Hey Ya'll...

Back again with poor Reese and her issues. Just as a refresher...
Reese is an “itcher”, she chews her paws and rubs her face, and she’s losing hair around her eyes and muzzle. The poor baby rubs her face on the floor from the irritation.

After all of the clear signs of discomfort we took her to the vet treated her for Scabies (2 treatments) (even though the doc didn’t find traces of the little POS parasite).

Changed her diet (incase we are dealing with food allergies) to Natural Balance Venison and Brown Rice

Well since the diet change she has gotten better, but not completely. She still scratches and rubs her paws and face. It’s not fixed apparently.

Did some research on Dogtor J and his theories; sounds plausible (hence the Whole Grain Brown Rice, Rice Flour). So now what?

I guess I’m changing the food again. Maybe Potato and Duck formula?

Ingredients:

Potatoes, Duck, Duck Meal, Canola Oil (preserved with mixed tocopherols and citric acid), Potato Fiber, DL-methionine, L-Lysine, Sodium Chloride, Salmon Oil, Flaxseed Oil, Rosemary Extract, Natural Flavor, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Potassium Iodide, Thiamine Mononitrate, Manganese Proteinate, Zinc Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin A Supplement, Biotin, Calcium Pantothenate, Manganese Sulfate, Sodium Selenite, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B-6), Vitamin B-12 Supplement, Vitamin K1 Supplement, Riboflavin, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid.



I guess I will switch over for another 6 weeks and if nothing happens see a doggy allergist/dermatologist. Anyone have any experience with a doggy allergist/dermatologist? Cost, etc?


Please let me know if you have any suggestions, comments, concerns, ideas.

Amber, how long has Reese been on the current food?

3 months now.

At 3 months we can probably rule out detox still. Changing the foods again may be a good idea, but it also may be a good idea to follow your other suggestion first (the allergist). I don't have any experience with that, so I'll leave it for others to discuss.

Regardless, good luck with getting her straightened out!

Sounds like environmental allergies may be a possibility, too, which means food changing won't help. I wish I had some advise, but I've never had to take a dog to a veterinary allergist. I do hope you find some answers soon, and Reese finds some relief.

"At 3 months we can probably rule out detox still."

Question for ya Owned By Hunter, up till now I have heard that it was 6-8 weeks. I'm in no way doubting you, I'm really wondering where you read/heard this since I've been in a long battle for the perfect food for my allergy lab Bodhi? I now have Karma as well and I'm really working on finding a good food for both of them (same food to make it easy on me). Anyway, if you can direct towards some good resource I would appreciate it or really any website/study on food allergies vs. environmental since I trying to figure out what's really going on with Bodhi.

Thanks a ton in advance!

Ben, I think I may have worded that poorly. I meant at 3mos. detox should be over, from everything I've read...from what I know, it takes the 6-8 weeks like you described.

I'm assuming you've tried a single-protein food?

There are a ton of folks on here who know so much about these kinds of problems ... so I will leave the in depth advice to them. But I hope that you can get your pup some relief ... I know it is frustrating when they aren't well and you can't find what it is that is causing it.

FYI: It took Calvin almost 6 months to finally switch over. You would think it would have happened sooner, but I'm glad to say, finally, his ears are yeast free. We have him on the Duck and Potato you mentioned above.

Not trying to hijack the thread but yes, I have tried a couplesingle protein foods-NB duck & NB fish-his coat turned real bad on both after about 3-4 months and his nails started to "fray"...if that is possible from the food. I gave him some salmon oil to help on those two foods but still his overall condition went downhill (but the hip/feet biting and head shaking improved). I think I'm going to try Raw Instinct by Nature's Variety actually. The owner of a nice place across the street from me has suggested it after the Innova EVO gave him bad stomach problems. They bascially sell raw, evo, raw instinct, barking at the moon and regular innova/nature's variety there so I think she's giving me a good suggestion and not just one to try and keep my buisness. The Raw Instinct has chicken and menhaden fish meal as the only meat protein sources and tapioca instead of potato as the binder so maybe he won't get an upset stomach. Plus I'm going to bring it in over a good 2-3 week period....I'm praying this is it! I would really like to have a kibble that is grain-free and does well for both of them longer than 2-3 months since I can't do raw at this time.

To Just4reesiepup---Both the NB duck and the NB fish seemed to really help Bodhi's itching and head shaking so I say give either one a shot. His coat turning bad was something that came on after a few months but it did prove that foods have something to do with it and I'm figuring it was the lack of grains.