Which Ingredient Do you Think is Causing the Allergy?

[fuzzybunny]

Bunny has a food allergy but I've never been able to figure out to what since I rotated her food so often. Her allergy would take the form of her biting her paws until they were bloody.

She's been on Chicken Soup For the Dog Lover's Soul for months now with no issues. She's doing wonderfully on this food. As an experiment, I switched her to Authority and the biting began almost immediately. She was only on the Authority for 2 weeks before I returned the food and switched her back to the Chicken Soup food. Within 2 days she stopped biting and her paw has healed up. Here's the ingredient list of both foods. What ingredient(s) do you think could potentially be the culprit? Corn?


Authority
Chicken, Chicken Meal, Brown Rice, Corn, Oat Groats, Corn Gluten Meal, Chicken Fat (Preserved with Mixed Tocopherols), Dried Beet Pulp, Natural Flavor, Canola Oil, Dried Egg Product, Dicalcium Phosphate, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Vitamin and Mineral Supplements( Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Vitamin E Supplement, L-Ascorbyl-2-polyphosphate (source of Ascorbic Acid), Copper Sulfate, Vitamin A Supplement, Manganese Sulfate, Niacin, D Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Riboflavin, Calcium Iodate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamin Mononitrate, Folic Acid, Sodium Selenite, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement).

Chicken Soup For The Dog Lover's Soul (Adult)
Chicken, turkey, chicken meal, turkey meal, cracked pearled barley, whole grain brown rice, oatmeal, millet, white rice, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), potatoes, egg product, tomato pomace, duck, salmon, ocean fish meal, flaxseed, natural chicken flavor, potassium chloride, salt, choline chloride, dried chicory root, dried kelp, carrots, peas, apples, tomatoes, blueberries, spinach, dried skim milk, cranberries, rosemary extract, parsley flake, yucca schidigera extract, L-Carnitine, dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, dried Lactobacillus casei fermentation product and dried Lactobacillus plantarum fermentation product, dried Trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate, manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, niacin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin, vitamin D supplement, folic acid.

[cta]

i'm no expert, but the first thing that stood out was the corn.

[jprice103]

The one thing that jumps out at me immediately is the corn. Chicken Soup doesn't contain any corn, but it is #4 and #6 on list for Authority!

My one dog (toy poodle) has BAD skin allergies. When I switched her to a corn-free food, they all cleared up!

[fuzzybunny]

Well as long as the Chicken Soup food continues to work, she will remain on that. I'm really happy with the results I get on it and it's slightly cheaper than some of the other foods of similar quality.

It was important to me to try and determine the allergy though and the corn is the one item that stands out to me as well.

[jprice103]

The only other things besides the corn and corn gluten meal that are in the Authority food that aren't in Chicken Soup are Dried Beet Pulp, Canola Oil and Dicalcium Phosphate, so that narrows it down.

[msvette2u]

We recommend to our adopters to avoid corn, wheat, soy and by-products.

[fuzzybunny]

The only thing that doesn't make sense is when I think back to other foods she was on and biting her paws, they don't share any of the ingredients in the Authority dog food. For example, Acana. Now I'm not so sure I have things figured out. At least she's doing well on her current food and I will just continue with that.

[Jax08]

It could be anything. Can you feed RAW? That would at least narrow down the proteins. If not, I would look for a kibble that has very few ingredients and I think maybe a fish based kibble? How do you know it's the food causing it? Have you tested for any allergies?

[fuzzybunny]

Originally Posted by Jax08

It could be anything. Can you feed RAW? That would at least narrow down the proteins. If not, I would look for a kibble that has very few ingredients and I think maybe a fish based kibble? How do you know it's the food causing it? Have you tested for any allergies?

I can't feed raw. The cost is way too much in Ottawa. She is doing great on Chicken Soup so I'm going to stick with that. I assumed it was food based because nothing else changed with the exception of the food. It seems suspicious that she started biting as soon as we took her off the Chicken Soup and stopped as soon as we put her back on.

[Jax08]

That would indicate food related to me too! I would guess the corn then. That seems to be the one ingredient difference. But it could also be that Chicken Soup has the probiotic and the other doesn't. So maybe it isn't food related but maybe it's that she needs probiotics for some reason. Or it could be something missing in the one that Chicken Soup has giving her that specific vitamin/mineral component.