Undesired Ingredients [Allergies & Intollerence]

Edie

DPU

Any food, any ingredient that is served warm to one of my Great Danes will be immediately thrown up

 

Wow how intriguing. It's usually the opposite with stone cold foods served straight from the fridge.I must admit i have always heated up food from the fridge for my pooches,especially canned foods.I cant think of anything more unappetising and UNsmelly than cold food meant to be served warm or at room temp. 

Haha!  Tell that to my two!  Yesterday they couldn't have been more pleased with thier whole frozen chickens, eaten outside in the snow!  LOL 

"Chicken"  What? NO reason to avoid chicken unless your dog has an allergy to it (keep in mind that more dog are allergic to beef).

"Corn"  Again...NO reason to avoid it unless your dog has an allergy to it (more dogs are allergic to barley than corn--and you see barley in every "holistic" food.

"Fat"    If you meant generic fat, you should have specified.  Fat is an important part of the diet and should not be avoided when coming from a specific source.   

I avoid corn, because Salem has an allergy. Cheza is fine with it, but I keep it out of the house so Salem wont get to it by accident.

I also avoid un-named animal anything, coloring, sugars, etc. I'm sure there are a few others people have mentioned.

I also buy foods with meat or meat meal as the first ingredient.

papillon806 I think you need to reread the OP. This thread asks forum members to post which ingredients they avoid due to Personal Choice, Allergies, Skin Issues, or Other. It's not a thread inviting you to have a public attack on why my dog can't have certain food based on her needs. If you want to post about ingredients that your dog can't have then go right ahead; but don't tell me what my dog can and can't have because that is something that you don't know.

Chicken is fine unless it causes an allergy. Plainly listing chicken as an unacceptable ingredient is misleading without an explanation as to why.

 What I avoid:

• Generic meat sources
• generic fat sources
• dry foods with gluten
• foods with ingredient lists that have something like: "chicken, ground brown rice, oatmeal, barley, turkey meal, chicken fat" I would rather see something like this: "chicken, turkey meal, ground brown rice, oatmeal, barely, chicken fat" although this even is a list with 1 too many grains for my tastes. Although foods with a hole slew of grains and just one or two meat sources before the list gets to the first fat source.
• artificial preservatives (BHA, BHT, TBHQ, etc)
• sugar and salt listed as ingredients 
• generally foods with vegetable oil, like canola oil, instead of an animal fat/oil.

I avoid them for one of two reasons. Either I believe that the ingredient (such as a generic fat) is a signal to me that the manufactoror is not commited to using high quality ingredients yet is willing to make me pay top dollar for their food. The other is because I think the ingredient(s) go against my idea of what the diet of a dog should be. Dog's are decendants of the wolf, a carnivore. I want to mimick their the diet as best I can with a dry kibble. A kibble loaded up with grains, in my opinion, does not  meet those standards. In addition, I won't keep my dog on a food just because I like the ingredients but she is clearly not doing well on it. Case in point, she had stools so big that they didn't fit in my doggy doo doo bag from NV Instinct Duck and Turkey formula. I will never use it again even though I think it is an awesom food.

pumaward: once again... this thread is about what you do not serve in home due to Personal Choice, Allergies, Skin Issues, or Other. If you read my own OP I specifically state my dog has food allergies. It is not misleading to list what I personally do not serve in my own home.

pomeranian<3: you'll notice that I answered your OP thoroughly about what I do not feed my own dog.

I apologize if I misinterpereted you're OP. The first time I read it through I got that you're dogs have allergies but it's difficult to know exaclty what from your list because there certainly must be things that you list that you're dogs are not allergic to but you choose not to feed due to quality issues.. I personally think it's important to point out (as papillon and others have done) that chicken is not a bad ingredient.

Unacceptable ingredients for my dogs are:

Fruits and vegtables, gluten source proteins (or reliance of), any expansion type fiber (beet pulp, tomato pumace, cellulose powder, cellulose or flour), sodium bentonite, vegtable fiber, plant fiber (flaxseed), any saponion-containing ingreients (soybeans, alfafla, sorghum, peas, beans, potatoes, yucca, garlic), any plant matter w/ the exception of certain organic plant-based oils.

