# Need food advice for dog with allergies



## TinyTails (May 16, 2011)

Hello,
I'm hoping to get some advice for my chi that has allergies. He has both environmental and food. This year has been the worst so I finally did the allergy test. He came back as being allergic to various environ. things plus foodwise: 
venison, white potato, alfalfa, corn, wheat, kelp, carrots and green peas. 
I'm so mad at myself because I've been feeding him all venison since that is usually something dogs are not allergic too - maybe that's why it's been so bad this year Do you have any suggestions of a good food without these ingredients or without at least the potato and alfalfa. He has been eating Ziwipeak Venison, Acana Pacifica and THK Embark and Nature's Variety raw venison lately - all of which have venison, potatoes or alfalfa high on the list and he's been scratching like crazy. I just got a delivery of THK Thrive so I will be trying that in the meantime since it only has the kelp. I'm really suprised he came back negative to grains. Thanks for any advice.


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## Bordermom (Apr 28, 2010)

What I would do is find a source of food that is just venison, if that's what you want to work on. In Canada there is a company called carnivora that does whole animal patties - if it's rabbit it's whole ground rabbit for example. Raw would be ideal as even dogs who show signs of issues with cooked/processed foods often do better with the same thing in raw form. Talk to local butchers and see what they can do, perhaps they can get in venison, rabbit, goat... 

I wouldn't add a lot of extras at first, evening primrose oil would be good though, and see how that goes. Add in a good supplement made for raw diets, making sure it's grain free (or do kelp powder). 

Canned Tripe is an option too, there is a venison formula and that would be a good elimination diet that you'd likely be able to find pretty easily - smells horrible but...


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## TinyTails (May 16, 2011)

The only meat he came back as allergic to is the venison - this is everything he came up as being allergic to:
venison, white potato, alfalfa, corn, wheat, kelp, carrots and green peas. Going all raw is not an option for us right now as we are always on the go. I have a full time job and just started a business (eco-friendly dog product online store) so are always going places - pups come along of course but I need food that I can bring with me. The only raw meal they get is the am meal - which I have been doing the premade raw.


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## Jacksons Mom (Mar 12, 2010)

Natural Balance probably has some options, although most of their formulas probably have potato. 

I am feeding California Natural venison right now because I suspected a chicken allergy, but they also have CN Lamb as the only meat source. 

I think Pinnacle has a few LID diets as well as Nature's Variety LID.

Hmmm... that's a tough one!


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## TinyTails (May 16, 2011)

Yes I would love to stay grain free but it seems that everything has either potato or peas  I was thinking of trying the Wellness supermix lamb but it's not grain free. I'm very upset I can't do Acana and Ziwipeak since he LOVED them


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## Bordermom (Apr 28, 2010)

You can get beef tripette too, that's an option. There's also freeze dried foods out there. Watch the premade raw that has ingredients in it, just in case.

With him being small it shouldn't be too hard to pack a frozen meal along with some ice for dinner too, as an option. You could get away with using a thermal lunch type container/bag. We have some neat ones for my kiddo's lunch, there's a thermal bowl with a screw on lid that does a pretty good job, you could get a few of them and pack a week's worth of dinners and store them in the freezer too. Many people travel with raw for days without too much fuss - my golden's breeder takes 20 pounds or so of raw with her on the road.


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## meggels (Mar 8, 2010)

I believe the Nature's Variety instinct LID (and even the regular I think...) uses solely tapioca as the binder. 

Natural Balance has the LID lamb & brown rice

NB also has bison & sweet potato, salmon & sweet potato, chicken & sweet potato if the sweet potato is ok...


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## TinyTails (May 16, 2011)

Thank you for the suggests
Marinapet- He is under vet care right that is how I got the allergy test. 
He has both environmental and food allergies. I know that the food test is not 100% accurate but it gives me a starting point I guess - we have been dealing with his allergies since he was 1.5 yrs now he's 5 and but this year has been the worst. He has recently had a lot of venison, potoato and alfalfa in his food so that might be causing the extra flare up. I will try the THK Thrive to see how he does.


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## Bordermom (Apr 28, 2010)

Is raw an option at all?


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## TinyTails (May 16, 2011)

Raw is an option - but raw premade. I can't go all raw as I have 4 pets and tight finances  I'm trying to find Bravo raw in my area as their premades have very limited ingredients. My Thrive dehydrated should arrive today which will be his dinner meal - this formula is very limited as well.


