DOG FOOD AND EYE GOOP

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

This is not earth shattering, but my son texted me today with his observation that his doodle gets goopy eyes when eating Orijen Adult Formula as opposed to any of the other Orijen kibbles. It got me to thinking and realizing that Ned has this same situation. Clancy - not at all.   I never really thought about food possibly attributing to runny eyes. We love our Orijen here but wonder if there might be something in the Adult Formula that could contribute to increased eye goo in some dogs that isn't in the other formulas.  Just coincidence?

[Kate, Mel, Tenley & Harper]

We definitely had increased eye goop before we switched from the puppy/adult regular formula to rotating between six fish and regional red. At first I thought it was just a seasonal thing, but it's been 18 months since we switched and the lack of goop has been consistent no matter what season.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

This is another one of those cases where you hear lots of anecdotal information, but there is no physiological explanation. Like people who say their dogs get yeast infections from certain foods. I can't deny what you're noticing, but I also can't come up with any logical explanation. It simply cannot be a food allergy or sensitivity, because if that were the case, you would see other (more significant) symptoms. 

The only real difference between the Orijen Adult and the 6 Fish or Regional Red is the protein source. I know that's going to lead a lot of people to say "chicken allergies", but as mentioned above, there is just no such thing as an allergy where the only symptom is goopy eyes. 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

In no way do I think true allergies - same in both Ned and Junior - not.  It is just one of those things he noticed in Junior and that I notice in Ned.  Must be age related - ask any doctor! :-}

Thanks, Karen and Kate.

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

I fall into the camp of anecdotal observation with Oscar's eyes. He's never eaten Orijen, but as a young puppy he had runny, goopy eyes constantly while on Fromm's Game Bird. That all but cleared up once I switched him to a non poultry based formula. To this day, with Oscar at 3-1/2 yrs old, he develops runny, messy eyes if he gets plain chicken treats, so whatever the reason, he seems to have a reaction to poultry.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

We removed turkey and dark meat chicken from Tara's diet and are, as I mentioned below seeing an improvement too. She is still getting white meat chicken occasionally so  maybe we'll need to stop feeding her that too. We'll have to see how it goes. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Since we're talking about poultry here, it's really important to remember that they are not the same; the molecular structure of chicken is very different from that of turkey, or of duck, or any other protein source. Under chemical analysis, chicken is no more similar to turkey than it is to beef. And in fact, lots of dogs who have real chicken allergies can eat turkey or duck with no problem at all. 

The Orijen Adult formula that Nancy thinks is causing problems contains both chicken and turkey, and it's impossible to know which might be causing the problem.

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

That's interesting because we are seeing the same thing happen right now with Tara. Although she eats fresh mostly raw food we recently switched proteins. Her eye goo is rapidly decreasing. It's  only been a week and we've seen around a 40% improvement.  So perhaps it is, as Karen suggested, something to do with the proteins. 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I also wonder if some dogs get more goop as they age.