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Raw and allergy relief

8K views 60 replies 13 participants last post by  Momto2GSDs 
#1 ·
Ever since adopting our gsd she struggles with itching. She came with fleas but we treat that with some front line. After switching to kibble we decided to go raw. Its been three days.

From your experience how long did it take for your dogs allergy to subside after switching to raw?

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#2 ·
My guy was back to normal with in a week with very little scratching. Could she have an allergy to grass and pollen? Ronin has that and what we thought was his food was just season allergies. I give him some Benadryl when it's really bad and he's fine.
 
#5 ·
Yes...exactly this.

You need to do a 6 to 8 week trial.

Also, I would not feed anything with chicken in it as chicken is one of the biggest offenders. Once your trial time is over, you can begin to add a little to see if itching comes back.

Another thing with switching to raw......
The dog may go thru a detox period....which is perfectly NORMAL! :wink2:

Because most prepared dog food is chucked full of chemicals and additives, vaccinations have been given, and flea/tick topicals have been used, when switched to a raw diet, the immune system is affected and they begin a “healing” as some people call it, or more commonly called a “detox” or “herxing” as their body tries to purge the toxins. Now that you’ve changed to raw, those “toxins” have to somehow escape the body. Dogs could show upsetting signs such as drainage from the ears and/or eyes, vomiting, diarrhea, stool that will smell SO bad it would make the strongest stomach urp! Stool with strange colors, mucousey stool, discharge from the penis or vagina, bad breath, itching….even MORE than they were itching before, licking themselves, and, thru the skin such as open sores, losing hair, or making them smell like last week’s garbage that’s been rotting out in the sun!



Have heart! I will end eventually!



Moms :)
 
#4 ·
It depends on what your dog is allergic to? Perhaps you think she's allergic to a grain but she's actually allergic to a certain type of protein?
 
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#7 ·
My dog has been on raw a year. Yikes! Nutriscan came back two weeks ago. Only beef and lamb tested okay--28 other foods have intolerance. How do I proceed with introducing supplements like coconut oil or probiotics? I have emu and alpaca in the freezer to try, but not sure of protocols? My guy is still so itchy!!!
 
#10 ·
I think for any dog with food allergies, probiotics should be introduced as soon as you can. I don't know if coconut oil provides all the benefits claimed, but it doesn't hurt. I give milk kefir to my dogs as well as other supplements.
I think the benefits of raw/frozen green tripe is amazing, and should be given daily as part of the raw diet. It has probiotics/digestive enzymes naturally and is equal in the calcium and phosphorus ratios.
 
#11 ·
Allergies are often environmental, in which case you won't see any relief of course. One of my dogs is highly allergic to anything with chicken in it, but can eat raw chicken with no problems. It took about 2 weeks of raw food for her before we started seeing a difference.
 
#14 ·
Yes, detox can cause itching. I have seen dogs get much worse before they got better. My Fama was on total crap food for her whole life before I got her switched to raw. She went through a couple weeks of hard detox before symptoms started to clear up. I would highly suggest a probiotic to help populate the gut with healthy bacteria. Many allergic responses are from the inability of the dog to properly digest foods that then pass through larger than normal holes in the bowel into the bloodstream. The body then attacks these invaders and results in a histamine type reaction.

I use Sunday Sundae regularly, as well as the rest of the FeedSentials supplements. Start off using it every day for a few weeks until symptoms subside. Then you can use it just weekly. I also use it myself, but that's another topic :)

Sunday Sundae for K9 | Feedsentials for K9
 
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#20 ·
Its been two weeks since Kona switched to raw. Her scratching is still the same.

Her poop just started to get better (approx. 3 days). More solid stuff with a little bit of mucus.

I'm thinking about doing one more week of chicken? If itching continues, I'll try pork. Does that sound like a good idea?
 
#21 ·
Glad the stool is firming up!

Two weeks is still a short time to notice a difference in some dogs.

Switch to pork or beef now. NO other proteins. Beef would be the easiest to find organs like calves liver.

