Battling food allergies, couple quick questions

[Dreamer]

Hey all,

So poor Samson(4months old) and I have been battling food allergies for about 2-3 weeks now, I had a quick question on how you "know" when you've found a good food for them? Initially I had started him on Wellness CORE puppy wet&dry, which is mostly chicken.... and he came down with a lot of itches and paw licking so I knew he's most likely allergic to chicken. So then I switched him to Zignature/Acana chicken/beef free for about ~1.5 weeks, I couldn't really tell if it helped a whole lot since he kept itching (probably not enough time passed to really see) .... and then store we buy from had a big sale and a really nice employee (Who has a golden doodle with terrible allergies) talked me through all the options and pricing comparisons for making the switch to raw, which I'd assumed was out of my price range but is actually pretty much the same as Acana- so we made the jump. And the one thing I immediately noticed was that his stools went from large, really soft bowel movements 3 or so times a day on the old food to much smaller and firm and he only has to go about twice a day now.... the difference was literally overnight!

So right now Samson gets Primal Pronto raw Lamb, with a little bit of goats milk and pumpkin 3x a day (and one squirt of fish oil on his breakfast)..... if his stools have firmed up is that indicative that he is doing better with this food or is that just a raw thing? He's still SO itchy, he wakes up at night wimpering because he will have an itch-fit and be unable to settle back down after going out to potty. His little face is red and he has scabs on his wrinkles he will break sometimes, it looks awful. I feel so bad for him. I'm giving him a little benadryl morning and night, and I will be getting an anti-yeast/anti-itch spray for him tomorrow to hopefully help him out.

How long generally does it take them to recover from food allergies? How did you "know" when you found the right protein? Is there anything else I should be doing to try and diagnose his allergy? what if he is allergic to the Lamb!

 

[Frenchie Grrrl]

The difference in his stools is due to the raw switch. It's one of the benefits for most owners - less to clean up and less stinky.

How are you certain that it is a food allergy and not environmental? Also, have you made a change with any treats that he might get as well? Just so you know he's only getting one type of protein right now? Have you always given him the fish oil and the pumpkin?

 

[Dreamer]

The pumpkin is sort of recent in the past week or so - I had hoped to help out with his loose/frequent stools. Should I stop giving it to him now that he is doing okay in that area with the raw diet? The fish oil I have been giving him since I got him, I've read it helps with general skin health (and I have always given my cat some daily fish oil too).

I am fairly certain it's a food allergy since it's kind of "everywhere" and consistent- doesn't flare up specifically after walks or going outside. He is itchy on his stomach, his paws are a little red and he licks them a lot and the back of his front legs are red and itchy, his face has been a bit red and itchy/scabby too. Reminds me a lot of the symptoms of a cat I had once with a food allergy. His symptoms started about a week and a half after I first brought him home which was about a month ago now.

The only treats he's getting are: A tiny bit of that canned cheese stuff to give him his benadryls, He gets Bully sticks and "Sam's Yams" - the dehydrated sweet potato chews

 

[Alice Kable]

One of our English Bulldogs had bad food allergies and we had a blood food allergy test done on him. It identified the proteins he was allergic to plus food like potatoes, rice, etc. That took the guess out of trying out new food. We ended up feeding him Natures's Variety Instinct Limited Ingredient Turkey.

 

[2bullymama]

The pumpkin is sort of recent in the past week or so - I had hoped to help out with his loose/frequent stools. Should I stop giving it to him now that he is doing okay in that area with the raw diet? The fish oil I have been giving him since I got him, I've read it helps with general skin health (and I have always given my cat some daily fish oil too).

I am fairly certain it's a food allergy since it's kind of "everywhere" and consistent- doesn't flare up specifically after walks or going outside. He is itchy on his stomach, his paws are a little red and he licks them a lot and the back of his front legs are red and itchy, his face has been a bit red and itchy/scabby too. Reminds me a lot of the symptoms of a cat I had once with a food allergy. His symptoms started about a week and a half after I first brought him home which was about a month ago now.

The only treats he's getting are: A tiny bit of that canned cheese stuff to give him his benadryls, He gets Bully sticks and "Sam's Yams" - the dehydrated sweet potato chews

It could be lamb... I think that is a high allergy protein. I would try duck or turkey.

