Dairy free?

[Tammy & Gracie]

Some thoughts.  Gracie has allergies.  Never tested by dermatologist but I presume it is the usual environmental conditions mostly.   I control it primarily through homecooking and supplements.  She does get a small portion of commercial kibble in the AM.  We only have to resort to Rx medication once during the fall season as a rule.

Last October she had a particularily bad allergy season.  She was treated with multiple steroid shots, antihistimines, Rx topical shampoos & conditioners, etc.  She was improving before I left for vacation.  The day I returned I supplemented her morning meal as normal with some yogurt and fresh fruit.  That day her sypmtoms noticibly worsened.  I asked if she had been scratching while I was gone and they told me NO.  The babysitter gave her no yogurt.  Lightbulb moment for me, dairy? 

She improved and I discontinued her dairy intake.  No yogurt, treats or food containing dairy since.  No allergy symptoms since that issue.

Now I would like to add back some dairy to test.  Fromm foods and treats all have dairy.  Do you think it is likely that the little amount in a dried kibble or dog treat would be enough to cause issues?  Should I just go back to the yogurt addition to get a reading?  I would like to have the option of not avoiding dairy in commercial foods if this is not really an issue.  (I really like the Fromm line of products).

Am I overthinking this? 

 

[Trudy Harlow]

From a human standpoint, an elimination diet consists of withdrawing all possible allergens (usually, corn, nuts, eggs, milk, etc) and then, one by one, reintroducing them.  The challenge consisted, for me, in having one meal heavy in the allergen.  For instance, when I reintroduced corn into my diet after being off it for a month, I had for lunch a small can of corn kernels with some corn chips on the side.  I assume the challenge would be the same for a dog.  So if you want to test for dairy and she has been completely withdrawn from any sources of it for a month, then you might feed her yogurt twice in one day to see what happens.  I had an immediate reaction to my meal of corn (although I was not allergic to it, just sensitive to the fiber).

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Trudy, when you say you had an immediate reaction, what kind of reaction do you mean? Respiratory, dermatological, gastrointestinal, etc? Because if it was a GI reaction, that's not an allergic reaction, and it's extremely common for anyone to have a GI reaction to a food that they haven't been exposed to for a long period of time. When we have human clients on low fat diets, and they "cheat" with a high-fat meal, they often experience immediate diarrhea and/or gas. That's not an allergic reaction.

 

[Trudy Harlow]

Definitely a GI reaction.  But I was describing the process my allergist used, not my particular physiology.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Yes, if you suspect a food allergy in a dog, the conventional wisdom is to put the dog on a single, novel protein and look for improvement over a period of 8-12 weeks. If you see an improvement, you then begin to add back the previously eaten proteins, one at a time, to see if the symptoms come back in order to pinpoint what might be causing the problem. It's a long tedious process of trial and error which usually ends up being a waste of time, due to the odds of any food being the cause of a true allergic response in a dog being 9 to 1.

But in this case, I think Nancie just wants to see if dairy products specifically are contributing to the allergic reaction. So it's only necessary to eliminate dairy for a period of time and then reintroduce it.
Of course, if inhalant allergies are involved, as suspected, and a dog flares because of pollen or some other inhaled allergen, it makes it even harder to judge the food trial. That's one of the most frustrating aspects of dealing with food allergies in dogs.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Nancie, it supposedly takes weeks to see a change in allergic response to any allergen, food or inhalant, in dogs. I don't think it would have started up so quickly from one serving of yogurt. But if you want to test it, I would use the yogurt as your test, not the Fromm.

[Tammy & Gracie]

(Tammy)  LOL

So it may take weeks to develop the itching if it is in fact a dairy issue.  Currently she has NO issue at all so it is probably a good time to try.  But listening to you it sounds like that one serving of yogurt after my vacation was probably not enough to start the rection in the first place.

 

BTW, how is JD?

 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Darn, sorry about that. You both have dogs with the same names, lol.

JD is hanging in there, thanks for asking. We see the specialist again on Monday. I have been trying to home cook for him, but it appears he really may need a novel protein like kangaroo or rabbit, and those aren't in my repertoire in the kitchen. :(

I know that it does take a long time for allergy symptoms to abate after you remove an offending allergen from the diet or the environment. Whether they can start that fast when you reintorduce it is the 64,000 question. I don't think so, but I can't be certain of that.

Also, dairy allergies are nowhere near as common in dogs as they are in humans. Lactose intolerance is a separate issue, but if we're talking about itching, we're talking about a histamine response, and that's an allergy.

 

[Tammy & Gracie]

Well, in the beginning we went thru the food trial challenge with no real improvement.  Now that I think about it, dairy probably has nothing to do with it.  It was just more of that bad season.  I'll reintroduce it so I will be sure.

I see rabbit in the freezer at my local Kroger.  Have thought about it for Ms G but kept walking.  Are there raw commercial diets out there that are single rare protein?  Make really good friends with a butcher?   Maybe the butcher could order for you.  Just get the meat deboned and ground - just cook from there.  I would think you could locate rabbit.  I bet you can order frozen kangaroo, emu or something else on line.  (Maybe you should be looking for another job to help pay for this new shopping endeavor) LOL

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

There are raw commercial rabbit (and kangaroo) diets out there, but he needs certain fat and fiber levels, limited ingredients, and the cost is also a factor. One store can order it for me at about $600 month.

He's been eating 1.5 lbs of boneless chicken breast per day, and I don't think there's much meat on a rabbit once you remove the bones. They do sell them at the local specialty store, but I still wouldn't know how much, fat content, etc. without getting a veterinary nutritionist consultation to formulate the diet. calories are all important right now.

And until he is in remission and off immunosupressants, raw is out. His digestive tract isn't healthy enough to handle it. :(

There is a kangaroo kibble I've been using to supplement, but the problem with that is that there's nothing to supplement the kibble if I want to give him a treat or boost the protein levels. With a rabbit diet, there is canned rabbit (Evanger's) as well as USA made rabbit jerky, believe it or not. $15.00 for 6 pieces.

Reintroducing the yogurt during a period of no allergy symptoms should help you know if it's a factor.

[Trudy Harlow]

Instinct makes balanced-diet raw rabbit patties that you could thaw and cook for him.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Thanks, Trudy, unfortunately it contains pork liver and pork heart, along with some other ingredients he can't have yet. :(

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Karen, time for you and JD to take a vacation - to Australia perhaps.....