Food for allergy dogs?

I am kind of amazed at how difficult it seems to be to find any good kibble for our allergy-prone Cocker Spaniels. They haven't had an allergy test yet, we are going to have to save up for that for awhile, especially since I can't chip in having so many vet trips with Chase. They've been on Lamb & Rice diets for years, but seem to be developing some sensitivity to it. Right now they are on a trial run of Canidae Chicken & Rice, but I worry about the meat content in it as compared to their other types. The first three ingredients are Chicken Meal, Brown Rice, White Rice ... once you combine those two rices, I suspect there is actually more rice in the food than meat? They seem to be chewing their paws less on this already, but it doesn't seem to be doing wonders for their skin as compared to the Lamb... I don't know if that's just my imagination, or bad timing with some outside allergy, or an actual issue, though.

I went hunting for other foods ... and it seems that most do the same thing with two rices, or don't even have meat as the first ingredient. I looked at Cal Natural, Wellness, Natural Balance, Nutro... none seem any better than the Canidae. I can't tell if Fromm is any better or not, it looks rather grain-heavy to me. I'm also unsure about Solid Gold.. they have a beef and a bison formula..

So ... I know there are lots of people here that know decent amounts about cat nutrition, so I was just hoping there'd be some that are just as helpful with dog. I've love to hear any opinions or recommendations... Oh, and home-cooked or raw just isn't an option. These are my family's dogs technically, and they want nothing to do with any of that, so I can't really force it on them.

my moms dog is a goldenlab, and he has bad allergies. she changed his food to "Purina One Lamb & Rice" and he's been fine, execpt for the once ina while yeast infection in the ears.

FOr simple ie allergy
DOG s in the wild eat 30-50% protein
20-30 % fat and
20-40% grain
Nutro ( lamb and rice or chicken rice and oatmeal( the puppys are all life stage and have 5% more protein than adult )... my allergy girl is loving the herring rice and potato )... Normally I put cockers on lamb and rice strait up from puppy
Natural balence ( love the fish but it is mostly carb as it read s SWEET potato and fish)
Cal natural is good

Solid gold is great if grains arent an issue...

YOU want one meat and one grain/ starch... ie lamb and rice not lamb, rice , barley , flax

I DONT like canidea but that is me .... the % s dont add up to have alot of meat ...

TOP cocker allergies

wheat
corn
soy
beef
chicken


to avoid yeast infections ... avoid corn , wheat and soy


DOES he have ear issues or just skin ???

PS I know more about dog nutrition than cat...

I have a dog (probably border collie mix) that has had MANY itching issues. He even has been itching his face on the ground, so that I was giving him Benedryl. We recently switched from Purina Lamb & Rice to Artemis, and I just noticed today that he doesn't itch anymore that I can see, AT ALL.

Oreo has really bad ears. Earnie's have a tendency to get bad if ignored for long periods of time, but if I clean them out with some Zymox every couple of weeks, they stay fine.

They were on Nutro some time ago.. the lamb I believe. Then they seemed to do better when we tried out Blue Buffalo, and about the same with regular Canidae. The lamb and chicken types haven't impressed me nearly as much as the reg did though.

You may want to go "exotic"... Ie fish( this is the most anti inflamatory).... venison ( simliar to lamb only less likely to react .... buffalo ( leaner than beef but just as tasty)... I dont go for duck, to many cant handle it ... bison is getting popular... I once used kangaroo RX for one of mine...

I would say try fish or bison as both are cooling meats ... meaning they cool the body and dont cause inflamation ... LAMB is a HUGE inflamatory ,...

Lamb is inflammatory? Then it certainly does make sense to get away from that now... I'll have to look into what I can get a hold of. We have Solid Gold where I work.. place I usually get food at has Fromm (though very $$$), and can get Cal Natural, Wellness, and several others.. then there's always Petsmart.. is any one brand significantly better than the others quality-wise?

Go with what works...

MY first two before exotics would be

nutro = chn rice and oatmeal

cal natural = chn and rice( I do think it also has flax)


In MOST cases neither oatmeal or flax is an allergen ...

