My vet strongly suggested I take Ella off raw

I'd like to add to everyones comments on Lick granulomas. Boredom plays a big role in making lick granulomas worse, but 90% of lick granulomas can be controlled by finding and controlling an underlying allergy problem. So if your dog has this problem, think allergies first, and control the boredom in the meantime to keep it from getting worse.

Be prepared to continue to struggle with allergies as Ella grows. She will probably continue to become allergic to more foods as she ages. Try not to give her anything she hasn't had before so you can save those proteins/carbohydrates for elimination trials later.

I agree with this 100%. 

Poor little Ella girl! That's gotta be rough.

I'd definitely stop with the treats, and if it doesn't stop.... With her age, and the amount of time you've had her, I'd do the allergy testing. That's what I'd do, if it were Teenie having the same problems. I wouldn't do any drastic diet changes, because Teenie is doing soooo well on her raw food. I'd go straight to the testing. It is a known that Teenie is allergic to grass, and something in TO's Ocean Blue. I don't know anything else that she's allergic to, because she hasn't had any other issues than the rash on her belly and the bad itchies on Ocean Blue.

In other news, I'm an idiot, and decided to give chicken a try, for Emma, this week. I knew that she was allergic to it, as a puppy, but she hasn't had it in three years. I bought a tub of chicken livers, and fed her a few. Oy. I gave her my Solaray Mega Quercetin, twice a day, and it helped a LOT. Benedryll makes me nervous, because it's filtered through the kidneys, and she pees a LOT when she's on it. I save it for emergencies (I even have injectable[]). The Quercetin, given away from food, worked as well, and didn't have to be given as often.

It is a known that Teenie is allergic to grass, and something in TO's Ocean Blue.

ORIGINAL: jennie_c_d

I'm on my first bag of Ocean Blue and it seems to be a good food for my dog but I don't know why they throw everything in their kibbles.  They (not just OB) seem to have too many ingredients.

I'm on my first bag of Ocean Blue and it seems to be a good food for my dog but I don't know why they throw everything in their kibbles. They (not just OB) seem to have too many ingredients.

It really is a lot. They call OB their allergy formula, but it's FULL of (fantastic but) herbs and oils and supplements.

Well, the weather here has gone crazy.(er...I mention this because someone asked me about the weather here)

We bathed her Friday night and by yesterday afternoon her coat was gleaming and I SWEAR the spots weren't anywhere near as swollen.

Where can I get wheat free training treats?
I think I'm going to start the elimination there. I mean, it won't hurt to have a treat without wheat and IF that is what is, at the very least, aggravating the situation, then I can at least stop that part of it now.

The only thing that seems to be bothering her is the lick granuloma. We spray it with that prescription hot spot spray, put a sterilized gauze pad over it, and then wrap it with an ace bandage. But at night she wants to lick the bandaged area. We treat it twice a day and last night when we removed the bandaging there was dried blood on the gauze pad.
And she does NOT like the spray that we put on it.

ORIGINAL: chewbecca


Where can I get wheat free training treats?
I think I'm going to start the elimination there. I mean, it won't hurt to have a treat without wheat and IF that is what is, at the very least, aggravating the situation, then I can at least stop that part of it now.

Natural Balance makes some excellent allergy diet treats. I'm currently using the duck and potato ones for Romeo, and he loves them.

Or, you can make homemade liver treats with oat flour.  And if you can't find it, just put oatmeal in the blender and turn it into flour yourself.

ORIGINAL: glenmar

Or, you can make homemade liver treats with oat flour. And if you can't find it, just put oatmeal in the blender and turn it into flour yourself.

Yeah, I don't want you to think that I dislike your liver treats recipe. Ella LOVES THEM. But, I'm going to make them with potato flour, I think.

I did the wheat flour because it was easy to find at the grocery store.

Oh, and I just walked Ella out in a foot of snow and got a good look at her skin/fur and she looks 85% better today.
Those are some GOOD antibiotics.
I give her one a day for 21 days. Weird.

There are actualyy losts of wheat free treats these days.
 
Solid Gold Jerky Treats
Wellness Pure Rewards--no grains
Zuke's Jerky Naturals
Canz Real Meat Treats---no grains
Stella & Chewy's Carnivore Crunch--no grain----my guy's FAVORITE
 
There are more, but these are right off the top of my head--I like the Canz Real Meat Treats and Stella & Chewy's best. I can get all with the exception of the Stella and Chewy's at my local pet store.  There are many more options online.

ORIGINAL: tzu_mom

There are actualyy losts of wheat free treats these days.

