Advice on sensitive dog

griffdiz · #1 17th March 2010, 10:21 AM

I have a rescue mix, Griffin who is approx. 3 years old. We believe he has some boxer in him because of his buggy eyes and wide mouth. We've had him for about a year now. At first he was eating Proplan Chicken and Rice. Then in December of last year he had an episode of vomiting. It was right after dinner and he kept trying to eat anything to make himself throw up (he is not the type of dog to chew things up that he's not supposed to). He vomited about six times. So I took him into work the next day (I work at a vet clinic) but by then he seemed fine. So we gave him a pepcid and some barium. A week later it happened again, again right after dinner, and this time vomited all night, about every hour or so. He was so uncomfortable, pacing the room and licking his lips. And he was so gassy we could hear his stomach gurgling. The first vomit was straight food, undigested even though it had been a couple hours since he ate. The rest was just bile. I took him to work again and his last vomit was in my car on the way there. So this time we did xrays and barium and still nothing. Our other dog was on Proplan Sensitive Skin and Stomach so I switched him to that. He was doing fine stomach wise, but I noticed he always licked his paws and itched himself and has had a couple ear infections so it dawned on me that this may be a food allergy. I started researching food and this was when I realized he needed a much higher quality food. I slowly tried switching him to the Wellness Duck and Rice Simple Solutions and he was itchier than ever! His first day eating only this food he vomited 3 times. So this made me think, what was the common ingredients in the three foods he has eaten? Rice! Not only that, but I thought maybe the fact that the rice was higher quality in the Wellness (as opposed to brewers rice in the Proplan) may have caused an even stronger allergic reaction. So we switched to TOTW Prairie. However I was concerned about the fact there was chicken meal in the ingredients and this is not a novel protein. On a side note TOTW does not use ethoxyquin free fish meal. I will find the link to the site I saw it on if anyone wants to see. Either way, Griffin did ok on the TOTW for a month. Then he had a night of his funny hiccupy noises he gets before a vomiting episode. But he did not vomit. Two nights later it happened again but this time he did vomit. I got freaked out and decided to try Nature's Variety Prairie Venison and Millet. It has no rice and no chicken. We are still switching over and I am questioning whether this was the right move. I am worried I did not give TOTW a long enough chance. But I hate to see Griffin get sick and it puts stress on me and my husband too because we have to stay up all night with him and clean up his messes. I am curious what everyone elses thoughts are on this.

griffdiz · #2 17th March 2010, 04:04 PM

Taste of the Wild Dog Food

It is halfway down the page and is an official response to one of the posts on 1/21/2010.

SteveL · #3 17th March 2010, 05:55 PM

Well TOTW is grain free and a good food but the ingredient list seems too long to me to be considered a limited ingredient diet. If it were me, I would look at natuaral balance LID. I think if he is doing good on the food you switched to, I would just stay with it.

griffdiz · #4 17th March 2010, 06:46 PM

The Natural Balance formulas would have been a great option for me, but they have changed the formula so that potato is now the first ingredient. I would much prefer a meat meal as the first one, especially when the food is pricier. Such a bummer! We are however using their LID treats in venison and potato. Very helpful since my first choice, Zuke's, include rice in the ingredients.

BxrMommieNAZ · #5 17th March 2010, 07:14 PM

I have a dog with severe food allergies as well as colitis and he does GREAT on Natural Balance's Limited Ingredient diets of either Sweet Potato and Fish (the best one for him), Sweet Potato and Bison, Sweet Potato and Chicken, or Sweet Potato and Venison. Thsi is the only food ont he market he can eat (and yeah I went through darn near all of them), been using it for over 2 years now and been VERY happy with it.

griffdiz · #6 18th March 2010, 09:26 AM

What is your opinion on the protein content of the food? The food we just started has 26% protein. Do you think its ok to feed him that LID food even though the main protein source is potato?

BxrMommieNAZ · #7 18th March 2010, 11:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by griffdiz

What is your opinion on the protein content of the food? The food we just started has 26% protein. Do you think its ok to feed him that LID food even though the main protein source is potato?

Both of my dogs have been on it for over 2 years and are VERY healthy. I do add in some fresh chicken, or gizzards, or some canned 1-2 times a week, but both do great on it. I'd prefer something a little higher in protein, but have also found that when you have an allergy dog there's only so much you can do before it's out of your hands. Having him on a food that agreed with him and not breaking out in rashes, itching, etc is more important to me than the protein content. And along the way I found things I could add here and there so that's worked out well.

griffdiz · #8 18th March 2010, 04:21 PM

I agree. If the Nature's Variety does not work out I will consider the LID foods. I would rather feed lower protein than see Griffin so uncomfortable. Did you see they now have a bison formula? What would be awesome is if Natural Balance came out with their new food rolls in the LID formulas. That would be a great way to add meat content. So far they only have beef, turkey, and lamb. Maybe one day...

BxrMommieNAZ · #9 19th March 2010, 12:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by griffdiz

I agree. If the Nature's Variety does not work out I will consider the LID foods. I would rather feed lower protein than see Griffin so uncomfortable. Did you see they now have a bison formula? What would be awesome is if Natural Balance came out with their new food rolls in the LID formulas. That would be a great way to add meat content. So far they only have beef, turkey, and lamb. Maybe one day...

Yes I did I am actually feeding it now, almost done with my first bag and moving onto my second (so I've been feeding it for about 3 weeks). Unfortunately for us their food rolls all contain grains/gluten so even a limited ingredient version of that wouldn't help us as I'd need it to be grain free. They do have grain free LID canned versions of most of their grain free dry varieties which are an easy way to add protein as well. And I also get gizzards at the grocery store for REALLY cheap and cook those up and add those once a week or so.

Good luck!