# Need allergy advice please....



## geegirl (Nov 22, 2008)

I recently inherited ( ok, I _encouraged_ the owners to give her up) a 5 year old lab from a family member. She was really suffering. They were thinking they wanted to put her down! :frown: She was rubbing her back on the patio support posts until she would bleed, had lost hair on her back ( and had a yucky crusty looking back).She was also shaking her head and she had lost her hearing.:frown:
I took her to the vet on October 10th and they deemed it food allergies. Her ears were a mess, red, hot and inflammed. The vet said it was yeast ( ears and skin and also rod bacteria on the skin). With her former owner she was being fed whichever dry food was cheap/on sale at the grocery store. After being treated with various ear drops/ointment, antibiotics and antihistimines she finally received a clean bill of health today! :smile:Sadly, she has little hearing ( forgot to add that she is also blind since she was a puppy from an inherited condition.) 
My question is this, since October 10th she has been on a Hill's prescription food ( d/d duck/potato) and small amounts of cooked chicken twice a day with her meds. The vet says she needs to be on the prescription food for life. She has a brand new 8 lb. bag of it as of today and will have her last antihistimine dose tomorrow. I want to change her food at some point. But, I thought I should wait until she is well off of the antihistimine as not to confuse things if her ears start up again. I did a little research and came upon Natural balance L.I.D. duck/potato. I like that they have, dry,canned and treats. Do any of you have any experience with this food? Has your pet been through food allergies? I would like to compare the ingredients of the two foods. 

I welcome any help,opinions,advice.
Thanks!
P.S. My other two dogs and my cats are on Wellness and Wellness Core.


----------



## chowder (Sep 7, 2008)

I currently have one dog with severe food allergies and lost one in the spring with food allergies so I have been through it all. My guy that I lost in the spring could only eat duck and was terribly allergic to chicken, but he was able to eat Eagle Pack Holistic Duck and Oatmeal and thrived on it. He also could eat the Natural Balance duck and potato canned food for an alternative but didn't like the taste as much, and he could eat Pinnacle Trout and Potatoe once in awhile for a treat. There are a LOT of duck treats out there to buy for dogs that are 100% duck. He was originally at the point like your dog, of raw bleeding skin and almost no hair until I put him on the Eagle Pack Holistic Duck dry food and he cleared up really quickly. My current dog is allergic to duck and salmon but thrives on venison so you always have to experiment a little with various things. Eagle Pack is available at most independent pet food stores. Good luck to your baby.


----------



## Oz'sMommy (Sep 9, 2008)

my oz has food sensitivities which caused frequent yeast infections in his ears and itchy paws. at the time he was eating a dry food that contained three different grains. we moved to natural balance sweet potato and venison which he did very well on but the kibble was a little too big for him so we moved to the potato and duck small bites after that bag was finished. he hasn't had an ear infection in months. since the kibble has more potato than duck i do supplement with canned food. which is usually the wellness sweet potato and turkey or sweet potato and venison BUT those have barley in it, which oz seems to tolerate just fine. we also use evangers 100% buffalo or pheasant (they also have duck, venison, rabbit & then of course chicken & beef) and wellness 95% turkey. if your dog can't have any grains at all, you maybe want to try those.

my little one didn't like the NBtreats but your's might. you can also try the wellness pure line of treats. they just came out with a couple of new flavors including turkey. sam yam's bichon fries are also wonderful, 100% dehydrated sweet potato and nothing else. 

two other treats i LOVE giving oz are cherby's dehydrated tilapia jerky and brown dog's 100% dehydrated buffalo. both are sources of protein not commonly found in grocery store brand dog food or treats.

i also mix a little nonfat organic plain yogurt in his meals a few times a week.


----------



## Oz'sMommy (Sep 9, 2008)

oh and one thing about the NB potato & duck. i've noticed that oz gets gassy with it. he doesn't seem to mind but he will belch a little and he does pass gas as well.

which is pretty funny because he'll smell it and then look around like "was that you?"


----------



## zomo (Nov 24, 2008)

Its highly likely that your pup is allergic to grains. Hills foods are not very good and he would probably do a lot better on Wellness Core which I noticed you are feeding your other pup.Constant yeast infections and ear infections are usually consistent with grain allergies. Don't take my word for it continue to do research have a look at the site dogfoodanalysis.com they will show you the ingredients and analyze the food for you. Have a look at this site and you will further learn about what manufactures put in food. 
Dog Feeding Info There are so many great grain free foods out there right now, I feed Orijen but make a rotation with other grain free so they don't develop a allergy to a certain protein. But Wellness Core is light years ahead of Hill's. Please read the information and form your own opinion. Have a look at the Great Dane Lady | Dog Health, Nutrition, HOD, Allergies 
You are very special to take in this sweet baby !


----------



## BoxerMommie (Jun 26, 2008)

Yep, I LOVE this food. My boy has food allergies and does very well on Natural Balance's Duck and Potato as well as their Fish and Sweet Potato and Lamb Meal and Brown rice. I HIGHLY recommend all 3 (as long as the dog doesn't have an allergy to any of those ingredients), and the canned foods from them are good also. My boy is allergic to gluten (barley, oatmeal, millet, etc), beef, and dairy that I am aware of.

If you go with this food e-mail or call Natural Balance they have a frequent buyer program of buy 10 bags get 1 free, you send them your receipts they send you a coupon.


----------



## ILuvLabs (Oct 27, 2008)

I have a 3 yr old Lab with allergies & she's also prone to yeast infections.

I primarily use Wellness Core & also Nature's Variety Prairie or Instinct (also recently tried a small bag of Merricks BG)......when she's going through yet another of her yeast infections, I can't use Instinct due to the tapioca. Just as a point of interest, you have to watch your dog's intake of peas, carrots, cottage cheese or anything with high carbs or sugar as they feed yeast.

This website has a wealth of information......plus that, their yeast kit worked wonders with my dog. My vet kept diagnosing the wicked rash on her belly as allergies & giving her steroids (which makes a yeast infection worse) so it was a vicious cycle until somebody mentioned that black skin on the belly is a sign of yeast......so I will not let the vet give my dog any more steroids (antibiotics will do it too). Apparently, vets don't know much about yeast infections. Anyway, do some reading here:

Articles: Dog Health - Cat Health - Pet Health - Horse Health - HumanHealth | NZYMES.COM (Ar)

No, I don't work for them......somebody recommended them & I am very grateful that I found them.

HTH


----------



## techampion (Jul 31, 2008)

*RE: need allergy advice*

Alice also has some food sensitivities which I've discussed in other posts. the Natural Balance Potato and Duck dry with some NB Duck & Potato wet has cleared up all her issues so that is my recommendation. I've even switched my cats to Natural Balance...I'm that impressed. It isn't overly expensive and it is available through Petco and Pet Supermarket...making it relatively easy to get ahold of.

Theresa C.


----------

