dog food allergy

our lab was diagnosed with and ear fungis due to a chicken allergy, we were feeding iams but now in the search of a new brand any suggestions! dog is 14 months old, eyeballing performatrin, lamb and rice about 50 bucks for 14 kg bag and pc choice dog food around 39 bucks for 14lbs

Wholesome Blend

performatrin ultra grain free. seems to works well for my high energy Britts.

Same issue with our GSP. We found that Acana is what suited him best, albeit a little pricy .

Cost per pound can be very misleading. If comparing by price, look at price per amount fed per day. Most of the pricier foods call for eating far less food.

This time of year my Brittany eats 2 cups a day. During hunting season about 1/3 more. Yes, the amount consumed makes a big difference on cost of feeding. You may have to try more than one brand before you settle on what's best for you.

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Originally Posted by warningshot

our lab was diagnosed with and ear fungis due to a chicken allergy, we were feeding iams but now in the search of a new brand any suggestions! dog is 14 months old, eyeballing performatrin, lamb and rice about 50 bucks for 14 kg bag and pc choice dog food around 39 bucks for 14lbs

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You may have to try a few different brands of food to determine whats best for your dog. Turkey and lamb base foods typically are harder for the dog to digest that have allergies especially . I just switched my Springer to a salmon based dog food with no grains and the itching has completely stopped. She was on a chicken base dog food with no grains. So it may not be the top name brand foods to solve this issue. I switched my dog to Kirkland Domain Salmon dog food at $43.00 retail and is considered above average rated dog food. She had been on Acana a top notch dog food but she did not do well on it.

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Originally Posted by C.A. in TO

Cost per pound can be very misleading. If comparing by price, look at price per amount fed per day. Most of the pricier foods call for eating far less food.

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Very good point to mention.

warning shot : I'd be interested in what your vet is suggesting.

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Originally Posted by C.A. in TO

Cost per pound can be very misleading. If comparing by price, look at price per amount fed per day. Most of the pricier foods call for eating far less food.

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Yes because they usually contain two to three high quality protein ingredients . Quality protein you will pay for but feed less and smaller stool. But sometimes a dog with an allergy will still not do well on a high quality dog food and do better on a lesser rated dog food.

I tend to agree with that thinking. Often a more expensive/higher quality food will not change the symptoms. More often than not moving to a salmon based food will help but like all things.....no guarantees.

With the difficulty in pinning down the main culprit in causing a yeast condition I am surprised when a Vet says it's the chicken based diet. Good honest Vets will tell you without an extensive battery of tests it's a best guess scenario! Dogs whose ears are perpetually moist often fall prey to yeast infections and it's not the food in those situations.

I had a Golden Retriever years ago that had chronic ear infections and tried a number of test and diets.The vet couldn't really pin point the main culprit but for some reason a cheap dog food sold a local grocery store seemed to keep things in check. It was a beef base protein first ingredient kibble with grain that worked. Go figure.

I wasn't suggesting that a high price food would do better. Just that they are often not as high priced as they seem. My two eat Origen at twice the price of Performatrim. However, they eat half as much. So no price difference. Just wanted the OP to be aware of that in his decision-making.
And one of mine does not do well on chicken so they rotate between fish and the red meats blend -- both grain free.

we were on iams regular , the vet suggested iams lamb and rice, they sell the iams (vet) edition at the vets along with other brands but not the lamb and rice. after walking into pet store and a bit overwhelmed with all the choices, then doing internet search to find that the feed were were using isn't that great! so looking to get into something better! but so hard to find what might be best bang for buck we are trying performatrin lamb and rice and ear drops and the ears look better after a week!!!

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Originally Posted by Sharon

Very good point to mention.

warning shot : I'd be interested in what your vet is suggesting.

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Performatrin Lamb and Rice .... This is what I have recently switched to.

Glad your dog is doing better.

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Originally Posted by Sharon

Performatrin Lamb and Rice .... This is what I have recently switched to.

Glad your dog is doing better.

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Performatrin is great I use grain free it did wonders to my dogs ear infections and improved her coat drastically.

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Originally Posted by warningshot

our lab was diagnosed with and ear fungis due to a chicken allergy, we were feeding iams but now in the search of a new brand any suggestions! dog is 14 months old, eyeballing performatrin, lamb and rice about 50 bucks for 14 kg bag and pc choice dog food around 39 bucks for 14lbs

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Never heard of a dog being allergic to chicken.

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Originally Posted by Gilroy

Never heard of a dog being allergic to chicken.

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not uncommon at all

http://www.peteducation.com/article....2+2082&aid=143
Common food culprits
Several studies have shown that some ingredients are more likely to cause food allergies than others. In order of the most common offenders in dogs are beef, dairy products, chicken, lamb, fish, chicken eggs, corn, wheat, and soy.

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Originally Posted by GrizzlyAdams

Performatrin is great I use grain free it did wonders to my dogs ear infections and improved her coat drastically.

