Food help

[Lisa]

Hello friends, I am new to the group. I have a 6.5 month Golden Doodle named Dempsey, I also have two yorkie mixes Jax and Bella.
I am having major issues finding the right food. We have a couple an after a while we have discovered we think the Dood has chicken allergies. We switched him to Purina Pro Plan lamb and rice, per vet suggestion and it wasn’t getting any better, got worse actually, so we changed all the dogs to lamp and rice thinking he was getttig into their food as well so still being exposed to chicken. So all dogs were on Purina. After doing extensive research, I found that Purina is not a good food, so after doing more and more research we decided to switch them to Taste of the Wild lamb, all three dogs... They have all been transitioned over to it for about a week fully now. Have’t Seen any issues until last night when Dempsey was up three or four times to go out which he NEVER does then I was woken by the sound of him having a diarrhea blowout all over my bedroom...
So I was reading on my facebook groups and then someone posted about the issues people were having with TOTW so now I am worried I made the wrong choice... Is it that or does he have a bug?? He was scheduled to have his surgery tomorrow but I have canceled that because I have a household full of sick humans and now he has diarrhea so I didnt think it would be a good idea to throw a surgery in the mix too.
My questions is, should we stick it out with the food we have or are the reviews people have given as bad as they sound and should I get him off of it today?!?!
I have not given him anything to eat today yet for the fear of more diarrhea...
Please help.. I have no idea what to do! I called the vet and they didn’t seem concerned about it. Said they could give me a probiotic?!? Does that sound right?? And we could watch him. But after reading all those reviews I am even more lost. I thought I was switching him to something good and now I have no clue.
Any words of advise are welcome!!

I’m sorry, I know this is not an emergency so I thank you in advance for any help you can give! 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Okay, so the very first thing you need to know is that it is virtually impossible for a 6 month old puppy to have an allergy to chicken, or to anything. It takes 1-2 years of eating the same food (chicken, beef, whatever) on a regular basis for the body to develop an allergic response to it. In addition, true food allergies in dogs are actually fairly rare, and the symptoms are not what you might think they are. Here is a some good basic information on this: http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/thefoodgroup/forum/topics/facts-a...

The next thing you need to know is that there is no nutrition curriculum in veterinary school (this has been verified) and what little education vets do receive about pet food is presented to them by Big Dog Food, i.e. Purina, Hills, and Iams. GP vets are also not experts on allergies; that's why there are specialists. :)

The third thing is that the worst place you can go for advice on diet or any health issue is Facebook. :)

If I am understanding you correctly, you have tried a number of chicken based foods for your puppy and he has always had some type of digestive issue, possibly loose stools? Is that correct?  Has there ever been a time since you've had him that his stools were firm and he had no sumptoms of digestive issues? Did he come home from the breeder with loose stool? Has he ever been tested for or diagnosed with giardia? Ever been on metronidazole (Flagyl)? 

I'm guessing this is not really a food issue at all. But to answer some of your questions, neither Purina nor TOTW are recommended brands. When I have more info, I can make some suggestions on brands and formulas that might work better for you.

Probiotics are essential, especially when there is any type of digestive issue or when a dog has been on antibiotics. You need a strong colony of beneficial bacteria in the gut for proper stool formation. However, you don't want what most vets sell, which is Purina Fortiflora or Iams Prostora. Ask your vet's office if they carry Proviable. If they do, use it. If not, order it online ASAP. 

In the meantime, I'd put the Yorkies back on the food they were eating before if they were doing well with it, and I'd feed Dempsey a homemade bland diet consisting of 50% plain boiled white meat chicken cut up very small, and 50% cooked mashed sweet potatoes. You can use very lean, well-drained cooked hamburger in place of the chicken. The homemade food has only about half the calories of most dog foods, so you will need to feed twice as much as you normally feed kibble. I'd also give him a couple of tablespoons of plain, unflavored, nonfat yogurt twice a day. That should help stop the diarrhea. 

