Can you recommend a kibble for an allergic 6.5 month old pup?

[Nancy and Georgia Brown]

Georgia has allergies, as I mentioned in another post. My vet is pretty sure it's food allergies, since she scratches all over from the day I brought her home, and it hasn't changed with the weather except now she has some little bumps in certain areas.

I have been feeding her Orijen puppy. It has chicken, turkey, eggs and fish as the protein. So I've been advised to look for a food that doesn't have the same proteins, is grain free, and has as few protein sources and ingredients as possible.

I think she can probably switch to an adult food at this point without any serious issues.

I have been looking at all the foods in the recommended list. It's a bit of an overwhelming task and thought others might have ideas. Acana Lamb and apple looked good, but the protein content may be too low, also looking at the ranchlands or grasslands formulas but they contain several sources of protein.

Any recommendations?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I agree, F. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Linda, now I'm really confused, because above, you said they were NOT keen on the rabbit, lol:

Reply by Linda, Charlie Brown & Beau 14 hours ago

It is a concern for me too because I recently switched to Instinct Rabbit.  Karen, I value our opinion concerning this.  Charlie & Beau prefer Wellness Core and the kibble is a larger size. I am in the processing of switching to rabbit, but they are not too keen on it. 

At any rate, I will let you know what I find out, but I was thinking that if they aren't crazy about the rabbit, anyway, we might look for something else.

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

Karen ~ I will be looking for your post after you talk to Instinct Variety.  You asked what TOTW Beau was on and it was the puppy formula.  After about three months on TOTW, Beau no longer wanted to eat the kibble.  I took a bag back to store and they told me TOTW had actually changed the puppy formula.  So I decided to let him eat the Wellness Core since Charlie eats that and it was easier.  It may be possible that I will have to feed two different foods.  Darn it!  They both seem to like the rabbit, but I have concerns about it now.

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

I meant to say that I was enjoying the fact that they were both eating the same food Wellness.  When I decided to switch Beau, I was being lazy and decided to switch Charlie to the rabbit too.  Initially they both loved it and during transition they would leave the wellness and eat just the rabbit.  I thought they were really liking it, but two days ago, Charlie stopped eating it.  The last two days, he does not want to eat breakfast and stands there like he is waiting for something else.   However, at night he is hungry and did eat it. It has only been the last two or three days that they are not crazy about it.  Now they we have switched, I hate to switch again, if we do not have to.  If the vet had not suggested RX for Beau, I would not have tried switching and would still be feeding Wellness.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The vets recommend Rx food for everything. They sell it, lol. 

It sounds like your guys are pulling the "I'm bored with this food, maybe if I stop eating it, Mom will give me something else" trick on you. We've had a lot of discussions on that. Possible allergy issues aside, it's a mistake to change foods in the hope of finding something a dog "likes", because eventually, they are not going to "like" whatever it is. You may already have read this, but just in case you haven't, please do. It will sound familiar, and give you a laugh, too: http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/an-ode-...

Rotation diets, where you switch formulas within the same line, help with this. 

As far as Beau's itchiness goes, TOTW has a very poor Omega 6:3 ratio, and that can contribute to dry skin and itching. Have you tried the Wellness Core Ocean formula? 

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

Karen thank you for your time and all you do for the food group.  I really appreciate it.  You have helped so many of us. I saw F's comment re: keeping ears clean and acidified and I will be more diligent about that.  I will keep them on the rabbit until I see that it has been removed from the good foods list.  If and when that happens, I will try one of the lines that have the rotation diets - possibly Fromm.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You can rotate within almost any food line; a lot of people do it with the Acana Regionals, and with Orijen's three adult formulas. You could rotate the Core formulas, too.  

[Nancy and Georgia Brown]

So I have been researching this quite a bit.

I used to think there were so many dog foods out there and so many options. But now I'm surprised there are so few options when I really try to find what I need. And I feel more confused than ever.

This forum has done a wonderful job at educating me.

