Should I switch to Hill's Prescription?

I agree that the OP does not sound like she has horrible, unidentified food allergies and probably doesn't need it

 
  Actually, her dog is allergic to several foods and she has very few choices for feeding her dog.

allergic to chicken, turkey, lamb, wheat, barley, flaxseed, and greeen peas.

NB duck & potato has flaxseed in it[&:].

And as someone who has a wheat/gluten intolerance, I have to be really careful to make sure that such things as modified food starch and any type of barley malt flavoring  or extract are not in the foods. Maybe do another check on all the ingredients of his foods, supplements, and medicines. Believe it or not, some medicines use wheat flour as a binder - you'll have to call the company that makes the medicines to ask if it contains gluten.

Good luck!

-Amy

ORIGINAL: Luvntzus

For example, there are hardly any actual foods in the ingredient list below to be allergic to. The only actual food that I see is chicken liver...

Um... thats the idea!!! There aren't ANY real ingredients because the food is basically pre-digested so there aren't any molecules large enough for the immune system to react to.

If the OP isn't happy with her current food choices, I say go ahead and try it. Having an itchy dog myself, I'd feed him anything to keep him comfortable. His current food has ethoxyquin in it and I DON'T CARE because he's happy and healthy. The difference in his activity levels from "just a little itchiness" is like night and day once the itch is gone... I felt like a horrible mom when I realized just how bad he really was, even though he only chewed his feet once or twice a day.

Quality of life is more important than quantity in my opinion, and the food isn't THAT bad. It is exactly what its supposed to be.

Oh boy, here we go again......
 
There are darned few companies that haven't been touched by the recall.  BOTH of these have.
 
There is merit to using whatever works BEST for your dog.  Regardless of the brand, regardless of popular opinion.
 
There are known allergens at work here and the OP has to feed around those.  However, I would work on a good leave it and drop it command to eliminate the leaf eating.  You CAN control that, but it'll take a lot of work.
 
To anwer the question, none of my dogs scratch and chew.

ORIGINAL: stardancnminpin

allergic to chicken, turkey, lamb, wheat, barley, flaxseed, and greeen peas.

NB duck & potato has flaxseed in it[&:].

I missed that.
That's probably why the dog is itching.

[color=#0000cc]Eagle Pack Duck and Potato

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I don't think Eagle has Duck and Potato...its Duck and Oatmeal.

ORIGINAL: dyan

[color=#0000cc]Eagle Pack Duck and Potato

[/color]

I don't think Eagle has Duck and Potato...its Duck and Oatmeal.

They have a canned duck and potato.
As soon as this recall is over (if that ever happens), I'd love to try Ella on it.

They have a canned duck and potato.

 
Oops,,,sorry about that!!!
I honestly don't watch the canned food information...I never even thought about canned...duh!!! []

There are darned few companies that haven't been touched by the recall. BOTH of these have.

 
   True, but there aren't any glutens in the Hill's z/d.

I also had a blood test done for environmental allergies which only showed him to be allergic to mold.

    He can also be affected by mold in the outside environment. This website has pollen and mold counts for different parts of the country;    [linkhttp://www.aaaai.org/nab/index.cfm?p=pollen]http://www.aaaai.org/nab/index.cfm?p=pollen[/link];  just click the region of the country where you live on the map, and then it will give you options for viewing the counts in several cities of the states in the region.

ORIGINAL: jessies_mom
  He can also be affected by mold in the outside environment. This website has pollen and mold counts for different parts of the country;    [linkhttp://www.aaaai.org/nab/index.cfm?p=pollen]http://www.aaaai.org/nab/index.cfm?p=pollen[/link];  just click the region of the country where you live on the map, and then it will give you options for viewing the counts in several cities of the states in the region.

 
[sm=clapping%20hands%20smiley.gif]BLESS YOU for posting this. I am emailing the link to my aunt who could really use this info---especially when she travels. You have just made her life---and her dog's---much better because now they can be forewarned and prepared. I had no idea this info. was so easy to find.
 
Thank you a million times.

Thank you so much for all your honest replies.  I'm still not sure what to do.  I did let him taste the z/d and he ate it all first then the NB duck. 
 
I just wanted to let you know that the NB duck & potato cans do NOT have flaxseed in it.  It is the NB duck & potato dry that HAS flaxseed in it.  I feed the cans. 

I have little personal experience with dog allergies, but no, it is not normal for dogs to scratch their ears and paws all the time.

If I had a dog I suspected had food allergies, I'd stop feeding any commercial food of any kind. Too many ingredients, you never know what's in there. You're supposed to feed a home-cooked very simple diet for 6 to 8 weeks-- one meat source, one carb source. Nothing else. No treats, no supplements, nothing. It's not a balanced diet but it won't kill your dog to eat it for a couple of months. If the dog's symptoms go away, then it's probably a food allergy. I wouldn't use that Hills z/d diet for this purpose because it contains a number of ingredients, such as soybean oil and synthetic vitamins, that may cause allergic reactions.

Most doggy allergies are supposedly environmental. Maybe he just needs some anti-histamines during spring or something. Also, many people find their allergic dog gets dramatically better if switched to a low-carb diet and/or is supplemented with omega-3 fatty acids (fish body oils).

What about California Natural Salmon and Sweet Potato? [linkhttp://www.californianaturalpet.com/products/default.asp?id=1423]http://www.californianaturalpet.com/products/default.asp?id=1423[/link]

ORIGINAL: glenmar

Oh boy, here we go again......

There are darned few companies that haven't been touched by the recall.  BOTH of these have.

There is merit to using whatever works BEST for your dog.  Regardless of the brand, regardless of popular opinion.

There are known allergens at work here and the OP has to feed around those.  However, I would work on a good leave it and drop it command to eliminate the leaf eating.  You CAN control that, but it'll take a lot of work.

To anwer the question, none of my dogs scratch and chew.

Glenda, you've got a point.  The OP wants to switch from Natural Balance to Science Diet because NB has been recalled, well more of SD has been recalled than NB.