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## pierre6242483 (Sep 29, 2011)

try this:
http://brotherscomplete.com/allergy-formula/


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## Pawzk9 (Jan 3, 2011)

Not a food suggestion, but I have (and have heard several other people have) seen some very good results with Herbsmiths Clear AllerQI


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## Sibe (Nov 21, 2010)

TinyTails said:


> Raw is an option - but raw premade. I can't go all raw as I have 4 pets and tight finances  I'm trying to find Bravo raw in my area as their premades have very limited ingredients. My Thrive dehydrated should arrive today which will be his dinner meal - this formula is very limited as well.


Hmm, raw yourself should be much cheaper than premade. Chicken quarters and whole chickens are typically are less than $1/lb. Beef hearts for $1/lb as well. Beef liver and kidney also for $1/lb. Chicken gizzards and hearts for under $1/lb. Turkey wings and other turkey parts for $1/lb. All at the local grocery store. Even if you can't do all raw and need variety or something provided by the premade, I would think that you could do a lot yourself and actually save money.


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## Regexcel (Oct 3, 2011)

Excel this summer had a severe allergy. She was vomiting blood because of that.
The vet and I decided to feed her with Hill's Z/D (in France it's call like that). She had no more problems but the taste wasn't that at all. Excel started losing weight.
When she was a pup, she was at Orijen, so I tried that again and great taste and no more problems!


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## momof3 (Nov 24, 2007)

Well Orijen is out it has russet potatoes in it. What about Evangers Pheasent and Brown Rice? But I must agree with someone else I think you will be much better off money wise to do raw and make it yourself. You can also check out Blue Ridge Beef. There pre-made is pretty decent you do have to add some supplements but its a good base plus they have a mix that has tripe and organ already in it. And the price seems to be reasonable as well.


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## Jacksons Mom (Mar 12, 2010)

I wouldn't trust Evangers. They had canned foods that did not even have the meat in them that they listed on the ingredient list. So, if your dog has allergies, you would be screwed. Their lamb food contained beef. So in another words, if your dog cannot eat beef, and you were thinking they were getting lamb... that's pretty bad.

http://efoodalert.blogspot.com/2011/05/evangers-back-in-hot-water-with-fda.html


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## TinyTails (May 16, 2011)

Thank you for all the advice 
I would definitely not trust Evangers as I have heard of a lot of issues going on with them and that they have lied about the ingredients in their foods. 
I understand how great great raw is especially PMR but I just honestly cannot do it at this time I barely have time to feed myself. The pups also have to eat dinner at grandmas some nights and she does not feel comfortable feeding it as she also has a 110 GSD, and a chi mix so it's hard for her to feed 4 dogs at once. My dogs do get RMB's like once a week for teeth cleaning purposes but I have to watch over them as they are huge gulpers. We have had a few choking incidents and I honestly can't handle doing that everyday. 
I have decided to feed THK Thrive for dinner as its 26 percent protein and Ziwipeak Lamb raw dehydrated for the morning meal (will alternate with Bravo raw since their diet is very limited but I have to special order it). I tried to feed him some dry food for the past week - the only thing I found without his allergens was Wellness Supermix Lamb - but he has horrible smelling poop since and bad gas so I'd rather take him off - he hasn't had kibble with grain since he was about 1 so he's defnitely not used to it. He also lost interest in it already after only a few days. I know Ziwi is expensive but he LOVES it, it's easy for me to feed in the am when I'm in a rush and it has very limited ingredients so I'll make it work. I'll just have to make sure I make lunch for myself so he can get the goodies


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## TinyTails (May 16, 2011)

Luckily I found a store that has Ziwi 2.2 lbs for $24 which for him alone should last at least a month since it's only the morning meal


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## momof3 (Nov 24, 2007)

I had not heard anything bad about Evangers until you posted that. I am going to copy the information on that link and share it with the new place that I found to buy food from because they carry it. They maybe unaware as well.


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## Firem4nJoe (Oct 10, 2011)

> white potato, alfalfa, corn, wheat, kelp, carrots and green peas


It doesn't really matter that he's allergic to these as he is a carnivore and shouldn't be eating them anyway.

As raw meat and bone, every dog should be fed on it, and not slowly poisoned with grains, fruits, vegetables, or the other harmful chemicals packed into factory processed dog foods.



> Hmm, raw yourself should be much cheaper than premade. Chicken quarters and whole chickens are typically are less than $1/lb. Beef hearts for $1/lb as well. Beef liver and kidney also
> for $1/lb. Chicken gizzards and hearts for under $1/lb. Turkey wings and other turkey parts for $1/lb. All at the local grocery store. Even if you can't do all raw and need variety or
> something provided by the premade, I would think that you could do a lot yourself and actually save money.