Treats must be of the same protein....no other ingredients. Here is my treat recipe:
EASY HOMEMADE MEAT TREATS
Items needed:
Non Stick Fry Pan
Large Round Steak or Pork Chops or Calves Liver or Lamb or Goat or any whole meats your dog can eat.
Scissors
1. Trim off all fat on the edges and in-between and if it has bone, remove that too. If using Calves Liver, thaw, and blot well with paper towel to remove excess blood.
2. Take a pair of scissors (outstanding tool for cutting meat) and cut the meat into manageable pieces.
3. Choose a fry pan (non stick works the easiest) that will hold the amount of meat you bought, and give the pan a small drop of oil or a quick spray of Pam.
4. Heat the pan until really hot and drop in the meat pieces in to sizzle. Keep your heat high but don’t leave the pan unattended.
5. Sprinkle on a little garlic powder or garlic salt if desired.
6. Let it sizzle for about a minute or two then flip over. Braise the other side (pour off the juice if there is too much) and remove from pan when the middle is pink (especially the Liver or it will crumble). Place on to paper towel, blot and let cool.
7. Take your scissors and cut all of the meat in strips about ¼” wide. Now take those strips and cut small pieces about the size of a ½ of a dime, (or whatever size you prefer).
8. Place small amounts into sealable snack baggies, then place those baggies into a sealable freezer baggie and place in freezer. When you need them, take out one or two baggies, place them in the frig and they will un-thaw. Of course the dogs love them frozen too, if you forget! They will unthaw quickly on the cupboard or in your pocket for training.

Are you giving the ProBiotics?

Moms:)
 
#23 ·
Hello my raw support group. Its been a month. Still got the runs and itching like crazy. Should i stick with chicken (RMB) or change protien source? Ive been adding probitioics and just started pumpkin last night.

Just need a little bit of encouragement. lol

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#24 ·
Hey Kona.....hang in there! ;)

My rule of thumb is nothing, NOTHING given with feathers or associated with....such as eggs, fat, supplements, etc.!

I would do just beef, beef organs and probiotic for at least 8 to 10 weeks.

Note that if you are not doing a ground beef formula containing bone, Bone Meal must be added. This contains the correct Cal/Phos ratio according to my holistic vet. I can give you the amount if you choose this option.
https://www.amazon.com/Now-Foods-Bo...71997901&sr=8-1&keywords=now+bone+meal+powder


Start out with a small percentage of fat in/on the meat, very small amount of organs and work up the amounts as you see the gut handling it sufficiently.

I get my organs from here and have been very pleased with the company!
(Beef: heart, liver, kidneys, lungs, gullet and trachea) https://haretoday.com/product/raw_pet_food/ground_beef_organs_1_lb

Also use only pure beef treats with nothing else in them. You could use a high quality Dehydrated food (you must be very careful of brands) such as Ziwi Peak and break into small pieces: ZiwiPeak Daily Cuisine Grain-Free Air-Dried Dog Food

OR
Make your own!


Moms:)
 
#29 ·
A couple of other thoughts -

How much liver are you feeding if at all? (Could be the cause of the runs). Maybe trim the fat from the chicken (another possibility).

And my last thought - is sometimes you may have to use meds to stop the itch cycle.
 
#35 ·
I am a HUGE supporter of raw fed dogs being supplemented.....BUT......
when you are doing an "Elimination" Diet, you need to "eliminate" as many ingredients as possible. Using raw makes this a lot easier b/c there are only a few items in it.

A "multi vitamin" has many components. Adding it for this 8-10 week period could skew things.

After this initial period, you would begin by adding one item back into the diet for several days to a week to see if there was a reaction. IF, let's say, you added a multi vitamin AND venison back into the diet on the same days, and the dog had a reaction, you would not know which item was causing the reaction.....and, you'd be back to square one.

So, to answer your question, I personally would not add a multi vitamin at this time. Possibly in a few weeks, you could add coconut oil back into the diet.

Moms:)
 
#39 ·
Switched to beef yesterday. This morning we found massive diarrhea in the kennel.

