[Kevin R]

Hi all, I just wanted to reach out as I’m looking for a good food for my 9 year old Westie. She is a very allergic dog, but I’m not certain what all to. I believe its mostly environmental and dust, but maybe some foods. We had blood allergy tests done a few years back, but I’m not sure how accurate it was. In the past, she has been on steroids a few times and then ultimately Atopica. Also, I usually bathe her about once a week with Malaseb, but sometimes I may wait a little longer if she doesn’t appear to need a bath. Anyways, I’m trying to get her off of the Atopica completely if possible. Currently, her skin is somewhat “yeasty” and she may have a vaginal infection which I’m taking her to the vet for. Currently she is eating the Royal Canin prescription food “Venison and Potato.” I recently started giving her some supplements found in this Westie diet here – http://www.westierescueca.com/diet.htm, but I’m not certain if their ingredients would be aggravating any yeast issues she’s having. I had been giving her Greenies treats as well, but I’m looking to eliminate this as well if needed. I recently got some Orijen freeze dried duck treats since its just duck in the ingredients. I guess my question is what be a good food to try if I change her diet completely and should I look for a low glycemic food? Should I add any supplements? Thanks in advance for your help.

[Anonymous]

My dog with allergies does best on Nutrisca salmon and chickpea. But since receiving care by a specialist/dermatologist she can tolerate a variety of foods as her allergies are environmental. She had IDT (Intra Dermal Testing) and has responded well to ASIT (Allergen Specific Immunotherapy)
Some info here: http://www.mspca.org/vet-services/angell-boston/dermatology/allergy-testing.html

PS: I sometimes bathe her twice a week (approved by the specialist) with Malaseb or Antifungal dog shampoo by GNC I like the lavender smell.

Check the search engine here for more info: allergies.
Hope this helps.

[Kevin R]

Thanks. I’m looking into having possibly having her tested again. When we did it before, we followed up with immunotherapy giving her injections, but she never responded positively so we eventually quit.

[Anonymous]

It can take up to a year to see results. My dog only needs an injection every 3 weeks now.
It is what it is. At least she is comfortable..

PS: A fish oil capsule a day may help with dry skin. I give all my dogs 1 a day, same stuff I take.

[Susan]

Hi Kevin, You need to change her diet, kibbles aren’t really good for yeasty dogs as they are very high in carbs, you need to cut out the sugar carbs Potatoes, peas, sweet potatoes etc yeasty dogs need a low Gi diet, raw, wet tin, home cooked diets are the best, most vet diets are high in carbs…. if you have to feed a kibble try “Earthborn Holistic’ their grainfree flavours the carbs are only 17.5% -29% the “Great Plains” & “Meadow Feast” are potato free….their natural kibbles are a bit higher in carbs… http://www.earthbornholisticpetfood.com/us/dog_formulas/
I feed wet tin food for breakfast & I have just started the Earthborn Ocean Fusion natural kibble for dinner, my boy needs a lower fat diet & the grainfree diets are too high in fat for Patch…he has IBD… also read what the carb % is in the kibble, if it isn’t written on the kibble bag or their web site you add the protein% + fat % + moisture + ash % & then you take what you have away from 100% & you get the carb %….Earthborn has it written on their site under Guaranteed Analysis…

Glacier Pecks Holistic does Salvia & Hair testing & test for 100+ Environment triggers & 200+ food items for $85….
http://www.glacierpeakholistics.com/More-Than-an-Allergy-Test_p_80.html

[Pitlove]

Hi Kevin- If you aren’t sure what she is allergic to your going to beat your head into a wall and kill your wallet switching foods to figure out what works. Trust me. If her symptoms mirror those of an evironmental allergy (my vet said licking the paws is the key one) you are better off going to a dermatologist and at least doing a consulation and going from there. Testing for enviromental allergies would be a good idea, but if you are worried about money at all, I would still at least have a meeting with a dermatologist to have him/her look at your girls skin etc. Thats what I plan to do.

To do a proper test for food allergies/intolerances you would need to conduct a very strict elimination diet. They can be diffcult and time consuming, but it’s the gold standard for diagnosing food allergies/intolerances. I would cut the Greenies out for now. You can try changing the food. My vet suggested a fish based food and so far its been working well.