Amen to that. If the supermarkets and butchers are not as cheap as you like you can get fresh raw human grade meat and bone from the abattoirs and game hunters for even less money. I'm lucky because my vet stocks chicken carcasses, lamb necks and heads, ox gullet, liver, heart, tripe and bible all for AU$2.50 per kilogram.


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## TinyTails (May 16, 2011)

I understand that a raw diet is the best things for dogs but I came onto this forum looking for advice and stated I cannot do a full prey model raw at this time. We have tried to do raw with him in the past and have had many choking incidents as he always tries to gulp everything down. When we do the RMB's I have to physically sit there with him and hold a piece of the meat so he doesn't try to swallow it whole. It seems like you can't post for advice anymore because right away people will make you feel guilty and like a horrible dog owner if you're not feeding PMR. I don't need to be told that I am slowly poising my dog. I care a lot about his health that is why I take the time to research and make sure I am feeding him high quality food. I do the best that I can for my pets and I'm sorry but I don't have time while working 2 jobs to spend 30-40 minutes each morning and evening standing over him as he eats.


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## Firem4nJoe (Oct 10, 2011)

No one's here trying to "Guilt Trip" you, we're all just offering advice for you to either take or leave. If anyone needs a guilt trip it's the pet food manufacturers in my opinion.
Have you tried feeding him bigger bones less often? Lot's of dogs gulp or even hoover up their food because they never learned to chew and it takes a lot of energy, work, and time, all of which help get the digestive juices flowing. 
If time is an issue for you I'm not about to recommend finding another home for the dog, far from it, I'll just point out that dogs, just like us, don't have to eat every day, and once a day is quite enough. In fact (I don't agree with the practice) but there are a lot of working dogs that are lucky if they get fed once every three days.

At the end of the day no one here is going to make the decision for you, merely offer you the advice we all individually think is best, and of course wish your puppy the best of luck with whichever decision you make.

I truly hope it all works out well for the both of you.


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## TinyTails (May 16, 2011)

Sorry when I saw "poising dogs" I got upset because I love my pets and would do anything for them. It made me feel like a bad dog owner  I will stick to the Ziwipeak, THK and Bravo premade raw for the time being as we are about to finally begin our kitchen remodel. Once that is complete I will try to do full raw with them again and see how it goes. I have tried giving him all kinds of meats/bones and he's so crazy over them that he tries to swallow them whole. He once choked really bad on a duck and turkey neck and I was really scared after that to try raw again. My life pretty much revolves around my pets and animals - I work for a non-profit dog and cat rescue, do my own rescue and just started a pet related business so I really do want what is best for them  here is a picture of them enjoying some RMBs


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## Abbylynn (Jul 7, 2011)

Regardless........................your dogs are cute! I would have been scared too if they choked that badly on the food. I feed kibble and some boiled meats and organs. I know that dogs are probably better off with a raw diet. I am not here to dispute that one way or another. 

I just want to say thanks for working in rescue. I could not do that. My pets are pretty much my whole life too..............some I have rescued for myself and a couple for someone else. I would want to save them all if I worked at a rescue. In all reality........I could not take them all home as much as I would want to. I would be an emotional mess leaving them all behind!


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## TinyTails (May 16, 2011)

Yeah it was really hard at first...but it's sad to say that over the years you become a little bit numb to it all because it's the norm  I work for a no-kill rescue so thankfully we do not put any pets to sleep - but sometimes I just want to scream at people after my 100th call of the day from someone who is "moving", "had a baby", "just doesn't have time", "the dog got too big" etc. I used to take everything in and foster but eventually you come to a max lol. I now have 2 dogs and 2 cats so I know I have reached my max for the time being especially since some of my pets have a lot of medical issues. I still try to foster a dog about once a year. My last "foster" ended up staying and put me at my max lol. Someone came into the office with a 1 day old kitten after we were closed and I was the only one left - I couldn't say no so I said I'll take it home for the night. It was 3 ounces and still had a cord attached - someone found it on a construction site. Well they asked me at work to keep fostering so I did - after months of caring for the baby I couldn't let it go knowing there is a chance someone one day might get rid of it after I worked so hard to keep it alive. It's a good thing I did because at 8 months she was diagnosed with really bad luxating patellas - already had surgery on one knee. She has a horrible habit of eating things like plastic so we have had numerous emergency vet visits lol. To this day I "finger feed" her wet food because I know it's better for her than dry  Her name is Luigi but she's a girl - when she was 5 weeks old the vet said it's a boy - turned out to be a girl. Here are some pictures of her


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## Abbylynn (Jul 7, 2011)

She is very pretty. Good job!


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