CC

This is an interesting thread for me because I am getting an awareness of ingredients should be looked at for allergies and just plain old bad stuff for the dog.  It would be helpful to draw that distinction.  Can anyone tell me what it is about chicken that causes an allergic reaction.?

For example in the previous post, it is mentioned that veggies are unacceptable.  Is that because of allergies, bad for the dog, or personal belief.  When posts like that come up and I am feeding one of my fosters veggies as part of the dog diet, I get concerned.

pumaward

I personally think it's important to point out (as papillon and others have done) that chicken is not a bad ingredient.

That is a good suggestion and I do agree.

CHICKEN IS NOT A "BAD" INGREDIENT. My dog is ALLERGIC to Chicken. She will begin to hack, itch, and vomit. Some dogs are allergic to certain meats; and that meat for my dog happens to be chicken. I'm not sure why it causes an allergic reaction (just like I'm not sure why some people can't have peanuts); but the only thing I do know is her life is healthier/better without it :o)

CC, I have a question for you since you seem to know a lot about nutrition (and others if they know the answer):

FLAXSEED is also a common listed ingredient to avoid. Current Kayla does not have a negative reaction to this, but what I have noticed is some dogs DEVELOPE an intolerence to it OVER TIME. Is that true/common/possibly could happen?

 Nobody really knows what it is about chicken or anything else that causes the allergy.  But basically its exposure, or over exposure.  Just like with peanut butter in humans, dogs have been over exposed to ingredients like Chicken, Wheat, Corn, Turkey and Beef.  Its not a coincedence that the most common food allergies in dogs are also the most common ingredients in dog food.  It makes it hard to figure out what your dog is really allergic to though as our first step is often to switch to a different formula, lately holistic that doesn't include any of these ingredients.  So people(and I don't mean anyone here, as I'm sure most of us know better) tend to think their dog is allergic to say, Chicken and therefore eliminate that ingredient from the food and the allergy dissappears.  The trouble is, they may have actually been allergic to the corn or the wheat, which also got eliminated with the switch.  So clinical testing or serious elimination diets are really the only ways to conclude what your dog is actually allergic to.  And you can't do either of those switching from dog food to dog food.

As a side note, there is a difference between food Allergies and food Intollerances.  Allergies cause typical allergic reactions like itching flaking skin, and watery eyes.  Intollerances show up with digestive upset.  For instance, Crusher, who I once thought was allergic to wheat and corn is actually intollerant of them.  So he can have a bit, but not alot.  Kind of like someone who can't handle much spicy food, but still sneaks a bite now and then because the small amount won't bother them.  An allergy would show up no matter how much was ingested and with extreme cases can show up just by being exposed to the food, like kids who react to the PB on his buddies sandwich without ever eating any himself. 

 "Can anyone tell me what it is about chicken that causes an allergic reaction.?"

I cannot speak for allergic dogs but as a person who is allergic to chicken I was told I am allergic to the chicken protein molecule based on skin testing. Simplified - allergies are an overreaction of the immune system and as explained to me by my allergist 'adult onset' allergies are typically to those items you came in contact with the most.  In my case food-wise that was chicken (not much of a red meat eater). 

Dogs (or people) are allergic to foods because their immune system senses the protein molecules in the food as being harmful.  It's protein molecules that trigger allergies.  And all foods (with the possible exception of fats) contain protein.  So ANY food can be an allergen. 

It works the same way with inhalant allergies--a dog (or person's) immune system believes that harmless pollens (or molds or dust mites or . . . ) are a threat, and the immune system kicks into gear to "attack" that substance.

The difference in an allergy and an intolerance is that a true allergy triggers the immune system, which in a dog will result in intense itchiness.  An intolerance, OTOH, usually only affects the digestive tract.  The immune system isn't triggered.

IMO there is absolutely nothing wrong with giving a dog veggies and fruits.  Some people believe that dogs should eat an all-meat diet (or meat and bone).  I think that's something that each dog owner has to research thoroughly and decide for himself/herself what they believe is best for their individual dog(s).

Thank you to everyone for the wonderful clarification posts about Chicken Allergies, General Allergies, and General Intollerence. Having been the new mommy to a dog with allergies I really wish I had these kinds of resources a long time ago. Hopefully this thread can help guests and members to understand certain food reactions with their dogs better. :o)