According to raw diet gurus, theoretically I should switched back to the previous protein (chicken), but I switched to beef because of possible food allergy. What should I do?

Should keep going with beef or switch back to chicken?
 
#42 ·
Have you tried turkey? I think I read somewhere it's chicken, turkey then pork or beef(could be vice versa I dont remember)
 
#44 ·
My plan is to feed beef for the next few days and if things dont improve im going to get a stool sample.

But heres the current update on the poop. If youre a poop expert view the pic. I didnt post the pic just incase if there are those with a weak stomach

https://www.flickr.com/gp/ninhsavestheday/054HX8

Is it possible to up the dose on the bone meal?

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#45 ·
This very loose stool has going on for a while now.
If it were me, I would not wait to get the ELISA test done.

I don't remember if you mentioned in any of your other threads if she was ever tested for EPI?

If you are giving the correct amount of Bone Meal per pound of food (3/4th t. for NOW and 1 t. for KAL) at each of her feedings, then no, it should not be increased.

How many pounds per day is she eating and how many meals is it broken up into?

Moms:)
 
#46 ·
There were a few times her stool got better. Two weeks ago when she got into the kibble container. Her poop was solid the next day. Also before i added liver and switched beef.

Im feeding 1 lb once a day.
My plan is to feed beef for the next few days and if things dont improve im going to get a stool sample.

But heres the current update on the poop. If youre a poop expert view the pic. I didnt post the pic just incase if there are those with a weak stomach

https://www.flickr.com/gp/ninhsavestheday/054HX8

Is it possible to up the dose on the bone meal?

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Sent from my SM-G930T using Tapatalk
 
#49 ·
I would dump the liver for a bit and see if you can get her stool better. Them go back and add it is SLOWLY - I am probably overly cautious but I did it in like 1/4 ounce increments. I didn't look at the pic (sorry i have enough poop in my life with three dogs) but if it is really bad maybe so bland for a few days and then add it back in at like 1/4 meal raw, remaining bland and continue until all raw.

And again if the itching is really bad, you may need meds to help heal the skin as it may be self perpetuating. I first switched to raw like 10 years ago because one of my dogs had bad allergies (they were only tested as environments). He was on meds (allergy shots and some sort of antihistamine) and whatnot when we switched but I weaned him off those and he was good like 6 weeks into the diet change.
 
#54 · (Edited)
I am not a fan of rice, it is hard on the gut and not that easy to digest as far as a bland diet should be. I prefer to use pearled tapioca(cooked) for the fiber content.
Repeating what I posted previously: Look into digestive enzymes and probiotics during this time. Raw(frozen) green tripe is very easy on the system, has the right ratio of calcium and phosphorus and contains natural digestive enzymes. It can be fed exclusively for a few weeks with no issue as far as nutritional value goes(though it is expensive in some areas)
I give my dogs home made Kefir for the probiotic values, it keeps the gut flora balanced and immune system strong. You can buy freeze dried starter if you can't find grains. Many health food stores carry it, just add milk and ferment.
Another way to add digestive enzymes is to ferment veggies, though if your dog has some problems with allergies, I don't know if I'd add more variety to the diet.
 
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#55 ·
10% liver is too much. It's 10% organ meat half of which is liver. 5% of diet should be liver. The other 5% should be some other type of secreting organ like kidney, spleen, testicle, pancreas. As someone else mentioned, organ meat might be better tolerated if it is lightly cooked first.

You said you give 10% of diet only once. Does that mean you are feeding organ meat once a week in a large portion? Or are you feeding 10% as part of the daily food portion? Some dogs can't handle a large portion of organ meat at one time. I prefer to feed 10% of the daily portion each day. If that makes sense.

Example: I feed about 28 oz. per day of raw food. So I feed 2.8 oz of organ per day. 1.4 oz of liver and 1.4 oz of other organ such as spleen or kidney.
 
#56 ·
This is how I have to do it. I would have a huge mess if I gave it weekly, I think the only way to do that way is to give the bone for the week at the same time.
 
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