# Allergies :(



## Silveretta (Sep 16, 2012)

Hello Everyone,

I adopted a 7 month old female pit bull about 2 weeks ago. When I adopted her, they said she was eating adult Science Diet and gave me a bag. After a few days, I started switching her over to the chicken Acana. 

A few days ago, I noticed around one of her nails was red. Shes been licking/ chewing this spot constantly, which I now realize is a hot spot. I'm assuming this is a food allergy. I had still been feeding both foods in order to use up all the Science Diet, but stopped immediately when I noticed this, so shes been on straight Acana for about 2 days now. She switched over perfectly.

Now, when I first brought her home, she had just been fixed and was still on pain meds. I did notice her chewing on her foot a bit, even on the pain meds, but not like now. I stopped the Science Diet, hoping it was an allergy to wheat or soy. I guess I was just wondering, how long should I keep her on the Acana if she is still chewing her foot? Its only been a couple days off the Science Diet, and I'm wondering how long it may still affect her, if that was indeed the cause of her problems? Few days, few weeks? Any advice is appreciated!

Thanks!!
Kelly & Lyra


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## InkedMarie (Sep 9, 2011)

I can only tell you about my allergy experience, it was yeasty ear infections though. Anyway, I was given a list of ingredients to avoid for my dog: chicken, corn, wheat, soy, rice and flax....mine does fine with flax but he cannot have brewers yeast. Beside his food, I have to watch everything, treats and supplements included. I once bought salmon oil and didn't see soy as a secondary ingredient.
You may want to get a different food. Hope this helps somehow.


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## Georgiapeach (Jan 24, 2011)

Chicken is a common allergen, as are grains. Are you feeding a grain free variety? If not, you may want to try that and see if it helps. Pitties and boxers seem to often (but not always, of course) have issues with grains. You may want to try the fish variety of Acana (Pacifica) and see if that helps. I'd also do a foot soak of 1/2 apple cider vinegar (ACV) and 1/2 water a couple times a day to help the itching, if the skin is raw. If the skin isn't broken, you can do pure ACV.

If changing protein sources doesn't help, you may want to try a potato free kibble - not many out there though. My terrier mix can't eat potatoes - they drive her nuts! Some kibbles that are potato free include Innova Prime (grain free), some of the Earthborn grainfree varieties, Evo Herring and Salmon (all other varieties have potato in them), Nature's Variety Instinct (grainfree).

Hopefully, you'll find the "magic food" soon!


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## DaViking (Sep 27, 2011)

Silveretta said:


> Hello Everyone,
> 
> I adopted a 7 month old female pit bull about 2 weeks ago. When I adopted her, they said she was eating adult Science Diet and gave me a bag. After a few days, I started switching her over to the chicken Acana.
> 
> ...


Environmental issues are more common than food allergies. But, if you want to give elimination diets a try it's 12 weeks for the body to be free of any remaining effects of the previous food. Not to be confused with digestive transition which is quicker. Acana is ok and all that but not sure that's where I would start if I where doing elimination trials. Look for something dead simple with as few protein sources as possible. No more than 1 animal protein source. An animal protein she haven't seen yet.


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## Khan (Jan 17, 2010)

From our experience, we with allergies Khan has both food and environmental. We went thru 5-6 different foods before finally switching to a PMR diet. We had to drill down in order to find the problem sources. They were not the typical, grains, proteins, etc. As an example, he is allergic to Flax, Salmon, any form of dairy, just to name a few. He also has environmental allergies. We control these with a OTC allergy pill for about 6mo out of the year. He switches between Zyrtec, Claritin and Benedryl. 
I would suggest when switching from kibble to kibble, you check down the list of ingredients to see if there is any common denominator, if so, try and find a food w/o that. No matter how far down on the list. Also, don't forget about the treats! 
Good Luck!


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