Help Needed! Strugling with food allergies

[King Hugo the Great]

Hello everyone. I am new here and I joined to try to get some help with my English Bulldog Hugo. Hugo is 2 1/2 years old and we have struggled with allergies his whole life. For the first year in a half or so he was being fed Blue Buffalo Life Protection Chicken flavor. He would develop skin infections, had horrible gas, would scratch nonstop, and lick his paws. Being new bulldog owners, we never thought it was food allergies until we were talking with another family who owned a bulldog. The vet just always told us that bulldogs were prone to infections and put him on meds what seemed like every other month.

Well, we finally realized that maybe the blue buffalo wasn't the best food for him. We switched him to Fromm Beef Frittata. We were very happy that the gas issues went away almost immediately. He also stopped getting skin infections, but the scratching and paw licking continued. We kept him on Fromm Beef for about 6 months and the scratching and paw licking never went away. I decided to try Fromm Pork flavor. Well, he did not do well on the Pork flavor. He immediately started to have gas again and the scratching and paw licking seemed to stay about the same. We also started to see some spots of skin infection again.

I talked with the vet about it and he recommended going to a fish flavored food. I checked and Fromm does not have a completely fish flavor. All of their fish flavors have chicken in the ingredients as well. Then, I happened to be at Wal Mart and saw a grain free, salmon flavored Pure Balance. It was much cheaper than Fromm, and now I know why, because it is a Wal Mart brand. I decided to try it anyway. The gas went away but the itching and paw licking seems to be worse. He has been on the Pure Balance for about a month now and it does not seem to be getting better.

Any help would greatly be appreciated. I want to find a good food that Hugo can tolerate but I don't know what to do next. Thanks in advance!

 

[nycbullymama]

Are you sure it's food related and not environmental? Have you had him tested for allergies yet? If not, I would do it ASAP. I think it's cheaper than going through food after food, trying to figure out what's causing it. Also easier on the bullie.

 

[King Hugo the Great]

Are you sure it's food related and not environmental? Have you had him tested for allergies yet? If not, I would do it ASAP. I think it's cheaper than going through food after food, trying to figure out what's causing it. Also easier on the bullie.

We have not tested him for allergies yet. From what I researched online everything pointed towards food allergies and it seemed that other people suggested changing foods before going the route of allergy tests. From what I read, the allergey test is very expensive. Maybe I am wrong. Hugo goes to the vet soon for his next yearly shots and I will talk to the vet about the test.

 

[nycbullymama]

I think the cost varies by vet and where you are. I've heard $200 and up. But it's something we need to do as well since we have the same issue and I've changed food 3-4 times now.

 

[Scueva]

I am doing a trial switch back to kibble from raw. I was at the ikc dog show and was really impressed with natures logic line of kibble. It is all 100% natural and rated very high. It is corn, soy, wheat, rice and potato free, no msg, and no chemically synthesized vitamins. It does contain millet which is a grain but from the research I've done it's very low in sugar and very digestible for dogs. They carry many protein lines. Maybe your dog has a sensitivity to potatoes ? Or peas perhaps? Maybe that's why those other brands didn't make the paw licking stop. My 2 have only been back on kibble since Sunday but I will say I am impressed with the kibble . Natures logic is rated as a 6 star food here and gets the highest ratings on dog food advisor also. The rep from natures logic educated me to the fact that even though a kibble is grain free there's a chance that your pet is still allergic to the binder that is used such as potatoe or peas. Also after researching online I found a lot of the chemically synthesized vitamins that are added to most kibble can disagree with a dogs system also. This is another reason why raw has a claim to fame because there isn't any chemically synthesized vitamins or minerals added to the raw food- if you are buying organic that is-- I raw fed for 2 years. So kibble is new to me but I have been really impressed by natures logic and a lot of consumers have simply never heard of it.

 

[Scueva]

Allergy test are very expensive and can give false positives and then more times than not the vet will want to do allergy shots as treatment. Not the route I would want to go personally.

 

[nycbullymama]

I am doing a trial switch back to kibble from raw. I was at the ikc dog show and was really impressed with natures logic line of kibble. It is all 100% natural and rated very high. It is corn, soy, wheat, rice and potato free, no msg, and no chemically synthesized vitamins. It does contain millet which is a grain but from the research I've done it's very low in sugar and very digestible for dogs. They carry many protein lines. Maybe your dog has a sensitivity to potatoes ? Or peas perhaps? Maybe that's why those other brands didn't make the paw licking stop. My 2 have only been back on kibble since Sunday but I will say I am impressed with the kibble . Natures logic is rated as a 6 star food here and gets the highest ratings on dog food advisor also. The rep from natures logic educated me to the fact that even though a kibble is grain free there's a chance that your pet is still allergic to the binder that is used such as potatoe or peas. Also after researching online I found a lot of the chemically synthesized vitamins that are added to most kibble can disagree with a dogs system also. This is another reason why raw has a claim to fame because there isn't any chemically synthesized vitamins or minerals added to the raw food- if you are buying organic that is-- I raw fed for 2 years. So kibble is new to me but I have been really impressed by natures logic and a lot of consumers have simply never heard of it.

