Lucy is going back to Vet this Saturday. Her feet don't smell rotten anymore, but she is still mutilating her rear feet. She is also licking her front pads, but chewing the back of her pasterns and her pads are slightly swollen. She chews her front legs but since we started with a flea infestation two weeks ago, she is also chewing her ribs and back of her hips...sigh...poor girl!

Back to her feet: The vet had suggested an elimination diet if her feet don't get better. I took some pictures:

http://i35.tinypic.com/2lxtamv.jpg

http://i35.tinypic.com/2imarkh.jpg

http://i37.tinypic.com/f9oxoo.jpg

http://i35.tinypic.com/rvje52.jpg

Keeping her still so I could take good pictures was difficult, but from the pics you can see she is doing quite a number.

It appears the flesh is receding from the nail bed on one foot.

What I need is suggestions on what I can feed her besides the 'elimination diet' kibbles that vets use. Lucy's tummy is better and her stools are perfect, so I do not want to go back to kibble.

Also, for all the people on this board with allergic dogs, do the photos look familiar? Should we be looking into SLO? I need ideas before the vet visit on Saturday.

She will be in contact with the derm vet, and an elimination diet will be the first thing we need to do prior to a derm visit.
At least 3 months.

Any help will be appreciated.

thanks.

Edited by Jo Harker (09/23/2009 06:11 AM)
Edit reason: added info

What kind do you want to do? Commercial, cooked, raw?

What is a protein (meat) she has never eaten?

She hasn't had squirrel, rabbit, goose, buffalo, emu, elk, venison, etc, but has had lamb, pork, beef, duck and fish.

I don't mind commercial, shouldn't mind cooked if I had to, and raw for me would be okay, but her vet doesn't like raw.


RAW would mean no bones, because she just will not eat the bones.


Edited by Jo Harker (09/23/2009 11:41 AM)
Edit reason: added no bones

Has she eaten sweet potato?

I think I have seen a duck-sweet potato limited-ingredient canned food that looked good. I have to check that it really was limited-ingredient; all I looked at before was that it was high-quality.

I'll look today, if she has not had sweet potato. (Remember that there's protein, which is the part of food that almost always triggers the allergic response, in sweet potato, too. So it has to be novel to the dog just as much as the meat has to be.)

As you know, there are two approaches to the elimination diet. One is the hydrolyzed-protein route and the other is the novel-protein route. My own preference if at all possible is to go with real foods in a novel diet. Sometimes that's not possible, when a dog has no protein in reserve (never eaten) or maybe a completely unknown history.

From the limited-ingredient commercial foods I have looked at, the canned ones are much better that the kibbled ones.

Well, I really don't know what she ate in the past. I do know she has had sweet potatoes because its in the THK. Sucks that THK doesn't make a limited protein diet, but I did email them and suggest that...for the future.

Now I wish she hadn't used the THK, but she is soooo happy...except for chewing, licking, and itching.

I prefer novel protein, but again...not real sure of her history.

Most commercial foods contain lots of ingredients, actually. If you look at many fish-based foods, for example, you will also find chicken.

Do you know if she has eaten regular potato? Or at least since she came to you?

I have to leave, but I have a bunch of homemade elimination diets saved on the computer, including home-cooked (no bones) with calcium supplementation.

Back in a couple of hours.

No potatoes that I know of. Thanks connie.

Sending a PM.

Lucy went to the vet Saturday. Thursday, her ears were hot and cherry red and stunk. Got out the vinegar and water and swabbed her ears until Saturday.

Her nails are slightly loose but aren't going to fall out. She has a bacterial infection again, so changed from Cephalaxen to Trimeth/Sulfa D/S-480 milligrams for 20 days. Her ears are a flaming yeast infection so on T 8 Keto flush for her 2x daily for 14 days.

Her coat was getting that waxy feel, so the doc put her on Ketochlor shampoo 2-3x a week with Resicort Conditioner after every shampoo and the Resicort Conditioner on her feet, armpits, and ear surfaces when she isn't shampooed.

I also have her on Proviable DC caps (probiotics) purchased at vets. I did this so everything is on record at the vets.

She is on Prednisone regimen of 1/2 pill 2x a day-4days, 1/2 pill-4 days, 1/2 pill every other day until allergy season is over.

She stays on the THK because the doc is waiting to see if the chewing and mutilating cycle ends in winter. If it doesn't, then we go an elimination diet.

Lucy is handling it well--for her. She has snapped a couple of times, when trying to lotion her front feet, but does give in. She gets yummies every time I have to flush her ears, lotion her feet, or bathe her...yummies are after the bath as she is so stressed, she won't touch food.

any suggestions, hints, critisms, links, or anecdotes welcome.

It sounds really similar to the regimen miss Nico is on long term. It really has helped so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Lucy get's some relief.

Is she getting probiotics of some kind, as far away from the antibiotics as possible?