Solid Gold Jerky Treats
Wellness Pure Rewards--no grains
Zuke's Jerky Naturals
Canz Real Meat Treats---no grains
Stella & Chewy's Carnivore Crunch--no grain----my guy's FAVORITE

There are more, but these are right off the top of my head--I like the Canz Real Meat Treats and Stella & Chewy's best. I can get all with the exception of the Stella and Chewy's at my local pet store. There are many more options online.

Are you talking like a privately owned, local pet store, or a Petco type place?
I have both near me, but the privately owned sells Zuke's and some others, but I REALLY think the Canz Real Meat Treats and the Stella ones are the ones I want to try and she doesn't sell those.

er...I'll call my local pet healthfood store lady on Monday and see what they have available.

Are you talking like a privately owned, local pet store, or a Petco type place?

 
It is a privately owned pet store.
 
I also order both the Canz and the Stella and Chewy's from: [linkhttp://www.sitstay.com/]http://www.sitstay.com/[/link]

Jennie & Rebecca,
 
Rebecca,
 
Make sure to give lots of good probiotics afterwards!  I'm quite sure that you know this, but I just had to say it just in case!  I think I would also give one a few hours after the antibiotic as well since you are only giving one a day.
 
Jennie:  So, she did have a bad reaction to the chicken livers, then?  So, even after 3 years, she reacted to it?  An odd thought of mine, I suppose, but I would think the liver of a chicken would be more like the liver of say, beef, than say the protein of a chicken.  Even tho it's from chicken, I would have thought the liver itself wouldn't have the same reaction as the chicken meat.   I suppose that's an odd thought, but that's how it seems to me.  So, she does ok on other liver? Just not chicken liver b/c she's allergic to chicken?    Interesting.
 
And, about the quercetin:  As I recall, it helps with allergies???  So, in doing the elimination diet on my girl, I can't get her down to "zero" on her symptoms.  I can get her down to about a "2" and I decided to just test at that level b/c I couldn't get her cleared completely up.  I didn't want to use a drug, b/c I thought that might affect the challange foods as well, so I really wouldn't know how bad she reacted.
 
SO, could I supplement her with the Quercetin to help reduce the allergic reaction (she shows it by the redness of her skin -- and it's very reactive.  She can get down to a level of "1" on rare occasions, and flare back up w/n 12 hours of eating a bite of something).  
 
So, how much would I give a 30 lb. dog?  Would I give it in food?  Can I use this regularly for a while (several months).  I know with some supplements, you don't want to stay on them all the time or the body becomes used to it and it doesn't help.  So, would it be alright to use while I finished the food trial (which might be as long as the remainder of this year ------ so in that case, I'm thinking it would be good to be on it awhile, and then go off awhile and use it in cycles to give the body a break from the supplement?) ?????
 
Gosh, I'm glad you work in a health food store. []
 
Lynn

Is there anything about her diet that has changed over the past 6 weeks or so? A new ingredient, meat source, or seasonal fruit/vegetable? If so, that could be your culprit.
 
This is something I've always wondered about, and I apologize if I'm straying off topic, how long does it usually take for an allergic reaction to an ingredient to show up? And does that change if the ingredient/source is only offered occasionaly? 

ORIGINAL: chewbecca

Oh, and I just walked Ella out in a foot of snow and got a good look at her skin/fur and she looks 85% better today.
Those are some GOOD antibiotics.
I give her one a day for 21 days. Weird.

SIMPLICEF!!! I love that stuff too...

21 days is the minimum for a mild-moderate skin infection.

ORIGINAL: chasza

Jennie:  So, she did have a bad reaction to the chicken livers, then?  So, even after 3 years, she reacted to it?  An odd thought of mine, I suppose, but I would think the liver of a chicken would be more like the liver of say, beef, than say the protein of a chicken.  Even tho it's from chicken, I would have thought the liver itself wouldn't have the same reaction as the chicken meat.   I suppose that's an odd thought, but that's how it seems to me.  So, she does ok on other liver? Just not chicken liver b/c she's allergic to chicken?   

Since allergies are usually to specific proteins, I suppose its possible to have a reaction to a chicken muscle protein that wouldn't be found in liver. But, every animal will have proteins found on every cell that identify them as "chicken" and if the reaction is to one of those proteins, they'll be allergic to all chicken parts.

Edited to prevent double-posting...

Thank you Misskiwi.  So,  Theoritically, it would be possible to have a chicken allergy, but not be allergic to chicken liver.  In reality; however, that would be highly unlikely. Much more likely to be allergic to anything chicken - including organs.
 
But, I think since Jennie tried chicken again, it was then best to try the liver part since there would be a miniscule possiblity that there would be no reaction.
 
How come our memory cells in our minds seems to not work the way we want them to, BUT, the memory cells of the body remember perfectly.  [8|]   Drat!