Silyjillie,
We've been struggling with a severe allergy with Butter for a couple of months. At first we thought it was a food allergy, and we put him on an elimination diet, which helped, but not completely. So far, we have figured out that he is allergic to fungi and the aster family of plants which are abundant in our fields, and he is having some cross-reactivity with his food.
Our vet also told us that the most likely allergen source in food is protein. We first started Butter on a protein source he'd never had before -- ground bison and white rice, then we went to ground goat, and we're gradually reintroducing foods.
Dr. Messionier has a book on allergies in dogs and he said something that made sense to us, since Butter is 5 and never had a problem like this before. He says there are thresholds that can be crossed -- for instance, if your dog is allergic to 14 different things but that is beneath its tolerance threshold, a 15th allergen introduced will trigger reactions. We have had an extraordinarily wet summer here in Maine (more than 14 inches of rainfall above normal), and our paths have been full of mushrooms, and the fields have had phenomenal numbers of ragweed and aster plants. Butter walks through the fields with his nose to the ground, he eats grass which is probably covered with pollen, and gets it all over feet and legs. We think the unusual weather conditions and weed crop tripped Butter's allergy threshold (hopefully this is temporary).
We've had very good luck wiping down his face, legs, belly & paws (especially between the pads and toes) after he goes for a walk. Keeping him away from foods with yeast or foods that cross-react with the asteracea family (parsley, carrots, etc...) has made life tolerable for him. So, we've come to believe that while Butter has reacted to food, his primary problem is with the weedy plants in our fields. Some of our home veterinary guide books say that if you don't see a major improvement in your dog's itchiness within a couple of weeks on a strict elimination diet, then it doesn't have a food allergy, and you need to look for another source.
If you decide to do a homemade elimination diet, be sure to do your homework on balancing the calcium/phosphorous ratio in the food. We learned that lesson the hard way.
I wish you and Meeko luck.
Kris |