grain free and still itching

[hugz4all4]

and has the beginning of another ear infection. If its not the grain in his diet causing his issues then what else could it be?
Im obviously going to have to switch foods again but to what now? There are only a few premuim brands sold around here, the others I have to travel for hours to get or order online and I wont do that because of shipping cost.
What he's been on..
puppy chow (what the breeder had him on)
science diet (by not my choice )
chicken soup puppy dry and canned liked but itched too however he did have access to my poodles food bowl which contained taste of the wild
taste of the wild.. tried all 3 varities, likes them all but he itches terrible.
Whats in my area..
canidae all varities
dogswell (canned only and no puppy food)
premuim food from diamond..(cant remember the actual name) some of them contain grains (not corn) but they do have a puppy formula
royal canin
and of course the wonderful grocery store brands.. oh and I wont home cook.

HELP

[bchgirl]

Have you eliminated treats?

We have a problem with processed chicken at my house.

[Ellie May]

How do you know it is a food allergy?
What things have been ruled out and where does he scratch?

When you switch, how long do you leave him on the new food before switching again?

What was the protein source in Taste of the Wild? The problem may not be grain. What treats is he getting?

[Ladymom]

The top three allergy causing ingredients for dogs are wheat, soy and corn. Do any of your foods contain that? Dogs can also be allergic to the protein source.

Food allergies are much less common than inhalant allergies, though. He could be allergic to something in the environment like grass or even the fibers in your carpet.

Has your vet given him anything for his allergies? Sometimes even a little Benadryl will help.

In extreme cases, it is sometimes necessary to have them allergy tested.

[hugz4all4]

Originally Posted by Ellie May

How do you know it is a food allergy?
What things have been ruled out and where does he scratch?

When you switch, how long do you leave him on the new food before switching again?

What was the protein source in Taste of the Wild? The problem may not be grain. What treats is he getting?

Im assuming its a food allergy However Im not positive.
He was on puppy chow from the time he was old enough to eat food untill the day I brought him home when I started switching him over... He was scratching at the breeders, they are our friends and we visited him often. Everytime we visited I would noticed he was digging, I mentioned it to the breeder she said that he had been checked for fleas, her vet told her he was fine.
After a week of a gradual switch to chicken soup puppy, he was still scratching. When he was out of his kennel he would eat my other dogs food which was Taste of the Wild, my others dog have eaten all 3 varities, so did Tucker. After he showed more interest in the taste of the wild I swtiched him to it. Still scratching. During all this time, while he was at the vets and while I was away out of town, my friend (the vet tech) was watching him and she fed him science diet.
There are 3 different protien sources for taste of the wild, fowl, venison/buffalo and salmon. He "snacked" on all 3 varities. He is currently on the fowl. I say snacked because I buy the small bags and change up the flavors often. He was compeletly taken off the chicken soup to the fowl flavor.
I have given him a few little tiny snack bones but they dont contain any corn and it hasnt been that often. When he does something postive I give him lots of praise, not treats.
When he came home from the groomers I asked her if she noticed any dry skin, she said no that his skin looked healthy.
I only bath him with oatmeal based dog shampoo and conditioner.
Thanks for everyone's help.

[hugz4all4]

Originally Posted by Ladymom

The top three allergy causing ingredients for dogs are wheat, soy and corn. Do any of your foods contain that? Dogs can also be allergic to the protein source.

Food allergies are much less common than inhalant allergies, though. He could be allergic to something in the environment like grass or even the fibers in your carpet.

Has your vet given him anything for his allergies? Sometimes even a little Benadryl will help.

In extreme cases, it is sometimes necessary to have them allergy tested.

the food doesnt contain wheat or corn, not sure on the soy. I will double check. Taste of the wild offers 3 different protien sources, he has tried all 3 and still seems to itch. I dont think it enviromental.. because he was also scratching at the breeders unless hes allergic to dust our houses have nothing in common.. Grass maybe, but we have had snow on the ground on and off since the 31st of October and the grass has been covered for the last 3 weeks. I havent talked to his vet about it yet, but will at his next checkup which is coming up. He is only 12 weeks is benedryl ok to give at this age?
Thanks for your help.

[Ellie May]

If he has been itchy since he was at the breeders, I really doubt it is a food allergy. Food allergies don't happen when they are that young very often (possible but not likely). I think he needs to see the vet to figure out what is going on. Since this happened at the breeders, I'd wonder about mites.

If you still think it is a food allergy, you can try Science Diet's (I know, not so good) food with hydrolyzed protein or another food with ingredients he has never had before (new grain, new protein, no other allergens like flaxseed) and leave him on it for at least 60 days with no other treats or chews unless they have the same ingredients. The problem with trying all of these protein sources though is, if he ever really does get food allergies, he has already been exposed to so many that you may have a hard time finding one he can tolerate. I would save a few protein sources and not give him any (this goes for all dogs) of it unless he really does need a novel protein some day. Does that make sense?