The Instinct brand looks good, but doesn't contain that much protein. And tapioca and Montmorillonite Clay are in the top of the ingredient list. Both contain few nutrients. The clay is added to create harder stools.

The Acana brand SIngles is so far my top choice. The first listed ingredients are the proteins, and it has a better profile from what I can tell. But I'm still learning.

Is it that necessary to isolate it to a protein she has never consumed if she is a 6.5 month old puppy, or is it better to just switch her puppy food that is a different single source protein. I ask because I still need to have treats available for training and ones that she wants to eat. She's a picky eater.

Compared to the orijen puppy that I have been feeding her all LIDs fall short on the protein scale.

If I need to supplement her daily kibble for treats, I need to consider my options.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

In honesty, I would bet a significant amount of money that your puppy does not have food allergies; but since you are going with the advice of the holistic vet who feels that she does, as you mentioned in another post, I've been giving you the advice you asked for, lol. 

If in fact your puppy does have food allergies, the only way to avoid whatever food it is that triggers her symptoms is to feed a protein that she has never had before. Food allergies are specific; they are caused by a particular protein. That's why your vet told you to feed a novel protein. Feeding a food with a single protein source will do you no good if it happens to be one of the proteins to which she is allergic. 

As I also mentioned previously, yes, LID foods are never going to have the kind of protein content of Orijen. Single protein foods won't either. I am not sure where you're getting the idea that the NV LID rabbit formula has tapioca or clay as the first ingredient. The rabbit meal, which is the protein source,  is the first ingredient: Ingredients
Rabbit Meal, Tapioca, Peas, Canola Oil (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols and Citric Acid), Natural Flavor, Montmorillonite Clay, Coconut Oil, Potassium Chloride, Salt, Vitamins (Vitamin A Supplement, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin Supplement, d-Calcium Pantothenate, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Folic Acid, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement), Choline Chloride, Minerals (Zinc Proteinate, Iron Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Ethylenediamine Dihydriodide, Sodium Selenite), Green Tea Extract, Rosemary Extract.

Tapioca is a low-allergen carbohydrate.

Unfortunately, the only way to get an LID food twith a novel protein source and a high protein percentage is going to be to order rabbit, bison, or some other novel protein and make your own food. Otherwise, if you want to accept your vet's diagnosis and proceed with a food trial, these are your options. You can look for other formulas, but trust me, I've been there, and have been helping others whose dogs have IBD for which a novel protein is required, and what you want just isn't out there. 

Personally, my advice would be to consult a veterinary dermatology specialist for another opinion, because the chances are good you are going through all of this for nothing, and that the food is not the cause of the itching. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You could go ahead with trying the Acana Duck and Pear formula in the Singles line. Whichever protein you choose to try, you will have to limit her treats to that one protein as well, or use fruit or vegetable based treats.  

[Nancy and Georgia Brown]

Thanks Karen,
I'm not convinced it's food allergies either. I"m pretty sure you are right. But for now it's the cheapest thing for me to try.

[lori]

My pup is now 14 months and we too had similar food issues that began early. From day we brought him home, he was scratching, licking paws and then at 5 months extreme diarrhea. Vet felt it was food allergy (maybe after reading here, it was food intolerance, but the bottom line is he could not tolerate certain foods) 

He was on Acana Wild Prairie from the start and then looking for novel protein, we switched to Natural Balance LI lamb and rice, which he has done great on. Scratching, butt biting stopped and stools are perfect. Then last month, we tried switching back to the Acana, going with the single Lamb and apple. Almost immediately butt biting started and stools got increasingly softer as we increased the new food. When switch was complete so was the diarrhea. Poor thing even had an accident in the middle of the night. All of the posts I have read here suggest that I should be using a better quality food  and I really would like to find one but do not want to put my boy (or my rugs LOL) thru the diarrhea stage again. 

I compared the ingredients between the Natural balance lamb and the Acana and saw that the Acana had peas as top ingredient.   Most of the other foods that I have checked with lamb as the main protein, also have peas so I am wondering if peas could be a problem, as they are protein too?  Any recommendations from the experts here would be appreciated.