I also did what Alice states... full blood allergy tests, not 100% accurate but give a great baseline/ starting point. And it was a fantastic help


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Cbrugs]

Neither of my guys do good on lamb. As suggested, you can try duck or turkey as those could be less allergenic. I would also stop the pumpkin and fish oil and then reintroduce one at a time after a couple of weeks.

Jax is allergic to everything green outside and it is all year long versus seasonal. He is on Cytopoint and gets bi-weekly baths with a medicated shampoo plus I wipe his belly and pits every couple of days with a medicated wipe.

 

[Dreamer]

Hm, okay. I only have the one bag of lamb so I will get a Turkey or Duck when I go and pick up a new one this Friday. I'll also cut the fish oil/pumpkin for now. Thanks guys

 

[mattcantwin]

I don’t have anything to add about the new regimen plan other than I hope it does the trick!

 

[FroxerMom]

[MENTION=3392]Dreamer[/MENTION]
I am wondering the same thing as I experiment with adding a new protein to Daphne's frozen raw diet.

I just came back from the pet supply store and was shocked to see that the price of the Primal duck patties I've been buying religiously since switching to raw, went up $20! They were $34 per bag, which has 12 patties. Now the same bag is $55! I grabbed a bag of Lamb, since I was out and didn't have time to research and talk and I'm just hoping Lamb is okay and doesn't give Daphne any trouble (her treats are lamb, and I think she's okay on them). But now I'm concerned by the info [MENTION=188]Cbrugs[/MENTION] and [MENTION=2]2bullymama[/MENTION] have provided, specifically about lamb. The employees there told me lamb would be better than turkey because turkey is too closely related to chicken, which is a cause of many food sensitivities. UGH!!! Do you agree? Do you typically see Frenchies do better on turkey than lamb? Maybe I'll return the bag tomorrow before opening it...

They told me to watch for hot spots and itching as far as food allergies/sensitivities go. This is all confusing and stressful. I thought paw licking was more for environmental issues, but I could absolutely be mistaken.

 

[2bullymama]

[MENTION=3392]Dreamer[/MENTION]
I am wondering the same thing as I experiment with adding a new protein to Daphne's frozen raw diet.

I just came back from the pet supply store and was shocked to see that the price of the Primal duck patties I've been buying religiously since switching to raw, went up $20! They were $34 per bag, which has 12 patties. Now the same bag is $55! I grabbed a bag of Lamb, since I was out and didn't have time to research and talk and I'm just hoping Lamb is okay and doesn't give Daphne any trouble (her treats are lamb, and I think she's okay on them). But now I'm concerned by the info [MENTION=188]Cbrugs[/MENTION] and [MENTION=2]2bullymama[/MENTION] have provided, specifically about lamb. The employees there told me lamb would be better than turkey because turkey is too closely related to chicken, which is a cause of many food sensitivities. UGH!!! Do you agree? Do you typically see Frenchies do better on turkey than lamb? Maybe I'll return the bag tomorrow before opening it...

They told me to watch for hot spots and itching as far as food allergies/sensitivities go. This is all confusing and stressful. I thought paw licking was more for environmental issues, but I could absolutely be mistaken.

HOLY CRAP on the price increase ....that is insane?!? Write them and ask why? Maybe they will send some coupons.

False on the turkey.. it is a poultry but for what reason, even my bulldog that was allergic to chicken (hive breakouts) ate turkey with no problem.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[FroxerMom]

HOLY CRAP on the price increase... that is insane?!? Write them and ask why? Maybe they will send some coupons.

False on the turkey.. it is a poultry but for what reason, even my bulldog that was allergic to chicken (hive breakouts) ate turkey with no problem.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The employees at the store know me very very well as I am there every 11 days buying patties and raw goat's milk. I asked him to check to make sure it was the correct price tag and not a mistake. I can see going up a few dollars in price but T W E N T Y dollars?! He checked their computer and said it was correct. I bought the lamb today but may change over to Vital Essentials the next time I buy as their bag is around $37.

I really do need to look further into bulk online pricing. I fear I just don't have the freezer space where I currently live, though.

Thanks for the info- I will probably go back tomorrow after work and switch it out for turkey.

