# Food Allergy Help



## paula bedard (Feb 5, 2008)

My Ike also has food allergies. Since I did not know what he was allergic to, I put him on a food that had none of the ingredients that were in the food I had been feeding him. In your case, I'd suggest you figure out what each of the foods you listed has in common and start from there. 

I've since learned through process of elimination that Ike is allergic to corn, soy, chicken.

Good luck


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## jwemt81 (Aug 20, 2008)

Have you ever had actual allergy testing done? If it is in fact allergies, I'm very surprised that her ears didn't clear up on the California Natural. One of our Goldens has a corn allergy and we used to feed California Natural, which cleared up the problem very quickly. We now feed Fromm and have had no problems with that either. Another common cause of chronic ear infections is hypothyroidism, which is very common in Goldens. I would have your vet run a full thyroid panel. Even a low normal result is still considered low in a Golden and warrants supplementation. Since you have tried several different foods with no luck, I would be very suspicious of low thyroid.


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## Ranger (Nov 11, 2009)

I have nothing to say except I love your user name!! My horse's name is Virgil...


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## BeauShel (May 20, 2007)

I was going to suggest low thyroid also. Because you have tried so many foods including ones that have no grain and supposed to be for dogs that have allergy problems then I would think it might be something other than food. Have you considered getting allergy tests done? They might sound expensive but when you think about all the types of food your buying, vet visits and meds, it might be actually cheaper. 
If it is an yeast infection with my dogs they were meds that were used everyday. here is a homemade recipe that several people use here and swear by
*Healthy* Ear *Recipe* (from *Arcane*)

1 tube Monistat (generic is fine)
1 tube Polysporin (use the real deal - it's inexpensive)
1 tube Cortaid (generic works here as well)

Use tubes of similar size. Mix all three together in a container that can
be closed well. It takes a bit to incorporate because the Polysporin is a
bit like Vaseline. Once incorporated, it stays mixed.

If ears are gunky, inflamed or smell bad, start with using a pea sized
dollop twice a day. Use your finger to gently push it into the ear. Rub.
Dogs will only shake their heads once or twice! It's a creamy, very
soothing mixture. Once you have the ears under control, lessen how often
you use it till you're only using it once a week. Once a week keeps ears
from getting bad again.

My doctor (human) is the one that came up with this as her dogs were having ear issues that weren't really under control from the things her vet was prescribing! Anyone that I know that has gone to using it has had
remarkable results and the dogs are much happier and SAFER than using
anything with alcohol in it. I was told by my vet that alcohol just dries
the ear out - which includes drying out the ear drum AND that if there is
even the tiniest of perforations in that ear drum, it can let alcohol down
into the middle ear where it can do permanent damage. That's why this cream is SOOOOO good! There's nothing "liquid" about it. It goes in and melts it's way down to where it's needed. No alcohol to cause drying or damage and it will take care of anything yeast, bacterial etc...
_________________


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## jenlaur (Jun 24, 2009)

I just have to chime in since we just went through allergy issues. Riley itched pretty much since we got her over a year ago. She started off on Eukanuba and we eventually settled on Acana for several months. Due to the cost and availability of Acana we switched to Taste of the Wild. She itched through every food. We did allergy testing and found she was allergic to fungi. Started her on allergy shots and benadryl. Her itching never improved, in fact it got worse.

We had all of our animals on flea control so we really didn't think that was the problem. Besides, we never saw any fleas. We started checking Riley closer, checking on her hind quarters and near her tail and started seeing a few from time to time. Nothing I would call a bad infestation. They were on Frontline first then Advantix. Obviously the flea meds were not working. 

So we decided to try Comfortis. It is an oral flea med. Within a few hours I could not find a live flea on her. At the same time we put her on a hypoallergenic food from the vet. Within 3 days her itching had dramatically decreased. Over the last couple of days we started her back on her Taste of the Wild and there has been no increase in her itching.

So after expensive allergy testing and trying a hypoallergenic diet, we have determined that she is allergic to fleas. By the way, she tested minimally allergic on her allergy testing. But the change is so dramatic that it is the only thing it can be.

One thing, I understand that dogs with food allergies tend to chew on her feet. Riley did not do this. She had just a generalized, all over itching. But I sure wish I could have tried the Comfortis before allergy testing, allergy shots and buying that expensive bag of hypoallergenic food.


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