[idahogal]

We have a 2 year old yellow lab retriever that we love dearly-he currently weighs about 75 pounds. He is constantly licking and itching. He does not have fleas that we can see-and we maintain his flea medicine. He also has ear problems-mostly one ear. The vet has seen him many times and treated him with antibiotics and steroids. I don’t like having him on these all the time. He was also diagnosed with “teen-age” acne under his chin. We were told to use sensitive acne wipes on those and make sure his bowl is not rubber, and always clean.
All of things we do-but I am beginning to think it is food allergies with everything. Can someone please help and give us some advice? Dog food, treatments, etc.
Thanks so much!

[somebodysme]

Yes, those are all the typical symptoms of food allergies, my dog has all that but my vet told me it was food allergies. I’m surprised the vet didn’t suggest that you change his food…I actually had TWO vets tell me to change my dog’s food. Also if your dog has been on antibiotics and steriods a lot, he may also be suffering from yeast. I’d add a pro-biotic each day.

Now on to what to feed…UGH this is where we are at right now. I first tried Nature’s Variety Instinct Turkey which did OK with the scratching but isn’t doing OK with her stool which it made too hard and she had issues “going”. It’s a good food but just not for my dog.

Have you gone to the review section and read the hypoallergenic food suggestion article? It will shed some light on what are the most common allergens. I would just suggest to read that and try a different food. It’s just hard to tell you what to try because all dogs are different as to what they are sensitive to. If your current food has corn in it, that would be my first course of action is to use a food that does NOT contain corn, see how that works and go from there. It’s a long drawn out ordeal finding the right food but you may get lucky and it’s simple like maybe you are feeding a low quality food and just feeding a better 4 or 5 star food will help fix it.

Here is the link to the article:
/best-dog-foods/hypoallergenic-dog-foods/

• This reply was modified 11 years, 5 months ago by somebodysme.

[Melissaandcrew]

What are you currently feeding him?

[shelties mom]

This sound to be a yeast problem, no. 1 thing to do is to address the diet, preferrably an anti-inflammatory raw diet with no grains. Adding a probiotic supplement will help since antibiotics destroy all good along with the bad bacteria, so these drugs often make a bad situation worse.

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2011/05/03/eating-these-foods-can-make-your-dog-itch-like-crazy.aspx

Be sure not to over-vaccinate or over-medicate.

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2010/08/17/stop-using-pet-steroids-until-you-read-these-disturbing-truths.aspx
http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2009/12/23/environmental-allergies-and-your-pet.aspx

Use natural flea control products:
http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2010/03/31/dangers-of-flea-and-tick-problems.aspx

Have you tried this product for his ears?

[Author]

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