is my dog allergic to his food?

[roscothedog]

I know my dog is allergic to somthing, but i dont know if its just somthing in the air, or if its his food. Since july, my dog has been scratching his ears and biting at his paw extra much. he also gets eye boogers, although thats been happening for a while. he's eating purina, but i'm switching to diamond naturals. he scratches throughout the day, but its hard to tell if he does it more after he eats or not.

we first got him in the summer, and he didnt itch then
is there a way to tell if he's allergic to his food, or if its the air?

[Porphyria]

It can be really hard to figure out what exactly a pet is allergic to. Purina has a lot of ingredients that can trigger allergies/sensitivities, so trying a food without corn, wheat, soy, etc. might help. Unfortunately a lot of determining allergies just comes down to trial and error. Hopefully the new food will help his problems. Dogs can also be allergic to protein sources, so if the Purina is made with chicken, and you try the chicken formula of Diamond Naturals and he still isn't doing well, I would suggest trying a different protein. Limited ingredient diets can also help you eliminate potential allergens. If he is allergic to something in his environment rather than something in his food, it can be harder to figure out what. With food you can do trial and error/process of elimination, but it's hard to separate things like dust, pollen, etc. in order to see which he is allergic to.

[ShanniBella]

I would go grain free if he is having food sensitivity's and try that first. Some dogs can have reactions to certain grains and purina is filled with junk. I don't care for most diamond brand foods because of the recall they had sometime back but the TOTW is one of the better ones and I know alot of peoples dogs do well on it. You can also give your dog benadryl to help with the itching. Ask your vet about it to get the proper dose. Allergies are tough because it could be environmental or food its just a matter of trial and error to figure things out. I would start with the food first though :)

[Jack Monzon]

The only way to know is to do a food trial. Switch to a food with completely different ingredients and give it 12 weeks. No treats during the trial; use the food as treats. You also have to watch out for flavored medications, bones, etc.

[josh83]

I know my dog is allergic to somthing, but i dont know if its just somthing in the air, or if its his food. Since july, my dog has been scratching his ears and biting at his paw extra much. he also gets eye boogers, although thats been happening for a while. he's eating purina, but i'm switching to diamond naturals. he scratches throughout the day, but its hard to tell if he does it more after he eats or not.

we first got him in the summer, and he didnt itch then
is there a way to tell if he's allergic to his food, or if its the air?

I highly recommend this food: Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance® Allergy Formulas for Dogs My dog has been on it and she has done great it's a limited ingredient diet and most of the formulas are grain free except for the lamb.

[Caty M]

I highly recommend this food: Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance® Allergy Formulas for Dogs My dog has been on it and she has done great it's a limited ingredient diet and most of the formulas are grain free except for the lamb.

I'll be honest. I will no longer support NB since I found out they make zoological diets. Zoos should be striving to make the lives of zoo animals the most natural possible. Part of that is feeding a good diet.... not feeding pellets to owls, sausages to snakes....

Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance®Zoological Formulas™ Reptile Diet

I'm sorry, but that to me is completely NOT ethical. Plus their formulas are very low protein/fat.

[Scarlett_O']

I'll be honest. I will no longer support NB since I found out they make zoological diets. Zoos should be striving to make the lives of zoo animals the most natural possible. Part of that is feeding a good diet.... not feeding pellets to owls, sausages to snakes....

Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance®Zoological Formulas™ Reptile Diet

I'm sorry, but that to me is completely NOT ethical. Plus their formulas are very low protein/fat.

TOTALLY AGREE!!!! (well that and I think their food is mostly shat anyways!)

[Caty M]

Plus- they make vegetarian dog food. Another red flag against the company.

Ingredients: Brown rice, oatmeal, cracked pearled barley, peas, potato protein, canola oil, potatoes, tomato pomace, vegetable flavoring, calcium carbonate, dicalcium phosphate, flaxseed, potassium chloride, choline chloride, taurine, natural mixed tocopherols, spinach, parsley flakes, cranberries, l-lysine, l-carnitine, Yucca schidigera extract, kelp, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B-1), manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, niacin, d-calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B-6), vitamin B-12 supplement, riboflavin (vitamin B-2), vitamin D-2 supplement, folic acid

20% protein, 9% fat is NOT a good food. All of their foods (even meat inclusive) are 20ish%/10%.

[runwiththewind]

Have you asked your Vet about an "allergy test" for food & environment? Dr. Jean Dodds just came out with one for food - http://www.hemopet.org/files/Nutriscan.pdf

I agree to go with grain free - no dairy products, egg, soy, corn, wheat, beef, lamb, chicken, flaxseed/flax oil. Try a novel protein such as fish, rabbit, venison, buffalo.

http://k9joy.com/dogarticles/dogfood01allergies.pdf

[PDXdogmom]

Dogs can be "intolerant" to some ingredients without truly being "allergic"; so keep that in mind.

The top food allergens for dogs are: beef, dairy products, chicken, corn, wheat and soy. I don't think going grain-free is the default mode for finding a new food. Rice is rarely seen as an allergen.