Results 1 to 10 of 10
  1. #1
    House Broken Lisa-Marie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    pittsburgh
    Posts
    116
    Thanked: 104

    Question Best dog food for allergies?

    Remington's Allergies have gotten worse and I want to try a different food, he's currently on Nutro Max large Breed adult farm raised chicken and rice it's been a few yrs since he's been on it, he also was on steroids for this a year or two ago and his allergies went away completely, any advice? I don't want to do a Raw diet or anything extreme. Thank you!

  2. #2
    Senior Dog
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Ellicott City, MD
    Posts
    6,626
    Thanked: 3641
    Do you know what he's allergic to?

    Chicken has been implicated in a lot of dog food allergies/sensitivities. You might start with just going to a food with another protein source and see what happens.

    But the problem could be with the rice or any other component of that food....unless you know, you're going to be doing a trial & error thing. Also, if it's chicken, you have to watch for chicken ingredients even if the primary protein source isn't chicken.

    Good luck!

  3. The Following User Says Thank You to SunDance For This Useful Post:

    Lisa-Marie (06-26-2018)

  4. #3
    Chief Pooper Scooper JenC's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Colorado
    Posts
    2,598
    Thanked: 2588
    Get off chicken and then evaluate from there. Try something simple too. The fewer the ingredients the better. We've been doing Sportmix Beef for Jack, who has seizures when he eats chicken. They also have a great fish formula too, which is where I would start for an allergy dog.

    Wholesomes™ Grain-Free Whitefish Meal and Chickpeas | SPORTMiX®

  5. The Following User Says Thank You to JenC For This Useful Post:

    Lisa-Marie (06-26-2018)

  6. #4
    Senior Dog Tanya's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Eastern Ontario Canada
    Posts
    3,336
    Thanked: 2070
    agree with the above, find a limited ingredient food that has no poultry anywhere and see. but otherwise, not knowing what the issue is it's hard. poultry, grain, other ingredient, other meat...

    do the symptoms flair up at times of the year? maybe it is environmental.

  7. The Following User Says Thank You to Tanya For This Useful Post:

    Lisa-Marie (06-26-2018)

  8. #5
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    8,136
    Thanked: 5108
    I'd work through your VEt, me. But you might consider the Nutriscan test to see what foods he reacts too. That won't be cheap but it will save a lot of trial and error on foor trials, maybe. If you really think it's food consider a novel protein and a novel carb and nothing more for a couple of months. For us, going through our Vet, these were home cooked. If that works then you start adding in new foods, one at a time. You really should be seeing a VEt. A kibble is still going to have many, many ingredients in it, no matter how limited the label says it is. There are many other allergy tests you could do too. Welcome to the world of rapidly thinning wallets.

    Anotehr suggestion: Mny VEts now believe allergies are rooted in gut issues. When my boy got worse that did indeed seem to be the case. Gut issue resolved and no more itching. It was a loonnngggg, scary process.
    Hidden Content

    Castilleja's Dubhgall Oban, the Black Stranger of The Little Bay
    Oct. 15, 2007 - June 13, 2021
    Oxtongue Rapids Park. Oct. 2019 Hidden Content

  9. The Following User Says Thank You to Snowshoe For This Useful Post:

    Lisa-Marie (06-26-2018)

  10. #6
    Puppy
    Join Date
    Nov 2016
    Location
    Ontario Canada
    Posts
    21
    Thanked: 3
    Is it environmental or food?

    Either way get off the chicken and read the article down below and find a limited ingredient food with the protein source being cooling or neutral, if it is environmental, wipe him off after everytime outside, you could get an air purifier for the house to help, and possibly spray him with this spray, it has done absolute wonders for my boy with environmental allergies flaring up the past few weeks. https://legendarycanine.com/store/na...hotspot-spray/ this shampoo helps a ton as well https://legendarycanine.com/store/na...hampoo/healer/

    Helping Allergies In Dogs With Food Energetics

  11. The Following User Says Thank You to SuzyBauerxo For This Useful Post:

    Lisa-Marie (06-26-2018)

  12. #7
    House Broken Lisa-Marie's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    pittsburgh
    Posts
    116
    Thanked: 104
    Hi & Thank you All for the replies! I switched him from the Nutro farm raised chicken to the Merrick Grain Free Real Texas Beef & sweet potato, he's been on it for about 4 straight days thus far, after I mixed his foods for 4 days, and NO treats with Grain or chicken and carrots for snacks for now! The Merrick is super expensive but if it works It's okay with me, when will I know if it's working, How long does it take??? Usually??? I am expecting NO miracle instantly, I washed him with a puppy shampoo 2 days ago since it's less harsh than shampoos for dogs, & discontinued his fish oil since Merrick has so many good things in it, including fish Oils and glucosamine 800, Hope this helps if not Idk what to do next :/

  13. #8
    Chief Pooper Scooper JenC's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Colorado
    Posts
    2,598
    Thanked: 2588
    I would give it at least 2 weeks, but it could take a month or so.

  14. #9
    Senior Dog smartrock's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Carolina in my mind..
    Posts
    6,391
    Thanked: 4178
    Hi, I just want to mention that the amount of glucosamine and chondroitin in dog food is often not sufficient if the pup needs a therapeutic dose each day. The 800mg the label on Merrick mentions is per kilogram of food. That's the amount in 2.2 pounds or close to 8-9 cups of food. I don't know how much your pup is eating but I doubt he's eating 8 or 9 cups each day. My 5 year old girl eats about 2 cups of food per day and so from that food, she'd only be getting 200 mg of glucosamine per day. I can't tell from the labeling how the omega 3s and 6s in the Merrick compare to a separate fish oil pill/liquid but I suspect it's similarly low. I think some of those "extras" in food, the pre-biotics, probiotics, etc., are largely to make owners think they're really giving their dogs some swell stuff. If Remington needs the glucosamine or other supplements for his joints, I'd stick with a separate supplement.

    As Snowshoe said, it can take several weeks to a few months of eating ONLY the chosen diet to know if it's going to make a difference. And if it doesn't make a difference, you're back to square one with no better idea of what the allergen is than you had to start out with. While it seems like it would be less expensive to do this sort of trial and error on your own, it's hard to stick to only that single source of food and no treats or other stuff. Working with a vet to determine the most likely source of the symptoms and the best course of action may be less aggravating for both you and Remington in the long run. As others have suggested, it may not be a food allergy at all and you'd be going through all this when that's not even the culprit. The steroids would likely knock down the allergic response whether it's environmental or food, so that's not much help.

  15. #10
    Senior Dog labsnewfy's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    WV
    Posts
    2,301
    Thanked: 1216
    My Sarah has severe allergies - we went with the proplan sensitive stomach and skin - she does much better on this food, plus we give her apoqual to help control the itchies too.

    Continued good thoughts that his food starts helping
    Remington soon.
    Hidden Content

    Coleman - CGC blk lab 6/02/97-2/25/08 adopted
    Tootsie - choc lab 10/19/99-8/03/13 adopted
    Bailey - CGC newf/fc 7/12/00-07/15/14 rescued
    Ginger - BT 11/16/05 - 10/14/19 rescued
    Sarah - blk lab 6/22/06 - 12/30/19 rescued
    rescued felines - AJ - 8/00 - 1/11, Merlin - 5/20/05-8/23/21
    Tucker - 8/3/10, Penny - 7/7/13, Toby - 6/14/21

 



Not a Member of the Labrador Retriever Chat Forums Yet?
Register for Free and Share Your Labrador Retriever Photos

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •