# Food Allergies



## galaxie

Roscoe has been quite itchy since we've had him, and after examining his skin several times, our vet has decided that it is most likely allergies. I'm a little skeptical that it would be environmental, like pollens, molds, etc. because we live in a brand new condo development. That basically rules out molds, and we have no plans in our condo and live on such a high floor that it's pretty unlikely he would affected by outside pollens.

We think it's probably a food allergy. We are feeding him Orijen Puppy and I'm really happy with the food. He gobbles it up and usually has healthy poops, although lately they've been a little loose, which I suspect could be due to treats.

So, my question here is what is the most common type of protein allergy in Havs? Our vet says that most food allergies are chicken, turkey and beef. I would be fine with transitioning him to another food to see if that helps, but I want to make sure I keep him on a puppy formula because he is still too young to eat adult food. Any suggestions? All of the natural, grain free, high quality puppy foods I can find all have chicken in them!


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## Lina

Food allergies are a complete pain to deal with so I'm sorry you have to go through this. You should start out with a food that he has never been exposed to before suck as a Duck and Potato one or something like that. I believe that several members use that as their go-to allergy kibble.

In addition, your puppy is not too young for adult food. Kubrick has been on adult food only since he was 4 months old and Hitchcock has been on adult food his whole life as his breeder does not believe in feeding puppy food. A lot of people believe that puppy food is unnecessary and *may* be causing larger growths in puppies - do a search for it and read up on it and see what you think! Educating yourself on your dog's nutritional needs is the best way to help him out. It's good to listen to your vet's opinion, of course, but keep in mind that they have very little courses on nutrition (as in much less than a semester) and are usually paid to sponsor Science Diet or some other horrible food. Not that I think your vet is lying to you at all... just wanted to emphasize that it's important to do your *own* research apart from vets AND apart from what I'm telling you - make up your own mind! I had one vet tell me that I was "starving" my puppy - who was 7.5lbs and 4.5 months at the time and not at ALL underweight - because I wasn't feeding puppy food. If you'd like to read about that, this is the thread.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Oh and here is a search on the forum for food allergies... as you can see, there are a lot of other people on the forum who went through this as well!


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## galaxie

Thanks 

So, I decided to change him to the Orijen 5 Fish formula. I checked the protein, fat, and vitamin levels compared to the puppy formula and it's pretty much the same thing. The only thing is that the puppy formula is smaller pieces and he was a little confused by the bigger adult pieces. So, we shall see what happens with his itching.


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## davetgabby

galaxie said:


> Roscoe has been quite itchy since we've had him, and after examining his skin several times, our vet has decided that it is most likely allergies. I'm a little skeptical that it would be environmental, like pollens, molds, etc. because we live in a brand new condo development. That basically rules out molds, and we have no plans in our condo and live on such a high floor that it's pretty unlikely he would affected by outside pollens.
> 
> We think it's probably a food allergy. We are feeding him Orijen Puppy and I'm really happy with the food. He gobbles it up and usually has healthy poops, although lately they've been a little loose, which I suspect could be due to treats.
> 
> So, my question here is what is the most common type of protein allergy in Havs? Our vet says that most food allergies are chicken, turkey and beef. I would be fine with transitioning him to another food to see if that helps, but I want to make sure I keep him on a puppy formula because he is still too young to eat adult food. Any suggestions? All of the natural, grain free, high quality puppy foods I can find all have chicken in them!


It's impossible to guess what is causing him to be itchy. If you want to try the food possibility remember to stick with the basic sources of protein first . Here is what Sabine from Better Dog Care recommends. ,,, 
It is also not beneficial at all to feed every protein source you can get your hands on �just because you can�. Stick with the more common ones like chicken, turkey, lamb, beef and fish and avoid the more exotic types. In case dogs develop food allergies, they will need to be switched to food ingredients they have never been exposed to before in life. The more different sources you have previously fed, the more difficult it will be for you to come up with a good feeding plan in such a situation. So make sure you always read ingredient labels before buying food and treats, and keep the "exotic" meats in reserve should you need them one day.


