[Mariekeblaze]

First time post here!
Long story short, we recently decided to go ahead with allergy testing for my 8 month old labradoodle. It turns out she is alergic to: Chicken, Pork, Duck, Wheat, Soy, Potatoes, Eggs, and Pea. Ive been treating her for an overgrowth of bacteria for about 5 weeks now and we've been feeding her a prescription diet of hydolized protein, however it is soy based. Although she seems in good spirits, her poops are not the way id like them to be. They start out fine, and as the day goes on they get mushier and mushier. I'm looking to change her food because i think she is having a reaction to the soy protein, which may also be prohibiting her from fully healing from the overgrowth of bacteria. I guess im just looking for some recommendations on foods that my pup can handle. I dont want to cook her food for the rest of my life. I've been researching Evanger's canned dog food. Can anyone back this brand up? TIA

 

[storyist]

You have my sympathy because I've been through the same thing with one of mine. Basically I went to a specialty pet store that has dozens of brands of kibble and went through every one looking for something that didn't have any of Story's triggers. And found only one limited ingredient food that came close - it only had one thing: alfalfa. Since alfalfa is used as a supplement, there wouldn't be a lot of it in the food, and I put her on that. The skin problems stopped, but her coat went to hell. Which is why I now feed raw.

So you'll have to do the same, go through every food you can reasonably acquire, read the ingredients, and try to find something that suits. You can research on the internet, but for once, I found going to that store and reading ingredients on sacks easier than online.

So raw fixed it for us, but I even had the unhappy experience of settling on a base diet for raw that made covering all nutritional needs easier. It was the only base diet that didn't have something she reacted to in it, and it was great for a year. Then all of a sudden she had the worst outbreak of skin problems ever. I suspect they changed their formula without notice. It could be she developed an intolerance to something that hadn't previously triggered her, but the outbreak was so sudden and so great I suspect a formula change.

Then there's the problem that she wasn't tested for everything in the world. I read about coconut oil, tried it, and bingo! Hot spot. She wasn't tested for coconut oil.

 

[Mariekeblaze]

You have my sympathy because I've been through the same thing with one of mine. Basically I went to a specialty pet store that has dozens of brands of kibble and went through every one looking for something that didn't have any of Story's triggers. And found only one limited ingredient food that came close - it only had one thing: alfalfa. Since alfalfa is used as a supplement, there wouldn't be a lot of it in the food, and I put her on that. The skin problems stopped, but her coat went to hell. Which is why I now feed raw.

So you'll have to do the same, go through every food you can reasonably acquire, read the ingredients, and try to find something that suits. You can research on the internet, but for once, I found going to that store and reading ingredients on sacks easier than online.

So raw fixed it for us, but I even had the unhappy experience of settling on a base diet for raw that made covering all nutritional needs easier. It was the only base diet that didn't have something she reacted to in it, and it was great for a year. Then all of a sudden she had the worst outbreak of skin problems ever. I suspect they changed their formula without notice. It could be she developed an intolerance to something that hadn't previously triggered her, but the outbreak was so sudden and so great I suspect a formula change.

Then there's the problem that she wasn't tested for everything in the world. I read about coconut oil, tried it, and bingo! Hot spot. She wasn't tested for coconut oil.

Thank you for your response. These past 6 months have been pretty carzy for us with our pup and her diet. What raw brand do you use?

 

[storyist]

Thank you for your response. These past 6 months have been pretty carzy for us with our pup and her diet. What raw brand do you use?

I'm not using a brand. I get what are called grinds which are the meat ground with 10% bone and 10% organs. That's because I'm old enough that "don't feed your dog bones" still rings in my head, and there's no way I can give a dog an actual bone to consume. So it's my compromise. Then I add my own veggie and fruit mix. Run it through the blender and freeze small amounts. Then there's supplements like fish oil. I won't kid you, it's expensive, and it's a PITA compared to kibble. There are people who keep costs down with cooperatives and trolling butchers for deals, etc., but the only coop in this area has stuff I don't like the quality of, and I'm at a point in life where I'd rather spend the money than spend time looking for deals.

So I used the base mix because it had everything in it and made life easier, but since that didn't work, I'm back to grinds and adding stuff myself. The frozen complete raw diets would be even easier, but of course you pay for each level of convenience, and a Rottweiler needs a lot to eat, as does a Labradoodle.

 

[Canyx]

Mariekeblaze, sorry to hear that you are going through this! I don't have much to add but I would love to hear what allergy testing you did. And did your vet require you to do an elimination diet before testing?

 

[Mariekeblaze]

Mariekeblaze, sorry to hear that you are going through this! I don't have much to add but I would love to hear what allergy testing you did. And did your vet require you to do an elimination diet before testing?

The test they did is called the "Liquid Gold" allergy test. By VARL. Each allergen was tested for an IgE antibody specific to each allergen, and given a score of 0-6 (0 being not allergic, 6 being ultra high level of the antibody). It recommended allergen immunotherapy for anything with a score of 2 and above.
The vet did mention an elimination diet. We tried several different kibbles over the last 2-3 months. She was on a bland diet of rice, boiled turkey and carrots and peas, which kept her regular, but wasnt providing her with the proper amount of vitamins and nutrients to grow properly. She was not gaining weight and was 10 lbs under her expected weight. We would slowly introduce new kibbles as recommended. All of them gave her diahrea, eye goop, excessive knawing on paws, and itchy ears, ultimately they each had something/s in them that she was allergic to. Once we got the allergy results we started her on a new kibble (hydrolyzed protein) which is ok, but not great since it is a soy based protein. Soybean she tested the highest of all the allergens. She also take a multi-vitamin and probiotic once a day.