[Anonymous]

@Kevin R, and anyone else that has a pet that is suffering from allergies:

Integrating Myths and Nonsense with Standard Advice for Allergic Pets

excerpt is from above link (click for full blog and comments)
“There is no research to suggest that the saliva testing is useful for identifying food allergies. It is sold based on questionable theory and anecdotes, which have little evidentiary value. And as far as uncontrolled testing, at least one dermatologist has run the test in dogs with confirmed food allergies responsive to diet change, and the test results were highly inaccurate”.
Other blogs that you might find helpful: http://skeptvet.com/Blog/2015/07/no-vet-for-my-pet-veterinary-nurses-can-sell-woo-too/

Canine Nutrigenomics by Dr. Jean Dodds: Science as Windowdressing

[Anonymous]

http://skeptvet.com/Blog/2011/09/integrating-myths-and-nonsense-with-standard-advice-for-allergic-pets/ (excerpt below)
Bottom Line
Allergies are a serious medical problem that causes a great deal of suffering for pets and their owners. Causes are complex and involve both genetic, developmental, and environmental factors, and symptoms tend to come and go unpredictably, which makes evaluating the effects of any particular intervention challenging. While there are many safe and effective therapies that can help manage allergy symptoms, there is no cure. Only complete avoidance of the antigens the individual is allergic to can eliminate symptoms entirely, and this is often not possible. No treatment that has any benefit is completely without risks, and the risks and benefits must always be carefully and rationally weighed.

The variability and chronicity of the symptoms and the complexity of the causation create fertile ground in which to sow myths and misconceptions about causes and treatments, as this article does vigorously. Providing treatments based on sound scientific understanding of the physiology of allergies and supported by reliable scientific evidence of safety and efficacy is the best way to help patients with this serious condition. Myths about allergy causes and treatments that are without a rational, scientific foundation or any real evidence of safety and efficacy are not legitimate “choices” or “options” to offer pet owners looking for real help. Integrating unproven methods and outright nonsense with established allergy therapies doesn’t add value or reduce risks, it diminishes our ability to help these patients and their human families.

[C4D]

Hi Kevin,
THROW THE GREENIES AWAY! They are loaded in wheat! If you must do a chew like that, pick one that has no grains and minimal potato. These are difficult to find. You might try something like a bully stick or venison ear. Here’s the ingredient list:

Wheat flour, wheat protein isolate, glycerin, gelatin, oat fiber, water, lecithin, natural poultry flavor, minerals (dicalcium phosphate, calcium carbonate, potassium chloride, magnesium amino acid chelate, zinc amino acid chelate, iron amino acid chelate, copper amino acid chelate, manganese amino acid chelate, potassium iodide), choline chloride, dried apple pomace, fruit juice color, vitamins ( dl-alpha tocopherol acetate [source of vitamin E], vitamin B12 supplement, d-calcium pantothenate [vitamin B5], niacin supplement, vitamin A supplement, riboflavin supplement [vitamin B2], vitamin D3 supplement, biotin, pyridoxine hydrochloride [vitamin B6], thiamine mononitrate [vitamin B1], folic acid), turmeric color.

Link:
GREENIES Pet Products for Dogs

Many dogs react to grains of any type. My own dog did, even though they were the “good grains”. This alone helped for many years until she developed a specific allergy to only 1 protein.

Red, I realize that you are all about skeptvet. HOWEVER, I really am not happy with how he dismisses alternative treatments.

I treated an older demodex mange dog (confirmed by my vet) with feeding her echinacea in her food daily for 7 days and shampooing her every 10 days (3 times) with a natural mineral based shampoo that included neem oil. My vet was aware of what I wanted to try before using the “traditional methods”. It worked completely. I also changed her from a fish based diet, (which I confirmed was the cause of allergy through my own trials) to a limited ingredient diet. She was completely cured. She is now able to eat all but fish in her diet. The fish was the cause of all of the allergy issues which in turn triggered the demodex. I treated a dog with high liver enzymes (vet diagnosed) with milk thistle and sam-e. Within 6 months, I brought the ALT down from over 300 to under 65. I had another dog with a bacterial skin infection that my vet thought was environmental. I switched the protein and we have not had an issue since. I did experiment and found that in fact the specific protein was the cause. I truly believe there must be a melding of both western traditional methods with some alternative holistic methods. That’s my $.02 worth! I will forever choose a combination of the 2.

P.S. I don’t use topicals either. I pull any occaisonal ticks that are on my dogs and have never had fleas, but have found that many of the natural methods repel fleas and ticks do help. I wouldn’t treat my children with flea and tick topicals even though we have had ticks on them over the years of primitive camping. I’ve kept all various worms/parasites at bay (even with fosters that are infected) with Diatomaceous Earth. It’s worked for me.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 3 months ago by C4D.
• This reply was modified 9 years, 3 months ago by C4D.

