# Best dog food for allergies?



## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

I'm feeding my two Purina Pro Plan for Sensitive Skin and Stomach, the have sensitive stomachs.

It is salmon with oatmeal and rice, does not contain corn, wheat or soy. 
I tried several different brands and formulas before I finally made the switch to this. 
My guys don't do well on chicken, lamb, turkey or duck, or corn. 
My two have been eating this for 4 years now and doing really well on it, but again, they both have sensitive stomachs. 

Take a look at the cleaners you are using in your house. I have use mainly vinegar and water for cleaning because it's safe to use around animals. We don't fertilize our yard or put any type of chemicals on it. 

Hope you find a food that works for your girl and she will be doing better with her allergies.


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## cgriffin (Nov 30, 2011)

My 15 months old did not do well on those either and I tried Earthborn and that was even worse. 
He is on Pro Plan Sport 26/16 and I will see if he tolerates this completely, it is the closest to his puppy food I could find.

I would also say maybe try the Pro Plan Select Sensitive skin and stomach or try the Pro Plan Select Turkey and Barley, Limited Ingredient Chicken and Barley or Pro Plan also has one grain free diet which has Chicken as the protein source - all this if your dog is not allergic to chicken. All of the Selects don't have corn, soy or wheat in them.

Purina also came out with a new limited ingredient dog food that my breeder is really pleased with. It is called 'Beyond', it also has no corn, no soy, no wheat and no meat by products. I can't find it around town here though.

That said, Blue Buffalo causes a lot of GI upsets in a lot of dogs .


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## Tayla's Mom (Apr 20, 2012)

You might try Fromm or Acana, both quality foods. It's very hard to narrow down the ingredient that is causing the issue. Some proteins cause problems. Chicken is often an issue. You may want to try something that has a cooling meat source like white fish or duck. From a holistic point of view allergies are caused by excessive heat. Chicken, lamb, venison and turkey are all hot foods. They cause heat in the body. Rabbit, duck and white fish are cooling foods. Here is a link to a food chart I use often. Herbsmith Food Energetics Charts. I hope this helps. Having said this, it could be environmental. Cold up north, heat dries out skin. I have found it is a lot of trial and error.


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## Swampcollie (Sep 6, 2007)

SableHart said:


> We're wondering the best dog food for our allergy prone golden? She's 9 months and been on adult dog food for a while due to UTI's at an early age. We found Blue food to be the culprit to her UTI, but now she is having trouble with Taste of the Wild grain free. We had her on lamb and rice, and now salmon and sweet potato, but there is a common ingredient in both that she must be having trouble with. We're on a trial of Clariton which seems to be helping, but we'd like a better long term solution. Is there a good dog food that can be recommended? It could also be a household allergy, but I'm thinking it's probably food related because it seems worse after she eats? Thanks for your help!


There is no "one size fits all" for a dog with allergies. First you have to determine if the dog really has allergies, and then what is it allergic to. Actual food allergies are very rare. What most people are dealing with are dogs that are not allergic but sensitive to various irritants found in their environment. Finding a food the dog does well with can help to boost the immune system so it can better handle the irritants it encounters in day to day life.

Have you actually had the dog tested for allergies?


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## SunnynSey (Jan 17, 2015)

Honestly (and a lot of people wont like hearing thus) the best hypoallergenic food is the rx kind .... Science diet ZD Ultra or Royal Canin Hydrolyzed Protein or Anallergenic. Proplan SSS is a good alternative as well as Wellness Simple Solutions line.


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## lgnutah (Feb 26, 2007)

I use ProPlan sport 26/16 which I am mixing with ProPlan Sensitive Skin and Stomach (once I finish off my 26/16 I will transition to just SSS this spring as spring summer and early fall are Brooks allergy times


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## SableHart (Dec 4, 2014)

Thank you all for your input! We are currently researching different food options, and comparing labels to her Taste of the Wild food that she's currently on. I did not know that certain meats were a heat source, and that is very interesting to know and will definitely take that into consideration. Her allergies are not bad based on stories I'm hearing from other friends with pets, but they are slightly bothersome to her. We have not had her allergy tested yet because of the cost; we're hoping to find a good solution without having to have her tested. We've had our vents cleaned at home, and only use natural cleaning products. She loves vinegar  I also have a lot of allergies so I kind of understand the process of elimination. I'm also hearing that Wellness and California Natural are good sources of food for allergy pets.

It's winter up here in the north so I'm sure dry skin is also a factor. We only use more natural fertilizers and put it down when we're going to be gone for the weekend to help eliminate any possible reaction with Sable. However, our puppy loves mushrooms, she will find them anywhere! So we need to find something to eliminate their growth from our yard.


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

Swampcollie said:


> There is no "one size fits all" for a dog with allergies. First you have to determine if the dog really has allergies, and then what is it allergic to. Actual food allergies are very rare. What most people are dealing with are dogs that are not allergic but sensitive to various irritants found in their environment. Finding a food the dog does well with can help to boost the immune system so it can better handle the irritants it encounters in day to day life.
> 
> Have you actually had the dog tested for allergies?


I agree. My Maggie was sensitive to corn, Hank to salmon. You first have to narrow down the problem then research the foods and make a choice. It's usually a lot of trial & error.


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## migs (Nov 8, 2013)

Purina Pro Plan for Sensitive Skin and Stomach.

I tried everything. We went through Origen, Fromm, GO & Acana and he always seemed to be a little itchy. Just switched to Purina Pro Plan for Sensitive Skin and Stomach from recommendations from other owners here and the itching has stopped completely.

Just give it a try & see. I was so skeptical, but just ended up biting the bullet and his itching is gone


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## Rob S. (Feb 2, 2014)

Farmina Low Grain Cod is exceptional food. Cod and a small amount of organic farro and oats and fish oil.

If your dog really does have an allergy it will be to a common animal protein.


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## jeffscott947 (Jun 9, 2019)

Corn could be the problem. Mean time, you will find this interesting. Personally, if Purina makes it..My dogs don't get it. Been feeding Kirkland Chicken and Rice for over 20 yrs (by Diamond). Note: many dogs can be allergic to chicken, but thankfully, none of mine have been. Despite what Purina and others say..Corn is hard for a dog to digest and is used as a cheap filler.


Note: The jury is still out on Grain Free and DCM, but personally, I don't feed grain free anything..just in case.


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## Maggie'sVoice (Apr 4, 2018)

The DCM issue makes finding a food that works very very difficult now.

Dogs develop allergies to amino acids (protein) over time. The longer and more consistent they are on a certain protein, and the higher the concentration, the more likely an allergy is to develop. The thing is there are plant and animal proteins and if there are higher concentrations of plant proteins (corn, wheat, soy, brown rice, sorghum, barley, peas, legumes etc) it can be the grains just as easily as animal proteins.


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