Dog allergic to most foods - please help!

[LittleLucyGoose]

Hi all,

This is my first post on the forum - excited to join the community. I have a 2 year old cream frenchie that seems to be allergic to most foods. She's always licking her paws and scratches non-stop to the point where she makes her little ears bleed.

I've tried the following (in order):
- Natural Balance Chicken and Rice
- Natural Balance Sweet Potato and Fish (this worked well for a while)
- Natural Balance Kangaroo (she hated this one/ got sick)
- Solid Gold Buffalo and Chick Peas (I tried to switch out the protein in case she was allergic to fish or chicken- this didn't work long)
- Wellness TruFood Baked Blends Salmon, Turkey Liver, and Flaxseed Blend (this was grain-free and potato free, and it's not working)

The allergies are so severe that we have to put a cone on her head so she didn't constantly get at her ears, so we'd really like to come up with a plan for how we can stop her itchiness.

We don't want to do the raw diet. Any suggestions for dry kibble would be welcome.

Thanks!
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[Jakeyjake]

Have you ruled out environmental allergies and had testing done? You could check out dogfoodadvisor.com to find a high quality kibble. I don't feed kibble and cook for mine. Both of mine have severe allergies and it is a never ending battle, especially with one being a picky eater. Good luck to you!

 

[WeeDex]

Sorry to hear about the allergies. It is a nightmare, and just awful when you see them hurting themselves.

It's a learning process for me too, but peas, pea protein, pea flour etc make Dexter have terrible skin reactions, and these are often in kibble - even the limited ingredient ones - which makes it very hard. He currently eats Wainwrights Salmon & Potato which I think is UK only.

He liked Ziwipeak, which is available everywhere I believe, but it upset his stomach unfortunately. Acana and Orijen both set him off.

It's really stressful when you don't know what sets off the reactions. I hope you can find a suitable food soon.

 

[Cbrugs]

Welcome to the forum and sorry to hear about the allergies. The issue might be environmental allergies. Jax is allergic to everything outside that is green and used to tear himself up. He gets Apoquel daily and biweekly allergy shots. I also give him a weekly bath every week.

I also struggled with kibble and tried several different brands but there was always an issue. A little over a month ago I switched to raw and the issues have significantly decreased. Potatoes can be yeasty so I would avoid them all together. Peas can also be an issue. Do you give coconut oil? If not, I would add some into his diet.

 

[MaplesMommy]

Have you had any testings done?
If environmental allergies can be ruled out,its most likely a yeast overgrowth due to too much carbohydrates/sugar in his diet.
I am a big advocate of a species appropriate,fresh diet.
But if for some reason its a no go for you, Id at least go with a good quality,low carb food such as Acana or Orijen.

There are also beneficial things such as Kefir and Omega 3 Fish oil that will help with inflammation.
But these are just band aids ; you want to figure out the cause.
You can also use diluted Apple Cider Vinegar to wipe the ears, clean paws and rub on the entire dog. This will help create an acidic environment on which yeast cannot thrive as much. Dont use it for any open/raw spots though, as the ACV will sting.

 

[LittleLucyGoose]

Have you had any testings done?
If environmental allergies can be ruled out,its most likely a yeast overgrowth due to too much carbohydrates/sugar in his diet.
I am a big advocate of a species appropriate,fresh diet.
But if for some reason its a no go for you, Id at least go with a good quality,low carb food such as Acana or Orijen.

There are also beneficial things such as Kefir and Omega 3 Fish oil that will help with inflammation.
But these are just band aids ; you want to figure out the cause.
You can also use diluted Apple Cider Vinegar to wipe the ears, clean paws and rub on the entire dog. This will help create an acidic environment on which yeast cannot thrive as much. Dont use it for any open/raw spots though, as the ACV will sting.

This is great info and thanks for the suggestions on food brands and vitamins. Amazing how many things Apple Cider Vinegar can fix

- - - Updated - - -

Have you ruled out environmental allergies and had testing done? You could check out dogfoodadvisor.com to find a high quality kibble. I don't feed kibble and cook for mine. Both of mine have severe allergies and it is a never ending battle, especially with one being a picky eater. Good luck to you!

We have not done environmental testing yet. Do the tests actually work and is it worth the cost? NYC vets and specialists are very expensive, but we'd be willing to go to a dog allergist if it would stop the scratching. We will also check out dog food advisor- hadn't heard of that before. Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[LittleLucyGoose]

Welcome to the forum and sorry to hear about the allergies. The issue might be environmental allergies. Jax is allergic to everything outside that is green and used to tear himself up. He gets Apoquel daily and biweekly allergy shots. I also give him a weekly bath every week.

