SD Prescription has it's place. And this is one of them. You can only find a food allergy by elimination so you need to start with a food that is designed to not trigger allergies. If this works for him, great then you know it's a food allergy. Then you work to find the allergens. And you will never find it feeding as you do now with all the different sources.

You'll feed your dog hot dogs but not a fully nutritional kibble??? Hot dogs??? LOL

 

SD Prescription has it's place. And this is one of them. You can only find a food allergy by elimination so you need to start with a food that is designed to not trigger allergies. If this works for him, great then you know it's a food allergy. Then you work to find the allergens. And you will never find it feeding as you do now with all the different sources.

You'll feed your dog hot dogs but not a fully nutritional kibble??? Hot dogs??? LOL

Food designed not to trigger allergies meaning to switch him to the Hills Prescription? I’m wishful someone has cut a single protein out from their normal diet and figured it out that way. I don’t know how likely it is though.

Also, no I don’t give my dog hot dogs as a meal I said as a treat. A lot of trainers actually use hot dogs as a high value reward.

 

It's kinda unfortunate that you've fed him all those meats because the only other way to do it is a novel protein and carbohydrate. But your dog has already had venison and quail and rabbit...proteins that people tap a lot of times to be the novel one.

I just found out about a dog food company called Rayne. Maybe worth checking out. I read a quite convincing article about the companies that do testing on their finished product to make sure that it is not contaminated with allergens. Two of the 3 were makers of the well known RX diets--- I can't remember if Hill's was one or not. Rayne was one of them.

They have novel protein diets like kangaroo and even alligator.

 

Just do the 8 week SD. Check his teeth as he might need brushing. My dog Bo needs his teeth brushed every
morning after kibble even though they get raw at night.

 

@Jax08 i get it does sound like the best option it’s just something about completely reconstructing his feeding that erks me. In the end I’ll do what’s best for him but I wanna see a work around.
All I feed my dog are the above mentioned items, I dont give him anything else and I always get my food from the same place so it’s got to be a protein.

As for the hotdogs, I know they aren’t the greatest, I buy uncured so it’s at least not as bad and most hotdogs. The point I’m trying to make is, I’m “agianst” kibble because I would much rather have my dog get his nutrients from raw food. His poop is better, his teeth are better, his breath.. the list goes on. The hot dogs are temporary, not even fed daily, and make up maybe 2% of his weekly food consumption. I appreciate your feedback with what you went through and I’m sorry, that sucks, but again I’m not planning on this for long.

but yes .. allergies suckkkk 😭


You all must think I’m crazy but I don’t want this to be my only option. I take everything the vet says with a grain of salt. 🤷🏻‍♀️

 

And right after I got him off the kibble I got him a new canned food (trying to find something low fat I got a chicken one) which seemed to make him itch like crazy so now I think chicken may be a trigger for him too.

 

Ahh that's unfortunate! I actually have a few buddies here that they're dogs are allergic.. or at least get some kind of upset tummy or reaction to chicken. It's been pretty common here so maybe, if it is glad you at least got it figured out!

 

We just ordered a ceramic bowl for Enzo (I heard from a few that it actually helped) and are religiously cleaning his paw pads making him comfortable.. the amount of licking seems to have gone down a little bit. I know it's not treating the cause just helping the symptoms, but glad hes more comfortable now.
I'll be taking him to one other vet, his original vet, to get a second opinion before changing the diet completly.. so we'll see what happens with that.

 

I did an elimination diet with raw for my one allergy dog. I was fortunate enough to have a source for a lot of elk. I also have experience processing game, space to do it, a large band saw and grinder, and several commercial freezers.

All her food came from elk, including muscle meat, organs, liver, bone and tripe. After a few months, I added in single proteins and watched for a reaction. She was allergic to commercial chicken, turkey and commercially raised quail. She did very well on red meats, including venison, llama, duck and beef. She could also eat wild quail, pheasant and rabbit.

Before switching her to raw, she did ok on Hills SD ZD, both dry and canned. We used this diet to initially diagnose the food allergy problem.

 

It's always those dang chickens. I feed chicken mostly as bone (neck, head, thighs) if I did have to go with an elimination diet, chicken is probably one of the last proteins I'd try to incorporate back into his diet.

We're you initially feeding strictly raw before the allergies started? Just out of curiosity.

 

After you've exhausted all your options, diets and decided your vet and everyone here who's given you great advice is correct in feeding an elimination diet, Hill's I/D low fat canned (no chicken or potatoes) or Z/D (hydrolyzed chicken liver, no potatoes) actually work for allergy dogs, at least mine. It took me over 2 years of trying everything else before I caved, my bad. Now my dog can work in the Summer w/o her eyes, ears and gut being totally inflamed and requiring meds. g/l. Allergies suck.

 

Surprisingly, Enzo is doing much better now. He did have a cyptopoint injection during his last visit, I'm normally against it, we had given him cytopoint last year for a couple of months and it did nothing. I'm not sure if the cytopoint had any effect on him this time, but he's not itchy other than the normal scratch here and there. I guess I'll find out in a couple weeks if his itching does come back.

I am cleaning his paws and ears a lot more frequently than I normally would, probably something I should have been doing this whole time anyway. Trimming paw pads more so no moisture is trapped. It all seems to be helping. Food allergies could still be an option of course, but I'll know for sure by my next vet visit.

 

Ime the first cytopoint shot is the best then they don't last as long. Bathing with a hypoallergenic shampoo helps reduce itching. Hope your dog isn't like mine that has environmental allergies and food intolerances.

 

That's funny cause the vet told me they are only effective after the 3rd, 4th shot and need to be taken consecutively to work well. Hence why I can't believe everything they say.
To give my clinic some credit, I do actually really like one of the vets (shes our usual) and I think if she were to tell me Enzo had a food allergy I would have taken it more serious. Unfortunately, she was not in town during our last visit.

If your dog or a family member has environmental allergies, I highly recommend getting a HV dryer and blowing them off before they come inside.

Our friend actually recommended this earlier this year. His dog spends a lot more time outside though so I never thought it would benefit me as much, but I think it's worth a shot. At the very least I can use it to dry him off or blow our his hair.

 

I recently picked up a HV dryer (Flying Pig) and its shocking just how much dust and pollen comes off of Valor after being outside. I blow him off regardless of whether or not he's wet.

If your dog or a family member has environmental allergies, I highly recommend getting a HV dryer and blowing them off before they come inside.

 

yes. My father is allergic and if I didn’t bathe the dogs right before he visits I blow out their coats and then wipe down with grooming wipes.

 

I keep saying I am going to get a blower I can not take all the hair . That sound like it is a big plus blowing away allergens. I’m going to a vacuum all the radiators and hope it cuts down on dust mites this winter. The cytopoint needs to be given right around thanksgiving. It will be Luna’s early Christmas present and be sure give it early. I always wait a little to long.

 

Cytopoint will vary from dog to dog. Seger gets 6 months or more, and has had several over the last few years. The first shot was a miracle for him and since I use a combination of serum, claritin and cytopoint, I am able to extend times between shots to get the most from them.

I think you need to get environmental testing done if you haven't already. Ears and paws indicate environmental, IME and in my vet's experience.

 

I think you need to get environmental testing done if you haven't already. Ears and paws indicate environmental, IME and in my vet's experience.

Yes, I 100% agree. I didn't want to jump to the food allergy just yet until the environmental allergy test was done. I'm pending my appointment.
Ears have very mild yeast, easily controlled with cleaning. No redness, and doesnt shake his head.. 1 front paw was really itchy, but has gone down a lot.