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

[Weeg]

You would want to add small amounts of organ mean and such. Again there are lots of easy recipes to follow. I also give my dog leftover cooked vegetables and grains. And of course, eggs. I don't worry a whole lot about measuring stuff out. If he's looking good and feeling good I'm doing the best I can. If you want to feed partially raw and partially kibble you can but they should never be fed together during the same meal.

We hunt too and are hoping to bring home a deer this weekend or nest week, so we can use, liver, organ meat, and the insides from that as the extra meaty component, and then use cooked or raw organic turkey. We can get whole turkeys too and use the insides from that, I like your idea of giving whole raw prey, so maybe I can offer whole chunks of uncooked turkey sometimes rather then chunks of meat. Or should I pick on or the other, chunks of meat, or whole prey? Thanks, I need all the info I can get!

 

[TwoCrows]

I am thinking 30% protein, we will decide on either salmon, or turkey, 5% fat, probably fish oil, and the website says that the rest can be covered in grains, brown rice to oatmeal, thinking brown rice, and then for vegetables sweet potato and either carrots or broccoli. How should I feed the grains and veggies percent of diet wise? @TwoCrows @KDOGG331 @Halfpasthen ? I want to get all the ingredients this weekend and next week to start his new diet!

I don't think there is an exact science to it, although I am not an expert. The veggies add trace minerals and anti oxidants to the diet. The sweet potato offers up fiber for a healthy stool and digestion. My dogs food seems to be about 50/50 mix, half meat and half other food stuffs.

 

[Weeg]

I don't think there is an exact science to it, although I am not an expert. The veggies add trace minerals and anti oxidants to the diet. The sweet potato offers up fiber for a healthy stool and digestion. My dogs food seems to be about 50/50 mix, half meat and half other food stuffs.

Thank you, I was kinda planning on just doing the meat and fat percentage how that was supposed to go, and then just kinda adding the other stuff along with it. So maybe half cooked turkey, half brown rice, sweet potato and broccoli. Then the fish oil for the fat the website was talking about. Then greek yogurt for the calcium and nutrients and then some kind of vitamin supplement, and it suggested eggshell for calcium like you would give a chicken? How does that sound? Thanks Avery

 

[Texas Transplant]

I**** can't find my glasses to read through the whole feed without getting a headache so, please forgive me if these things have been said.

1) I think you have two separate problems.

2) Dogs will often lick an area that is causes them pain. The shoulder issue could be causing the limp. Your dog could have an old or new injury, or simply arthritis. My dog (German Shepherd) used to get the 'spots" you mentioned on her hips and an old injured leg. We've gotten rid of the spots by giving her a laboratory tested joint supplement. We give our dog Dasuquin Advanced for large dogs and it has worked wonders for her joints and injuries.

3)The other symptoms you listed, indeed, sound like a food sensitivity. A limited ingredient diet is the quickest way to finding relief for your dog. There are many brands that have limited ingredient formulas, I'd recommend one that is grain/potato/sweet potato FREE as dogs are often sensitive to grains and the glycemic index is high enough on the others that they can cause diabetes. My dog has many food sensitivities and we have found the Zignature brand to work well for her. Most of the formulas have a single meat source (which makes it easier for an elimination in the list of things your dog could be sensitive issue). The base of the formulas is very similar so, switching meat sources is pretty easy without causing our dog any stomach upset (and to give her variety).

4) While I do believe you have two separate problems, food sensitivities can cause quite a bit of inflammation in the body that could exacerbate joint problems and old injury flare-ups.

Good Luck with your pup......I hope they feel better soon

 

[TwoCrows]

Thank you, I was kinda planning on just doing the meat and fat percentage how that was supposed to go, and then just kinda adding the other stuff along with it. So maybe half cooked turkey, half brown rice, sweet potato and broccoli. Then the fish oil for the fat the website was talking about. Then greek yogurt for the calcium and nutrients and then some kind of vitamin supplement, and it suggested eggshell for calcium like you would give a chicken? How does that sound? Thanks Avery

It sounds pretty good to me! As long as they get enough protein, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, they will do ok. I forgot to mention, I was adding Alaskan Samon oil, (good for skin and arthritis)1 squirt on his food once a day too. I recently stopped because he decided he didn't like it anymore after 5 yrs of eating it. (hes a very old dog, very tired and arthritic, losing his appetite.)

 

[RoosterWhisperer]

We have a 5 year old yellow lab pup. He is such a good boy and loves running on trail rides with us and the horses, and chasing a stick. He has recently developed a limp, when he gets up in the morning, and after we run him on the trails sometimes. We took him to the vet and they told us he had tendonidouse. We kept him as chill as possible for 2 weeks, but nothing changed. We then noticed he had a hot spot on his shoulder, and he was continually chewing his paws.

We have done research, and are thinking a food allergy may be the cause of this. He also have and ear infection that is being difficult to get rid of. Apparently, paw chewing, hot spots, and ear infections are all signs of a food allergy. We want to figure out how to find his possible allergen without taking him to the vet to get a bunch of testing done. We are thinking of trying to find him a hypoallergenic or limited ingredient dog food and then eliminating and reintroducing ingredients to find his allergen. Does anyone know a food brand that we could use that isn't to pricey? We think his limp is because he is chewing his paws all night because of the itch, and then they hurt in the morning, and when he runs because he is chewing them so much. Any advice is appreciated, and if any of you have had this issue before and would like to offer your opinion please do. Thanks so much, Avery

What kind of foods do you give him?

 

[Weeg]

3)The other symptoms you listed, indeed, sound like a food sensitivity. A limited ingredient diet is the quickest way to finding relief for your dog. There are many brands that have limited ingredient formulas, I'd recommend one that is grain/potato/sweet potato FREE as dogs are often sensitive to grains and the glycemic index is high enough on the others that they can cause diabetes. My dog has many food sensitivities and we have found the Zignature brand to work well for her. Most of the formulas have a single meat source (which makes it easier for an elimination in the list of things your dog could be sensitive issue). The base of the formulas is very similar so, switching meat sources is pretty easy without causing our dog any stomach upset (and to give her variety).

Thank you for this! I wont feed the sweet potato then if it can be a sensitivity. I will feed maybe carrots instead? For his limp, we did take him to the vet and they suspected nothing wrong with his leg there then when they though was tendonidouse. We didn't get an exray, but he only limps when he get up in the morning, and sometimes after a long ride. This points to allege to us, because he view his paws all night which we think causes then to hurt in he morning, and after getting him doggy booties to wear on the long runs withe horses, he didn't limp after the ride, which would then again point to his paws, which then points to him chewing his paws and that making them hurt. Thanks for the other idea though!

 

[Weeg]

What kind of foods do you give him?

Right now, we are feeding Iam's which I recently learned is a garbage brand all this time, ( to my family- I knew it!) withe is chicken and whole grain.

 

[RoosterWhisperer]

Right now, we are feeding Iam's which I recently learned is a garbage brand all this time, ( to my family- I knew it!) withe is chicken and whole grain.

Our Akita girl, Emi, we'd give her scrambled eggs as an often treat.
We found out that she was getting hot spots, so we stopped feeding her egg and it got a little better.

 

[Weeg]

@Texas Transplant my other question, you said avoid grains, so should I not od the brown rice? I was wondering this myself. If I don't do brown rice, is it okay just to feed the carrots, broccoli and maybe kale along with the meat, and extra vitamins, or should I add another filler?