# Itchy Puppy on Acana Pacific- coincidence?



## Canadian In Texas (Feb 16, 2011)

My golden has been on 100% acana pacific for a week and has just recently been itching like crazy. He does not have fleas. Could this be a coincidence is it too soon for him to react to the food? I was starting to transition to Orijen before acana but the protein content really had me questioning.

On a side note I started mixing in Acana Pacific in my 6 y/o food last week, she is only getting about 1/4 acana and the rest Natural Balance LID, she developed a very bad UTI again coincidence?

I am going crazy. These are both new dogs for us. I fed Natural Balance LID to my 2 dogs previously, one died of kidney failure the other cancer. All this protein talk scares the crap out of me too much too little, phosphorus, calcium ratios, grain vs grain free, now the newest culprit ash. For every study that supports something there is another study that supports the complete opposite.

Is there a food out there that has a limited ingredient list like New Balance. It seems to be bombarding a dog with multiple protein sources & ingredients can't be a good thing especially one with allergies maybe I am missing something here?


----------



## Dana (Oct 27, 2009)

Limited ingredient foods to look at are Wellness Simple Solutions, California Natural, Petcurean Go Natural Salmon/Oatmeal. The California Natural and Petcurean foods at least have the meat meal listed first on the label (not so for the Natural Balance and Wellness) - although, that being said, they all seem to have pretty low meat content and low protein with the exception of California Natural Grain Free Chicken (medium protein level). My dogs ate CN Grain free Venison for a little over 6 months and did fine, but the venison variety is the priciest of their line. They are currently eating Petcurean Go Natural Salmon/Oatmeal and so far, so good.

As for the issues your dogs are having - you recently got them from rescue, right? Many dogs that come from rescue were not well cared for until they were rescued. Sometimes it takes a while for them to get past all the issues of not being cared for properly. Both my dogs were rescues, and I volunteer with a local rescue group and have fostered 14 dogs, so I have seen how they blossom from poor conditions to being cared for properly.....but sometimes it can take a little time.

Not sure what the itching could be - allergies? Yeast? Bacterial skin infection? If allergies, they may or may not be from the food. One of my dogs has allergies and I still haven't been able to determine if they are environmental or food-based (although I'm pretty sure lamb causes issues for her, and *maybe* chicken). I would start with the vet and have them check for yeast, bacteria, and anything else that could cause the itching. Once you eliminate those possibilites then start trying to figure out the allergy stuff (and this isn't easy.....). 

As for the UTI, could be an isolated incident. Or could be due to something like bladder stones (did your vet check for crystals in the urine)? Not sure that I'd worry too much, though, unless she gets another one.

I know what you mean about confusing.....protein levels, allergies (and trying to determine what they are allergic to), meat content, grain or not, glycemic indexes, yada yada yada.....can make your head spin!! Sometimes you just need to experiment with different foods and see what works best for your dogs. Each dog is different and while some may do great on a certain food, others may not.


----------



## Canadian In Texas (Feb 16, 2011)

Thanks Dana for the info. The puppy did come from rescue but he was born into rescue. The 6 y/o also came from rescue. One thing that I remembered and forgot to post is the puppy had his last round of puppy shots on Monday. The itching started tuesday evening.

My golden that passed away in January was allergic to everything environmental & food. I hope we are not going down that road again.

In terms of the bladder stones the vet did not see any crystals in her urine he did say that we could x-ray but felt it was not necessary.


----------



## Unosmom (May 3, 2009)

You can try putting him on bland diet (or another LID formula like california natural), to see if the itchiness goes away. As much as I like orijen/acana, they have a ton of herbs in their formulas, so its possible that your dog is sensitive to one of them. 
Does he have any dandruff? it could also be dry skin from cold air and inside heating. In that case it would be helpful to add some fish oil to the food (I like liquid salmon oil, but some dogs dont mind capsules as well), and bathing in moisturizing shampoo. I really like this brand:
Amazon.com: Kalaya Emu Oil Moisturizing Shampoo - 17 oz: Home & Garden

and also this spray to use between baths:
Amazon.com: Kalaya Emu Oil Moisturizing Spray - 17 oz: Home & Garden


----------



## Dana (Oct 27, 2009)

How old is the puppy? I don't know much about reactions to shots, but have you checked the area where the injection was given for a knot or if it seems tender/sore to the pup? I have no idea if the shot could have caused the itching or not (maybe a call to the vet to see if that's a possibility?). Another possibility could be demodex since he's a pup, possibly triggered by stress of vaccination. Is the itching limited to certain areas or just an all-over itchinesss? I guess it's also possible he could have picked up a flea or two at the vet? 

And like Unosmom said, you might want to try switching to a limited ingredient diet and see if the itching goes away. Orijen/Acana have a lot of ingredients in their food!


----------

