[JMARIE]

Hello, I am the owner of a mix-breed named Grim. His sister, who is owned by a friend of mine had a doggy DNA test done and found Blood Hound, Sharpei and Manchester Terrier as the mix...I don't know how accurate those things are but boy can I see the Blood Hound and the Sharpei! Any way - the reason that I have found myself here is because Grim has an allergy problem.

Our vet acknowledged the allergy, but didn't really get into solving it except to say give him some Benedryl. We used to feed Beneful - salmon formulation and he didn't have the allergy...then my husband was reading how bad Beneful was and we switched to Bil Jac (thinking that it was better - for us it is a local company - which gave us some comfort)

But now he has itchy skin! Poor Grim, our other dog can eat anything without problems but is very picky... neither of them like lamb or chicken, they seem to prefer beef (as a flavor)

So here is my question - Is it true that sensitive dogs do better on a fish based diet? and should I feed Grim fish based food and MIDI (our other dog) the Bil Jac?

 

[redspoo]

Hello JMARIE....welcome to the forum.
Ever consider raw? That would be my
suggestion. Plenty of good info here!

 

[Khan]

I can tell you from experience that Khan is very sensitive/allergic to several items, one of them being Salmon Oil. If you have not found the culprits of the allergy, you may be switching only to find nothing changes.
You need to be your own detective and analyze every thing you are feeding your dog. Food and treats. Find a common factor and eliminate the item.
I have recently also found Khan to be sensitive to Cedar. I bought a new bed @ Costco, and for the last 3 weeks I could not figure out why his ears started flaring up again. I have since taken the bed away, and I am already noticing his ears getting back to normal! I'm just mentioning this because you just never know what can trigger their problem.
I would also steer you in the direction of RAW.
No more itching, licking, nasty yeast build up in the ears. Within a week the itching went away, and within about 2 weeks a visible difference with his ears, after a month, both ears were completely clear of any yeast.

 

[DaneMama]

I would also suggest going with raw. Why? Because if you feed a kibble or some other processed food you have nearly no idea what could be causing the allergy/intolerance because they have upwards of 50 ingredients in some formulas. How are you to pin point what is causing the reaction?

If you feed a raw diet you know *exactly* what your dog is eating, whole fresh meats, bones and organs. No ingredient list other than the type of meat he will be eating each day.

I hope you find the help that you are looking for! And good luck...don't hesitate to post up any questions you might have :wink:

 

[JMARIE]

Thank you all.

I will look into raw...I just didn't know about the cost and time involved with it. Can you pre-make food for the week or a few days? I suppose once you figure out the cost of "premium" food and benadryl/vet visits it evens out. I'll look for recipes here.
:biggrin:

 

[DaneMama]

I will look into raw...I just didn't know about the cost and time involved with it. Can you pre-make food for the week or a few days? I suppose once you figure out the cost of "premium" food and benadryl/vet visits it evens out. I'll look for recipes here.
:biggrin:

This is where your research begins. You must look into all the facets of raw before making the switch to see if you're up for it. Its much more in depth than going to the store buying food, opening the bag, and pouring it in a bowl. Its not so much work/effort that its impossible or not worth it...switching is definitely worth every ounce of energy you put in as far as saving you money at the vet with added health.

Here are a few links that I suggest you read through to get started!

http://dogfoodchat.com/forum/raw-feeding/1648-breakdown-cost.html

How to get started | Prey Model Raw

Why PMR? | Prey Model Raw

Benefits of PMR | Prey Model Raw

Success Stories | Prey Model Raw

Good luck and come back with any questions you might have :wink: