My Allergies: Part II

A while ago I wrote all about my outdoor allergies in my blog post My Allergies: Part I. Unfortunately, last fall at my annual checkup, my vet also diagnosed me with food allergies.

To my mom, this was her worst nightmare. She had been using the immunotherapy on me all summer giving me shots and now this. Here is why the vet diagnosed me with food allergies. I constantly dug at my ears, while mom constantly gave me ear drops. Yet they were still red, and really icky inside. That is the best way for mom to describe how they looked. They didn't feel too great either. At my checkup my mom let the vet know how concerned she was with the ears and the scratching despite the fact that she was giving me the shots. She felt I should not be having these symtoms still. One thing to learn about the immunotherapy is that it can take a few years for it to work completely. But the doctor said that he was sure the ears were caused by food allergies. As a very experienced vet he sees this sort of thing all the time, and he was very confident in his diagnosis. Well, mom is very confident in my vet so she trusted him.

The first thing we learned is that you can't be given a test for food allergies like you can with environmental, or if you do it isn't as reliable. The only way you can test for food allergies is to start eliminating everything. 

Foods to Eliminate

• No grains, including rice and potatoes
• No beef
• No poultry (chicken, turkey, duck)

Then we were given suggestions on what to try.

Foods to Try

• Sweet potatoes
• Lamb
• Salmon/Fish
• Venison

Mom took off to the store and got totally overwhelmed by all the choices and had a hard time finding a food that would fit in with the suggestions. She gave up at the large pet retailer and went to my shelter Wright-Way Rescue because she knew they sold the high quality food by Fromm's. She came home with their Salmon Tunalini for me to try and I liked it really well. She started working on increasing my new food while cutting back on my old food. But, after several days I started to not feel well. Mom noticed me licking the floor and eating leaves and grass outside. Off to the vet I went and after a quick blood test I was diagnosed with mild pancreatitis. I was very lucky that it was caught so soon. The vet recommend that I try a food with less fat. One of the disadvantages of the grain-free foods is that they are higher in fat. My Fromm's food had a crude fat percentage of 16%. The vet recommend staying as close to 10% as possible.

Off mom went to the store AGAIN! This time she came home with Nature's Recipe Grain Free Salmon, Sweet Potato & Pumpkin Recipe. It had a crude fat percentage of 12%. Well, after eating it only a few times my allergies got worse. I had a severe reaction to something in the food. The only thing mom could figure out was that it contained poultry fat.

Natural Balance to the Rescue!

This time mom went to Petco where a very helpful person helped her pick out Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Bison Formula. The third time is the charm! I have been eating it ever since! I love it and have had no reactions to it at all! Thanks Natural Balance for making a high quality, natural food for us problem doggies!

On a side note mom had always fed me a little canned food with my kibble. We found Wellness Lamb and I love it! But Natural Balance also makes a canned sweet potato & bison but our local store doesn't carry it. Maybe Truman will have it at Blog Paws? I hope so!

Love Dolly the Doxie (mix)

xoxox