Food and allergies

[Juli]

Hi All,
Haven't posted in a while. Had surgery and am now ready to get back to the land of the living! Satchel is now 15 months and still the apple of my eye. Here is my concern. Ever since he was a puppy he has been an itchey guy.(that and his boy behavior were the majority of my posts)He has the dirty sock smell but vet says no staph. He is medicated with frontline religiously. I think it may be time to change his food, or at least a place to start. I know there are many opinions but I was hoping for a few suggestions as to where to start. (vet is a science diet advocate...other than that he's pretty good) He eats the lamb and rice based kibble (no corn) from Costco that the breeder wanted me to keep him on with 2TBS missing link. I just feel so bad for him, his ears are red and he's starting to knosh on himself. I really wanted to avoid the prednisone trap. I would be so appreciative of any suggestions. Help!
Thanks,
Juli & Satchel in Sunny San Diego

 

[NoahsCove]

Food is always an interesting topic !

We alternate between Old Mother Hubbard Wellness and Innova brand dog foods. All are human grade and are similar to "BARF" only in kibble form...."BARF" being an acronym for Biologically Appropriate Raw Food or Bones and Raw Food. Here's some links you may find helpful to both brands (and Innova has a very informative comparison wizard which allows you to compare ingredients of different brands and also has an area that explains what each ingredient is).

Old Mother Hubbard brand (comes in chicken, lamb or fish and sweet potato):
http://www.oldmotherhubbard.com/dogs/wellness_detail.asp?pCode=dryDogSup5MixChicken

Innova brand:
http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=product-detail&pxsl=//product[@id='1']

(Comparison chart and Ingredient Wizard link is on the right hand side of the Innova website) .

I've heard many Newfie parents say they have had success with both of the above....some have even indicated a reduction in such problems as hot spots and ear infections etc....and healthier skin/coats. I personally see a difference in personality....my furbabies are always calmer when I feed them either OMH (Old Mother Hubbard) or Innova as opposed to foods which have unnatural preservatives or food coloring etc...

 

[Sound Bay Newfs]

It definately sounds like a food allergy. Regardless of what food your breeder suggested, if Satchel is not doing well on it, then you should switch him to something else. Dogs, like people, are individuals and what works for one may not work for another. Experiment around and find a food that works for Satchel. Once you find the right food, you will see a big difference in a few weeks. Remember to mix the old food with the new food and make the change over gradual over a week.

 

[Elizabeth]

Gracie had those itchy red ears, as well as hotspots when she was younger.
We did an inhalant allergy test first, lots of stuff she's allergic to.
Then we did a food allergy test.
She's allergic to beef, duck, yeast and peanuts.
The treats she was getting were made with beef.
Once I quit that, those ears cleared right up.
Now we just have problems with those inhalant allergies....

Elizabeth

 

[NoahsCove]

Hi mistymtn.newfs ,

What GREAT info !! Thanks!! I didn't know that about using Olive Leaf for furbabies (heard about it for humans)...did you use the powdered capsule forms ?

Also, have you been to http://www.naturalrearing.com ? from the sound of your post I bet you'd enjoy that website....it's packed with great, natural, information for furbabies.

 

[Charlie]

I was wondering about dog foods myself - I have had reccomendations of Fromm brand as being very good. Does anybody have any comments on this brand?

Also what about Science Diet - this is what I feed my cat and she does very well on it.

I'm trying to educate myself on commercially available foods for when we get our Newf and for my Mom & Dad who just got a standard poodle puppy and would like some info (right now the poodle is eating Purina Pro Plan for Puppies - she is nearly 9 weeks old).

Since I live in Canada, I am looking at brands that should be available at good pet food stores or possibly at the vet's office.

Any info or comments much appreciated.