Why did you switch from Raw to Kibble?
Curious because I just did the opposite for the exact reasons you mentioned- I wanted grain, pea and potato free food. I went with Stella and Chewys which use organic products.

 

[RiiSi]

I would feed him raw or home cooked and start with an elimination diet. With home cooked start with one source of protein and one source of carbohydrate, preferably something that he hasn't had before. Waite for about a week or two to see if there's a chance for better or for worse. If better, you can add ONE ingredient at time to his diet and again see if there's a reaction, and so on. Commercial food has so many different ingredients that it is very difficult to find the culprit and cure. The web page doraware is a great place for info on raw and home cooked diets.

 

[Scueva]

Why did you switch from Raw to Kibble?
Curious because I just did the opposite for the exact reasons you mentioned- I wanted grain, pea and potato free food. I went with Stella and Chewys which use organic products.

I am am doing this trial run with kibble because having 2 bulldogs they consume 100LB of raw per month, I live in a downtown high rise and have a deep freezer than can only hold 1 month worth of food. I drive 2 hours out of state to the distributor I was using to buy the raw- when you are consuming 100LB per month commercial raw is way to expensive. These runs were getting increasingly harder to make which would leave me scrambling and stressed when food was getting low. I did run out a few times and would simply feed whole ground chicken- which I hated to do. This last time being last week I ran out and was feeding whole ground chicken and it really didn't agree with duke he has bad loose stool and was shedding a lot.i felt like crap knowing I wouldn't be about to make a food run until the following weekend. It just so happened I went to the 2014 ikc dog show Sunday and they had a bunch of food reps there. Fromm was there and I chatted with them for a while- they were offering a special for $5 for a 4.4LB bag of food. I started thinking enjoyed the show for a few more hours and went back I was going to get a bag of Fromm - knowing the success of use in this forum. Well they were sold out. Well the next booth over was natures logic rep and I talked to her for awhile- the Fromm rep even came over and spoke highly of natures logic- the great thing was they weren't trying to sell but rather helpe find a quality kibble that would potentially work and both the dogs and I would be happy. So after a couple more hours of enjoying the show(I was there from 8am-6pm lol. Meanwhile I was researching like crazy on my phone and could only find positive reviews on the food- including from this forum. So I went back to the natures logic rep - talked to her more and she informed me that they carry a complete line of frozen raw, canned, and kibble- knowing I would have to grinders chicken and it was agreeing with duke I decided to try the kibble. They had a show special and were selling 4.4LB bags for $5 - these retail for about $16 a bag. She was nice enough to sell me 16 bags and included every protein except chicken. She did this because she knew I needed enough to do a good 8 week run on the kibble. I will say i very very impressed with the kibble. The dogs love it. There is no gas, stool is good- duke is a bit soft but I am thinking he is a bit off from the chicken still. The biggest change I noticed is that both duke and duchess have finally stopped tearing. No matter what raw protein I fed they both reared very bad whichever horrible stains. I started them on the kibble Sunday night and they both literally have stopped tearing excessively to wear their folds are dry! I can now start to get rid of the tear stains. I defiantly will keep posting regarding the transitition and noticeable changes. But as of right now I am very very happy. They currently are eating the sardine flavor and love it. They actually seem very satisfied with the portions. Duchess is eating 2cups a day and duke is eating 2.5 cups a day. I am definitely pro-raw but if keeping them on this kibble means no more tear stains- which wasn't my original intent but happens to be a result so I'm happy so far but like I said they have only been eating it since Sunday so I will make a final determination after a full 8 week run. Let me know if you have any questions

 

[King Hugo the Great]

Allergy test are very expensive and can give false positives and then more times than not the vet will want to do allergy shots as treatment. Not the route I would want to go personally.

I want to avoid an alergy test as well. It seems like I can't even walk through the door of the vet without leaving $200 poorer. I can only imagine what the test would cost. I honestly think it is food related. We have seen changes (gas problems going away) with some of the foods. You might be on to something about the Peas and Potatos. All of the foods he has been on have had both peas and potoatos. I will look into the Natures Logic food you mentioned

 

[King Hugo the Great]

I would feed him raw or home cooked and start with an elimination diet. With home cooked start with one source of protein and one source of carbohydrate, preferably something that he hasn't had before. Waite for about a week or two to see if there's a chance for better or for worse. If better, you can add ONE ingredient at time to his diet and again see if there's a reaction, and so on. Commercial food has so many different ingredients that it is very difficult to find the culprit and cure. The web page doraware is a great place for info on raw and home cooked diets.

