Hi folks! I haven't posted in a while because Rusty has gotten settled and we've developed a nice little routine that's working for us as far as his reactivity, but we're still struggling with his diet so I thought I'd see if anyone here has any thoughts on the matter.
Fairly early on we realized that Rusty had some sort of food allergy or sensitivity that was causing occasional vomiting, diarrhea and itchy skin. We still haven't been able to pin-point any one ingredient that's causing problems, but up until recently we had found a food and some treats that were working for him. For the last couple of months he's been getting Purina Pro-plan Salmon for sensitive skin, and for treats I was using cheese cubes and tuna fudge made with King Arthur flour substitute.
Then early last week he had a pretty bad bout of diarrhea. It was the first time in a while and I think my husband has gotten kind lax about Rusty's diet and started giving him nibbles of food from his plate, so I wasn't particularly surprised or concerned, just figured we needed to get back on track and start being vigilant again. A couple days in and the diarrhea was clearing up and things seemed more or less back to normal, but Rusty was still refusing food and I decided to add some boiled rice to his kibble to encourage him to eat. It breaks my heart to hear his stomach growling I just have a hard time waiting it out. Anyway, the rice and kibble triggered a whole new bout of diarrhea. I figure it must have been the rice, but that doesn't make sense because rice is literally the third ingredient in the Pro-plan. Rice is also the first ingredient in the flour substitute I use for his tuna fudge. Still though, I don't see what else it could be. So back to plain kibble, but Rusty seems to now be convinced that it's the kibble that's causing his stomach upset even though he's been eating it for months with no problems (none that I'm aware of anyway). He's refusing the food and his stomach was growling again. He was clearly hungry, begging for other food and gobbling his cheese and tuna fudge, just refusing the kibble. Out of desperation I went to the store and got him a different food, something called I Love and You Lamb and Bison. No real reason for this choice other than that it doesn't have rice in it. He loves it, begs for it and hoovers it down when we put it in his bowl. He gets far more excited for it than he ever did for the Pro plan. He's been eating it for a couple of days and his digestive problems have subsided. His itchies seem to have worsened very slightly (honestly this could be my imagination, sometimes I over think things), but at least he's eating and not having other problems.
Obviously we're going to have to go to the vet and revisit the allergy questions, but for now is it safe enough to feed him a grain free food? I know that they can cause heart problems for dogs. Is that true even if I feed it short term? Also, is it possible that plain boiled rice would cause him problems even though he didn't seem to be having any trouble with the Pro plan or the treats made with rice flour? Is it possible that this food that he's been eating with no problems for months has suddenly started to cause some sensitivity? Maybe the Pro plan never did agree with him and I just didn't know because he wasn't having any major reaction. It's not like he can tell me.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Fairly early on we realized that Rusty had some sort of food allergy or sensitivity that was causing occasional vomiting, diarrhea and itchy skin. We still haven't been able to pin-point any one ingredient that's causing problems, but up until recently we had found a food and some treats that were working for him. For the last couple of months he's been getting Purina Pro-plan Salmon for sensitive skin, and for treats I was using cheese cubes and tuna fudge made with King Arthur flour substitute.
Then early last week he had a pretty bad bout of diarrhea. It was the first time in a while and I think my husband has gotten kind lax about Rusty's diet and started giving him nibbles of food from his plate, so I wasn't particularly surprised or concerned, just figured we needed to get back on track and start being vigilant again. A couple days in and the diarrhea was clearing up and things seemed more or less back to normal, but Rusty was still refusing food and I decided to add some boiled rice to his kibble to encourage him to eat. It breaks my heart to hear his stomach growling I just have a hard time waiting it out. Anyway, the rice and kibble triggered a whole new bout of diarrhea. I figure it must have been the rice, but that doesn't make sense because rice is literally the third ingredient in the Pro-plan. Rice is also the first ingredient in the flour substitute I use for his tuna fudge. Still though, I don't see what else it could be. So back to plain kibble, but Rusty seems to now be convinced that it's the kibble that's causing his stomach upset even though he's been eating it for months with no problems (none that I'm aware of anyway). He's refusing the food and his stomach was growling again. He was clearly hungry, begging for other food and gobbling his cheese and tuna fudge, just refusing the kibble. Out of desperation I went to the store and got him a different food, something called I Love and You Lamb and Bison. No real reason for this choice other than that it doesn't have rice in it. He loves it, begs for it and hoovers it down when we put it in his bowl. He gets far more excited for it than he ever did for the Pro plan. He's been eating it for a couple of days and his digestive problems have subsided. His itchies seem to have worsened very slightly (honestly this could be my imagination, sometimes I over think things), but at least he's eating and not having other problems.
Obviously we're going to have to go to the vet and revisit the allergy questions, but for now is it safe enough to feed him a grain free food? I know that they can cause heart problems for dogs. Is that true even if I feed it short term? Also, is it possible that plain boiled rice would cause him problems even though he didn't seem to be having any trouble with the Pro plan or the treats made with rice flour? Is it possible that this food that he's been eating with no problems for months has suddenly started to cause some sensitivity? Maybe the Pro plan never did agree with him and I just didn't know because he wasn't having any major reaction. It's not like he can tell me.
Any thoughts would be appreciated.