No chicken

[Vicky loves Chachi]

Ok so I cut chicken and Salmon out because I and the Vet suspected Chachi may have been reacting to them ( very itchy ears). Of course we r not sure but he seems to be doing very well now. He has been on 5 different foods as I worked through his ear scratching and vomiting. I switched him a few weeks ago to Canidea as it's on the recommended food list and I thought he could do a couple different varieties. He's been on the bison grain free for a few weeks now. I went to switch flavor for variety when I went to grab a back of another flavor I found out that the others have chicken fat! Now what do I do? Keep him on just the one flavor? Switch him again to another brand with more a variety that's chicken, salmon and grain free? Or is chicken fat ok? I really would like for him to have other proteins. So frustrated . This is much harder than it was feeding my children when they were babies. Chachi is 7 months now.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It's doubtful that either chicken or salmon are causing your puppy's ear infections. Food allergies are relatively rare, and rarer still in puppies. And a dog has to have been eating a particular protein on a regular basis for at least several months to develop an allergy to it. If the ear issues are related to food at all, it would more likely be an issue with grain. The fact that he's doing better now could very well be related to a weather change. But if it seems to you that eliminating chicken and salmon have helped, there's no harm in continuing to omit them from his diet. The real test will be if his ears are still good come spring. 

Chicken fat is okay, even if he does have an allergy or sensitivity to chicken. It's the protein that triggers the allergic response, and the chicken fat in dog foods doesn't contain complete protein. So go ahead and try one of the other formulas. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It looks like you posted this discussion here in TFG twice. I closed the other one to prevent confusion. You might want to see if you can delete it. 

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Luna doesn't tolerate chicken very well, but her symptoms are gastrointestinal (loose stools).  Itchy ears sounds more like an environmental allergy to me.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Yep. Or just a case of "poodle ears". 

[kristine & Auggie]

Auggie is allergic to chicken.  I think I over did the chicken as a training treat.  He reached a point when he couldn't tolerate it anymore and then started throwing it back up.  A couple of months ago he started chewing on his leg.  Numerous visits to the vet, allergy testing and changing his food he seems so much better.  His allergy tests came back negative for environmental [ which I still am not sure I believe ] but he is on limited ingredient Acana duck and pear.  I know how you feel, it is frustrating to keep trying different things.  It is trial and error and so far we are doing well.  But, it could also be the change in seasons.  I will be able to know better in the spring if this all starts up again.  Good luck and don't get too frustrated, you will get it all sorted out.

 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

How old is Auggie? Skin scratch testing for allergies is not typically done before the dog is at least a year old, and blood or saliva tests are worthless. If Auggie's itching starts up again in the Spring, I strongly recommend that you consult a veterinary dermatology specialist. 

[kristine & Auggie]

He is one. When I picked him up at 12 weeks he was already itching. He has always been on grain free.  But, I got so crazy with tons of chicken and steak treats and Bully sticks so maybe too may different proteins.  But the timing did   seemed to coinside with the outdoor activities.  So, he is on limited diet and I will sure be watching for season change as I really still think it is environmental.  I don't think the blood test was all that accurate. But his food has no chicken and he seems so much better.  But, it is a wait and see.  If it does come back then it is time for the specialist.

 

[Vicky loves Chachi]

I would b so happy if u all were right and he is not allergic to chicken and salmon. Let me give u some background info and tell me what u think. Sorry for the lengthy story.
When I got Chachi in early July he was 12 weeks, he was on Fromm surf and turf. He came to me with an ear infection that according to the breeder was due to lots of lake swimming. Finished antibiotics and did great. I added Fromm beef frittata for variety. Early September I noticed he was scratching like crazy, smelly ears and had green guck coming out of one eye. Stools were normal. Took him to vet and he had double ear infection, apparently I was not cleaning his ears enough cause they were awfully dirty ( didn't realize I was supposed to be flushing ears out) and he had conjunctivitis. Ear drops and eye drops prescribed. One week later his eye was fine but he was scratching, twitching like crazy and moaning when scratching. I rushed him to the Vet ( different person same place). Vet said one ear was fine but other was very inflammed. This Vet then said it's probably due to food allergies and that chicken is a big culprit. At this point Chachi was 4 months old and I had been giving his lots of chicken items like chicken liver and raw ground chicken with back. So he told me to cut it out. All apparent chicken removed. The ear got better and I was diligent about cleaning his ears. Continued to scratch but not often. Two weeks later he had finished his Surf and Turf 15 min prior when he started scratching and moaning. I decided to read the label on the Fromm bag and I noticed there was chicken in it. I switched him to the beef frittata we had and decided to change to Nature's Variety grain free cause they had a variety to chose from. I started him on the Salmon, slowly weaning him off the Beef frittata. A week later he was doing 80/20. NV/Fromm, he vomited once bile only. Eating ok, no other signs of illness. 4 days later he was full NV, that morning he ate his kibble, maybe half. Didn't eat again( yogurt was offered as I do every day, did not eat it) 10 hrs after breakfast he vomited his kibble and has softer stool. Not acting himself, seemed very mouthy and hungry. I called Vet, they had me start hi. On boiled ground beef ( I had grass fed) and rice. Vet said I should stop the Salmon as he may b allergic since Salmon was in the surf & turf and in the NV. So while on the rice and beef and doing well I switched him to Wellness limited ingredient Lamb and oatmeal. He has done well on this. Has had a few isolated vomiting episodes with no stool change. I noticed in this group that that food was not the greatest and not grain free so I wanted to change it and decided to weaned him to Canidae Pure Sky Bison with lamb meal. He has been on that since end of October and doing great. I also started him on 500mg of EPO.
I was not convinced he was having food allergies but thought I would see if it stopped the scratching. He still scratches but not terribly, may just b normal scratching. Could it have been Fall environmental allergies? Should I try some chicken?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The odds of the scratching being from "Fall environmental allergies" i.e. ragweed allergies as opposed to food allergies is 10 to 1, and that's a factual statistic. And the chances of a 4 month old puppy having an allergy to not just one animal protein but two are very, very slim. Vomiting and GI symptoms are not usually allergy symptoms anyway; they can be from a food intolerance, which is quite different from an allergy. Most likely, the NV food just did not agree with him; it could be that it was too high in fat, or any number of other reasons, and not necessarily the salmon. 

(Why doesn't your vet know this? Because your vet is a general practice vet, like your primary care doctor, and is not a specialist in allergies. )

I don't know where you heard that the Wellness Simple Solutions lamb & oatmeal formula is "not the greatest". JD is on one of the Wellness LID formulas, trust me that he would not be getting it if I thought was the tiniest bit questionable. :)

But as long as Chachi is doing well with the Canidae formula, that's fine too. I would not switch again right now, I would not add, introduce, or reintroduce anything, I would leave his diet alone right now. It hasn't even been a month since the last switch. I'd wait to reintroduce chicken until everything is pretty well frozen outdoors.

As far as normal scratching goes, there shouldn't be much of it. Because of JD's allergies, I'm hypersensitive to a dog's scratching, and I notice it right away. JD almost never scratches at all. The EPO should help the itching. Other things that may help are to keep his areas as dust free as possible, brush him often, wipe his feet after he comes in from outdoors, wash his bedding often, and change your furnace filter often.  

The ear infections were probably not caused by allergies at all, but rather by a combination of dirt, moisture, and genetics. Keeping the ear canals clean, dry, and free of hair should help.