I like the idea of raw but I honestly don't think it would work for us. For one, it sounds like it would be way too expensive. If I can find a dry food that works for Hugo I want to go that route.

 

[RaRett]

we too are on that food rollercoaster.... and it is challenging to find a food that has NO chicken in it at all (no chicken meal, no chicken FAT, no chicken chicken) Blue does have a Basics' salmon that doesnt have chicken, and right now I put them on EARTHBORNE HOLISTIC MEADOW its LAMB Based, no chicken, available at Tractor Supply.

 

[MarleneK]

We are currently going through the same thing as you. I see your Hugo is all white like our Dually who is 3 1/2 years old and for some reason allergies are even worse in white haired breeds my vet told me.

Dually has been on TLC Pet Food since he was pup then we tried Orijen Six Fish next (our vet was concerned that the Crude Protein of 38% is much too high for him plus he was pooping like no tomorrow - very hard on the kidneys too). Just last week we switched Dually over to Nature's Variety Instinct Grain-Free Nutrition (Limited Ingredient Diet) Rabbit Meal Formula. It was suggested to me that either the Rabbit Meal Formula or Duck Meal Formula are the 2 better choices for dogs with extreme allergies (Chicken being the worst) so I am starting with the Rabbit one. Also the Crude Protein is not as high at 27.0%. I've attached the link, there is a big difference between the Limited Ingredient Diet (1 protein and 1 starch only) and just the regular one so be sure to get the Limited Ingredient Diet if you decide to try it. Good luck keep us posted on your little guy and if you happen to find something that works for you. We are only a week in so we’ll see how it goes.

http://www.naturesvariety.com/Instinct/dog/kibble/LIDrabbit

 

[King Hugo the Great]

We are currently going through the same thing as you. I see your Hugo is all white like our Dually who is 3 1/2 years old and for some reason allergies are even worse in white haired breeds my vet told me.

Dually has been on TLC Pet Food since he was pup then we tried Orijen Six Fish next (our vet was concerned that the Crude Protein of 38% is much too high for him plus he was pooping like no tomorrow - very hard on the kidneys to work that mu). Just last week we switched Dually over to Nature's Variety Instinct Grain-Free Nutrition (Limited Ingredient Diet) Rabbit Meal Formula. It was suggested to me that either the Rabbit Meal Formula or Duck Meal Formula are the 2 better choices for dogs with extreme allergies (Chicken being the worst) so I am starting with the Rabbit one. Also the Crude Protein is not as high at 27.0%. I've attached the link, there is a big difference between the Limited Ingredient Diet (1 protein and 1 starch) only) and just the regular one so be sure to get the Limited Ingredient Diet if you decide to try it. Good luck keep us posted on your little guy and if you happen to find something that works for you. We are only a week in so we’ll see how it goes.

http://www.naturesvariety.com/Instinct/dog/kibble/LIDrabbit

If I didn't know better Hugo and Dually could be twins! Thanks for the info you posted. I was actually going to try the Natures Logic mentioned above but I quickly realized that it isn't available anywhere near me. I really don't want to rely on ordering over the internet. I went to the pet store here that specializes in many different high end dog foods. The same place I have been getting his Fromm from. They suggested going with Zignature. They also agreed that fish was probably the best. I went ahead and bought a bag of the Zignature Trout and Salmon. The more I read about it the better I feel. It has no chicken or chicken fats, no eggs, no potatos, no grains, no dairy. It seems that many dogs are not very tolerant of dairy or eggs. Both the Fromm formulas I tried have egg and dairy in them. I attached a link below. I will update how it goes. I just really want to get Hugo feeling his best so I hope this food does it.

http://www.zignature.com/index.html

 

[MarleneK]

If I didn't know better Hugo and Dually could be twins! Thanks for the info you posted. I was actually going to try the Natures Logic mentioned above but I quickly realized that it isn't available anywhere near me. I really don't want to rely on ordering over the internet. I went to the pet store here that specializes in many different high end dog foods. The same place I have been getting his Fromm from. They suggested going with Zignature. They also agreed that fish was probably the best. I went ahead and bought a bag of the Zignature Trout and Salmon. The more I read about it the better I feel. It has no chicken or chicken fats, no eggs, no potatos, no grains, no dairy. It seems that many dogs are not very tolerant of dairy or eggs. Both the Fromm formulas I tried have egg and dairy in them. I attached a link below. I will update how it goes. I just really want to get Hugo feeling his best so I hope this food does it.

http://www.zignature.com/index.html

They could be twins, Hugo is so cute ! I've never heard of Zignature thanks for adding the link it looks like a really good option as well. Please keep us posted on how Hugo does on it am curious to know myself. We only want the best for our fur babies .