Help chosing a new food- dog with severe allergies

Well if you buy the venison NV from Sit stay .com then it works out to 2.27 a pound if you get the fifteen pounder.
 
Maybe that is affordable for you?

ORIGINAL: jennie_c_d

All the Wellness kibbles do have grains, even the Simple Solutions. Canidae is chicken based. Innova and EVO, chicken again. California Natural formulas all have rice. Eagle Pack's all have corn.

California Natural Herring doesn't have rice and the Eagle Pack Holistics don't have corn.

Hmmm... When I'd looked at Eagle's foods, they ALL had corn, I thought. Either, way, they DO all have chicken fat, or rice. Daisy's allergic to both of those.

I guess I need to start paying more attention[]

Maybe the California Natural Herring formula is worth a try, if she doesn't have issues with barley or oats.

Oh sorry, I didn't know she was allergic to chicken, since in the first post it says "currently she's eating cooked chicken and sweet potatoes". But yeah, they do all have brown rice... darn.

   Welcome to i-dog Monzie; []  I'm glad you found help with Dr.Harvey's products. I checked a couple sites selling the canine pre-mix. They included the recipe and amount to feed but there was no information about guaranteed analysis or it being formulated to meet the AAFCO nutrient profiles. Maybe that information is on the bags.
 
   thedoc, You said you had access to Solid Gold; the fish formula doesn't have corn or rice:
 
         [linkhttp://solidgoldhealth.com/products/showproduct.php?id=6&code=160]http://solidgoldhealth.com/products/showproduct.php?id=6&code=160[/link]
 
   Cakana gave you great advice about the elimination diet; I hope you try it. I disagree about the allergy shots being potentially harmful but that's another thread; it is expensive and even if you could afford to go through the testing the derm vet would have you do an elimination diet first. Sure hope you find an answer for her.
   
                   
   
  

ORIGINAL: Monzie3   He doesn't push that his food is the best and only his food will work like Abady does.

 
Nice…you mentioned Abady in your very first post!  Just a few thoughts…I have my doubts about the allergies to these foods, I'm skeptical.  I would suspect ingredients other than animal and grain as the cause.  Vegetables and certain plants could very well be the underlying causes of all your issues along with high fiber.  A serious lack of nutrient absorption creating deficiencies throughout the body and causing health problems is a possibility.  
 
Consider certain fibers and their expansion.  Innocent numbers like 3% and 4% fiber can actually represent 50-70% of fiber in the diet due to expansion.  High fiber diets binding and carrying away nutrients and proteins that should have been absorbed and possibly plant matter and vegetable causing the improper absorption as well leading to issues.   Yet instead, we often blame the staple ingredients used throughout the years where high percentages of dogs always did well, rather than newfangled ingredients never found commonplace in a dogs diet.
 
CC.

The only thing that concerns me is that Solid Gold's Holistics have the first ingredient as oatmeal and barley, and then it's followed by Fish. I think that's what partially contributed to Daisy's urinary problem is her kibble having more carbs than protien- since that is how they changed their formula- they switched up the ingredients.

I am seriously looking into CN Herring/Sweet potato, but I just have to find somewhere that will carry it! Everybody sells their Lamb/Rice and Chicken/Rice but when i ask about the Herring, it's "nope, sorry."
I wonder if they give out samples?
 
Edited to add- she is on cooked chicken and sweet potatoes until I can get back to the metroplex this weekend (go to school in an itty bitty town that the best food I can find is Nutro at Tractor Supply) , but I don't know if it's doing her any good- she's still as itchy as ever, but her tummy is okay. (which is good)

Yes Laura, as Jennie mentions you can also get it fresh. I use the frozen ones since it is easier to peel, clean and prepare for my guys. They do have them in the frozen section in Wally world.
Yucca is a wonderful thing. I also give it to my dog that has had hip surgery for his hip dysplasia and have taken him off the anti-inflamitory meds. This works so wonderful that I even use it too for my arthritis. Along with a shot of Knoxx Geletine in his and mine food or water whatever. Wonderful stuff too.

Oh Dear, I didn't mean to start anything by mentionaing Abady. I had a awful episode with that food and almost lost my  one dog and the other 2 became extremely ill, and they kept telling me it wasn't the food... well it was. Sorry if I offended anyone. I read this for help because I'm still looking for something to agree with my one dog, not even sure if Dr. Harvey's will work out, I just started and it's very costly,so I hope we can all work together and provide helpful info. I still will be asking all of you for your suggestions as well. Sorry again, it was just an ongoing awful experience and just not the right food for any of my dogs. BTW yes, they were all checked for various things, came back salmonella, never ever gave any of them raw, and that's all they ate. Sorry again.
I was just offering that Doc Harvey really cares about animals and is helpful, it was worth a try.

