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  #1  
Old October 9th, 2007, 01:45 PM
CptChris CptChris is offline
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Allergies...going to the Allergist?

My dog Clyde, a wonderful fun loving labradoodle, was diagnosed from the first time at the vet as having allergies. Since that day, a little over a year ago, Clyde has been on a number of different pills depending on how bad his scratching is. Most of the time it has been a drug called Vanectyl-P.

We've had him off of it for close to a month now in preparation of seeing a Allergist who would theoretically figure out what exactly he is allergic too and I guess make a serum that would cure his itching.

I started talking to someone at the dog park the other morning and had a similar experience until changing to a raw diet. This apparently cleared a lot of the problem up.

We tried food trials for close to a year. All organic, fish based lamb based, non allergenic. The one we have not tried is raw.

Does my story sound familiar to anyone...

If I wanted to start a raw diet what do I buy, and how much do I feed him? Should I see a Holistic vet first?

Just want my dog to be comfortable in his own skin!!!!
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Old October 9th, 2007, 01:56 PM
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rainbow rainbow is offline
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Did all the kibble brands you tried contain grains? Have you tried any of the grain-free brands like Orijen or EVO?

I do not feed raw but there are lots of members here that would be able to give you advice.
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Old October 9th, 2007, 03:06 PM
CptChris CptChris is offline
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No no one directed me too grain free kibble....I'll look into that in the meantime.

Thanks
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Old October 9th, 2007, 03:11 PM
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rainbow rainbow is offline
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Grains are quite often the culprit so it's worth your while to give the grain-free brands a try. The best one IMO is Orijen (www.championpetfoods.com).

There is also Innova EVO (www.naturapet.com), Wellness CORE (www.ohm.com/wellness) and Go! Grain Free (www.petcurean.com).

Good luck and let us know how things work out.
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Old October 9th, 2007, 03:13 PM
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rainbow rainbow is offline
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BTW, I forgot to say welcome to pets.ca and we'd love to see pics of Clyde in our photo forum.
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Old October 9th, 2007, 05:40 PM
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want4rain want4rain is offline
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welcome to pets.ca!!

to start out on raw, do some google searches on it. figure up what your dog weighs, you want to feed 2-3% of his total body weight or desired body weight. little less to loose weight, little more to keep or gain weight.

roughly, over a weeks time, 10% bone, 10% offal (with 1/2 being liver of some sort) and 80% meat (give or take 5% for each of those, leaning with more bone and offal than meat). if the stools are too hard and he is straining, less calcium. if they arent getting chalky after 2 days, little more calcium.

start with... a meat he has never eaten before. it may be expensive but turn to lamb or goat. talk to a goat farmer or a lamb farmer... it will be far less expensive that way. start with one meat source. idealistically you will want to feed the whole lamb/goat minus the intestinal tract.

if he cant get through the bones enough to eat them, i cant remember how much calcium you have to supplement but im sure a google will tell you.


i find it strange your vet wouldnt have suggested a grain free dog food. they are very good i hear. we feed raw because its cheaper than the holistic, grain free dog foods but we can feed chicken.

have you tried an elimination diet yet? start with ONE food source and work from there to find out the allergy.

also, have they talked to you about it possibly being an environmental issue??

anyways, if you are pretty sure he doesnt have a chicken allergy, you can try that. chicken meat, chicken bone and chicken liver. Mister gets a whole chicken, li et him eat (of the whole chicken), put whats left back in the fridge for tomorrow. a whole chicken is pretty balanced for phosphorus and calcium. when yours is keeping that down, feed a bit of liver.

i guess you should see a change within 3 weeks. dont introduce new meat sources until you are sure he isnt allergic to that meat source.

keep us posted!! and try out the grain free stuff.

-ashley
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Old October 10th, 2007, 10:28 AM
CptChris CptChris is offline
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Rainbow,

Thanks for the tip on the Orijen. A pet shop down the street from me carries it....so I don't have to go far. I'll use that in the meantime until I've done my proper due diligence on a Raw Diet.
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  #8  
Old October 10th, 2007, 12:11 PM
CptChris CptChris is offline
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Thanks for all the info want4rain,

No the vet never mentioned Grain free and yes he did mention the possibility of the issue being environmental. However this raw diet and grain free diet is news to us...I didn't know they existed and or that they were a possibility for other food trials. We'll do the grain free for a month and see a holistic vet in the meantime. After that we'll try the raw. I'll continue to read up on it.

What is offal? Guess I could just Wiki it?
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