# Bear is allergic!



## paula bedard (Feb 5, 2008)

Hi, Ike's on ProPlan but I'm dealing with recurrent ear issues too and might be switching him to a grain free food. The Vet thinks we might be dealing with allergies. Fun I know other's here on the forum feed ProPlan and are happy with the results.


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## kgiff (Jul 21, 2008)

We've been working with an allergist on Cisco's allergies. They gave us a list of approved foods and we've taken away all other sources of protein (no meat flavored nylabone, no rawhide, no cheese, no soy, the list goes on and on). We're supposed to slowly start introducing things back, to find out what he's allergic to, but at this point we're just happy to have a much less itchy golden. 

The same food doesn't work for all. My Berner who has some food related issues does great on Evo, but my golden was 10 times worse on it, so he's currently on the Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diets.


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## boomers mom (Sep 17, 2008)

Boomer started on canidae and began having issues with allergies. we eventually switched him to innova large breed. That has helped tremendously with the itching and bad stools and such. hope this helps:bowl:


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom (Oct 4, 2007)

You might want to take a look at the great dane lady's website. She is a very well-respected canine nutritionist and former Ball State Univ professor. She has tons of articles, many of which deal with allergies. www.greatdanelady.com


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## Popebendgoldens (May 16, 2008)

Have you thought about feeding a raw diet? A lot of dogs that allergies do great on a raw diet.

Pat


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## Blaireli (Jun 3, 2008)

Luke has so many food allergies. We tried everything and nothing seemed to make it any better until the food they're currently on, Blue Buffalo Fish and Sweet Potato Recipe. Only speaking from personal experience, this has been great for a pup with a lot of food allergies like my Luke.


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## GoldenJoyx'stwo (Feb 25, 2007)

What exactly is Bear allergic, to?


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## Angel_Kody (Feb 27, 2007)

Good to hear from you but I am sorry you are having these issues with Bear. I switched Jester from Canidae to Wellness Super5Mix. No problem with stools and his coat is great but he always does the head shaking thing and has started licking his paws a lot recently. I am thinking he has seasonal allergies...not food related. I know my allergies have started acting up again since Fall is here. It's odd that Bear won't eat the food but will eat anything else though.  Maybe there is just something wrong with that particular bag of food??


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## samicatt (May 2, 2007)

*Bear allergic*

To answer Kimm.....I don't know what he is allergic to. Its true that this most recent bag of Candidae looked different and he never liked it....but was doing the head shake paw lick before that. The Vet told us to try grain free food, since lots of goldens are allergic to wheat. Also told us to try Lamb (less allergenic)..but he was already on lamb. My babysitter picked up a bag of grain-free duck and potatoe (not sure of the brand)...guess will try that then try others slowly. Vet also told us to use benadryl for now 50mg tid.

Thanks for all the answers....I'll check out that site too with the articles.

John


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## Angel_Kody (Feb 27, 2007)

samicatt said:


> To answer Kimm.....I don't know what he is allergic to. Its true that this most recent bag of Candidae looked different and he never liked it....but was doing the head shake paw lick before that. The Vet told us to try grain free food, since lots of goldens are allergic to wheat. Also told us to try Lamb (less allergenic)..but he was already on lamb. My babysitter picked up a bag of grain-free duck and potatoe (not sure of the brand)...guess will try that then try others slowly. Vet also told us to use benadryl for now 50mg tid.
> 
> Thanks for all the answers....I'll check out that site too with the articles.
> 
> John


Canidae did recently change its formula. I understand the kibble looked different in size and color. Perhaps it was something in the new formula that didn't agree with Bear. You can do a search here for others who had opinions on the new formula. Good luck with the new food. Keep us posted.


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## Maggies mom (Jan 6, 2006)

I was feeding mine Canidae ALS and just switched them to Evo.... we were 6-7 bags later and Hootie got a hot spot(hes never had one) and licking his paws, Maggie started licking her paws big time, Abbie has double ear infections and Cruiser has ear infections also, noting has changed in there diets etc except the new formula from Canidae.


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## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

I just switched Brady from Canidae to Wellness Core last night. We are currently dealing with another hot spot and irritated ear, and have had our share of ear infections. 

Wellness Core is wheat free, and I found a company that delivers it to your house and is packaged by serving size labeled with your dogs name.