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## galaxie

Hmmm, thanks for that. He has mainly been eating chicken and beef, so we're slowly taking him off them and switching him to fish only. The vet suggested trying rabbit or duck if the fish doesn't work...I feel weird feeding him duck or rabbit because I'm a vegetarian and get upset when my boyfriend wants to order duck at a restaurant


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## SMARTY

galaxie said:


> The vet suggested trying rabbit or duck if the fish doesn't work...*I feel weird feeding him duck or rabbit because I'm a vegetarian* and get upset when my boyfriend wants to order duck at a restaurant


Bold is mine. My DD is very close to being a Vegan. I had to remind her that her dog is a Canine, a meat eater. :doh:

There are some really good threads that address the different foods for dogs with allergies. The foods that work and the success stories. Go to the Search section and type in Allergies&#8230;&#8230;.Good Luck.


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## susieg

Lola has been itchy from day one as well. I switched her food from salmon/potato to lamb/rice around the first week I brought her home and that didn't seem to help much. My vet has been great in that he said that it takes time to work through an allergy diagnosis and that sometimes puppies will grow out of it. Its too soon to tell if its seasonal/food/contact/etc. And for now, I should just keep a watch on her and note what she's been in contact with/eating when she's itchiest. She's not getting red/irritated or loosing fur, her stools/tummy are fine and I think part of her scratching/licking is a grooming thing too. He treated her for mites/mange in the very beginning just to rule that out.

Now that she's 7 months and still itchy I am thinking of switching her food to something that isn't salmon or lamb. Prob duck/potato. 

She's been on adult food from the beginning and my vet said that was fine. 

Good luck!


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## galaxie

susieg said:


> Lola has been itchy from day one as well. I switched her food from salmon/potato to lamb/rice around the first week I brought her home and that didn't seem to help much. My vet has been great in that he said that it takes time to work through an allergy diagnosis and that sometimes puppies will grow out of it. Its too soon to tell if its seasonal/food/contact/etc. And for now, I should just keep a watch on her and note what she's been in contact with/eating when she's itchiest. She's not getting red/irritated or loosing fur, her stools/tummy are fine and I think part of her scratching/licking is a grooming thing too. He treated her for mites/mange in the very beginning just to rule that out.
> 
> Now that she's 7 months and still itchy I am thinking of switching her food to something that isn't salmon or lamb. Prob duck/potato.
> 
> She's been on adult food from the beginning and my vet said that was fine.
> 
> Good luck!


Sounds like pretty much the same as Roscoe, except that his stools have been a little bit loose lately...it's weird, he will have a couple of days of solid poops, then out of no where a softer one - that's with no change in his diet and minimal treats (max 1 per day, most days he gets none at all).

It's so frustrating because his scratching distracts him from playing, eating, and sometimes even pottying. I can tell he needs to potty but will scratch himself instead, and then BOLT for his potty!


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## galaxie

SMARTY said:


> Bold is mine. My DD is very close to being a Vegan. I had to remind her that her dog is a Canine, a meat eater. :doh:
> 
> There are some really good threads that address the different foods for dogs with allergies. The foods that work and the success stories. Go to the Search section and type in Allergies&#8230;&#8230;.Good Luck.


Thanks  The whole duck/rabbit thing is just really hard for me to stomach! (pun intended!)


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## Sam375

The grain could possibly be giving the loose stool.
With my experience,
natural Balance makes a vegeterian formula. They also have an all life stages grain free line. They are very low in protein though so for long term don't know how I would feel feeding a growing puppy it, but it would help to see if you doggie improves on it it could be an option.
Wellness core, is another grain free, and they now came out with allergy formulas.
solid gold barking at the moon is another decent grain free.
There is the dog food project website. and a few others telling you about the quality of foods out there. I would stick with a good food that has only one protein source, and then after yo have gone through the common proteins and no improvement maybe go with an exotic protein and then grain free.
I think natural balance foods are great for trying to figure out the food allergies. Also it took Harry a good month to see improvement while on new food, so it is also a long process. If you kept your dog on natural balance long term then I would possibly supplement if it is a formula with low protein.


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