Food allergy, or just temporary or?

[Amy Clayman]

Hi all!  Gla to join the doodle family. I am a mom to a 9 week old doodle. Roxie Rose. She is sweet and smart and we are delighted to have her. We got her less than a week ago and have begun switching her from her current food (puppy chow) to Blue Buffalo puppy chicken and rice. She started to get diarrhea and has been scratching a lot. Although I am not sure if that is just from the start as we have only had her for five days. We have also given her bully sticks and treats so have stopped all that. We also have been putting a teaspoon of pumpkin in her old food-new food mix. That seems to have been helping a bit. But the scratching remains. Any advice or suggestions are welcome. Thanks so much!

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

First of all, congrats on your new puppy!

Second - she is too young for a food allergy - that is something that builds up over time. She may be having an irritation to chemicals in you laundry detergent for example, if you have washed her bedding.

More likely it could be fleas. Have you checked her over?

The diarrhea will likely be from stress - no mommy dog, no litter mates, new home etc, and the switch in food could be a factor too. It sounds like you are doing the switch over right - take your time and do it slowly, and continue with the pumpkin

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Kaytlin is correct; she is too young to have a food allergy. She's only been eating solid food of any kind for 5 weeks, total, and the new food for less than a week. Food allergies develop after eating the same food over a period of  time. It is almost impossible to have allergy symptoms to something you have never eaten or been exposed to, so a reaction to a brand new food is not an allergy.

The recommendation is that you do not change a puppy's food for at least two weeks after she comes home, even if she is eating the worst swill imaginable. No new treats, nothing. There are several reasons for this. Many, many doodle puppies come home with parasites, usually giardia and/or coccidia. The puppy has also just had the most stressful experience imaginable: she has left her mother and her littermates, and the only home she has ever known, and gone to a new place where nothing is familiar. Her digestive system is also immature.  If you switch the food, or give new various treats, (and bully sticks are pretty tough on an immature digestive system), and the dog develops diarrhea, you have no way of knowing if it is from stress, if's due to a food change, or if it's from parasites. Same with the scratching.

I hope you will join us in the Food Group here on DK. We have lots of discussions on this.

The first thing I would do is bring the puppy to the vet along with a stool specimen, and have her checked for parasites, including giardia, coccidia, fleas or mites. Once you know that she is free of any parasites that might be causing the scratching and the diarrhea, you can address the food and treat issues. My bet is that the scratching was present before she came home; Puppy Chow is a horrendous food, and if any food would cause scratching, it would be that rather than the Blue. She most likely needs some additional Omega 3 fattya cids, since she has been getting almost none in the Puppy Chow diet. But I would not start any additional food or supplements until you've had her checked.

 

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

Karen -- How early can you start the Fish Oil or EPO?  The little Maltese I had over the week-end could probably benefit from some as she was a little itchy.  She is only 4.5 lbs though so could you give her a 500 mg capsule?  She lives on a farm and is constantly finding yucky things to get her pretty little self dirty so she probably gets too many baths.  Thoughts on the EPO?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'd rather see a young puppy getting the fatty acids from food, a good quality diet that has a good Omega 6:3 ratio, like Orijen. I'm not at all sure that a 500 mg EPO capsule wouldn't give a 4.5 lbs dog a pretty good case of diarrhea.

What you could try, though, is give her a little bit of canned salmon with her meals. Maybe just a spoonful at a time, with the oil it's packed in. L & S would probably be delighted to help finish off the can. :)

[Amy Clayman]

Hi all!  Just an update. Roxie Rose is doing so much better. A few days after my post after stopping all treats, etc. I noticed blood in her poop. Took a sample to the vet and got all
clear. However the vet said the tests can't possible see every infection so she put her on flagyl. I was very reluctant to giver her meds because she is so young but she was really not feeling well. Within 48 hours NO diarrhea. The Vet said she probably had something gr the moment we got her. Her appetite is voracious now, her stools less stinky and formed and we are so relieved. I guess the vet knew whatshe was doing. Thanks again to everyone who responded!!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm so glad the meds are helping.

If the diarrhea returns when the metronidazole (Flagyl) is discontinued, you may want to ask the vet for Panacur. Metronidazole will firm up stool for almost any case of diarrhea, but it doesn't always clear giardia and other parasites, and we see a lot of puppies whose diarrhea recurs when the meds are stopped. Panacur is much more effective, especially when taken with the metronidazole. I hope this won't be necessary, but just FYI.  

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

Congrats on your beautiful puppy. I wouldn't judge her stools yet, they are often loose for awhile.I hope she didn't come home with parasites or feleas. My older doodle has sensitive itchy skin so we cannot use smelly things and such on her for baths or grooming. The food group has tons of info(you'll need a lot of time to read through to find some answers and learn more) good luck!

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

Your new puppy is just so cute.  I just saw your post mentioning that your puppy is itching.  Did the breeder give her a bath prior to you picking her up?  Our breeder did and when he got home within a short time he was itching like crazy.  I checked his skin and he appeared to have lots of dry skin so I took him to the vet and they him for mites, etc.  As it turned out, it was just a lot of dry skin.  And, I agree with Karen on all counts.  

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