May 24, 2011
My 8 year old Westie has food allergies. I am looking for a new diet for him so that I can cut down on his medications Can you help?
Full Question:
My 8 year old male West Highland Terrier, Buddy, is slightly...OK, moderately overweight at 25 pounds and has allergies to bermuda grass, ash and maple trees, and goldenrod. He also has food allergies to rice, soybean and peanuts. Currently I feed him Iams and if I keep table scraps away from him he does pretty well in conjunction with daily antihistamine pills (Chlorpheniramine Maleate 4mg--2 pills a day) . He is a picky eater and I don't know very much about your line of food products. Do you have other clients with Westies and food allergies? Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated as I would LOVE to get him off his medicine or at least be able to cut down on the dosage. When he has an allergic reaction he scratches himself and licks and chews on his feet and mutilates his skin. 
Cindy's Answer:
In my opinion Iams is one of the WORST commercial dog foods you can buy. If you have to keep him on Kibble (which I don’t recommend) then I would go to a premium brand with no grains, like Innova Evo.
You could also try our Honest Kitchen products, I would recommend Force or Embark (with no grains). Many allergies are due to grain intolerance. Dogs have NO nutritional need for grains whatsoever. Kibble is mostly grain and hard for dogs to digest and process. Iams has so many inferior ingredients with who knows what mixed in, your dog could be sensitive to anything in there.
My own dogs eat a raw diet and have for the past 12 years. Many dogs with allergies to foods, are given relief by feeding them whole unprocessed raw foods. We never have itchy dogs, hot spots, ear infections or allergy issues (and before switching to raw it was common).
You could also try our Honest Kitchen products, I would recommend Force or Embark (with no grains). Many allergies are due to grain intolerance. Dogs have NO nutritional need for grains whatsoever. Kibble is mostly grain and hard for dogs to digest and process. Iams has so many inferior ingredients with who knows what mixed in, your dog could be sensitive to anything in there.
My own dogs eat a raw diet and have for the past 12 years. Many dogs with allergies to foods, are given relief by feeding them whole unprocessed raw foods. We never have itchy dogs, hot spots, ear infections or allergy issues (and before switching to raw it was common).
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