Hello,
I signed up last night after finding this forum on a search for dog food allergies. Here’s what’s going on with my dog.
Adopted a miniature schnauzer 8 weeks ago. He had had a UTI right before we got him and so was on Royal Canin’s Urinary SO formula – we got his bag of food when we got him. Then we took him to the vet for a general checkup and bought another small bag there. Everything was fine and he had a lovely silky soft coat. Then took him back to the vet for his 2nd lepto vaccination and bought another bag of the RC, but this time a bigger bag. Didn’t open it right away, as we still had some of the small bag left over (this was about two weeks ago). A couple days after opening and starting the new bag, I noticed the following symptoms (so this was maybe a week ago), increasing in severity:
– when he’d fart (which he hadn’t really done too much of beforehand), it seemed like it hurt him as he’d turn around and look at his butt and then run away
– he got a couple small bumps on his back
– I could smell his anal glands
– small bumps increased in numbers
– licking forearms
– scratching like crazy
– small bumps turned into open, bleeding sores mostly down his back but now on his nose, in his ears, top of his butt, and I just saw one on the tip of his tail – it seems every time I look at him he has a new one!
– didn’t want to eat his food
The first sore appeared Xmas eve, then more on Xmas day. Today I took him to the vet who got a sample of the oozing on his nose and said he had an infection and so put him on prednisone and an antibiotic that is supposed to be geared toward skin infections (don’t have the bottle in front of me).
When he went off his food Xmas eve/Xmas morning, we fed him turkey (plain) and brown rice. Right after that meal he was itchy right away, so the next meal (Xmas dinner) we gave him turkey only and again gave him turkey only for today’s meals.
The top of his nose was a matted mess with his whiskers so we cut some off thinking that he was rubbing his nose because the matted hair was bothering him. We’ve given him two oatmeal baths and I’ve put lavender oil on the scabs, both actions seem to soothe him and give him some peace.
So now some questions:
1) does this sound like a food allergy
2) how long is it going to take before he stops feeling so itchy
3) if he is allergic to an ingredient, how long after he eats will he have a case of the itchies (meaning, do I have to wait days before deciding that something doesn’t work or do the itchies tell me right away)
4) how often can I give him oatmeal baths
5) do I need to be feeding him anything else (something to boost his immune system or help with digestion) supplement-wise
6) how do you decide what to add and when (like potato or pumpkin or yogurt or ??)
I went out and bought him some Nature’s Variety Instinct LID in Lamb formula – does anyone have feedback on this food? I want to be considerate of his recent UTI issue, but I feel like this acute allergy reaction needs to be addressed first – is there something I should specifically stay away from?
I’m sure I have more questions that I forgot to ask but will come up later. He’s my sixth schnauzer in my lifetime and most recent dog (other two are rottiexGSD sisters) in my current family of dogs, and I’ve never dealt with anything like this before.
It breaks my heart to see him in such distress – help!
Thank you,
Susan
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