Food & Allergies

[Randy LaFoy]

This may have been touched on before but here goes. How many of you believe or think that good foods (soild gold, nutro, wellness,etc.) will help dogs get a better coat & get rid of their problem. If so what type of food do you feed yours?

[watt-a-dog]

I feed Raw & it absolutely makes a difference, ive gotten clients to switch there dogs with amazing results
most of them have spent a lifetime at the vets for all sorts of health issues, within weeks of switching to a raw or BARF diet they were noticeably healthier (Including the cocker that had been on £150 a bag vet prescription food)

mine has never been to the vet for any health issues (5 yo Mastiff)

[puppy love]

Absolutely!! I have seen many dogs who have food allergies, one of mine included that when the allergen was removed the skin condition was cleared up. When my Westie was a pup, she started breaking out in rashy looking spots and scratching a lot. My first thought was "Oh no, I have a Westie that is going to have skin issues!" but we isolated her problem down to a beef reaction, switched to Nutros for sensitive skin (which has no beef) and problem solved - nice healthy skin. I have many clients who have had dogs with skin and digestive problems and the problems were resolved with a diet change - no medications needed. Many of the cheaper brands of dog food have so many fillers in them and lower quality ingredients that it is no wonder that a lot of dogs have skin & coat problems. I also have a Scottie that I groom that was eating a lower quality food and always had dry itchy skin, a flat looking coat and joint problems. He was re-homed and his new owner changed to Nutros Nat Choice and he now has healthy skin and a shiny coat and his coat is thicker. He also now moves more comfortably and does not need monthly accupuncture for joint pain. She also gives him coconut oil every day and a little coconut milk. She is a cancer survivor and said that her doc told her when she lost her hair due to chemo to rub her scalp with coconut oil and drink coconut milk to help her hair come back healthy and she said it worked.

[neanea]

I think all dogs need a quality diet, but do not think that the foods are ALWAYS the cause of the problems we see. Providing the best, most appropriate foods (which will vary according to each pet's nutritional needs) is a great start for healthy skin and coat.

We must also consider the immune system and genetics as being a factor as well. Vaccination practices of the past are (IMPO) part of the overall immune system breakdown in our pets. We've lessened the bodies ability to produce a natural immune response with the artificially-induced response of the vaccine's themselves.

[PuppyFluffer]

Most emphatically YES! I have seen a remarkable difference in Wyatt's skin & coat allergies after switching to a high-qualtiy grain free diet (TOTW Salmon Formula). It took less than a single 12 lb bag to eliminate years of foot chewing and butt dragging.

[D'tails]

Personally I feed raw and taste of the Wild.

I have been pushing TOW on my clients with skin and coat issues and I saw 2 in the last month that had remarkable improvements. I feel the lack of grain in this food really helps out with a lot of issues since grain feeds yeast.

One was a Schnauzer with dry itchy skin - his coat came in really thick and shiny and his skin was no longer dry. The 2nd dog is a Cocker that spent 1/2 hr soaking in tea tree in the tub to control horrific yeast, dandruff and staph. She was an absolute mess and covered with flakey bald patches and scabs from the staph. After one month on TOW her coat grew back in thick and shiny, staph lesions dissapeared and there was a noticeable decrease in the yeast between her toes and in her ears. The green infection that normally oozed from her eyes also cleared up.

[pinkgroomer]

Personally I feed raw and taste of the Wild.
.

I love TOW, used to feed Abady, which my dogs did amazing on, but I sold it, and nowhere around here sells it that I know of. I want to do raw, but i don't even know where to begin.

[mylady]

I love TOW, used to feed Abady, which my dogs did amazing on, but I sold it, and nowhere around here sells it that I know of. I want to do raw, but i don't even know where to begin.

Hey Jill, Tami sells Abady

[Hello Kitty FTW]

I think when you buy pet food that has less ingredients in it, you have less of a chance of dealing with an allergy. For me, I'm allergic to about 6 food ingredients, from dyes to high fructose corn syrup. When I'm choosing between 2 brands, one that has 30 ingredients vs. one that has 3 ingredients, I'm gonna choose the brand with just 3 ingredients because there's less chance of a food reaction. I think that's why so many folks love raw diets, less ingredients, food in it's pure form, less problems.

