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  #1  
Old March 27th, 2011, 10:48 PM
Brandon W Brandon W is offline
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Exclamation Please Help Me! Allergic dogs.

Hey,my dogs have most if not all of the symptoms of being allergic to their food,or an ingredient in it. Im convinced they need a holistic food. But what brand is best to choose ? Im confused and want something that will help the best. Ive researched different brands and have narrowed down some. Im thinking of trying Orijen Regional Red, I heard grain is a main cause of itching and allergies in dogs,and heard chicken can be harmful as well. This food has neither. Here is a link of the brands that are available at the pet health store near me. I would appreciate any ideas,recomendations, or suggestions that anyone may have. Thanks.

http://www.globalpetfoods.ca/good_ea...tegory=regular
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Old March 27th, 2011, 10:53 PM
SamIam SamIam is offline
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If your dogs have serious food allergies, it would probably be best to start with a zero-allergen vet food until you can figure out what they are allergic to.
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Old March 27th, 2011, 11:36 PM
Brandon W Brandon W is offline
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Define serious. They show the common symptoms,and it is usually due to chicken,or grain. She never had problems as a pup on the good stuff. It had no grain.
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Old March 27th, 2011, 11:38 PM
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Shaykeija Shaykeija is offline
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A more educated reply would be have you taken your dog to the vet yet? There are not vets on here, so IMHO I would be taking my pet to the vet and taking to him or her about what you should be feeding your dog. Oh and pictures are a requirement here.
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Old March 27th, 2011, 11:42 PM
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And once a vet sees your dog then start with food switches.
Duck is a good protien source for many dogs with food allergies, however is it an allergy or intolerance you are dealing with?
I have a dog with intolerances with many foods.
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Old March 27th, 2011, 11:43 PM
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How long have these "allergy" symptoms been going on? How old is your dog? What are you feeding? What makes you believe your dog needs "holistic" food?
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Old March 28th, 2011, 12:03 AM
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It takes approx six weeks for some allergens to completely leave the system. You have gotten some great advise about going to the vet. S/he can do skin scrapings, etc, and determine if it is indeed food allergies or something else. Have you thought about the possibility of flea allergies, injection issues (shots), allergic reactions to something you may have in your home?
As Shaykeija said we aren't vets. We can't give you a definite answer. It's going to be a slow steady process to properly ascertain what allergen(s) your dog(s) are reacting to.
And after that wonderful piece of advise - Here is some good information on allergies and ways to start treating them......
http://www.organic-pet-digest.com/do...d-allergy.html
(I know, I googled. But sometimes it is a great way to find some useful advise. You just have to learn to weed out the gobblygook first.) Educating yourself by doing lots of reading on the subject is a wonderful way to help your dog(s).
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Old March 28th, 2011, 12:06 AM
Brandon W Brandon W is offline
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well my family dog has always licked,chewed his paws,and rubs his butt on the floor,and has always had ear problems. hes been on iams the whole time. i moved out of my parents place and got a dog. As a puppy she was fed nutram,a good canadian brand that uses a lot less garbage. she did not show any signs then. that got expensive when i was on my own,and i had to switch to a cheaper food. I went with pedigree. This is when i started noticing the problems. then i moved back home.she got switched to the iams. she did not vomit her whole portions as much,and the yellow froth that is described as a allergy symptom stopped. but this is when her hair started balding. she is going to go to the vet,ive just had lots of problems with a vet before with the methods of treating the animal. they think they can just give it a pill all the time. and i do not have a good view on them because of this one i had to deal with.anyways,she is going for a check up and a vets opinion. im just trying to inform myself so im not stupid like last time and waste money on useless methods,when it could have been solved cheaper and more naturally. I got lots of pics of my dogs,check out my profile i started filling the album on it.
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  #9  
Old March 28th, 2011, 12:07 AM
SamIam SamIam is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Brandon W View Post
Define serious. They show the common symptoms,and it is usually due to chicken,or grain. She never had problems as a pup on the good stuff. It had no grain.
These are the symptoms you described:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Brandon W View Post
lola
bald area,mostly on the right side down her back
Poor pigmentation of skin and coat
hot spots where hair missing
head shaking
Runny, goopy eyes and runny nose
oily skin/fur
Obesity or can't maintain weight not tht bad but she is over
Poor stools, soft or small overly firm (constipated)
Vomiting food portions or a yellow froth on occasion


Bruin
chews paws and tail
ear infections
rubs but on floor
Constant shedding and Hot Spots
oily fur

when she was a puppy she ate nutram,then when i had to change to adult i used pedigree,nutram was getting $$,it started after the switch. lola has stopped a lot of the vomiting now its just the odd time.
The reasons I consider that serious is that there are a lot of symptoms, that some of them point towards possible endocrine abnormalities and infectious disease, and if all that is due to an allergy it must be a pretty severe one. Some dogs are allergic to chicken, some to lamb or beef or turkey or salmon. Some dogs are allergic to certain grains, and some to the alternatives they put in grain-free food. Some dogs can show every one of the symptoms you have described and not have a food allergy at all.

In good conscience the only advice I can give you is to work through this problem with your vet. You mentioned you are concerned about the cost of a vet visit - a decent-sized bag of Global's top quality foods will cost more than a check-up, and if that one kind of food turns out to make things worse for your dogs instead of better, you haven't saved a dime by buying it.
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Old March 28th, 2011, 12:18 AM
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TeriM TeriM is offline
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I must say that I am really not a fan of vet prescription foods although I do realize they have a place in treatment of some serious conditions.

If you are looking to treat allergies then the first step I would recommend is to list all of the foods that you have tried and then try to identify common ingredients. Basically all the ingredients up to and including the first listed fat source would be what to compare. After you have identified that list then try to find a food that does not have those ingredients.

Other choices include trying a raw food diet. Many dogs that are allergic to processed kibble proteins/grains/fats do not exhibit any of those same allergic reactions in a real food raw diet. My yellow lab had horrible allergies but could eat those same foods (chicken etc) easily on a raw food diet.

Good luck.
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  #11  
Old March 28th, 2011, 08:09 AM
Mirela Mirela is offline
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Also, please keep in mind that, unfortunately, finding a solution could take a long time and lots of trials. Even if you find the perfect food, that has no allergens whatsoever, it will probably take around six weeks until you will start to see any improvements.
A vet will be working with you on things to do to keep your dogs more comfortable in the meantime.
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  #12  
Old April 3rd, 2011, 03:47 PM
Brandon W Brandon W is offline
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We pretty much figured it out,Bruin it is his allergies and Lola its probably thyroid. We had her tested for it,just waiting for the results. I changed their food to Acana Pacifica Grain Free. It has none of the common ingredients that can be allergenic to dogs. 3 different types of fish in it as well. So the oils will help her coat rebuild. They love it,they think its like a treat. We have noticed signs of improvement already in their coats and behavior. I have a recipe now as well that uses the same ingredients as their food,ill be making some soon.
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