[ 08-30-2002, 02:55 PM: Message edited by: Charlie ]

 

[Jeannie]

My Samantha has allergies. In fact she was so bad (itchy) that I had her allergy tested. She just started on her serum shots 2 days ago. Anyway at one time I tried Missing Link and wow it did not agree with Sam. Terrible itching and red raw ears. Took her off it and she was much better. I will never use it again--at least not on Samantha.

 

[mollysmom]

Gracie has been food allergic since she came home at 8 weeks. She's 6 months now. We put her on Wellness - deboned chicken and hoped it would help, it got worse. We tried many different things, none of which made a difference until.... my vet put her on the prescription food from science diet Silver. It's really crap food but it's made so that her body doesn't recognize the chicken base as chicken. We were having great improvement until we took her to a Newfie get together where she acted like the "orphan puppy" as she visited each family receiving treats from everyone. This was a no-leash get together and having 5 dogs with me swimming etc., I could only watch in horror as each family took pity on her and fed her. She has been itching like mad ever since. I now have in my possesion a swab test so that I can do a smear of the oozing pustules on her poor body and see what we come up with.

My vet didn't want to do the antibiotics or steroids of any kind either and I agree with that. So, it's back to trying to keep her away from anything but her prescription food again.

My vet told me one more thing I think you may find of interest. It takes 3 weeks or more for the allergic reaction to clear the body finally passing through the skin to leave the body.

I wish you luck in your hunt.

 

[NoahsCove]

Originally posted by mollysmom:
... She's 6 months now. We put her on Wellness - deboned chicken and hoped it would help, it got worse. We tried many different things, none of which made a difference until.... my vet put her on the prescription food from science diet Silver. It's really crap food but it's made so that her body doesn't recognize the chicken base as chicken. ....

Hi Mollysmom,

Is it the chicken she's allergic to ? I've heard that many who have had chicken allergies had success with lamb & rice or fish & sweet potato combinations.

One of our websites... ILoveNewfies.com ( http://www.ilovenewfies.com ) used to have a food survey up last year and the most used dog food for Newf owners (out of over 700 people that took the survey by the time the survey ended) was Innova. But, furbabies, just like humans, have different requirements due to breed, age, how active they are and also genetic and or immune situations etc... In my opinion, it's almost always wise to follow the advice of your vet

 

[bearbearsmom]

Hi All - Well, I am certainly no advocate of one food over another and food is SUCH an interesting topic, we could probably discuss it until the Newfies come home, but my Bear has bad skin allergies also. He recently had, on top of this, become very fussy and stopped eating almost all together. I had been to a dog show about six months ago and sampled a food from Red Barn (beef, but they also have lamb and chicken). I never thought much more about it because it had to be ordered, but a couple weeks back decided to take the plunge and give them a call. They sent me a sample roll and he ate it like a champ. No itching at all and, because it is so digestable, clean-ups aren't so tough either!! So, long story short, that's what we are going with. I've read all the information and did some research and it just so happens this is what we think will work best for us, not meaning it would be everyone's food of choice. Just another idea someone might want to look into if the need be. They have a website redbarndogfood.com (I think) and you can check it out for yourself. Like I said, just another option.

Hope everyone has a super enjoyable long weekend (that is, of course, if you don't work on Monday). Do fun Newfie things !!

Nancy and Bear

 

[mollysmom]

Hi Noahscove, I do think it's chicken, but I can't prove it yet. I also think we have a problem with carrots which is in wellness. I am "itching" hehe to move her to a fish and potato or barley diet or possibly cooking for her myself, unsure which yet, but my vet is holding me back, making me run this food longer to be sure we have her "clean" and then we will slowly add one item at a time to her diet to discover just what it is she has a problem with. Some day we will have this resolved.

 

[Juli]

Thank you all so much for the suggestions. We went on a little vacation and I was thrilled to get home and see all the new insight. I hadn't thought of an inhalant allergy. We put sod in about 4 months ago and his symptoms have been much worse since. Gives me lots to work with and consider! I know this sounds crazy but I am always complemented on how beautiful his coat is...would this be more indicative of inhalant vs food?