Mike and Me wrote in
> ...... Need recommendation for premium "grainless" food I can use.
Figuring this out will likely require a little trial and error and a
lot of patience. Just going grainless will not help, if your dog is
actually allergic to the protein source in his food. I'd recommend a
limited ingredient diet that does not contain grains, nor, if possible,
any main ingredients that the dog has already been exposed to. You
want something novel.
I've been dealing with a similar problem with my dog. No hot spots,
but she was chewing her feet and scratching constantly. I had already
tried several diet changes (they can take several weeks to make a
difference), but hadn't had a lasting improvement from any of them.
I talked to my vet, who said that it could be the protien source, but
that could also be the carbohydrate source. She said that they're
seeing more dogs allergic to rice and lamb, as foods with those
ingredients have increased in popularity.
What I did was try a grain free, limited ingredient food. We started
out with Natural Balance venison and sweet potato. That helped. After
a few months, she was no longer itching, but she was still chewing her
feet. I then switched her to Natural Balance duck and potato, which
she's doing even better on. The only drawback has been that she smells
like smoked duck and french fries, a combination I'm not such a fan of.
It's also low in fat, and her coat has consequently become dry and
flaky. I've been supplementing with flax oil, since it's in her food,
but it's still too early to tell if it's going to help. If it doesn't,
I'm going to have to look for a different food, and the fun will start
all over again!
Keep in mind, too, that a dog with food allergies can become allergic
to something he hasn't previously had an allergy to. It's possible
that you'll find a food he tolerates well, only to find out a few years
from now that he can no longer eat it. At that point, you'll have to
do another trial-and-error search for a new food. This is why,
consequently, I would avoid giving healthy dogs foods with novel
ingredients. If you do that, you'll have nothing to fall back on if
your dog develops an allergy.
Something else to consider is talking to your vet about medication. My
vet put my dog on a two-week course of prednisone. I'm not a fan of
pred, because it has some serious side-effects, but it has its place.
I'm glad we put her on it, though, because it gave her system a chance
to stop reacting.
For more long-term use, my vet recommended Benadryl 3x/day. There are
other antihistimines that can be used in dogs, some that might work
better and some not so well (e.g. Chlortrimeton and Zyrtec). It's a
matter of talking to your vet and finding the right one at the right
dosage for your dog.
--
Shelly
http://www.cat-sidh.net (the Mother Ship)
http://esther.cat-sidh.net (Letters to Esther)
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