calliecritturs
Posted : 11/25/2014 1:32:02 PM
@Michele68
Hi
Not necessarily, however grain free is a great way to go. He could just have dry skin. If you are only feeding dry food you need to get moisture in the diet asap! I never had an issue I give my dogs a can of soft food once a day and they have access to hard food all the time. In the soft food I mix a little dry, safflower oil and sometimes a raw egg. Safflower oil you can get in any grocery store in the isle with the oils. I put about 2 tablespoons a day. When I started I did 4. Dogs don't drink enough water to get the moisture they need and their skin can get very dry and that can cause so many issues. From time to time I'll put in some raw chicken or beef, venison, once a week they also get sardines. What kind of dog do you have? The other thing he could be allergic to something, that could not be a food allergy. Let me know what you are feeding and what type of dog. Thanks looking forward to hearing from you.
In honesty true food "allergies" truly only account for about 25% of dog allergies. There are things like flea allergy dermatitits (allergic to the flea spit) that causes a really nasty reaction, and then there are "contact allergies" (like for humans poison ivy is a contact allergen but dogs are actually prone to more contact allergies than we are.)
But *most* dog allergies are "atopic" -- meaning inhaled allergies, which in dogs also are transmitted thru the skin.
Bottom line -- PLEASE don't think "food allergy" is the definitive answer. It's not -- it's simply the easiest for most vets to deal with -- they can hand you a hydrolyzed food that just plain isn't absorbed normally into the body (but usually is full of allergens) -- but it may help.
Usually tho it is the tip of the iceberg -- and the environment is truly typically FAR more the problem. Dogs can be allergic to everything from dust mites in wallpaper paste and carpeting, to the oak, maple or whatever trees are in your yard (and they walk thru those leaves and that dust/mold all the time)
Diagnosing this can get expensive -- the "affordable" blood tests (a few hundred dollars) generally are very limited and show little. The bigger definitive 'scratch' tests are usually a lot more (unless you go to a vet school which is typically FAR more reasonable) -- but that may tell you something way more helpful.
Case in point -- a friend of mine had a little jack russel who had horrific allergies -- just logic had said that it had to be somehow seasonal but she did a prolonged elimination diet, and food trials and eventually went to Cornell for the big blood testing (which was a fraction of what specialist had quoted her).
As it turned out -- Quincy was "allergic" to most of "life". Maple, oak, dust mites, on and on and on the list went. BUT ... the #1 ***biggest*** allergy? (and this is a truly *rare* dog allergy) was ... FEATHERS!!
Yep -- just plain old 'feathers' -- so every time it got cold and she dragged out the feather comforter?? he got worse. But they slept with feather pillows all year round (and he slept at the top of the bed!)
She went out and bought pillow covers and a cover for the mattress and comforter and suddenly Quincy's allergies backed off to something totally and completely manageable.
I'm not saying your dog is allergic to feathers. I'm saying don't make a ton of changes all at one time, and using sensible small changes like Michelle suggests above (like getting the right kind of fat in the diet) can really help.
I don't use safflower but I give my dogs sardines every day (and I buy the Goya nasty "oval tin"s that are cheap, and ugh ... they look SO awful -- but dang the dogs love them and they are economical and totally absorbable -- but Michelle and I are saying try the easy stuff first.
Allergies are very individual. Far more than you'd think. And you can run yourself ragged with commercial foods and never win.