Orijen/Acana - alternatives ?

uldisk · Feb 20, 2014

Hi
When we got our Thalassa, she was on Advance puppy protect dry food, and we done a research before so decided to switch to Orijen. Main reason was to get her proper quality food and enough protein - because frenchies grow big faster than other breeds. Her coat improved all shiny but she started to itch a lot. My wife took her to vet and got prescribed drops against fleas, mites etc There was an infection in Thalassas ears but its gone now after cleaning so thats not an issue anymore
She is happy , shiny and so to speak a ball of energy - except this crazy itching
I decided to change Orijen puppy to Acana Pacific, less protein and no chicken, she`s itching a bit less but anyway , I`m desperate to find proper food for her. I don`t want to go back to Advance or even worse - vets reccomended Hills , because thats almost the same as feed your dog straight from the trash bin.
Also tried couple days to feed raw lamb, she became incredible itchy and some dandruff in her coat appeared.

I guess this itch might be allergic reaction to something or food is simply too high in protein .... I would be very VERY happy if someone could give an advice what to do ...

thank you!

p.s. as you can see from that scratching skin around eyes is red and the same behind ears ...

Kris Thomas LaBounty · Feb 20, 2014

uldisk said:
Hi
When we got our Thalassa, she was on Advance puppy protect dry food, and we done a research before so decided to switch to Orijen. Main reason was to get her proper quality food and enough protein - because frenchies grow big faster than other breeds. Her coat improved all shiny but she started to itch a lot. My wife took her to vet and got prescribed drops against fleas, mites etc There was an infection in Thalassas ears but its gone now after cleaning so thats not an issue anymore
She is happy , shiny and so to speak a ball of energy - except this crazy itching
I decided to change Orijen puppy to Acana Pacific, less protein and no chicken, she`s itching a bit less but anyway , I`m desperate to find proper food for her. I don`t want to go back to Advance or even worse - vets reccomended Hills , because thats almost the same as feed your dog straight from the trash bin.
Also tried couple days to feed raw lamb, she became incredible itchy and some dandruff in her coat appeared.

I guess this itch might be allergic reaction to something or food is simply too high in protein .... I would be very VERY happy if someone could give an advice what to do ...

thank you!

View attachment 2395

p.s. as you can see from that scratching skin around eyes is red and the same behind ears ...

There's an excellent article on here. Look to your right when on the home page and you'll see a list of articles. Look for the one on allergies.

Kris Thomas LaBounty · Feb 20, 2014

PS: That dog is adorabull!

Kris Thomas LaBounty · Feb 20, 2014

Kris Thomas LaBounty said:
There's an excellent article on here. Look to your right when on the home page and you'll see a list of articles. Look for the one on allergies.

here's the link to the article : http://frenchbulldognews.com/content.php/32-French-Bulldog-Allergy-Treatments-and-Prevention

2bullymama · Feb 20, 2014

have you compaed the ingredients in the food.... could be it is not the protein that is the problem... could be potato or carrot... something a littel more obscure.

How old is Thalassas?

Alice Kable · Feb 20, 2014

Your Thalassa is such a cutie. I have had my English Bulldogs tested for food allergies and have ended up feeding Nature's Variety Instinct Limited Ingredient. My EB Ruggles gets Turkey and has done really well on it. The protein 29%, which is higher than our vet advised, but Ruggles is doing well on it. Our half French, half English (breeder oops) gets the same, only Lamb.

uldisk · Feb 20, 2014

2bullymama said:
have you compaed the ingredients in the food.... could be it is not the protein that is the problem... could be potato or carrot... something a littel more obscure.

How old is Thalassas?

she is 5 months old. yes we have compared ingredients - specifics of how fast french bulldogs grow requires a lot of protein (at least thats what specialists says) ... from a distance now she looks beautiful and shiny, and shee feels good, but those itchy scratchy spots are baaaaad ...
I`ll post later some pictures, when Thalassa will wake up

Alice, I will check out Natures Variety , thank you

Kris Thomas LaBounty - yes, she is adorabull

and very vicious too!

winginit66 · Feb 20, 2014

I have been cooking for our dogs for about 6 months. Strangely enough, Gidget has had the worst reaction when I used sweet potato and Lima beans. They were not in the same mix, but she reacted very badly with both of them so I haven't used them again. The other ingredients stayed the same - either a chicken or beef base, rice or pasta. For dry they eat Blue Buffalo grain free. The puppies eat the blue buffalo puppy.

Have you tried wiping her down with baby wipes after being outside?

uldisk · Feb 21, 2014

yes shes been cleaned with baby wipes almost every day
its upsetting to buy a show class dog with excellent pedigree and allergic to god knows what
whatever we love her she cant participate in shows because she is vicious and protects my wife from everything

only thing i want is to find the proper food to stop this desperate itchy scratchy show

MaplesMommy · Feb 22, 2014

We feed Go! Chicken + Turkey puppy food.(its grain free) & Maple is doing great on it! Of course it depends on the dog,but I heard only good things about Go!

Cbrugs · Feb 23, 2014

I've gone through the same thing with Jax and have tried A LOT of different foods. A few weeks ago his itching got so bad he would scratch so much he would bleed (on his face, underarms) and he now has scarring under his arms. The vet gave me pills for the itching and he has been on his current food for about 3 weeks now. I have to wait at least 6-8 weeks to see if this food will work or not and if it doesn't, I'm taking him to a dermatologist.

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uldisk · Feb 25, 2014

Poor Jax

Switching foods I think 3weeks is enough tosee some changes - if this scratching is food related
Last couple nights Thalassa spent scratching herself ..... I`ll wait for a bit week or so and then again visit the vet

bullmama · Feb 25, 2014

Poor baby!

Maybe try a limited ingredient diet? It may really help.

Here is a list of recommended choices, also you may want to get an allergy test done.
http://frenchbulldognews.com/content.php/31-Our-Top-Recommended-Dog-Food-Choices?

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