[Lisa]

Thank you for your reply. And to answer your questions, he has never had any GI issues until last night! He has always had normal stools, I have taken his stool into every visit to make sure and it was always clear of anything. The reason why the vet suspected chicken allergy is because of his itching and nibbling at this arms, paws and face. His eye lids (not the whites of his eyes) the skin all around his eyes were extremely red, and the insides of his ears. They cleared him of anything medically. We thought it got a little better switching to the lamb. But then I was reading more about how bad Purina was and thought we made the right choice about TOTW so we switched to that last week, but then I found more evidence today when I was up all night with him.. That’s where I mentioned Facebook, someone posted an article about TOTW (and so glad they did) so I started reading more about them and read some not so good things. Someone mentioned this site on the FB group last week so I joined and then came here for some help today because we haven’t had any issue like this... 

I only want the best for my pups so that is why I was asking for suggestions. The yorkies were on Iams before and I am not switching them back to that since I have done so much research lately I know that is a bad one too. 

It’s very hard as pet owners because who do we go to for advise or help? Especially if the vets don’t have the education.. 

Thank you for your help!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The allergy symptoms you are describing would be 10 times more likely to be caused by envrionmental (also called seasonal) allergies than by any food. But 6 months is very, very young to be having any type of allergy symptom. This article has some info about things you can do to keep a dog with allergy symptoms comfortable. http://www.doodlekisses.com/group/healthandmedicalissues/forum/topi...
I'd choose a limited ingredient food from our recommended brands list for all the dogs; LID foods typically use proteins other than chicken, and should work for both allergy issues and digestive issues.

Some good options would Wellness Simple Solutions, or Zignature (any formula except the ZZsentials). Most people here who've tried those two lines have had good results.

But do get the probiotics for Dempsey. 

[Lisa]

Ok that is good to know.. I have had a lot of dogs in my life but none with allergies. I will read up on them!! 

I sent my husband last week to get the Zignaturel and he came home with TOTW, lol.... 

And I will get the probiotics for Dempsey for sure!! I haven’t fed him today, should I wait until I get the new food do you think?? Will I need to transition him?? 

And my last question, does anyone have any suggestions on how to get this aweful smell out of the house, lol... either that or its stuck in my nose... I have given him a bath so I don’t think its him, lol... 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'd try giving him the chicken or beef & sweet potatoes, and yogurt, until you can get the probiotics and things calm down with his G.I. tract. He's really too young to be fasted, he's still growing and needs some calories. I wouldn't give him any more of the TOTW; when you get the new food, just start it cold turkey. 

[Wendy and Myla]

Lisa, I see you've only been a member for a very short while so I just wanted to let you know that Karen is our guru for food and allergies.  I would absolutely take her advice about the foods and probiotics.  Once  you get Dempsey's issues settled and get to explore this site, you will know how valuable her advice has been.  Good luck!

[Lisa]

Yes! I just became a member last week and I have only heard good things about this site so thats why I am here. I dont know where else to turn to ask questions like this. The vets are great but its frustrating when they don’t know, does that make sense?? 

And I am definitely taking her advise! Thank you for taking the time to comment!! 

I have had some major medical issue in the last 8 months myself and Dempsey has been my lifesaver, so I only want the best for him and our other babies... so seeing him not feel good is breaking my heart! 

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

Like Wendy said, Karen always gives excellent advice! I can vouch for the chicken, sweet potato and probiotic combo to calm down diarrhea quickly!

I just wanted to throw something out regarding the the itchy paws, legs and face...is it possible it might be linked to a shampoo that you or a groomer are using? Is the skin dry and flakey? Remember to rinse, rinse and rinse again whenever you are bathing him. And, once the diarrhea has calmed down and you look at starting him on a new kibble, consider a food that has a high amount of Omega 3's. Karen can explain and direct you to a food that fits the bill! :-)

Welcome to DK, BTW! You will find this site to be very helpful in lots of ways!

[Lisa]

Thank you everyone!! I ended up getting Zignature and started him on a probiotic... no looose stools since early this morning so that is good!! 

Holign his is is the food we can stick with and be happy healthy pups! Thank you again for your support and suggestions!!!

and sorry for being so crazied this morning, between, sick pup, sick 8 year old and sick husband (actually think he was the worse one, lol) I had a horrible migraine from not much sleep for the last three nights so I started getting sick from those a so it was not a good day all around.

i feel better knowing I have a group to go to that gives good advice that I can trust, so thank you Karen!!! 

Have a a good night!