[Zora]

Hi,

We have a 7 month old american bulldog. A few weeks back she started to chew her paws and rub her face on the carpet. The vet said that it was a sure sign of food allergy... She suggested a vegetarian diet for at least 3 months to see how it goes and if the scratching and chews stoped we could and other thing like treats or meat and see how it goes...

I'm a little worried though, she's a big dog and growing fast and needs a balanced nutrition. The vet says there everything she needs in her food but still don't dogs need meat protein?

does anybody have the same allergy problem or diet?

[BoxMeIn21]

Dogs need protein from meat, not plants and vegitation! I actually might find another vet and get a second opinion. Instead of ditching the meat - I would ditch the grains. What food did you have her on? What food did the vet put her on?

And have you seen this website? http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/

[poodleholic]

Going to a vegetarian diet seems extreme, and certainly not necessary. You will need to go through a process of elimination, and that takes time. Go for one of the grain-free foods, and select a single protein food, like fish or duck or venison, etc.. Chicken/turkey, beef, and even lamb are often the culprits, even without grains added in the food.

[bullydogmom]

I would switch to lesser used protein, cut back on the "regular" grains, and either ask your vet or go find a vet who will do allergy testing so you can help her heal better and faster. I know that the allergy testing can be a little expensive, but every dog I've seen come through here for boarding, grooming or training and the vet said "food allergy" has been through so many dog foods and weeks/months where the actual problem didn't get fixed until finally I suggested the allergy test. And the owners were glad to finally know what the cause was and their dog felt better sooner. Your growing pup definitely needs protein to help her grow and a vegetarian diet sounds like a way to stretch out the "treatment" process and spend more money at the vet. If you question the vet's recommendation by asking others, then somewhere in your mind a flag went up and it says "get a second opinion!!!"
good luck! i know allergies are frustrating for both pet and owner.

[Motebi]

Vegetarian diet is NOT an appropriate diet for a dog. Sorry. That vet needs his head examined. Even people on a vegetarian diet should supplement with L-Carnitine, because they otherwise suffer from serious nutritional deficiencies.
I'd say ditch the grains and put him on a hypoallergenic diet.

[rosemaryninja]

You really do not want to be switching to vegetarian. If your dog is showing signs of food allergies and you don't want to get a blood test done, you need to go through a process of elimination.

Look at the ingredients on her current bag of food and start by getting rid of the grains. There are some good brands of grain-free food out there. If that doesn't help after a few weeks, try changing the protein source. For example, if chicken is the main protein source in her current food, she might be allergic to poultry, so switch to something fish-based (Solid Gold's 'Bark At The Moon' blend is supposed to be a really good fish-based kibble). And so on.

Remember to change food gradually:

http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/how-o...nge-foods.html

The simplest way to change foods is to blend the old and new foods together for a week or so. Start with a mix that is 25% new food and 75% old. Feed that for two or three days, and if there are no upset tummies or loose stools, increase the blend to a 50/50 mix. Again, feed that for a couple of days, then increase to a 75/25 blend, and finally to 100% new food. If at any stage there is a tummy upset or the dog’s stools become loose, then hold off on increasing the amount of new food in the blend until that problem resolves. If there are no problems at all, it will take a week to ten days to accomplish the switch.

This website might also provide some useful reading material:

http://www.dogfoodproject.com

[RRM_Mom08]

No vegetarian diet..dogs need protien from meat sources..I would suggest what the PP have go with a single grain and meat type dog food.

What food were you feeding before ? it could have even been the hormone or the preveratives that they were useing

[CrzyBritNAmerica]

I agree with the others I wouldn't want to feed my dog strictly vegetarian.

Bridgette has the same symptoms from a food allergy. My vet suggested an allergen free prescription diet made by Hills (science diet) but I didn't want to feed her that so we switched to the Natural Balance formulas. Either Duck and Potato or Sweet Potato and Fish. Cutting out the beef, lamb or venison made a HUGE difference. She will very occasionally get a bit itchy still but a benedryl does the trick nicely.

If not Natural Balance there are many other quality brands that offer a protein source other than beef.

[Zora]

Thanks for all the help! Your comments only confirmed my thought. I will add some meat to the mix. That way I know that the base is hypoallergenic and Zora will still get the meat protein she needs. My dog trainer suggested horse meat, he gave me the address of a distributor, its pretty cheap too and not very common in any diet!

For those who asked she ate Royal Canin food which had a pretty good rating. When we got her, her previous owner has transferring her to Eukanuba, I immediately saw that that did not work at all. She had red spots all over her belly and scratched a lot. On Royal Canin it was better and her coat was softer and shinier. But she started chewing her paws… I tried to identify an ingredient by comparing the foods but without much success.

[BoxMeIn21]

Originally Posted by Zora

For those who asked she ate Royal Canin food which had a pretty good rating. When we got her, her previous owner has transferring her to Eukanuba, I immediately saw that that did not work at all. She had red spots all over her belly and scratched a lot. On Royal Canin it was better and her coat was softer and shinier. But she started chewing her paws… I tried to identify an ingredient by comparing the foods but without much success.

Royal canin is not a really good food, read anyone of it's reviews. http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_f...t=1533&cat=all

Natural Balance has two great allergy formulas.
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_f...uct=1493&cat=4
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_f...uct=1083&cat=4

[skunkstripe]

Wellness has some formulas for allergies too.
http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/dog_w...ons_index.html

[BoxMeIn21]

Originally Posted by skunkstripe

Wellness has some formulas for allergies too.
http://www.wellnesspetfood.com/dog_w...ons_index.html

Oh! Yes they do! I totally forgot - my friend has her two allergy pups on Wellness!