? about a dog with skin allergies. (training, surgery, children, food)

[Lola4]

Originally Posted by Va-Cat

I'm probably gonna get blasted for this opinion but I personally won't spend $54.00 and above for "premium","organic" or "natural" dog food. Ounce for ounce thats more than I spend on food for myself and my "human" family! 3 of my dogs get good old Purina One and do extremely well with it. My one dog that does have food allergies gets a homemade mix of brown rice with either venison, turkey or lamb, (depending on the season). Another thing that should be noted is that the reading I've done on canine allergies suggests that the majority of allergies in dogs are NOT food related and ARE predominantly caused by environment or airborn based allergens. I would suggest checking to see what is causing the allergy before shelling out a bunch of money on unreasonably high priced designer dog food. If it is an allergy to food based products and you are on a budget (or are just budget minded like I am), look into making up homemade foods that will accomplish the same thing at less than half the cost!

This how I see it...
My cats and dogs are members of my family. I feed them what is good for them vs price. Same with my kids.

[Va-Cat]

Originally Posted by Lola4

This how I see it...
My cats and dogs are members of my family. I feed them what is good for them vs price. Same with my kids.

My dogs are members of my family too. In fact, my dogs ARE my kids. All I'm saying is that the prices on some of this "organic" and "premium" food is way out of line for what it is. I've fed my fur-kids Purina One for 6 years now and their eyes are bright, their coats are shiny and we come back from vet visits with no problems to report. My dogs are happy and healthy. Sorry but I just don't buy into the belief that "if its more expensive, it must be better"

[Lana C]

Hill's is definately bad. Also prednisone is just a bandaid. If there are skin eruptions they need to be swabbed and looked at under a microscope to see if there is yeast or bacteria which is secondary to the allergies then treated accordingly with antibiotic and/or yeast meds. A food elimination diet can be achieved by cooking yourslef. One novel protein and one carbohydrate the dog hasn't eaten before. It takes at least eight weeks. Or you can use a prescription food (not Hills). I'm using Iam's KO (Kangaroo and Oats) prescription since I've tried so many diets on my own I've used up most everything not knowing what I was doing..not knowing what a true food trial was..not just hopping from one dog food to another and not just cooking up a healthy diet.

[need4Trees]

Originally Posted by LittleDolphin

Corn/wheat are common allergens for dogs..my dog had terrible skin allergies (rash/hives/itch) until I switched to a fish/sweet potato kibble. I'm currently using Blue Buffalo from Pet Smart. My vet has a similar formula for more money...

W3, above, has good suggestions re adding healthy fats to pet's diet...I do the same and his coat is very nice. No itching anymore--or chewing.

Yup, they would never eat corn and wheat if they choose to so it makes scene that they get allergic to it.

[Kerowyn]

My Beloved G. Shepard had allergies to grass, fleas, and beef. Great combo right? I loved her so much I went to trouble to make large batches of white rice and and boiled chicken with vet approved veggies. Science Diet and ONE lamb rice formula weren't available back then. Actually yoiu couldn't find a single dog food product or yummy without beef. In special cases where a vet prescribed diet doesn't seem to work... make your own. It takes time, planning and lots of loving care but you will know exactly what you are feeding you dog. Where in before the diet she was losing all her hair... once we started her skin cleared up and she became my wonderful Shepard once again.
My current dog has fleas allergies causing her to itch all the time. I use a vet recommended shampoo to sooth her skin to help her out. Once a week she gets her bath. Since fleas drown I don't use any flea shampoo or sprays on her, those can be too harsh. I would also suggest that a good swim can help keep fleas down if it is possible.
Overall, I never had one pet cat or dog who would even eat Science Diet. what a statement that says about worthiness of that brand!

[need4Trees]

Kerowyn
I agree!
It is funny, (not really), but a lot of dogs are allergic to beef, weird...??? don't know, but i guess that is not what they would eat it the wild.
i think, ... in general, poultry is the better meat source choice for our friends!
Yea, Science Diet... yuk, too bad that Vets say it is what they should eat... all for the money, isn't it... everywhere we go!

