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Lesson learned about food intolerance

My dog is mildly allergic to all poultry and I’ve known this for 10 years. Symptoms are mostly red skin, gas and loose poop or excessive paw licking if I push it too far. None of her regular food contains poultry but I don’t freak out if she gets some occasionally.

I lost a cat in January and he left behind a huge variety of canned, dehydrated and raw food that was mostly poultry based so I had the dumb idea to feed it to the dog in tiny amounts. Other than some bad breath once in a while, there were none of the usual signs so I got to the point of adding an ounce or two to most of her meals. I started to think I’d been overreacting about the allergy all this time.

About a week ago I noticed she smelled doggy and her coat was a little waxy. Not typical but also not unheard of after going the entire winter (or longer) without a bath. A few nights ago she woke me up to go outside around 4:00 AM. Also not typical but she NEVER goes in the house so I’m always happy that she lets me know when there’s a problem. That day was nice so I left the patio door open for her to come and go. Nothing unusual so far but that night she woke me up every two hours. It wasn’t until the third time that I noticed she was squatting to pee every time and it wasn’t bowel issues. She’s now being treated for a UTI and yeast overgrowth.

The moral of the story is low levels of foods that aren’t tolerated well can cause a host of issues that may not be clear initially or even seem like they are related. I can’t be certain poultry caused any of this but the dog has been 100% healthy and fresh smelling her entire life with minimal grooming on a limited ingredient diet.

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Oh yikes!! Thank you for sharing your story as its a great reminder and good to know! Hope your pup gets back to normal ASAP <3

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