Allergic to dog food! What should she eat!?

[YumeYorkie]

Hi everyone, my little Yume, almost 5 years old, can't eat dog food!
I discovered this 2 years ago. Doctors said she was allergic and that I should find whatever didn't get her diarrhea, otherwise she could die within the next 6 months. The only thing that worked was chicken and rice.
She's been eating this for almost 2 years now but she usually has tummy issues and I don't think she's getting the nutrients she needs, even when I give her vitamins, her hair is not as shinny and silky as it used to be.

My question is, am I doing right to feed her with only chicken and rice? I'm not sure if it's really working 'cause she still has tummy issues, maybe there's something else that could work better.
Help please!

[Ginas_babys]

Chicken and rice is not a balanced diet, infact, if you dont get other nutrients in her, it can cause all kinds of problems.I cant see how a dog can be allergic to dog food in general..that's impossible.It's more likely that she's allergic to a certain ingredient in certain brands of food, so your job is to find out what ingredient isnt agreeing with her and find a kibble without that ingredient.
Milo (my male) had skin problems when we first got him.The hair on his face and paws would fall out and he'd eat away at his own paws due to the itching etc, so we had his vet run some tests and it turns out he's allergic to grain...an ingredient present in 90% of the kibble on the market.
Once we started him on a grain free diet (there is kibble for almost every allergy out there these days) the issues went away.

I'd ask your vet to run some allergy tests and see what hapens fron there, because no dog is allergic to every ingredient present in kibble or every brand on the market What surprises me the most, is that your vet has told you to find out what she's allergic too and that you are the one who has to find her something that wont give her diarrea or she'll die.....? I think your vet needs to do a better job.He can't can't expect your dog to live entirely on chicken and rice and he can't expect you to rule out all the things that give her diarrea...he needs to get his finger out.

[mybaby2013]

Have you checked into raw dog food? Maybe that would be something she could eat?

[YumeYorkie]

Thanks Gina, actually I saw several vets and this last one was the only one that kinda figured out what was wrong with her, that made him the expert! Imagine that. I know it's gotta be a specific ingredient in dog food but I was told it's too complicated to know which one is. Allergy tests in pets are not common in my country Can I ask what brand of food Milo eats?

mybaby2013 I have tried with every kind of dog food I can find in the market and everything gets her sick She's very thin and we're constantly visiting the vet cause she gets sick all the time, I'm really worried. It's been like this for two years and I'm starting to think she won't be around pretty soon! :S

[YumeYorkie]

Thanks Gina, actually I saw several vets and this last one was the only one that kinda figured out what was wrong with her, that made him the expert! Imagine that. I know it's gotta be a specific ingredient in dog food but I was told it's too complicated to know which one is. Allergy tests in pets are not common in my country Can I ask what brand of food Milo eats?

mybaby2013 I have tried with every kind of dog food I can find in the market and everything gets her sick She's very thin and we're constantly visiting the vet cause she gets sick all the time, I'm really worried. It's been like this for two years and I'm starting to think she won't be around pretty soon! :S

[kjc]

Ask your vet about VARL... there's some threads about it on YT.

[Ginas_babys]

Originally Posted by YumeYorkie

Can I ask what brand of food Milo eats?

There are quite a few grain free brands avalable to us here in Spain.
Milo gets: Acana Pacifica, Acana Grasslands, Acana Wild Prairie, Acana Ranchlands, DNA Dried-N-Alive Lamb, Nutram Salmon and Trout, Fromm surf & turf etc.
We switch them around every month so that he gets a huge variety of flavours and all are grain free so he does great on these.

I did do the raw diet for a while, but that turned out to be VERY expensive, he had terrible gas, and his poop was rancid! lol.He did like it though..it just didnt work for me in this case

[Mistymillar]

Alfie has had allergies since 3months he eats Royal Canin Anallergenic which has been great for him. There has been some controversy over this food as it is made from crushed feathers, very allergic dogs need to be tested on foods that do not have a strong recognisable protein.
He gets his full testing on Oct 2nd.

I think the full Royal Canin range is available in Europe.

[Nancy1999]

I wonder if you dog is really allergic, or if it just as a sensitive tummy? Some dogs have very sensitive digestive systems and any change in food can cause an upset, the more and more people struggle to find a new food, the more the problem worsens because they are constantly changing the food. If you think your dog can eat chicken and rice, you could try a food with that as the main ingredient and add a few pieces to the home cooked. You don't want to give too much the first time, the idea is to gradually switch over. Commercial dog foods are made to be complete and balanced, and if you home cook you need to add a supplement such as "balance it" to the food.

[Ginas_babys]

Originally Posted by Mistymillar

There has been some controversy over this food as it is made from crushed feathers.

What???
It actually says "crushed feathers" on the list of ingredients?

[Nancy1999]

Originally Posted by Ginas_babys

What???
It actually says "crushed feathers" on the list of ingredients?

There should be no controversy, the food is specially made for dogs who are truly allergic to common proteins, and have problems such as eczema. The feathers are broken down to the amino acid, it's a very expensive process and RC isn't doing this to "save money."

[mimimomo]

Originally Posted by YumeYorkie

Thanks Gina, actually I saw several vets and this last one was the only one that kinda figured out what was wrong with her, that made him the expert! Imagine that. I know it's gotta be a specific ingredient in dog food but I was told it's too complicated to know which one is. Allergy tests in pets are not common in my country Can I ask what brand of food Milo eats?

mybaby2013 I have tried with every kind of dog food I can find in the market and everything gets her sick She's very thin and we're constantly visiting the vet cause she gets sick all the time, I'm really worried. It's been like this for two years and I'm starting to think she won't be around pretty soon! :S

What happens when she gets sick? There's food intolerance & allergy & they're totally 2 different things. Turbo is intolerant of beef, pumpkin & maybe chicken & eggs...it makes him throw up. IDThink there's any tests for food intolerance, but there are tests for allergies. It's hard to pin point what food/ingredient actually effects them negatively, so a limited ingredient diet might be the next best thing from the allergy tests. Keep a food diary & keep track of every major protein ingredient she's eating, try to keep it 1 protein. Then it will be easier to find out what she's intolerant/ allergic to, if it's a protein source. Or try novel proteins like rabbit, kangaroo, venison, buffalo, etc.

Originally Posted by Nancy1999

There should be no controversy, the food is specially made for dogs who are truly allergic to common proteins, and have problems such as eczema. The feathers are broken down to the amino acid, it's a very expensive process and RC isn't doing this to "save money."

[Ginas_babys]

Originally Posted by Nancy1999

There should be no controversy, the food is specially made for dogs who are truly allergic to common proteins, and have problems such as eczema. The feathers are broken down to the amino acid, it's a very expensive process and RC isn't doing this to "save money."

I had no idea.I´d never heard of that before
Well, if it works, I guess it´s no different than eating any other part of an animal.I did think I´d read that wrong though lol

[Nancy1999]

Originally Posted by Ginas_babys

I had no idea.I´d never heard of that before
Well, if it works, I guess it´s no different than eating any other part of an animal.I did thought I´d read that wrong though lol

There was another thread on this, some people have written that they think it's horrible of RC trying to save money like this, which just isn't true. Others say this food has literally saved their dogs lives. It just another example of how a little information is a dangerous thing.

[Ginas_babys]

Originally Posted by Nancy1999

There was another thread on this, some people have written that they think it's horrible of RC trying to save money like this, which just isn't true. Others say this food has literally saved their dogs lives. It just another example of how a little information is a dangerous thing.

I cant say that I think it´s terrible..after all, it´s made of feathers, not baby whales lol But I do think it´s different.
I just think it´s amazing how they research and find that something like a feather can actually help a dogs allergies.Just goes to show that someone is out there doing their homework