I also feel that anything that is grain-free is so much better for a dog, because carbs aren't supposed to be part of a dog's diet. The problem, however, is when a cow is fed grain (which isn't natural for them, either) and they go to slaughter, you now have grain in the meat in one form or another (The more marbling, the more grain). Most cows who are also grain/corn fed have to be loaded with antibiotics, which then gets passed on to the final product. It's why I personally love recommending TOTW also to folks who want to feed a kibble diet because it's grain-free from calf to slaughter.

[apitalia]

npo

Natural planet organics and Life's Abundance are two of the best foods I have found to give my Boston Terriers. The one has alleries and I am able to keep them under control when feeding either one of these two foods. Their coats are shiney and bright!!

[gr8danlvr1]

Yes, yes, yes! I used to feed lesser foods, before I knew any better. Won't even go into what terrible brands I fed, because I'm quite embarrassed, still. My labx used to have terrible dandruff and just a strong doggy odor about him. He had a bald spot right on spot where the ribs meet the stomach, also w/ terrible dandruff in that spot. He itched and scratched and I didn't really know why any of that was happening. It wasn't until I rescued my first dane that I was made aware of ingredients in food and how those affect a dog. Once I started thinking about the biology of it, it just made total sense to me. Dogs have sharp teeth, meant to tear and shred meat. They have short intestinal tracts, meant to digest meat and get it out of the body quickly. Why would we feed a dog grains? Or even a food mostly made up of grains. Once I switched my dogs to foods w/o corn, wheat, or soy, most of their allergy problems cleared right up. Raw would be the best choice. I can't feed raw, the bf is a germaphobe and won't allow the raw meat around the house. So, I like foods w/ no grains. I have fed Evo red meat, and wellness core ocean formula, love both. My dogs can't handle the poultry version of anything. The boyfriend recently went back to work after a 6 month lay off, so we had to cut a few things. We went to a slightly cheaper food which I can get at work for a discount. My labx's eyes have been running, my aussiex has pretty much constant itchies, one of my danes has had skin issues while being back on this food. I don't like that and will be back on the evo just as soon as we get one little bill paid off, which will be in April. I see a lot of dogs come in and their vet has told them to feed science diet, or purina, or pedigree, eukanuba. So they just look at me like I don't know what the heck I'm talking about, when really the vet is steering them down the wrong path. Most people think their vet speaks the gospel, when I hardly trust them. I've seen w/ my own dog how much a simple food change can make a huge difference.

[fiveoclockdog]

Everyone has pretty much covered it. I feed raw in tha a.m. and Acana Pacifica (all fish no grain) in the p.m.. This goes for dogs and cats. They never looked better!

[windywaycavaliers]

I feed RAW that is supplemented by or added to a super premium kibble every other day. And it certainly makes a huge difference. Anything from Blue Buffalo, to Taste of the Wild, to Fromm Kitchen Creations, to Wellness or Solid Gold, etc. I do rotate dry foods every month--this month it is NutriSource.

[petgroomaustralia]

Raw here too. One of our dogs had bad allergies from dust mites and storage mites which are in grain and therefore in all the kibbles that contain grain. Now his skin is perfect. Raw diets are super easy, meaty bones with skin, yoghurt, eggs including shell, raw vegies. I once had a westie client that had the most awesome coat I have ever seen. His owner would buy chicken pet mince, which has the bone and skin included, and make him patties to which she would add shredded vegies, yoghurt and eggs. She would make a big batch and freeze them and just thaw what she needed each day.

[pinkgroomer]

Hey Jill, Tami sells Abady

Oh Right!!! I forgot about that! I am going to start doing raw, this week, but i want to feed the abady as well. My dogs did amazing on the granular. I'll have to take a minute to go up and see her shop and buy some food
Thanks Melissa!!!