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My setter has had an inflamed belly skin problem ( no infections) since the Spring. She's small and I always thought it was due to field grass rubbing/ allergy? Always been a Purina Pro Plan fan but thought, well let's see if grain free helps. We'll see. :)

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Originally Posted by Sharon

My setter has had an inflamed belly skin problem ( no infections) since the Spring. She's small and I always thought it was due to field grass rubbing/ allergy? Always been a Purina Pro Plan fan but thought, well let's see if grain free helps. We'll see. :)

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I have attached the ingredients from purina pro plan chicken and rice. Second ingredient is BREWERS RICE. Anytime you see BREWERS next to any grain ingredient it is garbage byproduct from the alcohol industry.

What happens is major alcohol distillers buy grain from multiple sources around the world. A single batch of alcohol could be made with thousands of different locations grain was grown in. Each location has its own set of allergens. Combine them all together and you get many different allergens from all over the world...this is bad. Distilling process cooks all these allergens together to make their mash. The boiled and nutrient leeched grain is then discarded and sold for dog food. Now your pet is eating grain from all over the world and it has been leeched of all nutrients its merely fibre thats left over. DO NOT BUY anything with brewers rice barley yeast anything...its all byproduct that if your pet has an allergy it will now engage those allergies as they are exposed to allergens from all over the planet. I bet once you switch over within 4 months it will improve. Remember it takes 2 months for allergens to leave your dogs body so you will start to see results after 2 months. Table scraps with grain or breads and pizza crust will have the same effect on your dogs coat and skin. Only grain free dog food all the time or try the raw diet which is also one of my preferances. Hope your pooch improves with the food change.


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Originally Posted by Gilroy

Never heard of a dog being allergic to chicken.

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Dogs can be allergic to anything just as humans are...most allergies come from the grains. I use grain free and my dog loves it. Dogs do not need grain its simply added as cheap filler and a substitute for healthy carbohydrates

MY BLF does very well on Canine Plus Lifetime Dog Food grain free. I feed her the Fish & oatmeal. Made in Ontario.

My daughter has recently switched from feeding Acana to her Yorkshire Terrier to feeding Performatrim. The issue was that the Acana is such a fresh meat ingredient base dog food that is was going moldy before the bag was finished. As mentioned you do feed less with these high quality dog foods but they have a much shorter shelf life. She tried a few different methods to keep the Acana fresh but it would still go moldy. I told her to email Acana with the issue and she is still waiting for a response.

I switch back and forth between Acana & Orijen. I like the better foods for a number or reasons, but really, any dog can develop an issue with just about any food.

I had an akbash that was allergic to all dry foods - well, we tried 8 different foods before switching to raw meat & fresh tripe diet. He's done really well on that ever since. Phenomenally strong, great condition, balanced constitution. Too many folks try raw meat without ensuring their dog is getting a balance of pre-digested greens. Tripe is the key.

And not all dogs do well on raw as well. I had a few of my working dogs that had to be switched from raw to a kibble diet. Eventually switched all of them do a high performance kibble to eliminate all the work feeding 18 dogs a raw diet.

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Originally Posted by yellow dog

And not all dogs do well on raw as well. I had a few of my working dogs that had to be switched from raw to a kibble diet. Eventually switched all of them do a high performance kibble to eliminate all the work feeding 18 dogs a raw diet.

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Did you switch because of the work you had to do to feed them or was it the raw food?

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Originally Posted by Waftrudnir

not uncommon at all

http://www.peteducation.com/article....2+2082&aid=143
Common food culprits
Several studies have shown that some ingredients are more likely to cause food allergies than others. In order of the most common offenders in dogs are beef, dairy products, chicken, lamb, fish, chicken eggs, corn, wheat, and soy.

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In a natural state what would these dogs eat after eliminating the above?

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Originally Posted by Gilroy

Did you switch because of the work you had to do to feed them or was it the raw food?

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Because I had allot of dogs 18 sometimes more it became a full time job mixing a raw diet. I would purchase large chunks of beef, tripe ,horse and whole fish or fish meal and run through my gas powered grinder. A bunch of us guys would spend days mixing adding supplements and then freeze into 50lb blocks.
Years later I purchased premixed raw meet mixture with supplements but felt the diet was not consistent enough from my supplier out of Quebec. They did do very well on a raw diet with exception of a few dogs that needed to be fed a high performance kibble to maintain weight and muscle.
Eventually I switched to a high performance race proven kibble National Dog Food, Red Paw and finally Dr. Tim's Momentum . Feeding took less time , clean up as well and more time spent on the trail with my dog team. The dogs looked and performed as good if not better on kibble than the previous raw diet I was feeding.
I do believe some dogs can do better on raw than kibble or vice versa. I use to really enjoy mixing up raw diet recipes along with working with an animal nutritionist. It's most satisfying when you see how hard they are working day in and day out being fueled by something you took part in.

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Originally Posted by Oddmott

I switch back and forth between Acana & Orijen. I like the better foods for a number or reasons, but really, any dog can develop an issue with just about any food.

I had an akbash that was allergic to all dry foods - well, we tried 8 different foods before switching to raw meat & fresh tripe diet. He's done really well on that ever since. Phenomenally strong, great condition, balanced constitution. Too many folks try raw meat without ensuring their dog is getting a balance of pre-digested greens. Tripe is the key.