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## JellyBoy (Oct 2, 2008)

For those of you who are switching from Canidae - were you aware of the formula change?

Did you transition over appropriately?


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## Maggies mom (Jan 6, 2006)

JellyBoy said:


> For those of you who are switching from Canidae - were you aware of the formula change?
> 
> Did you transition over appropriately?


I didnt transition and they havent had any problems... solid stools etc.... I was aware they changed it and was willing to give it a try. Then when all 4 dogs had something going on I changed it.


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## Ardeagold (Feb 26, 2007)

I'd also try grain free....and something without the lamb.

Hopefully that'll help clear things up, but it'll take a while to get things set straight again

Canidae's change has caused a lot of problems.


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## Goldilocks (Jun 3, 2007)

We have found grain free kibble (Orijen), Honest Kitchen as well as home cooking to be the only foods Pippa can stay yeast free on. She was not a compulsive scratcher but I never see her itchy when she's on home cooked. The stuff I make for her does have brown rice and oatmeal. I am not convinced that she is allergic to grains but there is definitely something about commercial foods that doesn't agree with her system.


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## JellyBoy (Oct 2, 2008)

Sorry to hear about your complications with the Canidae change. Ardea - are you going to try the Canidae Grain Free mix? 

Maggies mom - I'm not sure I understand what happened there. Did you say that you knew the change was coming and did not switch, and your 4 dogs were fine?


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## M & M goldens (Mar 28, 2008)

We are struggling with the same thing. We went from Wellness to Canidae and the itching is worse. I talked to my vet and he suggested Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diet. It has just one protein and one carb. He is not big on the raw diet unless you know alot about nutrition or by the packs that are blended. He was a Zoo Vet so I feel he is giving me good information since he knows alot about feeding raw. Murphy is losing hair, itching everywhere and has rubbed a spot of his nose. We are going to the vet -next week to go over diets and this itching. Maggie is just itching and she never use to itch. They really seemed to love the Natural Balance but my vet said it would take a couple of months for everything to clear up -I hope I last that long.


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## tintallie (May 31, 2006)

Wiggs had problems with treats and kibbles with wheat, potato, oats and barley and I refused to feed him soy and corn. The alternative was feeding him a raw diet so that I didn't have to scrape projectile diarrhea off the sidewalk or grass.

The benefits outweighed the disadvantages and I have a dog that loves meal time, has super small poops, a gorgeous coat and pearly white teeth, plus no ear infections.


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## Sivin (Nov 23, 2006)

We had our first golden, Jodie, undergo an endoscopy because of her colitis bouts. It was found she had a food allergy and the vet prescribed Eukenuba fish and potatoes (prescription only). She did very well on it for the rest of her life.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

a few comments...
The Great Dane Lady is well respected but I have to correct you, she is NOT a certified canine nutritionist. There are very few of them in the country (I believe about 27) and most of them work for very large pet food companies. In order to be a certified canine nutritionist you have to first be a DVM, then get a PhD in small animal nutrition, and then do a residency. So although she is very knowledgeable and respected, don't compare her to a true certified canine nutritionist.
Secondly, food allergies in dogs virtually ALWAYS occur in addition to environmental allergies. Vets often change the food first, because it's the easiest thing to do. This is allergy season in most of the country, Bear's problems could be environmental rather than food. Food allergies account for about 10% of all allergies in dogs.
If you want to see if it's food allergies, don't mess around trying to second guess what it is and changing from this food to that food over and over....at which point the fall allergy season ends and you *think* then food change mattered, until NEXT year at this time.
Get a prescription hypo-allergenic diet from your vet and feed it for at least 8 weeks. If you see a big improvement, then that's your problem. Royal Canin makes a line of single protein/single carb. foods (like the fish and potato someone else mentioned) including venison and potato, fish and potato, duck and potato, and rabbit and potato. Eukanuba/IAMS makes a prescription kangaroo and oats. Purina and Hills both make excellent hypo-allergenic prescription foods with the protein molecules smashed up so small that dogs can't be allergic to them.
Most important, during any allergy trial NO TREATS, NO HUMAN food, unless you buy the prescription treats from your vet. Otherwise, you're wasting time and money and kidding yourself.
You said Bear won't eat his dog food, yes he will. A normal healthy dog can go 5-6 days without eating and it won't hurt them a bit. When he gets hungry, he'll eat.


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