Hills Derm Defense dry dog food.

[Carolyn and Sadie]

Hi Karen, I was wondering if you could look over the ingredients of this new prescription dog food and determine how it could work to reduce itching due to environmental allergies. Thank you

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It can't. It's pure garbage, and a perfect example of why there's a class action lawsuit against these Rx food companies for false advertising and misleading labeling. 

All of the claims about " bioactives and phytonutrients", "antioxidants, including vitamin E", and fatty acids are true of every food on our list, and ours don't contain the garbage this food does. Plus it's loaded with grain, the first ingredient is brewr's rice, which is essentially floor sweepings, and the omega 3 fatty acids are not the kind that dogs can convert or utilize, nor the type shown to be effective for treating allergy symptoms. 

I can tell you that this food would make most dogs with Atopic Dermatitis itch more. 

 

[Carolyn and Sadie]

How about Acana Singles with sun cured alfalfa in them? Wouldn't that be a problem with a dog with pollen allergies? My Sadie has a lot of itching in the fall so should I stay away from alfalfa in a dog food?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Allergies are very specific. Nobody, dog or human, is allergic to "pollen". They're allergic to ragweed pollen, or fescue pollen, or red clover pollen, or maple pollen. It's very doubtful that your dog's fall itching is caused by alfalfa pollen, lol. And even if it was, it's not the pollen that's used in the food. There is nothing in Acana Singles (or any other food we recommend) that could trigger allergy symptoms in an atopic dog.

I know we talked about all this a long time ago; did you ever see a veterinary allergy specialist? If not, I strongly recommend it. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

BTW, alfalfa is a flowering plant in the legume family, related to peas, and it contains a substance that actually helps alleviate hay fever symptoms in people.