# My dog has food allergies, need advise please!



## kimouette (May 2, 2012)

Hi everyone, 

For almost a year now we have been struggling with my dog's repetitive ear infection. The medication my vet gave me works, but the infection always comes back. She said that at this point we should consider feeding him an exclusive diet to check if it could be food allergies.

My dog is currently fed with a variety of RAW meats and supplements. 
Other than this damn allergy he's in perfect health.

Here are my 2 question,
I read on the net that no matter if we are about to feed an exclusive diet made of commercial food or homemade food, the goal should be to feed an exclusive protein that the dog has never eaten. 
It would be too complicated and expensive for me to find a meat that he has never eaten since he already eats almost every meat! So I was wondering if the goal would be reached even if I fed him a meat he's already eaten many times, but only that one and single meat, chicken for instance. For me it seems like if I give him only chicken (chicken meat+bones+offal) and the ear infection goes away in couple of weeks, it would mean that atleast we know it was all related to his diet AND that he's not allergic to chicken. Did I miss something? I mean does it make sens to feed him only one meat that he's already eating every week?

Second question is about his medicine. Yesterday when my vet examined my dog she, once again, said he had his damn ear infection again and gave me the same drops that i have to put in his ears twice a day. What I don't understand about the exclusive diet that I'm about to feed my dog is : should I keep on giving him the ear drops while he's on his new diet? Or is that gonna mix up the results? My vet didn't tell me stop the ear drops and talked about that diet, but I don't get it... If the drops cure his ears while the food is either aggravating the ear problem or healing cuz not exposed to an allergens, how is she going to find out how the food is acting on him with the medicine doing its job?

Any help or advise will be greatly appreciated!
Kim and Cadeau


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## Tobi (Mar 18, 2011)

I'm just going to touch on flea and tick, and hw prevention what do you use, how long, how often is it administered, can you go six months without it and see if it is that? In my dog that is what it was for the most part along with something in a few kibbles.... Raw has helped but he was still getting yeasty feats, and ears... Since we stopped ivermectin both have cleared. What supplements are you giving. A food trial would be simply a single protein source for about a month so only pork or beef etc. not necessarily a brand new one, so long as he has a chance to get what is bothering him out. It is easier with raw simply because you can feed one thing for a month or two since he is in good health.

So supplements?
Hw/ flea prevention
Protein sources
Chemicals in the house

As far as the drops go it's really hard to tell if something is aggravating e condition since the drops will fix it momentarily. I'm not sure about that one, if it were me, more than likely I'd run the drops, clear it up, then start a trial of different proteins. Others will chime in with more experience, but that is simply how we did ours. It helped narrow the field... But it was ivermectin all along anyways.

Try to be specific it will definitely help people help you more.


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## Herzo (Feb 5, 2011)

I can't say I have any real good advice but I am going through the same thing with one of my dogs. I can tell you feel like me and are so sick of it. But I will say this last time I have not been as good about doctoring them so it is partly my fault.

I think it would be best if you started with the ears cleared up also maybe only feed cold meats. Now I can't ex-plane that good but it is Chinese medicine and I can't remember which ones are what but I know Whiteleo will chime in here. I think pork is hot chicken and turkey cold beef neutral. That could be a start.

Do you have a holistic vet in your area. I do not but I may need to do something else if Turtles ears don't clear up soon.

Edit: Tobi beat me to it.


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

Where you source your meats also could come into play. What the animal was fed before it was processed.


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## FBarnes (Feb 17, 2013)

What are the supplements??

When we switched to raw, my vet told me to do 12 weeks of chicken. If it didn't resolve, 12 weeks of turkey etc. Luckily after a week on chicken the ear infection was gone, never to return. You need to look carefully at everything you are feeding, including your supplements. Is the meat enhanced? Can you get grass raised meat at a decent price? 

I don't think you have to find a meat that your dog has never ever eaten. You'd have to move to Australia where kangaroo is abundant, probably, or find a water buffalo. at least I would. But keep in mind that chicken from the grocery store is normally heavily fed with both corn and soy and those can be allergens.


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## FBarnes (Feb 17, 2013)

Herzo said:


> I can't say I have any real good advice but I am going through the same thing with one of my dogs. I can tell you feel like me and are so sick of it. But I will say this last time I have not been as good about doctoring them so it is partly my fault.
> 
> I think it would be best if you started with the ears cleared up also maybe only feed cold meats. Now I can't ex-plane that good but it is Chinese medicine and I can't remember which ones are what but I know Whiteleo will chime in here. I think pork is hot chicken and turkey cold beef neutral. That could be a start.
> 
> ...


I used to pooh pooh that hot/cold thing but not any more - I have seen too many say they get good results from not feeding chicken in the spring and summer, for example, and their dog has no problems with it in the fall and winter. Go figure.


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## Herzo (Feb 5, 2011)

FBarnes said:


> I used to pooh pooh that hot/cold thing but not any more - I have seen too many say they get good results from not feeding chicken in the spring and summer, for example, and their dog has no problems with it in the fall and winter. Go figure.