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Problem with green tripe is that you can't have company over and you use too much Febreze. :) ( just kiddin" ya)

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Originally Posted by Gilroy

In a natural state what would these dogs eat after eliminating the above?

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yeah, that doesn't leave much. fortunately never had an issue myself and hope that stays so.
one thing is for sure, there's no dietary reason to feed your dog corn and other fillers, and I think this is what often gets the issue started.

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Originally Posted by yellow dog

Because I had allot of dogs 18 sometimes more it became a full time job mixing a raw diet. I would purchase large chunks of beef, tripe ,horse and whole fish or fish meal and run through my gas powered grinder. A bunch of us guys would spend days mixing adding supplements and then freeze into 50lb blocks.
Years later I purchased premixed raw meet mixture with supplements but felt the diet was not consistent enough from my supplier out of Quebec. They did do very well on a raw diet with exception of a few dogs that needed to be fed a high performance kibble to maintain weight and muscle.
Eventually I switched to a high performance race proven kibble National Dog Food, Red Paw and finally Dr. Tim's Momentum . Feeding took less time , clean up as well and more time spent on the trail with my dog team. The dogs looked and performed as good if not better on kibble than the previous raw diet I was feeding.
I do believe some dogs can do better on raw than kibble or vice versa. I use to really enjoy mixing up raw diet recipes along with working with an animal nutritionist. It's most satisfying when you see how hard they are working day in and day out being fueled by something you took part in.

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I guess I,am a lazy guy,phone up my raw food guy,he calls me back after he kills a few animals I pay my $40.00 drive of with my 40lbs of very fresh frozen meat.

I agree not all the food is the same especially for raw,tried a new source a few days ago,minced down chicken.Felt very greasy in the hand,rendered it down in a skillet and it turned to a liquid mush of mostly fat and water,very little chicken.

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Originally Posted by Gilroy

I guess I,am a lazy guy,phone up my raw food guy,he calls me back after he kills a few animals I pay my $40.00 drive of with my 40lbs of very fresh frozen meat.

I agree not all the food is the same especially for raw,tried a new source a few days ago,minced down chicken.Felt very greasy in the hand,rendered it down in a skillet and it turned to a liquid mush of mostly fat and water,very little chicken.

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I have had that happen as well and got tired of how inconsistent meat mix's were becoming. The first and second batch was good then the third was terrible. Finally I gave up and it was either start mixing my own again or start feeding a high performance kibble. I thought about feeding raw to my two hunting dogs but it's much easier to feed a high quality kibble.

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Originally Posted by yellow dog

I have had that happen as well and got tired of how inconsistent meat mix's were becoming. The first and second batch was good then the third was terrible. Finally I gave up and it was either start mixing my own again or start feeding a high performance kibble. I thought about feeding raw to my two hunting dogs but it's much easier to feed a high quality kibble.

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I agree its not that easy to get a good raw supplier,I have one and his raw is excellent but its hit and miss for supply as I,am a small order guy 6 cases at a time and some of the breeders near him give him big orders.The prices on raw in or near the GTA are nuts.

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Originally Posted by yellow dog

Because I had allot of dogs 18 sometimes more it became a full time job mixing a raw diet. I would purchase large chunks of beef, tripe ,horse and whole fish or fish meal and run through my gas powered grinder. A bunch of us guys would spend days mixing adding supplements and then freeze into 50lb blocks.
Years later I purchased premixed raw meet mixture with supplements but felt the diet was not consistent enough from my supplier out of Quebec. They did do very well on a raw diet with exception of a few dogs that needed to be fed a high performance kibble to maintain weight and muscle.
Eventually I switched to a high performance race proven kibble National Dog Food, Red Paw and finally Dr. Tim's Momentum . Feeding took less time , clean up as well and more time spent on the trail with my dog team. The dogs looked and performed as good if not better on kibble than the previous raw diet I was feeding.
I do believe some dogs can do better on raw than kibble or vice versa. I use to really enjoy mixing up raw diet recipes along with working with an animal nutritionist. It's most satisfying when you see how hard they are working day in and day out being fueled by something you took part in.

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Id say you are the exception to the rule not the rule itself. A show of hands would show most people own 1-2 dogs. Id be more frustrated with cleaning 18 poops per day than making the food lol must be fun cutting the grass

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Originally Posted by GrizzlyAdams

Id say you are the exception to the rule not the rule itself. A show of hands would show most people own 1-2 dogs. Id be more frustrated with cleaning 18 poops per day than making the food lol must be fun cutting the grass

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Actually very little stool when feeding raw and my dogs were on sand not grass staked out. Made for easy cleaning on well drained sandy soil. The dog yard was shaded by huge white pine tree's.

I use "go". They have a sensitivity line that has no chicken or tomatoes. Oddly enough we found out dog allergic to tomatoes as well. The bag is black and yellow and we have had good results with it.

To help with yeast I have been giving her a probiotic in her food twice a day. This has helped clear up about 90% of the yeast.