I would avoid br rice , harder to digest than white

Gigi my yorkie gets nutro s herring rice and potato and wellness Core ( the reg ) .... I have high praises about both and she love s the taste

Originally Posted by wishiwas

Oreo has really bad ears. Earnie's have a tendency to get bad if ignored for long periods of time, but if I clean them out with some Zymox every couple of weeks, they stay fine.

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I suggest following Sharky's advice about food. But I will say that ours do better overall with buffalo than lamb.

I had a vet explain to me that sometimes food allergies will create a yeast imbalance in their ears. We struggled with Spike's ears when he was a puppy and had to flush them daily for a while until we got his system under control. That and we put him on a higher quality diet than what he had while at the shelter. Has he been tested for yeast infections?

If you have no idea the allergy I would suggest California natural, they do have a fish formula if lamb or chicken are suspected as a problem, or if that doesn't work Natural Balance duck and potato which has no grains and an uncommon protein source.

If you find out the allergy and especially if it's a protein allergy I'd go look at http://timberwolforganics.com/. Timberwolf has some foods with uncommon protein sources like buffalo or elk. They are slightly more expensive than foods like california natural or natural balance but generally considered of better quality with a higher meat content. You also get free shipping off their site so even if you can't find it locally it's not all that much to have it delivered to your door.


My dog has issues with poultry so I started her with California Natural fish formula, then tried Canidae lamb, and now she eats timberwolf wilderness elk. The CN was a little plain for me to want to use it for an extended period of time but it worked well while figuring out what her allergies were. The Canidae is considered a good quality food and the meat content isn't bad but her coat wasn't as good on it. The timberwolf comes as close as I've seen to feeding her RAW for a kibble. Her health and energy level are the same as when on a raw diet and I can rotate between a couple formulas when she gets bored of one.

Originally Posted by Sham

If you have no idea the allergy I would suggest California natural, they do have a fish formula if lamb or chicken are suspected as a problem, or if that doesn't work Natural Balance duck and potato which has no grains and an uncommon protein source.

If you find out the allergy and especially if it's a protein allergy I'd go look at http://timberwolforganics.com/. Timberwolf has some foods with uncommon protein sources like buffalo or elk. They are slightly more expensive than foods like california natural or natural balance but generally considered of better quality with a higher meat content. You also get free shipping off their site so even if you can't find it locally it's not all that much to have it delivered to your door.


My dog has issues with poultry so I started her with California Natural fish formula, then tried Canidae lamb, and now she eats timberwolf wilderness elk. The CN was a little plain for me to want to use it for an extended period of time but it worked well while figuring out what her allergies were. The Canidae is considered a good quality food and the meat content isn't bad but her coat wasn't as good on it. The timberwolf comes as close as I've seen to feeding her RAW for a kibble. Her health and energy level are the same as when on a raw diet and I can rotate between a couple formulas when she gets bored of one.

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Timberwolf is a overall good food ... BUT it is complex and thus NOT the FIRST line for allergy... IT is NOT CLOSE to raw as it is cooked like all other kibbles... To date the only close to raw kibble is Natures variety that is COATED with Freeze dried raw....

You need to read better. I did not say it was the first line for allergies. I listed other foods that have less potential allergenic ingredients. I said

If you find out the allergy and especially if it's a protein allergy I'd go look at http://timberwolforganics.com/.

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Because timberwolf is a good source for kibble with odd protein sources and better than natural balance or canidae.

2nd I said.

The timberwolf comes as close as I've seen to feeding her RAW for a kibble

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. My dog has the same coat and skin quality, lack of allergies, lack of scratching, energy level, etc.... on timberwolf as she did on raw. I've seen no difference in her health between the 2. If we're going by results then I would say TWO is fairly close to RAW compared to most kibbles out there. Now if I could find nature's variety without spending $100s off the internet then I could test it on my dog and most likely it would place equal to or better than timberwolf. Although since I've seen no difference in my dog between TWO and RAW I doubt the Nature's Variety would be any better unless it's a better diet than RAW.

I'll look into pricing some of these when I call in to order more food for Chase.. I like how simple the Cal Natural is for the initial phase at least, but am unsure how much it will end up costing. I worry a little at the Nutro having three types of rice right after the chicken?? Or am I reading too much into that?