[Kerowyn]

here is an odd thought that came to me when I read your (need4trees) reply to my post. I find it inerresting that people and animals have so much in common that it is scary when to many folks out there just think of pets as toss aways. humans get cancer, diabetes, food allergies, colds, etc., so do our pets. Humans can even get rabies.
Now if the trend to a healthy lifestyle in human is to eat organic natural products without fillers why make our pets eat what we shouldn't put in our own bodies. Fillers and processed foods.
I have, like many others out in the world, food allergies with various reactions depending on the food. would it not stand in some way that some animals might not be able to eat different foods. I swear I have the only cat who hates fish in her diet but maybe once a month. She and I have the in common I can't eat seafood.
My current mix Shepard (Sha'uri) loves! veggies. Previous Shepard (K'ehleyr) hated veggies. the one before that (Lacy the one with all the allergies) she only liked cooked veggies.
I truely believe that whomever planned this life, whether you believe in God or not, surely did make our human life more like animals or visa-versa for a reason. Kind of interresting thought if you think upon it.

[Lana C]

Why don't you use a flea preventative to keep fleas off your dog? One flea bite can cause a frenzy in an allergic dog. Just drowning them once a week isn't helping his skin condition at all.

Originally Posted by Kerowyn

My Beloved G. Shepard had allergies to grass, fleas, and beef. Great combo right? I loved her so much I went to trouble to make large batches of white rice and and boiled chicken with vet approved veggies. Science Diet and ONE lamb rice formula weren't available back then. Actually yoiu couldn't find a single dog food product or yummy without beef. In special cases where a vet prescribed diet doesn't seem to work... make your own. It takes time, planning and lots of loving care but you will know exactly what you are feeding you dog. Where in before the diet she was losing all her hair... once we started her skin cleared up and she became my wonderful Shepard once again.
My current dog has fleas allergies causing her to itch all the time. I use a vet recommended shampoo to sooth her skin to help her out. Once a week she gets her bath. Since fleas drown I don't use any flea shampoo or sprays on her, those can be too harsh. I would also suggest that a good swim can help keep fleas down if it is possible.
Overall, I never had one pet cat or dog who would even eat Science Diet. what a statement that says about worthiness of that brand!

[Kerowyn]

Originally Posted by Lana C

Why don't you use a flea preventative to keep fleas off your dog? One flea bite can cause a frenzy in an allergic dog. Just drowning them once a week isn't helping his skin condition at all.

believe me -- I do use flea prevention! Monthly. She is under doc care and orders on her treatment. she even takes special meds to help with her allergies. The vet prescribed treatment is Benadryl daily, a special ( high cost med ) every other day, a bath with special shampoo to sooth her skin twice weekly ( she is lucky if I can get her once a week ) and of course flea prevention every 22 days. I can't use flea shampoo on her since it is too harsh for the skin and only irritates it more, and I won't cause my baby more pain. Fleas drown hence not needing a flea shampoo. Oh yes I forgot, treating the house monthly and vacuuming often! carpets, rugs, furnature, curtains... etc. Labor of love it is.

My Sha'uri... flea allergy dog extrodinaire!

[Aylalou]

Originally Posted by Va-Cat

I'm probably gonna get blasted for this opinion but I personally won't spend $54.00 and above for "premium","organic" or "natural" dog food. Ounce for ounce thats more than I spend on food for myself and my "human" family! 3 of my dogs get good old Purina One and do extremely well with it. My one dog that does have food allergies gets a homemade mix of brown rice with either venison, turkey or lamb, (depending on the season). Another thing that should be noted is that the reading I've done on canine allergies suggests that the majority of allergies in dogs are NOT food related and ARE predominantly caused by environment or airborn based allergens. I would suggest checking to see what is causing the allergy before shelling out a bunch of money on unreasonably high priced designer dog food. If it is an allergy to food based products and you are on a budget (or are just budget minded like I am), look into making up homemade foods that will accomplish the same thing at less than half the cost!

I know. I was discouraged when the literature said only 10% of allergies are caused by food.