Blue Buffalo

[cassie]

Anybody have any experience with Blue Buffalo dog food? I have a chihuahua cross that has recently started scratching himself raw. He does NOT have fleas. I don't have any idea what is causing this so I was thinking about changing his diet. I don't know what else to do. Any and all suggestions are welcome.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

Blue buffalo is not a terrible food, but in my opinion, paying more for a food does not mean it will be better for your dog or that it is full of better ingredients.

Generally, food allergies are fairly rare in dogs, contrary to what people seem to believe. This certainly doesn't mean that it's impossible for dogs to be allergic to food, but I tend to like to rule out everything else first.

Dealing with itchy dogs can be tough, but the first thing I would do is bring him to the vet for a skin scraping. Your dog could have developed an allergy to fleas (meaning you probably will not see any fleas on the dog...allergic dogs tend to have less parasites interestingly enough), he could have developed a skin infection (often this can mean there is something else going on systemically, so it's good to rule out anything else - Addison's or cushings disease for example), or it could even be the start of some mange (again may point to something else going no on as well). Your vet may decide to try some prednisone to see what the response is. If no response and the skin scraping comes back clear (and a round of antibiotics does nothing to help), they may want you to try a food trial. That is really the only way to truly know if a dog has allergies, and even then it's tough to totally restrict their diet.

It's not a terrible thing to change the diet and see if it helps, but I would not be disappointed if it doesn't have the results you expect. I would definitely recommend a trip to the vet for some routine blood work, physical, and a skin scraping to rule out any other medical causes.

 

[Skylercarr]

He could have an allergy to one of the ingredients. I would switch dog food. I just got a chihuahua mixed with a corgi about 2 weeks ago. He does not scratch but he does not like to eat dog food. So sometimes I have to force feed him.

 

[cassie]

I wasn't clear in my post. I am not feeding Blue Buffalo now. I was just thinking about changing to it and was wondering if anyone here was feeding it to their dogs and how they and the dogs liked it. I did recently change to a grain free dog food a few days ago and he seems to be scratching less.

 

[Copper Creek]

It is a great feed, but pricey. If you have a Costco near you, they have excellent dog food. Right now I feed my beagle Costco's beef and sweet potato kibble, but they have several options like salmon, turkey, chicken and others. I have found it keeps my dog healthy and it also has little preservatives, if any. I highly recommend it.

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

Blue Buffalo is a good food, but as the previous poster stated, there are other comparable (cheaper) options. I feed Sportmix to my 3 furbabies (one of their grain free options), I get it at Tractor Supply or our local Co-op and its very reasonably priced. My Olde English Bulldogge is sensitive, both his tummy and his skin will flair up if I don't watch the ingredients. On my last trip to get dog food, both places were out, so I picked up another variety of Sportmix (still grain free) and Dudley now has a few raw patches from his chewing :/ Switched back to his regular food, chewing stopped

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Everything I read on blue buffalo isn't good, a lot of throwing up and dogs won't eat it, the wilderness formula seems to be the best.

 

[cassie]

He just got back from the vet. He got a clean bill of health. I did not have him checked for Cushings, but neither the vet not I could find ANY fleas on him. He has fine short hair so if there are any they should be visible. No mange or ringworm. He was checked for that. I was feeding him Sportmix. The dogs seem to do well on it. Shiny coats and firm almost odorless stools. The itching is recent. I did change his food to a no grain formula. I bathed him with a gentle non irritating flea shampoo on the off chance he did have some fleas none of us could find. Never found any fleas but his coat is soft and silky and he smells nice. He is itching a lot less now. I have no idea whether or not the bath and/or the change in food had anything to do with it. There is no Costco near me. There is a Sam's Club, but it is over an hour away and it isn't worth it for me to belong. I'm pretty much stuck with Walmart.

 

[Nadine83]

My dog had an issue with dry kibble. She had an allergy from it. I prefer to feed my dog a raw diet consisting of ground meat, hearts, liver, and misc meat scraps. However, lately i had to put her on kibble and its horrible. Not only had she lost weight she started itching something terrible. I've tried every type of kibble you could think of. Blue Buffalo did not work for her not only was it expensive, did she not like it, and she gained an allergy to it. I've been feeding her Natural Instinct or Back to Basics dog food. (The only somewhat decent kibble I've found.) I've now just started weaning her back off of kibble and back on to her raw diet. Shes gaining weight, again and the itching has almost stopped. I'm not a fan of kibble or any type of processed dog food of any kind. You never really know what your getting.

 

[cassie]

Here is something you might try. It can't hurt and it very well might help. Go to a butcher shop and ask for some kidney fat. It is white, firm, and easy to handle. Give your dog a small piece of it every day and see what happens. If you said what kind of a dog you have, I missed it. A 70 pound dog should get a piece about the size of a walnut, so estimate it from that. If you give too much your dog will not only gain weight, it will get too fat. Ask me how I know that. The extra fat is helpful for the skin and coat, and a lot of dog foods don't really have enough fat.

I found a dog food that has chicken and brown rice; no corn or soy. Sammy stopped itching and the scabs and sores have all healed. Don't know if the new dog food is the reason or not. He likes it though.