Low Protien Dog food question (allergic, biting, poop, vet)

[Triplewillow]

My dog Elvis has a real problem with high protien foods. It didn't take much biting and hair loss to learn that he had seasonal allergies. And when it started again in the cool weather after I had changed his food... we discovered he had a problem with high protien contents.

So now he's getting (don't shoot me) Kibbles 'n Bits. It had the lowest protein content listed on the bag and so far, it's the only one that he doesn't scratch himself to pieces after eating.

So here's my problem... I'm good with him not scratching but I really believe that there has to be a better low protien diet for him. I just don't know what it is.

Suggestions please?

[goodbyehollywood]

The Innova foods are supposed to be good for dogs with allergies. Innova Senior is lower in protein. My dog hasn't had any allergy problems at all since I switched him to it. I've heard that Solid Gold is also good and the protein comes in at about 18%. Good luck to you and Elvis!

[grannynancy]

Are you sure it is protein level and not something in the high protein feeds you were feeding? I had one dog who absolutely could not handle flax seed and they put that stuff in many "quality" dog foods. Brewers yeast is another one of those things that gets to some dogs.

Same dog was also allergic to chicken. Got him on a good fish based diet no flax and all the problems went away. I see kibbles and bits is mainly corn and soy with small amounts of beef and chicken waste in it.

Some dogs .....though. I cringe when I look at the feed, but I did know one dog who thrived on Beneful, another hideous food.

[MAK802]

Kibbles N Bits is full of tons and tons of fillers and I can guarantee that your dog is reacting to those ingredients and not the protein. That said, I would try a grainless food. There is only one grainless food on the market with a protein content of under 30% and that is Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream. The protein content in that is 25%. I highly recommend that you try it and can guarantee that you will see positive results in two weeks, max.

[Honeycrisp]

Senior foods are generally low in protein (17-18% generally), would check them out, you want to avoid corn, wheat, soy, by-products, preservatives and artificial colors. A bonus is they eat less as they have no fillers and they poop less.

[FiveHorses]

Unless you have your dog allergy tested, you can only work to eliminate what you think might be causing it in food through trial and error. Environmental factors are harder to control - although in severe cases (such as one of our dogs) it's controlled by a specific allergen shot once a month. Food allergies are controlled by diet alone (and an allergy test will list the ingredients dog is allergic to.) The allergy testing isn't cheap - but in the case of severe allergies, it is worth it. An environmental factor that's only seasonal can also be controlled with a cyclosporine product.

I've never heard of a dog reacting to protein levels other than with hyperactivity. Rather I'd check what else was in that food. I have to agree with the other comments ref supermarket brand foods....

It is unusual for a dog to be allergic to rice. Dick Van Patten makes a limited ingredients diet lamb and brown rice food that's quite good and not unreasonably priced.

Wellness make a number of grain-free dry foods (the "Core" line ) as well as their "Simple Solutions" line for highly allergic dogs (1 novel protein - either duck or venison - and rice). More pricey than Dick's line. Both of these are 21 % protein and available either online or at big box pet supply stores.

Hope this is helpful.

[Aylalou]

I just took my dog to the doctor because he is scratching. This is the second time - again on the antibiotics and prednisone. So they gave me Royal Canin potato and duck food to feed him. It's discouraging because he has to eat only that (no other kind of snack) for about nine weeks, and I don't know for sure if that is the problem. Could be he is allergic to pollen and/or mold at doggy daycare but was advised to keep him there so that we find out first if it's the food he's allergic to.

[FiveHorses]

Originally Posted by Aylalou

It's discouraging because he has to eat only that (no other kind of snack) for about nine weeks

There are good treats available for allergic dogs - there's duck breast jerky, and Dick Van Patten makes two crunchy treats in a variety of sizes for allergic dogs: there's a duck and sweet potato as well as a fish and something (I can't remember because we need to be fish-free).

If glucosamine and chondroitin are allowable, I think it's "Dogswell" that does an excellent lamb and brown rice treat too. There's also chicken breast jerky.

One piece of advice: IF your dog does need to stay on a hypo-allergenic diet, do your research. There are a variety of different foods out there depending on allowable ingredients and there's a price range too. Just to point out that Royal Canin isn't the ONLY way to go!

[Triplewillow]

First, let me thank all you for your input.
Second, let me clarify that Kibbles n Bits is the only food I have found so far that he does NOT react to.

And lastly, I did take him to the vet (got the low bank account that goes with it lol!)
and we slowly eliminated many suspected culprits and found that he reacted to high levels of protien. My vet assures me that it isn't nearly as uncommon as many people think and told me to try a variety of low protien foods. So, I came here because so many of you are so much better informed about this stuff than I.

Thank you so much again!

[pooyorkie]

Wellness Super 5 Healthy weight is low protein. They also have grain free and allergy formulas.


WELLNESS® - Healthy Dog and Cat Food