Hi,

I have been reading about raw food diets and their benifits
with allergies. I have an imported GSD that is now a year old.
We have had a rough time with him from the get go. He had a
case of giardia,a bad reaction to his lepto vacine,and
constant episodes of diarhea. I had him on the Solid Gold
but he still had problems. I had started a raw diet but did not
feel confident. During the summer his love for our pool gave
him itchy hives! So no more pool. We even tried giving him
natural spring bottled water for a short time (incase the
chlorine in our water caused problems).He responds to pumpkin
but that only helps the diarhea not the itching. Oh yeah,did
I mention his watery eye that drips like a leaky faucet
sometimes. His skin gets so dry and he looks thin. Once we tried to add salmon-watery diarhea. Once we tried adding a cup of cooked venison to his dry--watery diarhea. We switched him to California Natural Lamb because it was suppose to have limited
ingredients to irritate his system. He still itches,has watery eyes,and if I forget the pumpkin diarhea!

CAN SOMEONE HELP
Always learning

Patty
Welcome to the forum!
How long did you have him on raw? How did he do on it? If you will put him on raw that will probably help him.
I think it would also be a good idea to put him on homeopathic Thuya for the vaccine reaction, this may still be part of his problem now. If you can find a vet who knows homeopathic a visit would be a good idea.
Research raw until you know what you need to do and start him on it. It really isn't hard once you set your mind to it.
Salmon oil and Vit E will be good for his skin, you can start him on that now.
Probiotic supplements, yogurt or kefir are good for allergies and gut problems.

Debbie
Thanks for your advice.
I tried raw for about 2 weeks.
I really didn't know what I was doing.Since I have been reading
advice on this forum I have learned a lot.I have ordered a book
on feeding raw(can't remember the title). I have only found one
listing for a holistic vet in the Houston,TX area. I will make an apt. and see if they can get him back on track. Given his reaction to salmon I thought he might be alergic to salmon oil.
Maybe his gut is all messed up and he isn't allergic to everything! I really love this dog and hope we can make life better for him.
Thanks Again
Always Learning

 Quote: Patty Hopmann

Hi,

I have been reading about raw food diets and their benifits
with allergies. I have an imported GSD that is now a year old.
We have had a rough time with him from the get go. He had a
case of giardia,a bad reaction to his lepto vacine,and
constant episodes of diarhea. I had him on the Solid Gold
but he still had problems. I had started a raw diet but did not
feel confident. During the summer his love for our pool gave
him itchy hives! So no more pool. We even tried giving him
natural spring bottled water for a short time (incase the
chlorine in our water caused problems).He responds to pumpkin
but that only helps the diarhea not the itching. Oh yeah,did
I mention his watery eye that drips like a leaky faucet
sometimes. His skin gets so dry and he looks thin. Once we tried to add salmon-watery diarhea. Once we tried adding a cup of cooked venison to his dry--watery diarhea. We switched him to California Natural Lamb because it was suppose to have limited
ingredients to irritate his system. He still itches,has watery eyes,and if I forget the pumpkin diarhea!

CAN SOMEONE HELP
Always learning

What has his vet said? Is the Giardia gone? Was he re-checked after treatment?

Is he getting fish oil and Vitamin E?

Does he have live-culture yogurt (for the probiotics)?

What was the vaccine reaction like?

Have you asked the vet (or has the vet suggested) trials of hydrozyzine, chlorpheniramine, and so on?

Is the watery-eye/itch at all seasonal? What climate are you in?

Pumpkin is a good thing, but is not normally required on a steady basis to keep the stool normal, so I would say that he has chronic diarrhea -- yes? Is it pudding or liquid (I mean apart from the salmon and the venison episodes)? When was his last fecal?

Has he ever had a blood workup?

If you would answer all these questions, we can give MUCH better help.

And welcome to the board!

Debbie,

I forgot to mention,when he was on raw he was not real enthusiastic. He played with it. We thought we were
doing something wrong. He still had diarhea and itched.
I have to tell you though we did not know what to supplement
with the chicken necks etc. so we stopped.

 Quote: Patty Hopmann

Given his reaction to salmon I thought he might be alergic to salmon oil.

Even if he does have food allergies, the allergens are virtually always proteins. Even if you would not think of a food as a protein food, it's a protein in it that causes the reaction. Not a fat.

I agree with Debbie about starting fish oil and E immediately.

How much does he weigh?

 Quote: Patty Hopmann

Maybe his gut is all messed up and he isn't allergic to everything!

Well, vet comments will help us a lot. Has colitis or IBS/IBD ever been mentioned?

But the Giardia thing -- very important to know if that was really cleared up. (The watery eyes are not necessarily part of the diarrhea problem.)

Debbie, sorry I missed your first post and duplicated some of it.

I second the Homeopathic remedies; Thuja really helped my Nico, to get over the hump of her Vaccinosis she now uses Sulphur or pulsatilla for certain problems and I can see a noticable difference with her afterwards.

I would put him on a very bland diet for a week or so, over cooked rice or oatmeal and boiled chicken or beef, or buffalo, whatever he can handle. Then slowly start the switch to raw
probiotics, probiotics, probiotics!

Sometimes when mine are really not feeling well or have been on antibiotics i give them several probiotic chewables, they are strawberry flavored and the dogs love them, then I also add the Kefir to their food.

I prefer the Kefir because the brand we have here has about 15 different probiotic cultures

When Nico is really miserable she gets some Tavist, the human kind, but not the TavistD. You would need to ask the vet for dosage but it works better than benadryl and in tandem with the fish oil and vitamin E.

Also rinse him with clear lukewarm or cool water when he gets done swimming, or anytime you feel he is itchy, sometimes i am rinsing with just water daily. It seems to really help and it wont dry her out.

Dry flakey skin can also be a side effect of parasites so it might be worth a check.

 Quote: Jennifer Lee

i give them several probiotic chewables, they are strawberry flavored and the dogs love them, then I also add the Kefir to their food.

No sugar in it, right? It's hard to find the no-sugar kefir, but it's very important to make that point.

Don't give sugar to a dog with diarrhea (or any dog, actually).

Connie.

We live in south Texas near Galveston. It is warm and humid most of the time. We followed up on testing for giardia till he was clear. I also sprayed all fecal spots with clorox.FOREVER! I really have not gone for blood work. We struggled with the giardia and diarhea for so long. My vet gave an enzyme supplement and said to just give him time. Every time he seems to be on track he starts another round of diarhea. Sometimes it's loose and once or twice it was like staight liquid.
His eye will just start dripping and I have not noticed it to be seasonal.