Malik is a yr old and we are going to try a hypoallergenic diet as he's been itchy for months. We don't have time to do raw, so I was going to give him California Natural Lamb & Rice only, and my vet said not recommended as lamb has been added to most dog foods without being listed, my dog's probably already been exposed to it. She recommended Royal Canin's Potato & Duck only, and I'm wondering if this company/food are any good. Would anyone know?
I am going to try the vinegar trick I've read on posts also, maybe it will help. And then for his chewing needs, as he is a bit of a chewer still, what can I use? Vet said no rawhide, no nylabones, no bones unless duck, etc, not sure how that's going to go...
Thanks ahead,
Aude

Good luck with the diets. i have a giant schnauzer who, when i reached the point of frustration was chewing her anus to the point of bleeding, she was itchy and angry, chewed her feet and gave them a small infection, and removed much of the hair, she also looked like she had just come in from a snow storm, because her skin was so flaky. after trying a number of dog foods....i stopped feeding her for 48 hrs...go figure she became less itchy. my partner and i started her on a cooked food diet, boiled chicken, brown rice and carrots, this was a lot of work. we did this to control what she was eating and only for a short time as this is hardly a good diet, once cleared up we tried a couple of different foods with no luck, i think there may be some consitency issues with dog foods..? and even with good comercial food there are so many things in them.....at any rate we are now moving to a raw food diet. I think that our dog is allergic to fish....for us watching any food with "vitimin e supplement" became important because it can often be fish based....Good luck and if you any questions i'll try to help.

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....my partner and i started her on a cooked food diet, boiled chicken, brown rice and carrots, this was a lot of work....at any rate we are now moving to a raw food diet. I think that our dog is allergic to fish...

Your dog may have a combination of environmental and food allergies.

Fish is certainly a possible, since most food canine allergens are proteins.

I think that you are doing the best thing possible with the switch to raw. I would also try to get all organic and no-antibiotic, no-BGH meat foods if possible, with allergies so severe. The diet will probably help the dog's immune system (over the long term) to deal with the inhalant allergies, too.

Food allergies are *not* the most common canine allergies (#1 being flea allergy, #2 being inhalant, and #3 food), but food is so every-day that it can often have more of a violent effect.

If the dog is allergic to fish, I would use vegetarian Omega 3 EFAs, and vegetarian Vitamin E (readily available). Both are anti-inflammation agents, and inflammation is what's causing the misery. (Dogs' histamine receptors are mainly in the skin.)

If you do not calm the symptoms sufficiently with the switch to a limited-ingredient raw diet, I'd consider skin tests for inhalant allergies.

Also, please keep an eye on the dog's ears, because with allergies like that, secondary ear infections (which are a source of real misery) are extremely common.

Good luck!

That is the one thing about an allergic dog, the learning curve is very steep, as i am sure all would agree. i agree the number one allergy is fleas....however no fleas in Yukon..this is not a joke, really this is something that is never considered by local vets, unless it is summer and the dog has traveled south/being in contact with a southern dog. as for inhalents...the sypmtoms persisted over 5 months/change in seasons, and were easy to trigger with food additions, thus i ruled out inhalents. We did however change the vacuum bags, put dust filters on all vents and switched to natural organic cleaners in the house. we guessed it was food in part to the fasting for 48 hours and we had an experince with the science diet hypoallergenic chicken diet...our dog was fine that morning, fed her some food and right away (2hours max) she was chewing her feet (which seems to be the first indicator)we are very lucky that the onset of reaction is fast...some people and dogs are not so lucky

Funny you mention the ear infections, due to her feet being infected from licking, she was on an oral antibotic, this killed the bacteria and yeast ballance in her ears, causeing an ear infection that was yeast based, the meds for the yeast ear infection, as i understand supress the immune system, to allow the bacteria to grow, which in turn allowed the feet to become infected again. our sollution was yeast infection cream for women in distilled water, and cleaning her ears with it until the ear infection was gone and at the same time, soaking the dogs feet in epsom salt 3X/day, combined with the change in diet a month later she was fine, getting there was hell, and nearly became an obsession, but in the end we got our dog back.

sorry for the long post, hope there is something in it that can help others!

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That is the one thing about an allergic dog, the learning curve is very steep, as i am sure all would agree. ......combined with the change in diet a month later she was fine, getting there was hell, and nearly became an obsession, but in the end we got our dog back......

This is a good post, Andrew, IMO, with experiences that others will have and have a heck of a time discovering that all these seemingly disparate problems are allergy-related.

And you are definitely fortunate (if you can use that word!) that the food allergy symptoms hit quickly, so you have a good indication of which food it might be,

I'm glad you have ruled out a chicken diet (heralded as "hypoallergenic"), because nearly every dog on any commercial diet at all has eaten chicken in dog food. And I'm doubly glad you got rid of SD, for many reasons (just MHO).

Yes, you have stuck to it and learned a lot. When you go through the misery of canine allergies and all the secondary ailments they bring with them, it's hard not to want to help someone else. I feel the same way, especially when I see how scarily fast the allergy rate is rising and how little many vets still learn about the subjects of nutrution and allergies.

Good work.

Andrew was the cream you used Monistat or the like?

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That is the one thing about an allergic dog, the learning curve is very steep, as i am sure all would agree. ..... getting there was hell, and nearly became an obsession, but in the end we got our dog back....
sorry for the long post, hope there is something in it that can help others!

I didn't say enough, I realized long after I posted a reply to you, Andrew.

Almost every dog I have adopted for many years has been available because of the challenges you've faced with your dog's allergies; they've been severely allergic dogs whose owners could no longer face the grind and the expense of the long process involved in such a dog's healing.

I don't have more money than they do......I just have the extreme good fortune of having been on that learning curve you describe, and the result has been knowing what steps to take (mostly!) and that there can be management of even the worst allergies.

I'm posting again because I so applaud you and the other people on this forum who did hang in there and did the research and the work, and then saw the results.

Thank you for the kind words. BETH: yes that was the cream, it was early when i posted that and i could not remember the name.....more coffee!

Thanks for all this info, there are so many good posts on the forum about allergies.
Anyways, Malik has been on his IDV potato/duck only formula for 5 days now and believe it or not, I already see an improvement. I didn't think he had a food allergy, but apparently, since I got him off everything, he is scratching less. I'll keep monitoring things. I also got him a new bed with natural fiber, but he thinks it's some awful thing, and misses his old flat one, so much for spending $100 <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> ! Maybe with time he'll learn to like it.