Dog food for skin allergy?

tamara25

I had my Jack Russell at the vet recently & she commented on his skin being red & also yes he does lick his paws a lot.. so pretty sure the dog food I’m giving him isn’t agreeing with him. I am giving him red mills sensitive brand. I have no idea what ingredient in the dog food isn’t agreeing with him? Can someone recommend another dog food I could try that might suit better? Thanks

sdp

Hi, did the vet talk to you about an elimination diet, to see if you can pinpoint what food is causing the issue?

or talk about immunotherapy? my rescue boy had really bad itching and ear issues , it took a while to get him sorted. We started with elimination diet, then immunotherapy. He's now on immunotherapy once a month, which I inject at home. as it turned out it was not food, but a host of other things.

Such a differance it has made to our lives.

Best of luck with getting your boy sorted

tamara25

Yes the elimination diet was also mentioned to me.. how does the immunotherapy work?

sdp

Hi, I'm no expert nor a vet. Please talk to your vet who will explain in full detail. But how it works for us is, once its found what the dog is allergic to small amounts are given to him, that changes the way the immune system reacts to allergens, by switching off allergy and the end result is that they become immune to the allergens, so that they can tolerate them.

But we did the elimination diet first. that was hard going 🙄

I was referred to a veterinary dermatology after the elimination diet. It's very expensive. {thankfully my pet insurance covers it} and takes a long time. he still has the very odd flair up.

But overall he's a different dog because of it.

IceT

Have you considered a raw diet? Unfortunately while there is little research due to there being no large multinational companies supplying raw food who will fund the studies there is a wealth of anecdotal evidence of the benefits. Dogs have been eating raw food for thousands (if not millions) of years before we started cooking their food for them 😉

I'm a dog Trainer and Behaviourist and I have recommended raw food many times (I feed raw food to my own) over the last 20 or so years and I've never had a report of a bad reaction (unless introduced suddenly, needs to be a gradual process over a week or 2 slowly increasing the amount of raw food) and nothing but good reports from my clients. Again anecdotal, but I have about a dozen clients at least who have changed over because of allergies, skin conditions and the like and in all cases I'd had reports of improvements if not complete turn arounds. In saying that, I have not followed up with any of them years later, it is just my experience and its anecdotal.

walterking

I had a similar issue and it was the treats that were causing the itching and licking. We were giving them far too many of the dried chicken treats and dried duck which meant too much protein.

Treats are now a "treat". The licking stopped within 2 weeks on both dogs

We feed them a mix of royal canine and fresh chicken (including chicken nuggets which they devour - the cheap €1.50 frozen ones from Tesco/Lidl/Aldi and popped on a george foreman grill for a few min)

IceT

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120234993#Comment_120234993

Just be aware that the fat content of those nuggets is quite high, the breading and fat in the breading (they have been pre-deep fried also) is also quite high.

I feed this chicken to my guys

https://www.fetchyourpetneeds.ie/barkin-bistro-raw-chicken-paste-with-bone-400g

It is more expensive but not ridiculous, there are cheaper options from suppliers in Ireland in fairness, quick google search. I mean if you are already using freezer space 😉🤣 You can get this significantly cheaper from suppliers in the UK (I've seen as cheap as around £1.5 a kg) if they are willing to ship to Ireland. It won't be subject to Vat and Duty as they will be a UK product so it will be exempt under the Brexit agreement but I do believe there are some shipping restrictions there.

muddypaws

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120235469#Comment_120235469

Sorry, I'm confused by your comment that there won't be VAT and duty coming from the UK, I know it's off topic but there are charges importing from GB.

IceT

Sorry, I miss typed, it was late 🤣 I should have said just import, not vat and import. It's a habit as vat is then calculated on the total price of the sale, inc of delivery charges and import costs, not just the sale price.

But yes, under the brexit agreement (specifically The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement) any item or product that is manufactured, mostly manufactured or has final assembly (there are some stipulations) in the UK is exempt from import tax. You still have to pay the vat but not the import. You just need to make sure the selling company includes the correct paperwork (super easy, an invoice with a confirmation that it's of UK origin) but there may be some exceptions for animal feed or raw meat