Dog food allergy question... (how much, lab, vet, wound)

[geegirl]

I recently inherited ( ok, I encouraged the owners to give her up) a 5 year old lab from a family member. She was really suffering. They were thinking they wanted to put her down! She was rubbing her back on the patio support posts until she would bleed, had lost hair on her back ( and had a yucky crusty looking back).She was also shaking her head and she had lost her hearing.
I took her to the vet on October 10th and they deemed it food allergies. Her ears were a mess, red, hot and inflammed. The vet said it was yeast ( ears and skin and also rod bacteria on the skin). With her former owner she was being fed whichever dry food was cheap/on sale at the grocery store. After being treated with various ear drops/ointment, antibiotics and antihistimines she finally received a clean bill of health today! Sadly, she has little hearing ( forgot to add that she is also blind since she was a puppy from an inherited condition.)
My question is this, since October 10th she has been on a Hill's prescription food ( d/d duck/potato) and small amounts of cooked chicken twice a day with her meds. The vet says she needs to be on the prescription food for life. She has a brand new 8 lb. bag of it as of today and will have her last antihistimine dose tomorrow. I want to change her food at some point. But, I thought I should wait until she is well off of the antihistimine as not to confuse things if her ears start up again. I did a little research and came upon Natural balance L.I.D. duck/potato. I like that they have, dry,canned and treats. Do any of you have any experience with this food? Has your pet been through food allergies? I would like to compare the ingredients of the two foods.

I welcome any help,opinions,advice.
Thanks!
P.S. My other two dogs and my cats are on Wellness and Wellness Core.

[collinsl]

Originally Posted by geegirl

I recently inherited ( ok, I encouraged the owners to give her up) a 5 year old lab from a family member. She was really suffering. They were thinking they wanted to put her down! She was rubbing her back on the patio support posts until she would bleed, had lost hair on her back ( and had a yucky crusty looking back).She was also shaking her head and she had lost her hearing.
I took her to the vet on October 10th and they deemed it food allergies. Her ears were a mess, red, hot and inflammed. The vet said it was yeast ( ears and skin and also rod bacteria on the skin). With her former owner she was being fed whichever dry food was cheap/on sale at the grocery store. After being treated with various ear drops/ointment, antibiotics and antihistimines she finally received a clean bill of health today! Sadly, she has little hearing ( forgot to add that she is also blind since she was a puppy from an inherited condition.)
My question is this, since October 10th she has been on a Hill's prescription food ( d/d duck/potato) and small amounts of cooked chicken twice a day with her meds. The vet says she needs to be on the prescription food for life. She has a brand new 8 lb. bag of it as of today and will have her last antihistimine dose tomorrow. I want to change her food at some point. But, I thought I should wait until she is well off of the antihistimine as not to confuse things if her ears start up again. I did a little research and came upon Natural balance L.I.D. duck/potato. I like that they have, dry,canned and treats. Do any of you have any experience with this food? Has your pet been through food allergies? I would like to compare the ingredients of the two foods.

I welcome any help,opinions,advice.
Thanks!
P.S. My other two dogs and my cats are on Wellness and Wellness Core.

Sorry if this is stupid, but did the vet specify the exact food, or the type of food?

[geegirl]

The vet said she needed to be on the one prescribed (Hill's prescription food-d/d duck/potato) for life. It's a dry food, but I think they also have a wet food.

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

ANd why do you want to change? I could understand having all of them on the same food but to change to something that is not the same is confuaing to me. Do you want to go cheaper? Isn't that what got her in trouble in the 1st place?

[geegirl]

Good question. There are a few reasons I want to change. First reason, I have read Hill's is inferior to several other brands ( i.e. wellness, innova, candidae, natural balance etc.) Second reason is ease of purchase. I already buy my other pets food at a pet store or feed store. It would be more convenient for me to buy hers there too. Lastly, cost. If the Natural Balance limited ingredients duck/potato food would work for her, I would be paying 45 dollars for a 30 lb bag as opposed to 75 dollars for a 30 lb bag. Now, before anyone accuses me of being a cheapo, keep in mind that I already spend about 260.00 per month for pet food alone. Mostly, I will do whatever is best for this girl regardless of what that entails for me. I want to feed her without compromising quality of food, quantity of food, or her health.
Also, I have read that vets are encouraged to sell those particular foods ( not unlike the shampoo and rinse I bought for her for the prescribed every other day bathing for the last 6 weeks. Cost 28 bucks for the rinse alone and I got the same stuff ( in a larger size no less!) for 10 bucks on the internet.) .

[leorah]

Geegirl,
There are usually better options than Hills. One thing you could do is compare ingredients for Hills and NB. I did a quick check using the ingredients listings on both companies' websites and found that the ingredients are similar. Natural Balance has duck listed as well as duck meal, doesn't have duck byproducts, and does specify salmon oil, all of which are good.

Hills uses duck byproducts and BHA as a preservative.

I think you could try it. I would do a gradual switch, to ensure no stomach problems. You could also bring the ingredients list to your--or another--vet for review. I found the ingredients here:

Prescription Diet® Dog Food: d/d® Potato & Duck Canine : Hill's
Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance® L.I.D.™ Potato & Duck Formula

[geegirl]

Thank you! That makes it much easier for me. I appreciate your research. I have an 8 lb bag of Hill's that I just opened this morning. The vet had her on 2 cups per day and that means it's about a 20 day supply. So, I think I will work on the switch toward the end of this bag...maybe the last week?
She's a 5 year old lab and weighed 90 lb. when she first saw the vet.The vet tech told me she should weigh about 70 lb. Does 2 cups per day seem like enough food? I was giving her a brisk 2 mile walk in the morning and then a leisurely 45 minute walk in the evening. I don't know what she weighs now, but she looks like she has lost weight. Actually, she looks gorgeous compared to how she looked when I started caring for her.
For the record this was her former owners vet that I was taking her to ( really nice vet!) I will now take her to mine which is close to my home.

Thanks again!

[leorah]

For most dogs, an ideal weight is easy to determine. You should be able to feel her ribs, but not see their corrugation under her coat. She should have a tucked up abdomen and if you look at her from above you should see her body narrow between her rib cage and her hips.

The NB is higher in protein than the Hills, so you will have to adjust the amount of food based on her activity level and how she metabolizes the food. It will be trial and error until you can adequately gauge how much she needs. I think there are recommendations on the package that you can use as a guideline.

You can also calculate how many calories she's receiving now on Hills. Hills website indicates that there are 366 cals/cup of the d/d she's getting now. I didn't see caloric content on the NB website, but if you email or call them I'm sure they'd tell you. You could then just give her the equivalent NB to start.

Good luck!

[mimosa]

I am in the process of switching from canidae (caused itching) to Science Diet natures best. Please tell me this is not a bad food. We have made a few changes and would like this to be the one. I have a full bag of canidae left. All she did was itch and had soft stools. I will get it right sooner or later.
I gave my last little one stuff from shoprite, Iams, and she lived to 11 and wound up with cancer not any food problem. She was so healthy.

[need4Trees]

I would really stay with Wellness and/or Wellness Core like you had mentioned. I believe it is a much better food than Any Hills brand food. And vets recommend it because I think they get something, monetary value, from selling that kind of "Prescription" food.

Don't think the "Natures best" variety is any better. I would try a different grain free food, if it was the grain that your dog was itching from, any outdoor factors that may cause the itching??