[amandawash]

I would almost bet money that these symptoms are not fully indicative of food allergies. Most likely he is allergic to something environmental, however, when there is an allergic reaction to something, say, cotton, their system will be more sensitive to other aspects of their lives which they may have some reaction to. Does that make sense? If they are are highly allergic to a certain variety of grass, it will exacerbate the immune response to a more mild allergy.

Most likely, the allergies are environmental. However, if it is food allergies, it can take up to three months to completely notice a decrease in symptoms by changing the diet. The good news is there is a great allergy medication called Atopica (cyclosporine), which is a non-steroid medication that targets the immune sytem which is being aggravated by the allergy.

You need to get him to a vet, and together decide the best way to go about treatment. There are skin and blood tests, but recent veterinay research has gone to the blood tests, which are incredibly accurate through Biomedical Services. The skin tests are fairly invasive and uncomfortable to the pet. Don't do allergy desensitization, new research has found it to be very ineffective, and again, uncomfortable. Your vet may just prescribe the Atopica based on the symptoms, but I would do a thorough exam and full panel to rule out other common skin ailments, such as mites. Whew! That's a long one!

[Patti]

Sounds like environmental to me too. My Cali developed allergies and we did food elimination diet, novel protein no grains, did the blood allergy testing and tried all types of medicine. Nothing worked. I now have her on Atopica a pill she takes once a day and it has almost eliminated the itching. I definitely would talk to the vet.

[YapperTalk]

I agree, it could be something in the environment causing the allergies. My dog once had horrible allergies to a low quality food, but once I switched him to Taste of the Wild, he got better. So it may not be the food that's causing it.

[hugz4all4]

Thanks everyone I really appreciate the help.

[LuvMySissy]

Chicken can definitely be the culprit if you've taken everything else out. Hav eyou tried Embark (the turkey formula) by The Honest Kitchen or any of the raw medallions by Primal or Nature's Variety? I would try the venison verion and see how that goes.....keep in mind it will take 2-3 months to really see a difference when you change foods. I wouldn't recommend switching through flavors of a brand until you are sure they are okay with it.

Also, oatmeal shampoos can be very drying to the skin - even though they are recommended for allergies. You might want to try changing to something like Cranberry Fields to Shea Pet which are supposed to be hypoallergenic.

[hugz4all4]

HI all
Just wanted to update about the food issue... I forgot to mention that when you all asked me about what treats I was giving him the occasionally teaspoon full of chicken soup canned food. My other dogs are on it.. I share 1 can for the 4 dogs I have and I would give him a little bit a couple times of week. I had switched him over to it within the first wee he was home, he was still scratching so I didnt think that it could of been that food. Anyways I havent given him anymore and he is sooo much better. No more scratching, the smell in his ears is gone and he doesnt have that wierd smell to his body anymore. Puppy chow and chicken soup must have a common food because he was itching at the breeders too..chicken maybe??

[Wylie's Mom]

Originally Posted by hugz4all4

HI all
Just wanted to update about the food issue... I forgot to mention that when you all asked me about what treats I was giving him the occasionally teaspoon full of chicken soup canned food. My other dogs are on it.. I share 1 can for the 4 dogs I have and I would give him a little bit a couple times of week. I had switched him over to it within the first wee he was home, he was still scratching so I didnt think that it could of been that food. Anyways I havent given him anymore and he is sooo much better. No more scratching, the smell in his ears is gone and he doesnt have that wierd smell to his body anymore. Puppy chow and chicken soup must have a common food because he was itching at the breeders too..chicken maybe??

Could be chicken, but it could be lots of things. Perhaps you could post ingredients of both foods so we could take a looksie for you.

The smell concerns me a bit. I know it's "gone", but it makes me concerned about yeast, which is usually internal as well. If this were me and there was a body smell - I'd get him on a probiotic asap. If it's not systemic, you really don't want it to head that way if he's still vulnerable. Since he came to you with the itching, he could have gotten the yeast from his Mom.

[hugz4all4]

Originally Posted by Wylie's Mom

Could be chicken, but it could be lots of things. Perhaps you could post ingredients of both foods so we could take a looksie for you.

The smell concerns me a bit. I know it's "gone", but it makes me concerned about yeast, which is usually internal as well. If this were me and there was a body smell - I'd get him on a probiotic asap. If it's not systemic, you really don't want it to head that way if he's still vulnerable. Since he came to you with the itching, he could have gotten the yeast from his Mom.

I dont have the ingredients for the puppy chow right off hand but I will get them on line and post them. Do I need to get the probiotic from the vet or is something I can get over the counter.
Thanks again for the help..
Im off to get the ingredients.