Switched dog foods today..

[Angie]

Please wish us luck. Poor Kenzo (7 yr old Shiba)started off with seasonal allergies a few years ago. Only Prednisone would help. He'd scratch and bite at his skin until he had bald spots. The past two years, he's carried it over into the winter season as well, but not as bad. So we're thinking food allergy as well.

I've switched his food a few times now...Iams, Natural Balance, Wellness, Natural Balance Duck and Potato, Candidae...and now EVO.

Any one have any experience with either canine allergies or EVO???

[pacanis]

I feed and sell Canidae and have seen it clear up some pretty nasty allergies like you described. Ones where the owners were giving the pooch eight benedry/day at their vet's advice and the poor canine was still losing hair and biting itself.
But, sometimes even a holistic food won't help if there is one ingredient in it your pet is supersensitive to. And I'll assume that along with the natural foods you fed (which Iams is not), that you also stopped with the garbage treats that contain wheat and corn and soy and sugar.....
One of my customers can only feed NB Duck and Potato and that is also the treats she must buy. Another of my customers is having her dog allergy tested because nothing she is trying is working, along with the predisone pills.
Also, allergies can be related to environment, too. Those pet powders you put down before running the sweeper..... they are for us, not your pet. They are often the cause of a dog's allergies, or any of a multitude of floor cleaning products where your pet spends most, if not all of their time.

And a poor coat can also be a sign of a thyroid problem. For some reason, a thyroid imbalance seems to be the vets last thing they test for..... and I've seen it be the root of the problem probaby 80% of the time.

And I would go back to feeding raw before I bought EVO. That stuff is expensive! Even at cost. And what if your dog is allergic to chicken? And the other one contains beef, which a lot of dogs are allergic, too.

At any rate, please keep us (or me) posted. I would love to hear how everything turns out and what ended up working.
Good luck!

[Angie]

Thanks for all your insight! When we got Kenzo as a pup, he was on Iams lamb & rice formula so we followed through with that for a few months. Then I did some research and found out what was really in dog food and switched them to NB. They did great on it...they being Kenzo and Kika. He was 16 weeks when we got him and then 4 mths later we got Kika who was almost 3 (She'll be 10 in Thursday!).

Anyway, I switched them to Wellness because I liked the ingredients better, but their coats did't do as well on it, so back to NB we went.

Then these allergies popped up. Only seasonal for the first 3 yrs and then they started year round. I tried the NB Duck and Potato with no change in results. A few months ago we tried Candidae..his coat and stink seems worse. Today is EVO.

I'd love to try raw but I not sure I can convince DH. He's got "issues" with always blaming food for any upset tummy..

[Bilby]

Don't forget things like flea allergies and stress. My cat got very stressed when I was hospitalised for my kidney transplant only a few days after having had to put down one of his house mates. He lost the hair around his bottom, going up his spine and along his tail. He looked a bit like one of those monkeys! While it was stress that caused the hair loss (he worried at it), any bugs/fleas that landed on him irritated his skin dreadfully and he would gnaw his skin and lick his fur off. It has taken over a year for his hair to return and him not to worry at it so. I have to keep the flea treatment up, not so much for the fleas as I haven't seen any evidence of fleas on him in years but it seems to repel all insects well. He also has had a fairly stress-free time thankfully!

Good luck with Kenzo.

[fliggie]

I have a Carolina dog with horrible allergies as well. I am knocking on wood when I say that the first food which seems to have settled this, along with her IBD, is Purina, believe it or not. Its in a purple bag, and she gets the one for mature dogs (she's over 7) with little kibbies and yogurt. She and my grey both like it. There is still some licking, but the digestive issues have been clearing.

Good luck--that is a very heartwrenching thing, never to know what is causing those allergies!

[Angie]

Originally Posted by Bilby

Don't forget things like flea allergies and stress. My cat got very stressed when I was hospitalised for my kidney transplant only a few days after having had to put down one of his house mates. He lost the hair around his bottom, going up his spine and along his tail. He looked a bit like one of those monkeys! While it was stress that caused the hair loss (he worried at it), any bugs/fleas that landed on him irritated his skin dreadfully and he would gnaw his skin and lick his fur off. It has taken over a year for his hair to return and him not to worry at it so. I have to keep the flea treatment up, not so much for the fleas as I haven't seen any evidence of fleas on him in years but it seems to repel all insects well. He also has had a fairly stress-free time thankfully!

Good luck with Kenzo.

Knock on wood---we've never had a flea or tick on either dog in the 8 yrs they've been in our lives. We only treat them with a preventative when we go camping. We've been lucky so far!

[Bilby]

It isn't fleas on Ginnee either but he lays under a lot of bushes and on the carport roof under the apricot tree and I think he gets a lot of flies and ants around him. I figured he must get irritated by them - sensitive soul that he is! The other five don't get them either. Thankfully!!!

[fliggie]

True on the stress--we don't have a flea or tick in sight here either, but I started a new job about a month ago and my Ginger started licking herself again horrendously. I've noticed she started settling as I've started settling. They are very sensitive little souls indeed.

[Angie]

Originally Posted by fliggie

True on the stress--we don't have a flea or tick in sight here either, but I started a new job about a month ago and my Ginger started licking herself again horrendously. I've noticed she started settling as I've started settling. They are very sensitive little souls indeed.

We had issues like that at one point with his...umm...toilet training...he was stressed by my new schedule and kept leaving me presents..Took him to the vet and she determined it was just stress!

[Bilby]

Hey my stressed out cat is a ginger too but a desexed male. Although you may have realised his colouring by his name - Ginnee! (I colour code most of my cats!!)