[gtsmom]

Our 2 yr old female boxer does seem to be tolerating Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Duck and Potato. She is better with her scratching, itching (although not 100%). She has a bare spot that may have hair growing back in it on her sides. She is now vomiting and seems to be somewhat constipated. We don't overfeed her. She does not do it everyday but is doing it more that what we are comfortable with. Sometimes she looks like she vomits everything she ate. She does have BM's but looks she is constipated if that makes since.

She was on Science Diet ZD Ultra and did great. She had now signs of allergies. Hair was shiny. It is very exspensive and I read on here how it's not a very good dog food. We tried Blue Buffalo Sweet potato and venision.
SHe was the same as she was on Purina one lamb and rice. Scratching, itching, ear infections, red feet with sores, and a bald spot on both sides.

We are not sure what to do at this point. It takes months to try different dog foods to see if they will work. Any suggestions appreciated. Is there anything I can give her to help her with constipation/ vomiting. Is the DVP's Natural Balance doing something to her that is making her sick???

 

[CorgiPaws]

Boxers are prone to many allergies.
If raw is not an option for you, I'd try a higher quality kibble. Wellness Core, Innova Evo, and Orijen are all great. I know finding the right food for your dog can be tough and it definately can be trying on your patience, but you've made a positive move for your dog getting off of Science Diet.

 

[whiteleo]

Or, you could just end the misery for your dog and put it on a raw diet.

 

[Unosmom]

try grain free, maybe its grain intolerance? try a fish based grain free kibble like wellness core ocean.

 

[gtsmom]

Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Limited ingredient Diet is grain free. I'm interested in the Wellness Core. I did a search and there is a vet a few miles from me that sells it.
Raw feeding I do not feel would be an option for us. Although it is interesting.

 

[gtsmom]

Which formula in the Wellness Core should I try. They have Ocean fish and sweet potato and Simple solutions for allerfies that looks interesting. The other brands that were mentioned I don't think they ahve retailors in my area.

 

[rannmiller]

Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Limited ingredient Diet is grain free.

Well it may not have rice but it IS mostly potatoes, which isn't good for a carnivore, regardless of whether or not it's classified as a "grain" or not.

Try the Wellness Core Oceanfish but it still has a bunch of species-inappropriate ingredients in it just like all other dog foods. I really hate bringing raw to the kibble section but don't you think it would be just as easy to give raw a try as it is to go through the arduous process of finding another food, waiting months to see if it will work, and watching your dog be itchy, constipated, balding, and vomiting the whole time? (while spending more and more money too)

Just throwing that out there. There's also Orijen 6 Fish formula you can try. It's also supposedly "grain-free" though still chock full of species-inappropriate ingredients too.

 

[gtsmom]

We have a small child who is in to everything. I don't think I would want him exposed to raw meat is probably the #1 reason. Other than that I wouldn't begin to know how to do it.

 

[CorgiPaws]

We have a small child who is in to everything. I don't think I would want him exposed to raw meat is probably the #1 reason. Other than that I wouldn't begin to know how to do it.

I understand about the kids and your hesitation. If it's something that sounds interesting to you, why not venture to the raw section (where raw discussions are intended) and dabble around a bit. If it's a matter of knowledge and fear of "messing up" they can certainly educate you and show you the ropes.

 

[The Freak's Mom]

You may want your vet to put your Boxer on Temeril P for 10 days. It will make her rather sleepy, but it will allow her it rest and heal while you play with her food. It did wonders for our dog. It's temporary so no long term side effects are a concern. It allowed us to realize it was in fact a food allergy. We are going to try Potato & Venison (Nature's Bal.) but if that doesn't work, we are going to try the raw food way.

Also - our dogs have always been on Blue Buffalo and have not had any constipation or vomiting. She may simply have a bug. Our vet recommended we try psyllium husk for another one of our dogs and it almost immediately regulated her bowel movements.

 

[Oz'sMommy]

for some reason my reply didn't post...

but the allergy NB formulas consist mostly of sweet potato and regular potato than meat. my oz used to be on the duck and it caused him to have lots of gas, light colored bigger stools as well. some dogs have issues tolerating white potatoes.

since you had your dog on the ZD science diet and it contains chicken, i'm guessing your girl isn't allergic to chicken since she did so well on it as you said. so i'm with everyone else thinking its a grain intolerance since she didn't do well on the lamb and rice purina too.

i would try to stay away from anything with grains or potatoes. i found my dog's allergies began to clear up as i moved away from foods with grains. and we just got a coupon for a free bag of instinct kibble. you might want to try one of those as well. they have great canned food (that mine has been eating for awhile, i really don't like kibble all that much but i wanted something i can leave out during summer and canned gets icky after an hour or two).

good luck