Probable allergies

[Tammy & Gracie]

In reading previous posts I am now pretty assured that Gracie is suffering allergy symptoms. She is chewing on the side of her paws, both, but particularily the right. The hair is discolored kinda reddish but I find no injury, no sores, scratches, bumps, bruises, etc to explain this occurance. She has done this enough that the hair on the bottom portion of her legs is even short. I plan to begin treating her with benedryl, maybe a 25 mg pill 2xs daily and watch for improvement. I also would like to start her on the fish oils that are discussed. What is the dosage for the supplements and is my benedry dosage good for starting? Gracie is 15 months and 30 pounds. She is already on a no grain high quality food. She is also real active and gets real dirty, having baths probably a little too often.

[Tammy & Gracie]

Funny Karen, I was typing as you posted this!

[Tammy & Gracie]

Soon, you will hear from Karen, our resident allergy expert. She will assure you that your dog does not have food allergies. I went on a food trial, 1 food, only 1 protein, no grains for 2 months. A food trial is a real big hassle and is usually expensive and ineffectual. After that fiasco, I found help in other ways such as supplements and I switched to homecooking. At this moment Gracie has NO problems. I assume that her allergies are seasonal and the season passed or what I am doing is the right thing for her. What are your symptoms? What food have you tried and for how long? How old is your puppy?

[Nicole]

Thanks for the reply. My puppy is almost 9 months old. Her symptoms are different depending on the type of food she is on that month, but they are typically diarrhea, loose or mushy stools, very bad gas, about 20 minutes after she eats she rolls around on her back whining, moaning and biting her paws. She has thrown up a few times, but nothing too serious. Sometimes before she has diarrhea she pants alot and gets aggitated. These have been going on since she was about 2 months old but have gotten worse or better when we change food.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Sounds like digestive issues - what type of food have you been feeding?
My chihuahua has a terrible stomach. The vet tried to get us on Hills (I/D I think) for this a few years ago and we didn't want to go that route. It is a long story, but Taquito has many issues (stomach and kidney) and we have had success with two different foods in the past year that may/may not have really helped solve some of our issues. He rarely throws up any more and actually eats every day. He used to skip eating at least every other day. I hated that. Or he threw up or had runny poos....

But I don't know - Karen?

[Tammy & Gracie]

Yeah, my first guess would be digestive like IBS or something. i don't think allergy is the road you need to travel. Have you tried homecooking easy, simple food like beef or chicken and rice? And try it for awhile, not just one meal so he can adjust? Also have you tried any digestive rx's something like zantac or other acid reducer? Yogurt? Pumpkin?

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Zantac used to help T. I think (knock on wood) I have it under control now. The higher quality food goes a LONG way.

[Nicole]

We tried adding pumpkin to her food. It worked great until she got bored of it and then would not eat it anymore. Two few weeks ago she got the worse case of diarrhea I have ever seen. So bad we took her to the vet and he gave pills to help but he said that episdoe of diarrhea was because of something called stresscolitis (not sure if right) because she was stressed about having ear drops for her ear infection (very nervous puppy and hated the eardrops and fought them like her life depend on it). So the past two weeks she has had rice mixed with her food.We tried to keep her on really good food and so far have tried Froom large breed puppy and had pretty good success except she got bored of it. Also tried Acana, Legacy and one with lamb which all were the worst. Everytime she has chicken she gets the worst, worst gas so not sure if i want to feed her that!

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

Taquito does best with the fish diets. He was on Fromm Salmon (which my mini goldendoodle still eats and loves) - now he is on Solid Gold Holistique (I do not recommend that for you because it is for seniors). But the Solid Gold has fish for the main protein also. Sounds like your pup is a very picky eater. I am betting the switching foods is messing her up also. We discovered that with Taquito. He would get bored also and we would give in and switch....messed him up. Now he knows he is only getting that certain type of food so he better just eat it! And he does!
Homecooking might work for you also. There is a lot of info about that in the Food Group. Come join us!

[Nicole]

Thanks for the suggestions. We have tried fish and she just spits it out! I will check out the homecooking idea since right now I just want my pup to feel better. It sucks when she is whining and hurting and I can't help.

[Tammy & Gracie]

If she is whining and hurting she probably needs some kind of medicine from the vet like the zantac to ease those issues. You don't mention that any of those drugs have been tried. Yeah, try homecooking. Gracie has a fish kibble for breakfast but her main diet is homecooked. At your pups age it may be ok to stop the puppy food but ask your vet. You will also need to get some vitamins if you go the homecooking route, especially since she is still a puppy. I would just try lean ground beef with brown rice for a start. If that seems to work after a week or so, try adding further ingredients carefully like some carrots or green beans, with time for adjustment to the new items. I also would try to add a spoonful of plain yogurt to each meal for the probiotics there. There are lots of discussions about homecooking in the food group but you probably want to start carefully with the existing tummy issues. Keep us updated.

[Nicole]

I guess the problem I have with home cooking is that as a large breed puppy I want to make sure she gets the right amount of everything.

[Tammy & Gracie]

You just kind of learn as you go. I went to the vet every week for the first few months I was homecooking just for an accurate weight so I could monitor the results. That is also why I think you need to be really sure you choose a good vitamin supplement. But you need to get her on some food source that "agrees" with her for a long time period. Read up on it, then speak with your vet about it. I did and it turned out to be one of the best things I've ever done for this dood!