[Sophia C]

my dog has been suffering terribly with allergies for last 6 months. we had blood allergy test done and found that one area to address is food, she is allergic to venison, lamb, and flax. I’m finding it difficult to find a good quality limited ingredient kibble that doesn’t include the flaxseed. Any suggestions of food that might not include these? I’d also like it to be grain free.

TIA
Mom to Bella

[Amy K]

I’ll be checking this often, because I’m running into a similar situation. My dog is showing borderline allergic to most of the proteins, and definitely allergic to a lot of the grains as well as peas. My vet advises avoiding the borderline items as well as the definitely allergic – searching all the limited ingredient and hypoallergenic foods, one or the other always pops up, so I’m thinking I’ll have to make her food.
So I have two questions: Do I really need to worry about the borderline items? And if so, where can I find a good formula for homemade dogfood I.e. Proper protein to carb ratios, supplements needed, portion size guide for daily feedings.
I do plan on talking to my vet more about this, but would like to have info to use so I know what questions I still need to ask.
Appreciate any help given!

[ellen k]

Natural Balance limitd lamb and rice are good and canine cavier is good . Excellent source of protein. Dogs are usually allergic to chicken as the protein source. These both have only lamb. Beware of so-called lamb based foods that have CHICKEN FAT in them Bad mistake I made with my puppy 8 months ago.L

[Dog_Obsessed]

The Dog Food Wizard is a tool for dogs with allergies made by Rachel, another user on DFA: http://www.dogfoodwizard.com
You still have to read the ingredients, because sometimes there are errors, but it its a good place to start.

[Sophia C]

Nat balance won’t work for my girl if it has lamb or flax. She isn’t allergic to chicken. Go figure.

[zhiba]

How about Nature’s Variety Instinct LID? They have Turkey, Duck, and Rabbit flavors.
Link to the turkey – http://www.instinctpetfood.com//product/instinct-grain-free-limited-ingredient-kibble-dog-food-turkey

[DogFoodie]

My dog can’t have flax either, but I’ve also determined a long list of other ingredients of which he is intolerant so the list I have is very short. Dry foods on my short list that don’t contain flax are NVI LID, Addiction Viva La Venison, Canidae Pure Sky (Diamond, yuck), Wysong Fundamentals, FirstMate Chicken and Blueberries and Acana Duck and Bartlett Pear (original, not singles). There are also several Canine Caviar formulas that don’t have flax currently, and they have new formulas coming out really soon and when they do, I know Wilderness meets my criteria. I think several CC formulas would meet your criteria currently.

It’ll soon be three years that its taken me to get my list to where it is currently. I am constantly on Chewy.com reading ingredients. You’ll need to check the ones I mentioned to see if they contain other problem ingredients.

I’ve determined my dogs problem ingredients through trial and error during a modified elimination diet. If your allergy test results were determined by a blood test, or the like, I encourage you to consider doing an elimination diet as allergy test results are notorious for both false positives and false negatives.

[jakes mom]

there’s a whole forum on DFA for home made food. You might also check ingredient lists for some of the premade meal mixes. If those don’t contain the problem ingredients that might be the easiest for you. Just mix the powder into your own meat and you have a complete meal. There’s a discussion about meal mixes on the raw feeding forum but you can also use a mix with cooked food if you prefer. Good luck.

[ShihTzuMom]

To help resolve my dog’s food intolerance issues I finally moved to feeding raw. I determined that the binders (starches) in kibble were causing as many symptoms as the proteins and grains. I currently feed Darwins Natural Selection but I did go thru a variety of kibbles. If you are not comfortable moving to raw I will say that the freezes dried raw does make for an easy transition. Stella and Chewy seemed to have the best combination of ingredients and they have rabbit and pheasant if you want to use a unique protein. If you want to stay with kibble I found Brothers Complete Allergy Formulas on this website.

Some other resources that provided good information were:
Monica Segal who is certified in animal nutrition. For a relatively nominal fee you can download homemade recipes that are nutritionally balanced.

Dr. Karen Becker and Dr. Peter Dobias also offer good info.

Like on Facebook Canine allergies (environmental and food) it is a great support network.

Good luck and don’t lose faith. Even when you think things are going well a hot spot or ear infection shows up and you adjust again.

[Liz S]

following

[Author]

Posts