 

[Canyx]

The test they did is called the "Liquid Gold" allergy test. By VARL. Each allergen was tested for an IgE antibody specific to each allergen, and given a score of 0-6 (0 being not allergic, 6 being ultra high level of the antibody). It recommended allergen immunotherapy for anything with a score of 2 and above.
The vet did mention an elimination diet. We tried several different kibbles over the last 2-3 months. She was on a bland diet of rice, boiled turkey and carrots and peas, which kept her regular, but wasnt providing her with the proper amount of vitamins and nutrients to grow properly. She was not gaining weight and was 10 lbs under her expected weight. We would slowly introduce new kibbles as recommended. All of them gave her diahrea, eye goop, excessive knawing on paws, and itchy ears, ultimately they each had something/s in them that she was allergic to. Once we got the allergy results we started her on a new kibble (hydrolyzed protein) which is ok, but not great since it is a soy based protein. Soybean she tested the highest of all the allergens. She also take a multi-vitamin and probiotic once a day.

Thank you so much for the detailed reply! I hope you find a diet that works well for your pup. I know that certain brands like Acana make limited ingredient diets that are also high quality.

 

[Lillith]

Some brands I can think of off the top of my head are Nutro and Natural Balance that don't have peas (usually), have grain free options, and have a wide variety of proteins (lamb, fish, beef). Some specialty pet stores might have limited ingredient kibbles. Basically you will have to look through the ingredients of different food brands until you find something that works. Try searching on Chewy. They have a number of filters that might help you narrow down your search.

 

[fortysixer7]

First time post here!
Long story short, we recently decided to go ahead with allergy testing for my 8 month old labradoodle. It turns out she is alergic to: Chicken, Pork, Duck, Wheat, Soy, Potatoes, Eggs, and Pea. Ive been treating her for an overgrowth of bacteria for about 5 weeks now and we've been feeding her a prescription diet of hydolized protein, however it is soy based. Although she seems in good spirits, her poops are not the way id like them to be. They start out fine, and as the day goes on they get mushier and mushier. I'm looking to change her food because i think she is having a reaction to the soy protein, which may also be prohibiting her from fully healing from the overgrowth of bacteria. I guess im just looking for some recommendations on foods that my pup can handle. I dont want to cook her food for the rest of my life. I've been researching Evanger's canned dog food. Can anyone back this brand up? TIA

Hi there! I adopted a standard poodle with allergies as well, which I just had the blood sent out this week for testing because I can't bear to see him suffer!

Did the vet go over with you how a hydrolyzed diet works? As a biologist, I can try to break it down a bit for you, but these allergies are FRUSTRATING!

So, proteins, are made up of 20 'building blocks', called amino acids. The term 'hydrolyze' literally means in the science world, to break apart. So, different proteins, like chicken, soy, beef, etc, etc, have different markers within how the 20 building blocks are assembled that make them each unique. When you add the 'chemicals' to break up the proteins into the 20 different building blocks, you are removing the dog's, or humans, or whatever's immune system's ability to 'identify' what it is that you fed them, so in theory, they wouldn't have an allergic reaction to it.

My question would be- is he still having allergic symptoms other than the stool changes throughout the day? It can take longer for a dog with established allergies GI tract to finish adjusting to a new food compared to a dog without allergies (so a typical dog could take a week, my Watson took 1 month for his stools to adjust!) So how long has he been on this particular food? I also saw the comment you made about not gaining weight- this can also be common in dogs with allergies, due to their GI system being 'out of whack' essentially.

Have you tried supplementing with omega oils of any kind (depending on her type of allergy symptoms this is common in allergy management & maintenance? I'd talk to your vet about how much to add to her diet. At first it will cause softer stools, but then it will normalize.

In regards to canned food, eating soft food only can be detrimental to your dog's teeth when eaten as the sole diet long-term (I'm not entirely sure the science behind it, but I'd imagine, the stress of crunching on things maintains their strengths). Depending on what type of labradoodle you have & the type of poodles that are in her DNA, the smaller the poodle, the worse their teeth can be, which has a genetic component, as do humans).

Purina Pro Plan- not all of their sensitive skin & stomach lines have chicken in it, I am unsure though about the entire list you gave, but it is mid-line price wise (about 1/2 of a hydrolyzed diet though!), vet recommended, and a high quality food without "meat meal". I found that it is difficult to find a kibble that is NOT grain free (a hot topic in & of itself, but my vet does recommend foods with grain in it, but is also limited ingredient). Granted, depending on the allergies, the quality of life vs. length of life.

 

[fortysixer7]

Some brands I can think of off the top of my head are Nutro and Natural Balance that don't have peas (usually), have grain free options, and have a wide variety of proteins (lamb, fish, beef). Some specialty pet stores might have limited ingredient kibbles. Basically you will have to look through the ingredients of different food brands until you find something that works. Try searching on Chewy. They have a number of filters that might help you narrow down your search.

Yes, Chewy's filters! Although, it doesn't always work because when I select 'chicken free', there are still some foods with 'chicken meal', or 'chicken derivatives' which a- indicate a low quality food as there fillers and b- qualify as a chicken product haha!

Good luck!