Food allergy cures?

[kristi's kid]

We have a 2 year old boxer that has food allergies which causes skin problems, iching, and paw licking/chewing. Our remedy so far is special food and antibiotics. This seems to be working but I would like to know if there are any other owners that have faced this problem and found a more simple solution?

[Thomas Liggin]

Paw licking and chewing could indicate a contact allergy. Our first Boxer, Rocky, had many allergies. Fortunately he didn't have any severe ongoing allergies.

He had a food allergy which caused a crust to form on his nose. It was a white scaly looking substance. We went from regular kibble to chicken and rice, and finally lamb and rice. While the scale didn't totally disappear, it was greatly reduced.

Wheat is one of the most common allergens in dog food. If your dog food contains wheat, find a brand that doesn't use it.

We feed Innova, made by Natura Pet. The also make California Natural. California Natural has fewer ingredients, and will be less likely to cause a reaction in a dog with allergies. Both are quality foods. There are several other good foods as well, and other members can make some recommendations to help you.

Rocky occasionally had severe reactions between his toes, and on the inside of his ear flaps. This was caused by a ground mold or fungus and varied from severe in summers that were wet, to nothing in dry summers.

The first indication that he was having a problem was when he was four or five years old. It was late summer, and he began licking his paws incessantly, and scratching at his ears. The skin under his ears and between his toes was a fiery red. The vet had given us a prescription of prednisone, and told us to get some benedryl. When the benedryl didn't provide relief, he'd go on the prednisone for a few days. I don't remember how many, but it was less than a week.

After that, he'd go on a "maintainance dose" of benedryl.

This provided him relief when he had reactions. Dogs can also be allergic to the various cleaners and chemicals that are routinely used around the house.

I'm glad to hear that your Boxer (name please) seems to be getting some relief.

Do a search on allergies. You will find a ton of info.

At the top right of the page you will see a search button. Click on it and enter allergies in the box, then click on go. You'll find dozens of threads dealing with the subject.


Tom

[kristi's kid]

Thanks for the info Tom! By the way our boxer's name is 'Ali' but she really belongs to my daughter. Unforunately she travels a lot and now lives out of state so we have become Ali's caretakers. Our first "grandchild" so we do our best to spoil her!

As for the allergies, we managed to keep them well under control now. I always think there has to be a simpler solution but that may be asking too much.

She also has a heart defect that was inherited and could be fatal at any time. Basically her heart stops momentarily then restarts. This happens only when she becomes way over-excited by some condition. Attempts to find the cause is difficult, costly and has not yielded anything. Doctors told us that there would be no guarantee if we did, so we have decided to let her continue normally. It's very hard to see her collapse when she has one of these problems but so far within 3-5 minutes she is completely recovered and running like the wind!

Since having Ali I have read a lot on boxers and their habits/traits. I also learned that some breeders seem to be more concerned with money than the animals they produce. In this area boxers are becoming more popular. Sadly to say I have already seen my share that have some sort of medical problems. My vet also told me that they are seeing more and more large dogs breeds with problems due to bad breeding habits.

Regardless boxers are a special breed and almost human like. That's what makes them so unique and definitely one of a kind!

[basak]

Krose is an allergic dog too. And I have to second Thomas about what he said about the food change.
Almost all of Krose's reactions stopped when we changed his food to lamb and rice. He still gets paw licking and ear scratching episodes every once in a while but nothing serious. Then again, he sometimes becomes a naughty boxer and who knows what he eats at MIL's, he looks like this sometimes:

http://www.boxerworld.com/photo/show...cat=998&page=1


basak