 

[Dreamer]

If it's such a massive price increase that makes me think something happened with their suppliers that cut the scarcity of their stock pretty harshly? That's nuts. hopefully it's temporary

It's incredibly anecdotal at this point but Samson has been eating Stella & Chewy's Turkey variety since this last Thursday and his itching has gone down SUBSTANTIALLY. We can even make it all the way through the night now without me having to move myself and the little guy out to the living room with a sleeping bag so my fiance can sleep, lol. I had also changed 2 other things, however: I stopped giving him fish oil and pumpkin, and I applied Curaseb antiseptic to his itchy parts twice a day (I have a hunch the curaseb made the biggest difference).

also side question- How does ordering raw foods from the internet work? I didn't know you could do that. Bulk pricing would be the best!

 

[Cbrugs]

Jax had an allergic reaction to turkey kibble years ago, I’ve never tried raw turkey cause I just use other proteins. When I tried the lamb, his ears got super red and yeasty and once I stopped the lamb, ears have been fine. Too much duck makes him itchy. He can tolerate chicken and beef in all amounts.

That sucks about the huge price increase. A few months ago I found a local raw co-op so I’ve been getting my food from them and they even have the commercial brands at reduced prices. Maybe you can see if there is a co-op near where you live.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Frenchie Grrrl]

Glad something is working!!!

Most ppl that I know that do bulk are in co-ops. I would think shipping for just one person would null any savings for ordering bulk, IDK. You could ask your local specialty pet food store if they could order for you in bulk.

 

[Dreamer]

Just a small update... while better than it was, he is still itchy enough for neither of us to be happy about it.... I found a test called NutriScan you can order online so I went ahead and did that... you collect saliva and mail it to them, they test for 24 food allergies. Has anyone heard of/ used this test before? will update here with the results in a couple weeks.

 

[2bullymama]

I have heard of it but not used... we did the full blood panel for our bulldogs


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Mechadogzilla]

Both of my French Bulldogs struggled with allergies. I think some was food related some not. We switched foods for a while and sometimes this would alleviate the problems for awhile. They did best (as far as allergies were concerned) on freeze dried/dehydrated food, but they weren’t getting enough nutrition on the freeze dried for some reason and lost too much weight when on it. We ended up using Wellness Core/ Wellness limited ingredient and that seemed to work fairly well, but the allergies always flared up from time to time.

 

[FroxerMom]

Just a small update... while better than it was, he is still itchy enough for neither of us to be happy about it.... I found a test called NutriScan you can order online so I went ahead and did that... you collect saliva and mail it to them, they test for 24 food allergies. Has anyone heard of/ used this test before? will update here with the results in a couple weeks.

I have not heard of this particular saliva test, but I was considering using another company called Allergy Test My Pet. It said they test for 100 food and environmental sensitivities
using saliva sample and it arrives in 2 weeks. I never did it, but might just to see what the report comes back saying. I'm interested to see what your results are.

 

[Frenchie Grrrl]

Just a small update... while better than it was, he is still itchy enough for neither of us to be happy about it.... I found a test called NutriScan you can order online so I went ahead and did that... you collect saliva and mail it to them, they test for 24 food allergies. Has anyone heard of/ used this test before? will update here with the results in a couple weeks.

Looking forward to hearing the results and any updates you make after diet changes. I've heard of the test and have been tempted to do it, or something similar, in the past, but assumed that they'd react to most everything when they were in the middle of a flare up. I've also been tempted to do the 30 day raw goat milk fast, but haven't bit the bullet yet.

Best of luck!! Hope it helps!!

 

[Honeys Owners]

I have not heard of this particular saliva test, but I was considering using another company called Allergy Test My Pet. It said they test for 100 food and environmental sensitivities
using saliva sample and it arrives in 2 weeks. I never did it, but might just to see what the report comes back saying. I'm interested to see what your results are.

The most accurate form of food allergy testing is an elimination diet. ie. buy a food with a novel protein like rabbit and very few other ingredients, and add other proteins or ingredients one at a time.
eg. I can buy this pure rabbit formula from bigcountryraw that delivers to me https://bigcountryraw.ca/product/pure-rabbit-4lb/ . It contains only Rabbit (meat & bone) and Rabbit Organ Meat ,so I would add fish oil and sea kelp to that.