Oh Dear, I didn't mean to start anything by mentionaing Abady. I had a awful episode with that food and almost lost my one dog and the other 2 became extremely ill, and they kept telling me it wasn't the food... well it was. Sorry if I offended anyone. I read this for help because I'm still looking for something to agree

 
   Don't give it another thought; I didn't get the impression you were pushing Abady. I'm hoping that  Dr. Harvey's food helps your dogs, but are you sure it's nutritionally balanced? Is there a statement on the package about it being complete for all life stages or meeting AAFCO nutrient profiles, etc? I'd like to mention that some dogs, such as mine, have serious environmental allergies and no matter what they're fed they will still be itchy and have ear and skin infections. I certainly encourage a good diet to support a dog's immune system but it wasn't enough for Jessie. Food allergies are less common than environmental allergies and that should be considered when you have an itchy dog. Jessie, by the way, has an allergy to chicken as well as environmental allergies.

 "she is on cooked chicken and sweet potatoes until I can get back to the metroplex this weekend (go to school in an itty bitty town that the best food I can find is Nutro at Tractor Supply) , but I don't know if it's doing her any good- she's still as itchy as ever, but her tummy is okay. (which is good) "

  Why don't you continue to cook for her for a while? The meat you use should be one she hasn't had before like pork or fish, and the same is true for the carb source. You need to do the elimination diet for 12 weeks to see if she has a food allergy. You probably won't see an improvement for at least 2 weeks but you should see an improvement in 8 weeks even though 12 weeks is what is recommended.  It won't hurt her not to have vitamins for the time involved, and nothing but the diet is allowed; no supplements and no treats unless the treats are made of the same ingredients as her food. Cathy (cakana) could give you the protein to carb ratio for the diet. I see you're a student, it's probably hard to afford good food for Daisy so allergy testing would sure be out of the question, but there's a lot you can do to help her. Have you read this thread:
           [linkhttp://forum.dog.com/asp/tm.asp?m=36758]http://forum.dog.com/asp/tm.asp?m=36758[/link]

  Terriorlover (Kim) has a dog with horrible allergies and calls her their platinum card dog because of all the money they've spent trying to find something that helps. The thread above is about a product that seems to be helping her dog and you should be able to find it at PetsMart or PetCo. It is a conditioner that you apply after bathing your dog. Further in the thread, someone else mentions a spray for hot spots made by the same company that is very good. I would recommend that you try the products mentioned as Kim has tried everything and if these help her dog they should help any dog. Do you use an antihistamine for Daisy? If you give Benedryl 2 to 3 times a day in the dosage recommended for a dog Daisy's size,

       [linkhttp://www.utskinvet.org/pdf/antihists.pdf]http://www.utskinvet.org/pdf/antihists.pdf[/link]
it probably won't relieve the itching completely but it may take the edge off it. It may take a week before you know if it's helping.

Consider certain fibers and their expansion. Innocent numbers like 3% and 4% fiber can actually represent 50-70% of fiber in the diet due to expansion. High fiber diets binding and carrying away nutrients and proteins that should have been absorbed and possibly plant matter and vegetable causing the improper absorption as well leading to issues. Yet instead, we often blame the staple ingredients used throughout the years where high percentages of dogs always did well, rather than newfangled ingredients never found commonplace in a dogs diet.

CC.

 
 CC, where did you get the information that fiber expanded as much as you are saying it does? I know that fiber expands, but I've never seen numbers as high as those.

Cathy (cakana) could give you the protein to carb ratio for the diet.

 
The vet told me to use 1 part protein to 4 parts carb (so that would be a 20% protein ratio).  Someone else I trust, suggested upping that some, so I did, but probably only to 2 parts protein to 3 parts carb.  So in my case, it was 2 cups of pork to 3 cups of buckwheat, and I split it between 2 meals.  I also made biscuits using only those 2 ingredients (ground the dry buckwheat for flour and added the cooked pork & buckwheat to make a dough).  Sassy loved them!
Anyway, I honestly have to say that if you really *think* your dog has food allergies, you should consider doing a true elimination diet.  You can spend a lot of time & money switching around to different brands of kibble.  In the meantime, you're introducing a lot of new things that can then no longer be considered novel if/when you decide to do the elimination diet.

jessies_mom, thanks so much for your kind encouragement. I'm still not sure if dr. H's food is right.  First, yes it does habe the GA on the bag. Crude Protein 12.0%
crude Fat 3.0%, Crude Fiber 5.0% and Max. Moisture 12.0%. I know that the food had to give analysis to the government. Doesn't say if AAFCO approved, only animal wellness magazine approved. However, they are all still very hungry on this food, seems like I have to feed a 30 pound dog 5-6 cups before he even gets somewhat satisfied.
My dog, Dusty, 3 years old, severe colitis and IBD.  Cannot digest foods, some days are good, some are not. Always has had an abnormal stool.  Was a puppy mill dog, loaded with parasites. You name it he had it. That's why when we finally got him parasite free for a while the salmonella happened, but to all 3 dogs.
So I too, would appreciate everyone's help on a food for a dog with allergies.  Ideas on Evo for dogs with colitis/IBD? Timberwolf?(worried about it being made at Diamond though)
My Peanut is a senior dog and arthritic, he's been having a few bouts of colitis on Dr. H's food so far, but I'm not sure if his system is cleaning out or not?
Gabby is a heathy maltese.
Thanks

Crude Protein 12.0%

 
That seems really low to me.  Could that be the reason why the seem so hungry on this food?  5-6 cups is more than I feed my labs that weigh over twice what your's do.