[vgrsmith]

My senior dog developed stomach & skin problems about 3 years ago. Vet put him on Hill RX D/D after ruling out parasites, bugs, dry skin , etc.
It did seem to do the trick for him. No more itching and no more upset stomach. However, it is very expensive, I can only get it at the vet, and I noticed it had a very low rating. Any suggestions for a replacement food?

[theBCnut]

I’d suggest Brothers Complete Allergy Formula.

[Safe4pups]

Find the best potato and grain free food that you can, avoiding by-products and ANYTHING with animal digest.

[InkedMarie]

I agree with Patty on the Brothers Allergy

[charliedog]

I just brought my Boston Terrier/French Bulldog home on December 7. He has had diarhea since he came home. The breeder had him on Puppy Pride and I started mixing in a few pellets of Natures Variety. He would pick out the Natures Variety and leave the Puppy Pride so I just switched him over completely. The diarhea continued. He won’t touch pumpkin. I took him to the vet and she gave him an antibiotic and a probiotic. His diarhea cleared up for a couple of days but when the medicine stopped the diarhea came back. He has been checked for worms and doesn’t have any. Should I change dog foods?

[theBCnut]

Try more probiotics(Mercola has the BEST one) and also add digestive enzymes. Try mixing a very small amount of pumpkin in his food and as he gets used to it increase the amount, up to about 1 teaspoon.

[Shawna]

Like Patty, I would try a high quality probiotic before switching foods (as the antibiotic and probiotic worked while on). With worms sometimes it requires testing of multiple samples for a proper diagnosis. Was pup checked for giardia or coccidia? Even if the probiotic doesn’t resolve the issue it will help with overall health.

If you find that you do have try a new food, check the ingredients in both the NV and the Puppy Pride and choose a food that has different ingredients.

[jaimeg]

I wanted to introduce our product we distribute online called My Perfect Pet Food. The company is located in San Diego and was developed due to the owners dog dying from contaminated dog food. They developed a home cooked all natural frozen dog food. Since there are no preservatives, additives, by products, grains it has worked well with many of our customers who have dogs who have allergies. You can see testimonials on these issues, how the food is made, etc at our website http://www.5thavenuedog.com. Hope this helps!

[Anonymous]

Any advice is appreciated! I have been having trouble with my dog’s allergies for almost 2 years. I have consulted with many dermatologist and all have given me different advice on what dog food to give him. My dog is a 6 year old male yorkshire terrier. His symptoms are red itchy skin, licking of the skin, watery eyes, and crusty ears. The vet’s have said that all signs point to a food allergy however I have tried many different food brands before. The latest vet has suggested I put my dog on either hill science diet in duck or royal canin hp. Anyone have any that has worked?

[charliedog]

Science Diet and Royal Canin, in my opinion, are both crap. You need to feed a grain free food like Natures Variety or Orijen. Natures Variety has a food that is stripped down to the basics just for dogs with severe allergies.

[Anonymous]

Charliedog,
I have had a lot of people voice their dislike for these two types of food however my vet has told me that this two are the only foods that are not produced in the same factory as a food with protein or grain. I will look into the other two brands you have suggested. Thanks!

[theBCnut]

It sound like a systemic yeast problem to me. High starch food feeds yeast in the gut and then it grows out of proportion to other gut flora and ends up affecting the whole dog. Getting on a diet high in animal protein, moderate fat, low carbohydrate, no grain or white potato may help. Also very important is adding pre/probiotics and digestive enzymes. Go to Brotherscomplete.com and read their Brothers document and FAQ to learn more. I’m using Brothers Complete Allergy Formula with great results for my dog with this problem.

[InkedMarie]

Eles: It’s a shame I feel this way but I don’t listen to my vets when it comes to nutrition, except my holistic vet. I wouldn’t use Science Diet or Royal Canin, there are so many good foods out there!

[Anonymous]

I have read many reviews and done research about brothers complete, and its two brothers just trying to sell their way in the dog industry. I’m going to try blue buffalo again or go to acana.

[InkedMarie]

Eles7: Brothers is a very good food. Read the reviews from actual Brothers customers on the dogfoodadvisor. There are many dogs who are doing exceptional on the food, one of my dogs included.

[theBCnut]

It’s your loss, if you choose to think that way, but it’s your right. Good luck with your dog.

