Food allergy/sensitive stomach & diet - help?

I have had great results with Purina Pro Plan Sensitive skin and stomach.

 California Natural has worked wonders for Ari (queen of vomit and diarreah). She couldn't tolerate the fish formula though (or maybe we just couldn't tolerate her gas )

If you suspect a food allergy, have you tried an elimination diet? I know others on the board have gone through that process and can help you far more than I on that.

I have run the gamut with food!  The best kibble and canned that has worked well consistently for my guys is PetGuard Lifespan dry and canned. You probably wil have to get it through a health food store.  They make sure no sneaky ingredients get in the food which might affect/bother the dogs.

Otherwise the next best thing for my guys (wonderful for my minpin who has mushy poo chronically) is the recipes for a healthy dog from th book Home Prepared Dog and Cat Diets by Donald Strombeck.  They do well on the potato recipes especailly.

 Also,check out www.dogtorj.com and read about the GARD diet. Maybe that will help?

Is it any better with canned?  Willow only eats canned now.  We had tried several times with many different foods but the kibble always ended up causing issues eventually.  That's not to say she never has an intestinal troubles now but it's much less frequent. 

The one she tolerated the longest was the Natural Balance Fish. 

Thanks to all.  I may try the California Natural as I have heard good things about that food in the past.  I don't feed canned food - but that may be an option worth checking into since the dry has been giving her problems. 

When we first adopted her I was feeding a bit of Merrick canned on top of Avoderm dry, but she ballooned up in weight even with my rationing it out carefully.  Are any of the canned foods complete enough to not have to feed dry food as well? 

blee

Are any of the canned foods complete enough to not have to feed dry food as well? 

I think most of them are.  You just have to make sure it's not just plain meat meant to be used as a topper. If it says something like for intermittent or supplemental feeding, that's a topper.   California Natural makes a few different canned versions you might want to check out.

Here's what the cans look like.  http://www.naturapet.com/brands/california-natural.asp

You can see it says "complete and balanced" in that little paragraph.  That's what you want. 

Good luck with whatever you try!

Lori

 Like Willow said, most canned is a complete meal. I would love to go canned, but the cost would be too much for us (Ari's in the 60 lbs. range and active). Canned may be a great option for you if the cost is doable. They tend to have very simple formulas. I personally cannot say enough good things about California Natural.

Why don't you simply home cook?  VERY often it is things like preservatives that can be the root of the problem.  By the time you factor in all the hassle of trying to guess what food to use *this* week and the agony of having a dog with an upset stomach -- cooking can be E ... Z !

You don't cook every day.  You cook maybe once a week -- then just portion it out.  You start with something like ground beef and white potato (often rice is an inflammatory) -- and then gradually add things.  Veggies can be *such* good sources of fiber and nutrition. 

Dogs don't digest cellulose -- so you either need to cook and mash the veggies or mechanically process it.  I cook for all my dogs and I tell you -- it resolves a TON of problems. 

Mine usually get no grain at all.  But I can adjust it to suit the needs of all of them (and all my dogs actually have separate health issues -- but MANY of them are a non-event with home cooked food).

What do they eat?  This week it's ground beef, sweet potato, white potato, turnip greens, cabbage, carrots, okra (yeah, for real -- OKRA), tomato, garlic and sardines.  (I either add sardines or white fish weekly to provide Omega 3's)

I had a little mix who had pancreatitis in a *big* way when she was 3.  She was on enzymes for the rest of her life and ... that's where I learned to cook for the dog.  The recipe the vet gave me (this was 35 years ago) was ground beef, rice, garlic powder and an egg.  That's it and that's primarily what she ate for the next 18 years.

Yes -- no more "balance" than that.  It's really NOT difficult to cook for them -- Even cooking for my crew I spend maybe 3 hours once a week (a lot of it is done in a big tabletop roaster/slow cooker).  The I literally just portion it out. 

You don't need a ton of ingredients.  Start easy and then see how it's tolerated.  But I can betcha you will see superb results. 

Oh man..............I hear ya!!!  lol!

I have had Gibson who is 19 months old now on Eagle Pack from the time I got him at 8 weeks.  Welll....outside of the bag of Pedigree that I promised his breeder that I will keep him on....

He has a sensitive stomach or something....I can not make any sense of it at all. From the time I got him...on and off we have problems. Can't even figure out why.  I did take back the lamb formula because I thing that got him.....but even that I'm not sure of.   He occasionally gets a bout of diarrhea....and occasionally bouts of vomiting but usually not after his dinner....  usually vomits up pretty much nothing.  But he gets in spurts of swallowing really hard and excessively and lots of those times he is asking to go out and when he does he is trying to eat grass. WE are going thru that right now.

Worst part....I had just decided to change his food to California Natural....he has been eating it for over a week..but still mixing it with his Eagle Pack. Today we started 1/2 c. EP to 1 1/2 of CN..  today he is not doing well at all and I'm so frustrated and depressed over this.  I have been giving him BilJac Frozen for several months at one of his meals ( he is eating 3 times a day ) and I think tomorrow we are going to feed him only that.  

I just might give up on kibble totally.

Oh Callie thank you so much for this post!  Nice to know you cook for your dogs with good results.  Do you have any good sites or cookbooks to suggest?  Everything I read online seems to warn that homecooking does not provide sufficient nutrients and it makes me paranoid.

Bailey is not a picky eater, so I'm lucky.  I am going to try to cook this weekend for the upcoming week and see how she does with different foods and veggies.  Yesterday I begrudgingly bought her a small bag of Science Diet sensitive stomach formula and it doesn't seem to be bothering her but she's normally ok with new food at first.

Dyan, I totally know what you are going through!  It's so sad to see your sweet dog not feeling well, and especially when you're taking care to provide a good quality dog food and the best care you can.  Bailey starts in with the swallowing and then licking the carpet, etc.  Usually in the middle of the night too!

It's frustrating - why is it that people I know who feed "Ol' Roy" or Kibbles and Bits have dogs with stomachs of steel!?! 

Great post, Callie,

Blee- I homecook also because my minpin has GI trouble, and my bichon girls are so sensitive to things that they end up chewing their feet and scratching themselves to pieces on all but one brand of kibble. 

I follow the recipes in _Home Prepared Dog and Cat Diets_ by Donald Strombeck, DVM. The dogs are doing AWESOME on it.  I had one flub up this week where I gave a meal of TOTW (even though it's grain free) and the girls itched and chewed feet like crazy.   I also mix it up in bulk and freeze them in tupperwares, lasts me a couple weeks at a time.  Need to make another batch in the morning, I remind myself :)

It's not hard at all once you get the hang of it.   Another food they did well on is FreshPet which I get at the grocery store, believe it or not, in a little refrigerator case. 

The food issue rollercoaster is not fun, hope you can figure out something for your woofer.

shamrockmommy

 Another food they did well on is FreshPet which I get at the grocery store, believe it or not, in a little refrigerator case. 

Yes...thats a good food....but again...for a Dane its quite expensive.  Cost is something we have to consider....I sure want to make sure I have the $$ to take care of his medical too. I have a can of Eagle  Pack...I used to keep a can or two on hand in case I ran out of HM food that I put on top of kibble once a day...but the can directions say 3/4 to 1 1/2 can per 15# body weight.  So I'm figuring that Gibby would need 7 cans a day.  I do beleve last time I looked these cans were almost $2.00 a can. Not sure how anyone could afford that.