avoid them if you have an active dog.

You can actually give Benedryl to dogs with air borne (and other allergic reactions)

It's a SPECIFIC type of Benedryl tho.....some forms of Benedryl are dangerous to give pets because they contain different ingredients. Vets can let you know which type and what dosage to give. I keep some on hand at all times for bee bites (me and the fur-kids) :lol:

[houndogger]

I feed my hounds the raw or barf diet. It has worked exellent for the dogs. They don't care about how the meat smells that is for sure.:lol:

[Fisher-Dude]

Update on my dog's allergies: CURED!

I tried the expensive prescription foods, and that didn't work. I tried keeping him in different environments, and that didn't work. On the advice of a dog trainer friend, I switched him to Nutro Ultra Holistic food. That worked! He gets a bit of wild meat (he doesn't care about freezer burn on old burger 8) ), and his belly and ears have cleared right up. No milk bones...I gave him one and he got 3 spots on his belly the next day, so I think it's a preservative (BHA, BHT) that he's allergic to. He's been on this food for 2 months and is allergy free! :) :)

Thanks everyone for all your suggestions. My hound says thanks too!

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e70/Fisher-Dude/pogoapr061.jpg

[TRACKnTRAIL]

My chesapeake was allergic to his nylon collar. He got a rash aroung his neck and down onto his chest. Changed him to a leather collar and it all cleared up.

[Beverly]

Update on my dog's allergies: CURED!

I switched him to Nutro Ultra Holistic food.



Good to hear! I did want to mention tho that Nutro is listed on the list of recalled dog food!!!! I think it is just canned / pouches but you should check to be safe :)

[Fisher-Dude]

Good to hear! I did want to mention tho that Nutro is listed on the list of recalled dog food!!!! I think it is just canned / pouches but you should check to be safe :)

Yes, it is just the "chunks in gravy" type of slop that is part of the recall. All he gets from Nutro is dry.

Here's the link to the recalled brands, which includes many of the store names (President's Choice, etc):

http://www.menufoods.com/recall/

[quadrakid]

first time our pooch had a reaction we figured spider bite, she had bumps all over and had trouble breathing. we had to get some antihistimines into her to help her out. happened a few more times till we figured it was the milk bones causing the problems.