# Royal Canin Veggie dog food?



## olik (Apr 13, 2008)

I am no help.A lot of people with allergic dogs feed raw food. I am sure it will be a lot of good suggestions.


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## Garfield (Apr 7, 2009)

First, hello & welcome to the forum!

To help answer your questions better, can you tell us what kind of skin condition(s) your dog has/her symptoms?


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## Hannah25 (Jul 7, 2009)

Sure, she chews her paws to the point of not being able to walk, chews the base of her tail and rips the hair off of her tail and feet, has constant ear infections, chews on her belly, feet, legs, hips until all bleed. Its very sad and frustrating. 

We;ve done the thyroid test thing and now are seeing a derm. which I'm hoping will be helpful. Right now she wants her on veggie diet for 6 wks and then we'll recheck her. She wants to address the food part first and if it still continues we'll do some skin testing for the evironmental allergies.

I'm hoping that we can re-introduce a protein type food (fish???) when the 6 wks is up. I really don't want her on an all veggie diet.

My "regular" vet totally sucks and I've like 10 vets and don't like anyone. This derm. is my last ditch effort ...or thats how I feel right now.


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## Bock (Jun 23, 2008)

I don't know about the food, but if the derm. is recommending it I would go with it for awhile until I have a better alternative. I would ask the derm., why a veggie food instead of another


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## MyBentley (May 5, 2009)

Ask your vet about trying the California Natural line of kibble. There are 3 different protein varieties - each with very limited ingredients. Many food allergy prone dogs tend to do quite well on them.

You can research it at: naturapet.com.
Click on the California Natural link on the left side and you'll get a wealth of information.

With all the rice, oatmeal and potato I see listed in the Royal Canine Vegetarian, there is a ton of carbs in it. It's certainly not a food I'd care to have my dog on very long. In fact, I'd probably also be consulting a holistic vet with special training in nutrition, in addition to the dermatologist. I've always had my best success with my allergy prone Bentley by feeding meat-based protein foods with low carbs.

Good luck. I hope things can be figured out soon.


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## Hannah25 (Jul 7, 2009)

Thanks!! I am going to ask her about the raw diet and the california natural herring and sweet potato blend. I don't want her on this veggie stuff for too long. But I also want her problems resolved. Hoping this works:crossfing


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## Garfield (Apr 7, 2009)

hannah&allie said:


> _Sure, she chews her paws to the point of not being able to walk, chews the base of her tail and rips the hair off of her tail and feet, has constant ear infections, chews on her belly, feet, legs, hips until all bleed._ Its very sad and frustrating.
> 
> We;ve done the thyroid test thing and now are seeing a derm. which I'm hoping will be helpful. Right now she wants her on veggie diet for 6 wks and then we'll recheck her. She wants to address the food part first and if it still continues we'll do some skin testing for the evironmental allergies.
> 
> ...


_YIPE_, your poor pooch! You say she's done this since youth...Does she get all these symptoms at once? Are they worse now than they've been in the past? Does it seem worse at certain times/seasons of the year or conditional (i.e. after she's had a good roll in fresh cut grass, her bedding's been washed, floor cleaning, medicine/supplements, etc)? Does she have any hot spots or other such skin abnormalities (other than the self inflicteds you described)?

To get to your original question, dogs can survive on veggie diets when absolutely necessary and a short stint on the Royal Canin shouldn't do her any harm provided she's not reactive to any of the ingredients. However, as Bock & Bentley have suggested, see if the derm doc is open to trying a limited ingredient food. Natural Balance has single protein, single carb diets that are grain free (the salmon & sweet potato is very basic and might be a good option - I'd be wary of any heavy grain formulas and especially any foods containing rice components as it is a common ingredient in both the Solid Gold & Nutro you mentioned and, therefore, could be a problematic ingredient for your dog).

More so, in a dog that exhibits such behavior as you describe, putting money toward food and environmental allergy panels may be a better investment than buying prescription food that may not solve the problem. That way you'll know if allergies are truly behind this (or if you should be looking elsewhere) and relief will be found for your dog all the sooner.


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## Garfield (Apr 7, 2009)

Please disregard - duplicate post.


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## Hannah25 (Jul 7, 2009)

She will be chewing her paws, chewing her leg, and have an ear infection ALL at once  Its horrible!! The seasons don't seem to matter at all. Shes done this in decemeber and in June. It random. 


I am going to try this veggie stuff for the 6 wks and then try something else. I like the idea of the sweet potato and fish diet. 

But thanks for your replies. Its so helpful to have others weigh in.


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## MyBentley (May 5, 2009)

As a follow-up to my earlier post of suggesting the California Natural line of fairly limited ingredients formulas, I'll also add why I no longer suggest Natural Balance limited ingredient formulas. NB has changed their formulas quite a bit in the last couple of years.

Meat is no longer the #1 ingredient.
They contain flaxseed which can often be an allergen.
They only have 10% fat which is very much on the low end and IMO is not enough to support healthy coat and skin.


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## Bock (Jun 23, 2008)

I can vouch for the California Natural formulas. They worked very well on my golden. We used the Sweet Potato/Herring formula.


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## Garfield (Apr 7, 2009)

MyBentley said:


> As a follow-up to my earlier post of suggesting the California Natural line of fairly limited ingredients formulas, I'll also add why I no longer suggest Natural Balance limited ingredient formulas. NB has changed their formulas quite a bit in the last couple of years.
> 
> Meat is no longer the #1 ingredient.
> They contain flaxseed which can often be an allergen.
> They only have 10% fat which is very much on the low end and IMO is not enough to support healthy coat and skin.


No question that CN is one of the highest quality hypoallergenic commercial foods on the market, but it also has its limitations in isolating allergies in complicated cases (i.e. all their formulas contain grains and some even flaxseed). While NB wouldn't be my first choice for a longterm solution, it can have it's advantages in such cases and is head & shoulders above the RC Veg in quality, though even the RC has its place in ruling out animal based proteins as allergen sources.


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## Garfield (Apr 7, 2009)

hannah&allie said:


> She will be chewing her paws, chewing her leg, and have an ear infection ALL at once  Its horrible!! The seasons don't seem to matter at all. Shes done this in decemeber and in June. It random.
> 
> 
> I am going to try this veggie stuff for the 6 wks and then try something else. I like the idea of the sweet potato and fish diet.
> ...


We're keeping our fingers & paws crossed that this food and the derm can help solve your girl's problems. Best of luck and please keep us posted!


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## Bock (Jun 23, 2008)

nevermind.....


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