I’m trying to find a dog food that is good for itchy, sensitive dogs.
my dog Panda has always had itching problems since 8 weeks old, (he’s almost 6 now) he is on meds for a proven grass allergy already but I think his food causes problems as well.
I had him on Rachel Ray sweet potatoes and turkey at one point and it made a small difference but since the recent news about grain free I don’t want to go that route again.
So any ideas on a good grain included dog food for an itchy dog?
Did you do any allergy testing?
It’s really not possible to recommend a food for a dog that might be allergic to any number of unknown ingredients. Despite common marketing, most dogs aren’t allergic to grains, but some are. Many are also allergic to various proteins.
I might try a lamb and rice food to start.
First off anything sold by a celebrity is usually crap. Rachael Ray food most definitely falls into that category. Drives me crazy she uses a fat pitbull to sell her food! End small rant… When I consulted my vet about the grain free panic going on right now she was meh about it. Recommended a daily treat that doubled as a multivitamin instead of changing my IBD dogs food if I was that worried. Do you happen to have a Costco membership? Their brand of food is known to be excellent and is affordable. My 3 are on the turkey grain free and are doing amazing. Two have sensitive stomachs and one with dry skin. The problem with not going grain free is that the non grain free foods are often a free for all of ingredients. That said if I had to have a non grain free food I would try Victor or Petsmart Authority. Victor is only for dogs that don’t have protein issues as most of their formulas are multi protein. I have used both and the Victor was great until I got my youngest who had stomach issues and my old man developed IBD. Authority was fine but I needed to switch from chicken for the IBD boy so I switched to Costco food. Edited to add that my sensative skin female pukes on lamb and rice recipes as those tend to have high soy content which some dogs can’t handle.
After going round and round with different foods, we finally put our itchy but healthyBoxer on Apoquel from the vet. Half a pill a day and she’s so comfortable and it is so easy.
That is absolutely true for “grain free” foods as well. There is also no evidence that rabbit, bison, blueberries, lentils or quinoa are ‘healthier’ for dogs than chicken or lamb or rice.
I would skip right to the allergy testing instead of messing around with foods - any of which may or may not agree with your dog for reasons that are not allergy related. And, in general, food allergies are not that common in dogs. Some breeds are just more prone to skin issues, and it may be helped by changing foods but it may not be allergy-related.
Personally I know a ton of dogs that do great on Purina Pro Plan.
Here are two articles by a nutritionist at Tufts Vet School that may help with the “grain free” discussion.
http://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2018/11/dcm-update/?fbclid=IwAR2SH8115gjM5CTOPbuZuAkD41gL9dnzWjVeDDze SEhqNsHm5Ugbl7WDrEI
Contrary to popular belief, there are no health benefits of grain-free or exotic ingredient diets except in the rare case of food allergy. If your dog is a part of your family and you want to feed him the very best, be sure to base this important decision on more objective factors than marketing and the ingredient list (see our post).
http://vetnutrition.tufts.edu/2016/12/questions-you-should-be-asking-about-your-pets-food/
I use Fromme Salmon ala Veg and it works. I avoid food with birds in it. It seems to work.
It’s fairly obvious with my dog within a day or two if she’s reacting to a food.
When I first got her she was eating lamb and rice, she had soft stools which firmed up with some pumpkin. After a few months she was getting progressively more itchy.
I tried a beef based food and her eyes got so red I had to throw out most of the bag.
Hill’s science diet sensitive stomach and skin (chicken based) worked fairly well for about a year until we moved across the country two winters ago and the stress set her off again. A round of steroids got her under control and we switched to the Authority/Petsmart brand for sensitive dogs (fish based) and it’s been working for two years.
Generally food allergies in dogs are protein related, but most brands limited ingredient choices seem to be grain free.
Personally I wouldn’t be too concerned about feeding grain free unless you have a breed who is prone to dilated cardiomyopathy, or a dog who is symptomatic.
I would look for a limited-ingredient dog food. You can be changing recipes but not knowing that one of the other additives is what is causing the problem with many dog foods.
Still, my sensitive guys do well on Nature’s Recipe sensitive skin venison. They didn’t tolerate some of the “better” brands. :rolleyes: I also add a fish oil capsule and some fresh pet.(chicken) It is trial and error. My male seems to have a seasonal allergy as well, so he gets apoquel as needed.
Please research RAW feeding. The difference it has made it my dogs is tremendous! There is a great FB group called Raw feeding advice and support.
Legitimate food trials take time. I would consider talking to your vet about doing a good trial with hills z/d or something. Most dogs are not allergic to grains but a protein source. You can try a novel protein source to see if that would help. You can also speak to your vet about Apoquel which is a oral medication or Cytopoint which is a injection, both of which should help immensely with itching.