[Anonymous]

“Red, I realize that you are all about skeptvet. HOWEVER, I really am not happy with how he dismisses alternative treatments”.

Inaccurate, on both counts.
Whoever reads my posts can see that I refer to several reliable sources for information.
I often provide links to this forum using the search engine, so that the OP can see similar threads, responses and different opinions…including ones that I don’t necessarily agree with.

[Kevin R]

Hi all. I appreciate the suggestions and insight. As far as the Greenies, she hasn’t had any in several days and I don’t plan on giving her anymore. I did get a referral to dermatologist yesterday, so I may go ahead and do this so I can at least have a better idea on what she is allergic to. Her allergies seem to be year round, so I don’t know. To me, this seems like something she is eating or something in my house. But we’ll see. As far as her food, i would still like to switch it, but I would like to see what the dermatologist office says when I call. I guess it depends on how soon they can get me an appointment.

[DogFoodie]

I’ve used this for plaque control with success: http://www.plaqueoff.com/animal/Animal-Products.html

These still aren’t great, but they’re an improvement over Greenies: http://www.virbacvet.com/products/detail/c.e.t.-veggiedent-tartar-control-chews-for-dogs/chews

[Kevin R]

Hi all, I have another question regarding changing my dog’s food. I mentioned changing to a lower glycemic food due to yeast issues. The yeast issue is not major at this time, however, I figured this couldn’t hurt anything. Is there a typical carb percentage I should look for when choosing a food? I know it may vary from dog to dog, but just how low should the carb count be in order to maybe make a difference in this situation? Reason I ask is because I tried her on Orijen a few years ago, but it went right through her. I don’t know if it was the higher protein or the fat percentage, but I know I’ll probably need something a little less “rich.” I thought about Acana Grasslands since it’s a little lower protein, but the fat is about the same I believe. Feel to give any other food suggestions as well. Thanks for your time.

• This reply was modified 9 years, 2 months ago by Kevin R.

[Susan]

Hi, some kibble companies will write the Carb % on their website …. you add the protein % the fat% the fiber % the Moisture % & the ash % if the ash % isn’t on the bag or their site just add about 6-8% then take away from 100 & you’ll get a ruff estimate of the carbs….

Earthborn Holistics has the carb % written on the guaranteed analysis, I’m introducing the Natural “Ocean Fusion” it has 12%min fat the least ingredients, no peas, tomato pomace or probiotics… The lower the carbs the better, when dogs eat a raw diet some dogs don’t eat carbs, Patch was eating about 5% carbs when feed a raw diet but that was cause he was a bit under weight, all his yeasty smelly ears paws & skin went away….
http://www.earthbornholisticpetfood.com/us/dog_formulas/

[Wifsie G]

Hi, I cannot for the life of me figure out how to start a new thread. And I did it once. Pathetic. I’m hoping someone will read this.
I’m trying to find a food that will put a stop to my dog’s overnight swallowing and paw licking. Whenever I try something new, I go slowly and the first night is great (huge improvement) and then the second night we’re back to what was going on before. Any tips on this? Thanks!

[Anonymous]

If the symptoms are related to environmental allergies, changing the food will have no effect. Environmental allergies tend to wax and wane, so you will think you see improvement, where there is none. The symptoms always come back and tend to get worse with age.
See the posts in this thread, you may find some helpful tips. I don’t necessarily agree with all of the opinions expressed. Hope this helps.

[Wifsie G]

Thank you, Red. I’m going to read through it all. I think you may be right because my dog’s poop has been perfect all along and I’m thinking that, if she was allergic to food, she would show some intestinal distress too. Or maybe not. I’m new to this so I don’t know. Thanks again!

[jeri h]

Kevin. I make my dog food and have done so for several years now and have seen an improvement in my beagle with skin allergies and yeast problems. what I have found most helpful with the yeast and itching is to take one whole lemon slice it thinly steep in almost boiling water overnight.strain and sponge onto my dog. she smells great, redness diminishes,her itching diminishes,her coat is very soft and the yeasty smell is gone. I also wipe her ears out with it. has to be repeated as long as there’s a problem. Source-Dr. Pitcairn Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats.

[Sue S]

Can you recommend a healthy dental chew for dogs?

[Pitlove]

Brushing your dogs teeth is the best way to clean the teeth. Others on here use Raw Meaty Bones. I’ve tried them, but my dog gets confused on how to eat them. He has an Elk Antler he chews on regularly and because of the way he chews it, its similar to a Raw Meaty Bone and I feel that the antler, along with his regular teeth brushings has helped keep his teeth in good condition.

[Author]

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