If they do well after I end up switching, would it be beneficial to try mixing in something like Core? Would it be safe to feed my Perky something like Core, or is the higher protein ify for older dogs (11 yrs)? Her coat hasn't been doing quite as well since we switched off the reg Canidae to the lamb then chicken..

Originally Posted by Sham

You need to read better. I did not say it was the first line for allergies. I listed other foods that have less potential allergenic ingredients. I said Because timberwolf is a good source for kibble with odd protein sources and better than natural balance or canidae.

2nd I said. . My dog has the same coat and skin quality, lack of allergies, lack of scratching, energy level, etc.... on timberwolf as she did on raw. I've seen no difference in her health between the 2. If we're going by results then I would say TWO is fairly close to RAW compared to most kibbles out there. Now if I could find nature's variety without spending $100s off the internet then I could test it on my dog and most likely it would place equal to or better than timberwolf. Although since I've seen no difference in my dog between TWO and RAW I doubt the Nature's Variety would be any better unless it's a better diet than RAW.

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I did read the second very well... yours likely was not a allergy but a intolerence causeing inflamation.. I have dealt with both in me and in my dogs ... I wish you could find natures variety , I dont feed it for allergy reasons but overall I would recommend it over Timberwolf ...

the novels unfortunately anymore are not ... since many companies put a litte of this and that in a food ...

Originally Posted by wishiwas

I'll look into pricing some of these when I call in to order more food for Chase.. I like how simple the Cal Natural is for the initial phase at least, but am unsure how much it will end up costing. I worry a little at the Nutro having three types of rice right after the chicken?? Or am I reading too much into that?

If they do well after I end up switching, would it be beneficial to try mixing in something like Core? Would it be safe to feed my Perky something like Core, or is the higher protein ify for older dogs (11 yrs)? Her coat hasn't been doing quite as well since we switched off the reg Canidae to the lamb then chicken..

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Yes but one is bran ... it is mostly a legal issue ... dont ask ... .. Both work and try either .. I have used Cal natural too in the past ... do avoid the fish one as I believe it also has barley

You can try after all is settled ... I use core for added protein and a veggie group I like ...by the way gigi will be 12 in three days

Core is a BALENCED formula... 34 protein 14 fat ... vs EVO at 42 and 22

Do you have a feed store close .. many times they have cal natural , nutro or sensible choice in the store ...

I haven't found anything beyond Nutro and grocery type foods at the feed stores so far.. I may try calling around again anyway. The little locally owned store I usually go to can order just about anything for me. I just wish she could afford a bigger store so she could have more variety actually in stock at once.. but waiting the week or so for her to get something in isn't a big issue as I still have half a bag of Canidae left.

My girl has allergies. She eats Calif. Nat. It is a wonderfully simple food! And when looking at the cost you have to realize that they don't need much of this food. I have a 115 lb Newfoundland and she only gets 2.5-3 cups a day. When I was feeding her the recommended amounts she started getting thick. I know others who also have said that they do not need to feed very much of this food. Good luck finding a food for your babies!

If your concern is the lack of meat in dry foods, you can slect any of the simple formulas mentioned above and just add some 100% canned meats to it. (One of a matching meat obviously.) Wellness, wysong, and evangers are a few brands that have pure meat lines.

This worked well for a girl I fostered that had GI issues. I was giving her Calif Nat chicken and rice with wysong 100% chicken.

I worry a little about a food they will eat less of... because my family already thinks I am starving them giving them a cup a day, and often sneak them extra whenever they find an excuse to feed them instead of waiting for me to do it. *sigh* It's so frustrating. Price is also an issue because whenever I have the money to move out, the food purchases will go back to them for the Cockers, and they aren't going to be willing to spend a lot. So I'm starting to lean toward giving the Nutro a try... I don't know. They still have a good bit of Canidae to go through first, either way.

They do get canned occasionally, usually the 100% or 95% meat types, maybe once a week. I'd love to do it more often, but all my money already seems to be shovelling into the pets.. if Chase ever gets better and stays that way maybe I could.

Now Perky would be coming with me, and has no issues, so I really think I'm going to give the CORE a try for her...