Can anyone help with a dog with a possible food allergy?

[Weeg]

T

Then I would first take a good hard look at all treats and snacks he gets.

Yes, of course a dog can have a reaction to a food he's been eating for years.
But I would still think a new thing is more likely, which is why I would check them first.



You could start that lockdown now--nothing but his current food, then mixed with the new food, then nothing but the new food.

If you remove all other foods now, and if the symptoms start to improve, you will have a good idea that it's something in the other treats/snacks instead of the main food. And if the problem is the main food, then cutting out the other things sooner will help you be sure sooner.

True, it could easily be the table meat scarps we feed him.

 

[Chicalina]

my dog also developed allergies and I switched her to Turkey based James Wellbeloved brand. Not sure if you can get that in the US? Anyway, all good for a couple of years and then she started reacting again so I've switched her to the fish grained free version from the same brand. All good so far.

Also check potential allergens in her environment. Pollen, grass seeds etc can irritate in the paws and ears and anywhere on the skin really. New cleaning products in the home (do you bleach the floor?), or a new perfume one of you wears. Also Labs eat anything! Has she found a secret stash of food (or a plant in the garden) that she likes to eat?

 

[Weeg]

I feed my dogs a food made by Verus. I’ve had dogs with food sensitivities in the past, it’s very common with bulldogs. Verus is pricey, but it’s wonderful. I use the menhaden fish and potato version. With my previous bulldog, who has passed (old age) as well as my shar pei, who has also passed (liver disease she had from birth) the food made a huge difference. The tear stains and red raw feet went away. My shar pei had much less swelling, and took fewer meds. There used to be an independent site that rates dog foods, maybe something like dogfoodanalysis or something. Turns out the brands people believed were premium, like Iams and eukanuba are just garbage ingredients. I believe the diamond pet foods, including kirklands brand (costco) are pretty highly rated, maybe 5 stars. I chose Verus because it’s 6 stars, and the owner of the company really supports local small business. He only lets stores sell it in person (may be different with covid) and not online or thru amazon. I’ve had wonderful success with it, and I tried so many brands, and raw.

With this limp, did your vet check for Lyme disease or a reaction to the Lyme vaccine? My old bulldog had developed a limp at only 3 from Lyme, and idk if it was out of habit or what, but he had it his whole life even after he was well and it never progressed or caused him issues.

I have always suspected that Iam's wasn't good. I count convince the family of that though. I will check out Versus thank you!

 

[clickchicks]

Wow, that was interesting. So now I guess my question is, should I worry about feeding him the grain free Blue Buffalo, food and it leading to DMC? Thanks, am I over reacting?

I can only share my personal opinion, but I'm not overly concerned with the FDA findings thus far. If they dig up new info that proves a more definitive link, then I'll reassess my position. The info as it is now wouldn't stop me from feeding a grain-free diet if I felt like that diet would help my dog otherwise.

That said, Labs are overrepresented in the findings. Whether that has anything at all to do with food or not is impossible to say currently. Labs are also one of the most popular breed in the US, statistics are likely skewed because of that.

 

[LaFleche]

Best to start with real food instead of the much advertised processed stuff.

You could start with yam/sweet potato which is known to be tolerated well by dogs with all kinds of food allergies.
Then add some fresh raw meat, preferably game as all other kinds of commercial would be loaded with all kinds of antibiotic residues. And sometimes it is the residues of the antibiotics that cause allergic reactions.
Next add some grated carrots and a little coconut oil.

 

[Weeg]

my dog also developed allergies and I switched her to Turkey based James Wellbeloved brand. Not sure if you can get that in the US? Anyway, all good for a couple of years and then she started reacting again so I've switched her to the fish grained free version from the same brand. All good so far.

Also check potential allergens in her environment. Pollen, grass seeds etc can irritate in the paws and ears and anywhere on the skin really. New cleaning products in the home (do you bleach the floor?), or a new perfume one of you wears. Also Labs eat anything! Has she found a secret stash of food (or a plant in the garden) that she likes to eat?

It doest seem to be a seasonal thing, since it started before most of the spring allergens set in, but we will look into that to. We don't bleach the floor, nor use perfume, but we can look into our cleaning products. We actually did switch to a new cleaning product recently. It is all natural and docent come in a bottle. It has a little tablet they end you in bulk that you dissolve in water to make the product. We switched close I think to the time it started. I don't know for sure though. We kinda stopped using it recently since Covid though so we will see if his symptoms subside.

 

[ShrekDawg]

He has been on this same food his whole life other then a puppy food he probably ate when he was vey young 3 years ago. So there is bo obvious food to switch back to, this is a good point though.

If he’s been on this same food his whole life and never had a problem then it seems rather unlikely it would be the culprit. Although it can happen. Is it possible the company changed the formulation? That can cause issues. Otherwise, you might be looking at an environmental allergy or something other than food. Summer and fall have a lot of potential allergens.

 

[Weeg]

I can only share my personal opinion, but I'm not overly concerned with the FDA findings thus far. If they dig up new info that proves a more definitive link, then I'll reassess my position. The info as it is now wouldn't stop me from feeding a grain-free diet if I felt like that diet would help my dog otherwise.

That said, Labs are overrepresented in the findings. Whether that has anything at all to do with food or not is impossible to say currently. Labs are also one of the most popular breed in the US, statistics are likely skewed because of that.

Okay thank you! I won't worry about it to much then!

 

[tripletfeb]

I feed my 7 month old weim Taste of The Wild High Prairie. It is grain free and made in the USA. My sister feeds her 5 month old great dane Diamond Naturals. We are both pleased with the foods and don't plan on changing. On the note of some grain free foods causing heart issues, science has a funny way of always proving itself wrong. Remember when eggs were supposed to be bad for us? And Pluto was a planet? Yeah, take any study with a grain of salt

 

[Weeg]

Best to start with real food instead of the much advertised processed stuff.

You could start with yam/sweet potato which is known to be tolerated well by dogs with all kinds of food allergies.
Then add some fresh raw meat, preferably game as all other kinds of commercial would be loaded with all kinds of antibiotic residues. And sometimes it is the residues of the antibiotics that cause allergic reactions.
Next add some grated carrots and a little coconut oil.

So your suggesting to just feed him actual near and veggies rather then a precessed dog food. That is not a bad idea actually. I am liking this.