[Lara]

I have a chocolate Lab that has had numerous issues. I rescued her off of Craigslist in Oct. The person I got Karma from had her on Rachel Ray Noutrish. I switched her to Blue Buffalo Freedom for puppies (grain free) It all started in December with a big ear infection to both ears and small, red bumps on her abdomen last December. Diagnosis: chicken allergy. Switched to Natural Balance Potato and Fish with tuna and salt-free peas which she did fine on…for awhile. I noticed increased itchiness..she scratched and bit everywhere…no fleas. She also developed a UTI with struvite crystals so I switched to NB Potato and Rabbit. My vet suggested Hill’s Prescription for the crystals and UTI which I refused. The vet also states to stop giving her tuna and peas as the peas may have contributed to the pH problem. My baby has had 2 back to back UTI’s one with the crystals and one without. During the 2nd UTI I switched to Nutrisca Lamb and Chickpea (grain and potato free) and canned Lamb from Wellness as a topper (only in a.m.) She seems to be doing better although she still itches and bites her paws but it appears to go in spurts….. I’m wondering if it is enviromental allergies and not food. She has some eye goobers but I started using Ark Naturals Eyes So Bright and that has helped tremendously. She also was very flaking but that has almost gone away since starting her on Nutrisca. She is on Claritin/Benadryl/probiotic/salmon oil/liquid glucosamine and sometimes coconut oil. She is also on a cranberry extract for a urine pH of 9.
I have started to notice she is losing fur on the tips of her ears (just started last week). She has no ear infection that I can see. I had been cleaning 3x per week because they began to smell…now I am down to 1x per week
I use Richard’s Organics Incredible Skin Spray for the itchy areas and any hotspots. I also at times will rub in coconut oil
She has little red bumps on her belly which come and go….literally they are there in the morning and sometimes almost gone by night (could be the benadryl/claritin combo)
I have tried digestive enzymes twice (different brands) and she has vomited with both…not sure she can tolerate them…I’ve started slowly both times
I have to bring her back in for a re-check of her urine to see if the pH is down
Every dog food she has been on she has liked….she is not a picky eater (she even eats pills as if they were a treat)
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated and sorry it is long

[charlie]

I am so sorry to hear about Karma!!!

There are saliva allergy tests now that claim to be more accurate than blood or skin tests. I would immediately try to do the saliva test to see if you can get a better idea on what Karma might be allergic to.

This a link to the saliva test developed by Dr Jean Dodds who is also a canine thyroid expert.

Please give Karma a hug from me!

[somebodysme]

How long has she been on Nutrisca? It will take a while on a new food for the crud to get out of their system. I’ve been dealing with an allergy dog too. Your story sounds a lot like mine and my dog started off in a low end type food Pro Plan and I wanted a better food so bought Blue Buffalo and then all he(( broke loose. I kept trying new food changing the proteins and she just got worse and worse with rashes and red ears and raw paws etc. We are on NB potato and rabbit for three weeks now and things are improving but not perfect yet. She also will break out suddenly out of the blue. I’m telling myself it is what they call a “healing crisis”. Supposedly that’s all normal. I will tell you that she looks better now than she has since I switched her off Pro Plan. I’m assuming you took her off the Rachel Ray stuff because you wanted healthier? Or was she having problems on that? On Pro Plan, my dog was scratching a little but had a watering eye and that was pretty much all. Then we finally realized that all the foods she was allergic to had only one common ingredient and it is PEAS. I know she is allergic to other things too though like rawhide and cow bones.

I would suggest that you give her only one food until you find that it is OK. I would also suggest to not give any of those supplements you mentioned because right now you have no idea what she’s allergic to. My dog reacted badly to spirulina! If she has yeast then keep the probiotic. Then once you know the food is OK, add ONE new supplement at a time until you know it’s OK and no reaction. Any of these things can cause problems for a sensitive dog. She could easily be allergic to salmon oil or coconut oil or that glucosamine. Honestly the only thing that I can give my dog without it causing a problem, that I have tried, is her human grade probiotic.

If your dog was NOT allergic to the Rachel Ray food then look at the ingredients and try and find a better quality food with the same basic ingredients. Like if it has chicken then you know that chicken was not the issue. What I have learned from having a dog with allergies is that you can’t just say “oh that food has 5 stars it great for my dog”. It just doesn’t work like that. These dogs have a whole new set of rules when it comes to what to feed.

[Lara]

Karma is on Nutrisca Lamb and Chickpea for about 4 weeks now. I wanted her off any kind of potato…white or sweet. That was the common ingredient in the previous dog foods. I have kept her on the Gentle Digest probiotic and the Claritin and Benadryl. And seems to do well on them.
I have added Dr Mercola’s Spirugreen and she does ok.
I truly believe not only am I dealing with food but environmental allergies as well
Karma definately does not like digestive enzymes. Vomits every time.
The vet even changed her heartworm med to Revolution from Heartguard

I had to get her off Rachel Ray because her stools were liquid and yellow….and she seemed constantly hungry
I was wondering about Zymox shampoo and the rinse? Wondering if I should give that a try….any thoughts?

I will be looking into that saliva test

Thankyou charlie and sombodysme. You both have helped me out so much and thanks for not making me feel like the only one dealing with this….sometimes I feel like my vet thinks I’m crazy because I want to try to fix the issue not put a “band-aid” on it!

[somebodysme]

OH I’ve been going insane trying to get a handle on my dog’s allergies. I have heard a lot of people really like the Nutrisca. I had a lady overheard me talking to the manager at the pet shop telling him about my dog’s issues and she came up to me with a bag of Nutrisca in her arms and was saying how this food saved her dog and that she’d gotten friends to change too and their dogs are improved. I can’t use it because of the peas though. I’m pretty sure the pea allergy is pretty rare though but is it what it is. Rare or not, it’s her issue I have to work around. It is extremely limiting on the high end 5 star foods as most of them include peas as a main carb source.

I’m pretty sure that if she seems better, they suggest to give a food 6 weeks. It’s hard to do though when you don’t see that the food has healed them yet! I keep hearing that flare ups are normal. I keep telling myself this, my dog has only been 3 weeks on the food that she is on. I want to give it a fair shake but I want her WELL!!!!!!!! It was drastic the immediate improvement from Nature’s Variety LID Turkey to the NB rabbit formula. Within 2 days I could see the rashes just fading away. Then the improvement slowed down. ACK!

I have also heard a lot of good things about Zymox, it’s supposed to be very gentle and natural and good for yeast. I’m using a RX shampoo right now that’s working. Sebozole is what I’m using now. There’s a hot spot shampoo at walmart they sell that’s very gentle too, brand name is Pro-Sense. Don’t use an oatmeal shampoo if you are dealing with yeast, it helps feed the yeast.

[Lara]

It is so hard to wait the 6 weeks or so for a food trial. There are times I think she is doing great then other times….not so much! sounds like I’m in the same boat as you…thanks for the reminder about the oatmeal shampoo. Guess I didn’t realize the white flake were from yeast overgrowth…so now more than before I believe potatoes (white and sweet) are not good for Karma…
Good luck to you and keep me updated.

[Author]

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