Hypoallergenic dog food

[UlysMom]

My brother and SIL adopted a chunkster of a beagle from the humane society this weekend. He came with a Hill’s prescription diet ZD. The shelter just told them he has a “food allergy”. He has an appointment with their this week. The new guy got a bit of the other dog’s food today and developed a red rash on his belly.

So, the collective wisdom of COTH doggy owners… Any advice on store bought food outside of the ZD? Where they are, the ZD is pretty pricey. They feed their lab Wellness grain free and she does well on it. My dogs have always been on Orijen or Acana, but recently switched to Zignature when prices jumped from $65 to $85 a bag locally. They are doing fab on that one.

Wellness naturals is available locally to my brother. Is that a decent hypo food? Or any other suggestions? She’s found Zignature on Amazon they can ship to the house.

If it’s protein caused, they need to figure out which protein he’s allergic too. Or wheat, or ??? My SIL said she’d make his food if he needed it, but with two little ones, chickens, their organic gardening… I can just see her not needing one more chore like that if there is a healthy alternative.

[alto]

@UlysMom;7860882

My brother and SIL adopted a chunkster of a beagle from the humane society this weekend. He came with a Hill’s prescription diet ZD. The shelter just told them he has a “food allergy”. He has an appointment with their this week. The new guy got a bit of the other dog’s food today and developed a red rash on his belly.

If dog is this quick to react, they should keep him on the ZD & work with an allergy specialist to do any food switches.

New dog in new household, I’d not try to change anything for a couple months, then start looking at allergy testing - which may be less costly than trying to sort out foods through trial & error, it will certainly be more comfortable for the dog.

It will likely just be more economic to keep dog on the ZD if there is no convenient allergy specialist - beagles are pretty easy keepers & not going to consume vast amounts of food anyway.

The ZD food has been treated in such a way to minimize reactivity/allergenicity of the ingredients while maintaining reasonable nutrition.

They may have more success with a raw diet than cooked foods - certainly the nutrition is better, also teeth maintenance.
But you need to do your research if commercial raw foods are not available (or within the budget).

[CrowneDragon]

I agree with alto. And I know that there are a lot of people who rail against Hill’s products as garbage, but they can be invaluable for dogs with health issues and I’m glad they have so many options available for all kinds of different problems.

[Bicoastal]

That is a broad and misnamed category, “hypoallergenic.” Hypo of what? OP, it sounds like you know of the top shelf, grain-free commercial kibbles. You will be a great resource! If they do not want to shell out $$$ for allergy testing, they need to do a food trial (and stock Benadryl).

Taste of the Wild is a good, grain-free kibble that isn’t too tough on the wallet. Costco’s Kirkland brand has a strikingly similar kibble.

[UlysMom]

Thanks everyone, for your responses.

The new dog had his vet appt today. Unfortunately, their vet recommended they return him to the shelter (no kill). He bit my SIL last night and the vet determined he was neurological (the shelter said their vet never noticed, which is weird based on what he was presenting with). The vet felt he was super tense and was concerned he might bite one of the kids.

I’m sure a lot of his tenseness and uncertainty was all about new home plus the neuro issue (my SIL said his front paws would roll over and he’d fall on his face). If they didn’t have little ones, they would have kept him longer to give him time and see if he came around and if there was something medically they could do for him. But, especially after the recommendation from their vet, they couldn’t take a chance with the kids.

They lost their beagle at 14 to lymphoma last year. I know my SIL is heartbroken this didn’t work out. But I think it was the right thing to do for their family.