I really think I may need to look into it but like I said part of my problem is I just don't seem to get her doctored twice a day and I did the first time but it took me doing it over a month. And also I realized she was eating the bird seed and horse cake. The dear hubby say's I may have given her a cracker (palm to forehead)

Man she was good for over a year then that dame loaf of bread seemed to just set off a chain of events.

I missed the supplement part. Yes what are the supplements and what do you wash your laundry with?


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## kimouette (May 2, 2012)

> I'm just going to touch on flea and tick, and hw prevention what do you use, how long, how often is it administered, can you go six months without it and see if it is that?


 I almost never need to use any treatment. It happend only once since we got that dog, but it was a one time treament (Frontline) and that was a while ago.

Protein sources : I mainly feed them (yes, THEM, cuz I have 4 big dogs!) with chicken, beef, horse, fish. Offals are very divertified: chicken, buffalo, horse, beef, pork ect... Whatever protein and offal I feed them, the bones are always chicken necks or backs.
All the proteins and offal are ordered from a woman who holds a small company of BARF food. She is well known in Quebec and one of the few person who can find and advise people who are interested in raw or Barf feeding.
The raw meaty bones are from a farm not very far from where I live. They dont usually sell these parts of the chicken so I get a fairly good price.
Please keep in mind that I have 4 big dogs to feed and that even feeding one of them with meats like rabbit, kangaroo ect, even for a 10 week trial is out of my budget!
Oh and I forgot to say that I give very small portions of mixed vegetables that I mainly give so I can mix the supplements in something! The mix is often made of carrots, broccoli and supplements.

Supplements :
I order everything from the same website. Under each product you can find a detailed ingredient listing.
- Omega 3 (cuz sometimes he wont eat his fish... he's not a big fan of fish!):
Canadian Vitamin Shop :: Natural Factors-RxOMEGA-3 FACTORS
- Vitamin E :
Canadian Vitamin Shop :: Natural Factors-VITAMIN E 400 CLEAR BASE
-Kelp :
Canadian Vitamin Shop :: Natural Factors-NORWEGIAN KELP
- B-complex : 
Canadian Vitamin Shop :: Natural Factors-HI POTENCY B COMPLEX

Chemicals in the house : none. I mean I dont clean the house with the most ecological products, but I'm not a cleaning maniac that sprays all kinds of products in the house on a daily basis.

By the way I decided to follow you guys advise about clearing up the infection and start the diet right after. That's exactly what I'm gonna do!

Herzo: Holistic vets are pretty rare in Canada (or atleast in Quebec). The very few that exists are many hours from where I live and definately too expensive!

Sprocket: I couldn't tell. Its true that I almost blindly trust that food provider I was talking about... but I can't say without a doubt that the animals were fed with the best food in the world before they were preocessed. That provider has a St-Bernard breeding farm and many customers agree to say the food is at a decent price for what is it...



> Is the meat enhanced? Can you get grass raised meat at a decent price?


Like I just said, I dont know. And honestly if you saw my 3 big refrigerators and the quantities of food that I have to buy for my dogs, you would probably understand why I'm not buying a certified grass-raise free from enhancer meat... I never buy food from the grocery store and I'm completely paranoid with the food being unfrozen for only couple of minutes before I feed it to me dogs. But I cant afford to get anything "better". But please dont forget that the food provider I have is probably not the worst... but I know, I understand your point... if a simple exclusion diet (made of only chicken from that same provider) doesn't do the job, I guess I'll be in big trouble!

Herzo : I wash my cloths with a product that hardly gets in contact with my dog. If the exclusive diet doesn work I will start to pay attention to these kind of details. 
And I will be very carefull with the tiny bits of food that might end up on the floor!!! 

*Oh and one last VERY IMPORTANT THING to know...*
That dog, I got him 1 year and a half ago. HE ALREADY HAD AN EAR INFECTION. And believe me when I say that there's no way the guy who had him fed him with raw food! He was abandoned at the vet (what a stupid thing to do! abandon a lovely 6 year old bernese mountain dog!) The vet said the owner didn't care about the dog, didnt want to spend a penny on a ear problem and abandoned him at the vet's office. The day after I took him to my house, and this is when the struggling with the damn ear infection/yeast started. Knowing that he was fed commercial kibbles and was already sick made me think that putting him on a healthy raw diet might just solve the problem... but as you can see it didn't!

Thanks for all the replies, you guys are grea!!!
Kim and Cadeau


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## InkedMarie (Sep 9, 2011)

Kim, I have a dog who had frequent ear infections as. Pup. You have to be very careful about what ingredients are in supplements. I kept my dog away from corn, wheat, soy, rice and flax. Turns out he's fine with flax but not yeast. A joint supplement he had had yeast and his ears flared. Same thing happened when I picked up salmon oil capsules and didn't notice soy as a secondary ingredient


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## TTs Towel (Jul 10, 2012)

It could be that he has an environmental allergy since these comprise 75-85% of allergic skin diseases in dogs. Food allergy only makes up 15-20%


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## Candyd (Apr 11, 2013)

I've looked at your supplements. They say there is no wheat starch in the vitamin E supplement, but I'm sure it's made from wheat germ oil, as a lot if vitamin E supplements. There can be traces of wheat proteins in it, which makes this product unsuitable for an elimination diet.


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