I would get him allergy tested. There are so many different foods, including grains, that your dog could be allergic to. My dog has to be on grain free because he is allergic to oats and wheat among other grains. He is also allergic to egg and potato which eliminates a lot of the grain free options. When I first started looking for a food, pre allergy testing, I was eliminating things like chicken as that is a common allergy to have, but he is not allergic to it so I was wasting my time. I also did the limited ingredient route, the grain free route, etc but guess what… he was allergic to something in every single food I tried pre allergy test. Hills Z/D is also expensive, especially if you have a big dog, and it is more cost effective to figure out the problem than to feed Z/D and do trial and error on adding other foods in to see what may be the problem. Yes the allergy testing is a bit expensive (I think it was around $150 for me) but in the long run cheaper than continually switching foods and not having them work. I have only found 3 foods that he is not allergic to at all and have him on a chickpea and lamb formula, he did ok on the chickpea and chicken but does amazing on the lamb so that is what he gets.
Cytopoint was expensive and did nothing for my dog. I know more dogs that it hasn’t worked for than it does. May work for you, but at about the same price point as the allergy test I would test first before trying it. Mine is on Apoquel which is a good option, but if you haven’t done the testing you don’t know what you are trying to avoid so kind of pointless (to me) to band aid fix and not get rid of the problem. I can’t get rid of my guys problem as he is allergic to human dander (most other stuff I can avoid, but not possible to avoid that) so I went with Apoquel, but if I could eliminate everything he was allergic to and not have that added monthly expense I 100% would do that.
My dog did well on kangaroo meat from the vet (expensive, but who cares at this stage) but the results did not last for very long - back to Apoquel for the easy life. She has been on it quite a long time and no apparent side effects.
But if you feed raw chicken and your dog is allergic to chicken…fail.
Really, I don’t know why people don’t just get the allergy testing rather than experiment. Meanwhile, the poor dog just continues to suffer.
Absolutely. I wish I would have done it sooner and if I ever have another dog who shows signs of allergies testing them will be the first thing I’ll do.
Thanks everyone for the suggestions. He already is on apeqiul. (I butchered that spelling). I’ll look into g tying allergy testing done and maybe try a unique protein food.
True but it is far easier to do the process of elimination on a raw diet.
The panic over grain free and the link to DCM is easily overcome by adding some taurine. Cheap and no risk as they will eliminate what they don’t use. Unless the issue is the starch substitute (potatoes instead of corn etc) causing a disruption in uptake. Nobody appears to know as far as I know. I add taurine to my animals raw diet. Likely redundant but cheap insurance. I’ve lost too many Dobes to DCM to take a chance.
STOP! You are spreading misinformation. There appear to be three different types of DCM in dogs. Taurine appears to only benefit one group, which happens to also be the least common.
1.Diet associated DCM with normal taurine levels
2.Diet associated DCM with taurine deficiency
3.Primary DCM in predisposed breeds that is unrelated to diet
There really isn’t much advice on the topic because no one has found a definitive causal relationship yet. Taurine isn’t this magical thing that will prevent or reverse DCM in all dogs.
Calm yourself. I am very well aware that Doberman DCM is not due to taurine deficiency. Having lost 4 to DCM I am becoming an unwilling expert.
Perhaps I wasn’t clear. For the group of dogs that do develop DCM due to taurine deficiency adding taurine is a safe and easy prophylactic. You wouldn’t know if your dog fell into this group but if you feed grain free kibble it won’t hurt to supplement with taurine.
At no point did I suggest that it would prevent or reverse DCM in all dogs.
@sisu27 the capital letters were to draw attention because you’re grossly oversimplifying.
You said quote “the panic over grain free and the link to DCM is easily overcome by adding some taurine”.
While adding taurine may not hurt, multiple studies over several decades have shown that most dogs with DCM, even diet based DCM, have perfectly normal taurine levels.
I fostered a terrier mix a few years ago that my SO found by the side of the road in the rain: skinny, traumatized and completely hairless in places. My vet put her on Apoquel because she was itching herself so badly. My vet wanted her on some Royal Canin kibble which I dutifully purchased, but I eventually put her on raw, and was able to gradually wean her off the Apoquel. No more itching. She was adopted by a mother and daughter, who send me photos from time and time. The little dog is still on raw, and no itching and quite a coat.
Raw feeding is no panacea. But having fed raw for quite a few years, I would never willingly go back to kibble. I have 6 Australian shepherds ranging in age 11 to 1.5 all on raw. No allergies, food sensitivities, none of them have needed dental procedures or even dental cleanings, no pancreatitis, no kidney disease, no UTIs, yearly blood work all normal.
The seat of the immune system is the gut. If I had a dog with food allergies or sensitivities I would look to raw or home cooked rather than highly processed kibble.
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