NDF2

That's what I thought Jennie.

Go with my gut and my gut says allergy testing!

 

There is no magic that will make a sensitive dog impervious to triggers. Now, long periods of minizing overall exposures to triggers can make a dog more tolerant of casual exposures. I saw that with Ben, who was almost impossible to protect fro every trigger. He was allergic to dog dander, for pete's sake! But by controlling what I could control, like keeping his environment clean and free of chemical irritants, plus tailoring his diet to not only avoid triggers but also strengthen immunity - he could get away with sneaking the occasional cookie, piece of bread, or lick of milk out of my cereal bowl. One other note. One cannot judge the merits of a diet change overnight. It takes three weeks for the immune system to clear out the histamine from an allergic flareup. It can take longer than that, up to a couple months to a year, for damage to be repaired caused by an irritant, such as occurs in inflammatory flareups. It's my understanding that eye trouble falls in this last category. The key is to watch that symptoms do not WORSEN, plus you do not want to see NEW symptoms in connection with a dietary or other change. Good luck! I sure know how frustrating this can be.

It is frustrating!  MOst of her 8 years has been suffering with yeasty feet, ears, lip folds, red staining eyes.  SO hopefully we'll know by the middle of the month what her allergies are and then develop a plan from there.

:)

 Have you ever done an elimination diet? You probably have, but it's worth a shot asking. Some of the foods that Emma did NOT react to on an immune level, she DID react to, IRL. That's not considered an allergy, it's a sensitivity, but it still causes issues. I used beef and rice for her first elimination diet, when she was a puppy. This time, I used Hills Z/D, because I was so fried and tired of dealing with it. Food made by a machine works better for her, with her allergy to human dander. Dogs are so evil!

She's been on an elimination diet once actually. But it was California natural lamb/rice only no treats or chewies.    She also ate the science diet allergy one which definiely did not help either. I might give it a try again with rice and turkey or something...

Good idea :)

A true elimination diet is composed of proteins your dog has literally never had even a taste of. So a meat plus carb diet would require both the meat and carb source to be things she has never had. An example might be pork and tapioca. You don't worry about balance since it's just a couple months at most. You also keep a careful diary of her symptoms and what's going on at the time (stress, weather, allergen/pollution levels, any cleaning or construction around you).

 Well, if she ate Z/D and it didn't help, maybe it isn't food? Z/D is like.... miracle food for Emma (crazy alien food, but miracle, all the same). It's certainly changed her, and she's definitely affected by both food and environmental allergies. It's nice to have things that are easy to control, like food. That's why I asked. Ideally, you want it to be a novel protein, and a novel carb. Emma is actually allergic to rice.

Well here's an update on NDF2 after having fed it for a month. Gobie the minpin terror is doing great on it. Nice coat, nice breath, stool has firmed up, nice energy, no more eyegoobers. Lexi and Darby are a much different story! Initially Darby started right away with a yeasty ear, ragingly yeasty lip folds, yeasty toes. THen she seemed to be better for about a week. NOw is worsening again. Lexi was quite fine the first couple of weeks but now she frantically scratches, chews, bites, licks all over. It's annoying ME to hear her do this so much so I know how miserable she must be! Of course I can't blame soley the food, environment can be part of it too, which is why I got them allergy tested today. Results take a week. Per the vet, the areas theya re licking/scratching/chewing are typical of food allergy and suggested I do turkey/potato. He's very prohomecooking. Anyway, so here is my final review. I sortof thought this diet was 'magic' because of how the others who feed the volhard ND are so positive and trusting in it. I think there's something in it that really, really bothers the bichon girls! there's the update.

shamrockmommy

... I think there's something in it that really, really bothers the bichon girls!

I would think the likely triggers are wheat or brewer's yeast. Brewer's yeast is the one ingredient that makes Gingerbread break out in hives and itch like crazy.