[Shawna]

Eles7 ~~ when you are dealing with allergies (or intolerances) you have to look at ALL ingredients in the foods you feed. Potato is a relatively common food that causes intolerances. I have a friend who’s dog develops issues when she eats green beans. I know another dog that has an issue with garlic. My own dog can’t have beef bone (the meat is okay just can’t have the bone). Eggs, dairy, peas and many other foods can also be the problem. Going grain free and switching to a novel protein is a good start but many times it isn’t enough. Is there anything in common among all the foods you have tried? If so, I’d try a food that doesn’t include that — Nature’s Variety Instinct and Brothers Complete, as examples, use tapioca instead of potato (both have peas and eggs though). Nature’s Logic uses millet and other foods use garbonzo beans (aka chick peas).

[Anonymous]

Shawna,
I can’t seem to find a cause. The vet is the one to think it is food. How did you find out it was just the bone. I am doing a food trial now, but I’m just really concernced because my guy is miserable right now!

[InkedMarie]

Eles, what food are you currently using? A grain and potato food would be a good place to start. If you look under the dog food ingredients forum, I have a stickie there with a list of foods

[Shawna]

I had to do a food trial too.. I’m a raw feeder and feed a LOT of variety so a food trial was a must. I eliminated EVERYTHING she had been exposed to in the past and started feeding her raw ostrich as the protein and a novel starch and gave her freeze dried goat for treats.. She ate this and only this for 6 months. At the end of the 6 months her sysmptoms were a thing of the past. I then introduced a new food about every 4 days to make sure there wasn’t a delayed reaction. Turns out she is allergic to beef bone (which I have to watch in whole food supplements as well as her raw diet), goat dairy, cow tripe and barley. I believe the lectin proteins in the barley damaged her gut allowing the proteins from the other foods to get into her bloodstream causing the allergic reaction. Oddly, she has no issue with what we think to be “protein” — chicken, beef, lamb, duck, turkey etc.

With Audrey we were sure it was a food allergy because she had symptoms year round and because her eosinophil white blood cell count was high on her blood work (eosinophils can be high with food allergies and parasitic infections). From my understanding, eosinophils are not high in food intolerances however and food intolerances (like Audrey’s to barley) can have the same symptoms as true allergies.

[Shawna]

Eles ~~ I feel sorry for your little guy 🙁 I will say that when a food that is problematic is eliminated the symptoms can get worse at first. I personally, (me not my dog), have an issue with cow dairy products. When I quit them my symptoms get more severe for days before they get better. And then they can come back with a vengence for several hours to a couple days even though I haven’t cheated and had any dairy — it’s refered to as detoxing or a “healing episode”. The symptoms you are seeing (if you have gotten the offensive food out of the diet) could simply be the bodies attempt to get the histamine and other by-products of the allergic reaction out of the body as quickly as it can. If this IS what is happening than it is actually a good thing..

[Anonymous]

He is currently on royal canin hp, but the vet just suggested switching him to science diet. I am going to try eliminating everything and stick with this and see if it works.

[InkedMarie]

I would really get him off the Royal Canin and no Science Diet. Your dog will thank you for it

[Shawna]

Royal Canin HP works because the “protein” in the food has been hydrolyzed — aka chemically broken down into amino acids. Amino acids are supposed to be in the blood while “protein” is not. The immune system sees undigested “protein” as a foreign invader. So a hydrolyzed protein does not cause an allergic reaction EVEN if the original protein is a problem.

The thing to watch with hydrolyzed proteins (and ESPECIALLY hydrolyzed soy protein like in Royal Canin HP) is that it is VERY high in “free” glutamic and aspartic acids (two types of amino acids). Free glutamic acid is the G in monosodium glutamate (MSG) and free aspartic acid is the ingredient in the artificial sweetener aspartame that causes MAJOR problems for a lot of people and pets. These “freed” amino acids can cause things like multiple sclerosis, dementia, brain damage, aggression, lupus and on and on.. I would cut off my right arm before I would feed any of my dogs this food long term.. Just me though.. I have MRI diagnosed brain damage suspected to be cuased by MSG and aspartame so it REALLY hits home for me…

One of the Science Diet allergy foods also has hydrolyzed protein so I would avoid it like the plague too. Short term you’re probably okay but long term this could be disasterous as these amino acids seem to accumulate and cause more problems the longer they are eaten. I used to have momentary blindness (started at age 12 years) that was caused by MSG and aspartame (and any foods with free glutamic and free aspartic acids).

These types of hydrolyzed foods will stop allergy symptoms —- but at what cost??

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