I also struggled with kibble and tried several different brands but there was always an issue. A little over a month ago I switched to raw and the issues have significantly decreased. Potatoes can be yeasty so I would avoid them all together. Peas can also be an issue. Do you give coconut oil? If not, I would add some into his diet.

Do you use a special shampoo for the frenchie? Potatoes seem like a good thing to avoid - hard to find kibble that's potato free, but I've found a few. I've never tried coconut oil - thanks for the suggestion!

 

[LittleLucyGoose]

Sorry to hear about the allergies. It is a nightmare, and just awful when you see them hurting themselves.

It's a learning process for me too, but peas, pea protein, pea flour etc make Dexter have terrible skin reactions, and these are often in kibble - even the limited ingredient ones - which makes it very hard. He currently eats Wainwrights Salmon & Potato which I think is UK only.

He liked Ziwipeak, which is available everywhere I believe, but it upset his stomach unfortunately. Acana and Orijen both set him off.

It's really stressful when you don't know what sets off the reactions. I hope you can find a suitable food soon.

Thanks for the food suggestions! Good to know that peas can cause allergic reactions. We'll do some research on food without peas

 

[Cbrugs]

Do you use a special shampoo for the frenchie? Potatoes seem like a good thing to avoid - hard to find kibble that's potato free, but I've found a few. I've never tried coconut oil - thanks for the suggestion!

I use Ketohex shampoo that I got on Amazon. I bathe him once a week with it. Before I switched to raw, I was feeding Great Life buffalo which is grain, potato and pea free.

I think testing for environmental allergies is definitely worth it as it takes the guessing out of it and you will know if there are allergies. I've never had food allergy testing done as the vets in my area won't do it so I've had to do trial and error for food intolerances.

 

[LittleLucyGoose]

I use Ketohex shampoo that I got on Amazon. I bathe him once a week with it. Before I switched to raw, I was feeding Great Life buffalo which is grain, potato and pea free.

I think testing for environmental allergies is definitely worth it as it takes the guessing out of it and you will know if there are allergies. I've never had food allergy testing done as the vets in my area won't do it so I've had to do trial and error for food intolerances.

Thanks for the recommendation. We're going to try Great Life since it's one of the few that are potato and pea free. I'll let you know how it works out.

Has anyone had luck with the Fromm brand or Orijen? Those would be the ones I'd try next, even though they have some of the ingredients that I thought I should avoid (e.g., Potato, peas, etc.).

Thanks again!

 

[Cbrugs]

There are quite a few people on the forum that feed Fromm and Orijen. I think it's all a matter of finding a good quality food that works for you and your dog. Good luck!

 

[WeeDex]

I agree with all of the above!

Environmental allergies are definitely worth testing for. I was amazed when ours came back showing Dexter has a dust mite allergy. I wasn't expecting it at all! And we take steps now to minimise this for him. Food allergy tests are something that our vet doesn't encourage or discourage - completely up to us. We are thinking about it, but it's pricey.

Our first salmon and potato food he was on appeared to encourage his skin and ear infections, so his meals now are only 6% potato content as opposed to 40% in the kibble he was on. This works so much better for him it's unreal. It only contains salmon, potato, spinach and chicory, and additional vitamins and minerals to balance it correctly.

I'd personally stick to a minimal ingredient food for a while and see if it helps. Could take a few weeks to see results so it's a slow process, but it's worth it to let his body settle a bit. Orijen gave us big problems, but it works for so many people it's worth considering for sure. It's a shame, because I actually thought it smelled really good!!

 

[pirasha]

Poppy came to me eating Annamaet 24% which I had previously never heard of but doing some research it seems like a decent food.

Main ingredients are Salmon and Venison. It's not grain free but it is wheat and corn free. There's also no potatoes or peas listed. I've kept Poppy on it and she seems to be doing well. Might be worth looking into...

I also second the coconut oil, I give it to Poppy in her food (I alternate coconut oil and salmon oil, but start with really small amounts to avoid runny poo). I've also been using it topically since I'm currently battling some sort of skin infection with her. I warm a bit on my hands and give her a good massage. She loves it! The oil makes her fur a tad greasy but only for an hour or so, it ends up absorbing into her fur and skin and makes everything so soft (and I imagine less itchy). I also massage it in between her toes and any hotspot she's got as it's got antibacterial properties. For this I wait until she's asleep in my lap so that it gets absorbed and works it's magic, if she's awake she'll lick it off.

Good luck! Hope you'll find the major contributors of the itchiness and are able to eliminate them!