Prescription Diets for Potential Allergies/Ear Infections

[Jordy]

Oscar, our 6 month FB has been getting frequent ear infections. I have read a lot about this and it all seems to come down to potential food allergies. I have been feeding a very good, super premium food; however, I am considering changing foods in case they are the cause of these infections.

I am considering two choices, another premium food, namely Canidae, or a prescription diet food (either science diet z/d, or purina ha). I have heard some say that these prescription formulations are effective. I have also read that Canidae seems to be very effective.

Here is what my vet is saying. I should say first that I am living in South Korea (I am a Canadian expat). My vet has told me that the reason for most allergies is protein, or rather the size of the protein in most dog foods. Sensitive dogs are unable to metabolize these and it leads to allergies and hypersensitivities. These prescription diets have much smaller proteins, able to be assimilated by these sensitive dogs. This being said, the ingredients are a little different. For example, one of these had soy protein. Could someone confirm that soy is bad to FB. I have read this and I would prefer to avoid additional adverse food sources.

So, could someone please contact on the effectiveness of these prescription diets, as well as the effectiveness of Canidae with FBs (avoiding allergies, overall health).

Thank you.

[Snowblind]

Have you concidered elimination diet? I have never done it myself (never had a reason, thank God) but I know that a boxer owner did it with success. The thing is to start with one thing and add integents after every few weeks to find out what causes the allergie. It is a very strict and long process and if you find a dry food that is appropriet it is good but sometimes it is hard to find the thing that causes the reaction. Just a thought...

[gmacleod]

Yes, the problem in many dog foods leading to allergies is proteins, but it's most often plant proteins ;) That doesn't mean that a dog can't be allergic to something like chicken, for example, it most certainly can. But the most common allergy issues arise around grains - especially the cheap and difficult to digest ones like corn or wheat.

There are quite a few good quality allergy formulas available, and they are usually a great deal better than the prescription diets. Hills in particular has some very nasty ingredients, and also carcinogenic preservatives - so it's worth avoiding that if at all possible. I would avoid feeding soy to a dog - it's commonly an allergy problem.

Canidae is an excellent dog food - it has very good quality ingredients, and a wide range of protein sources. That makes it a great food for many dogs, but not necessarily a great choice for a dog with allergies. Since it has so many ingredients, it would be pretty difficult to narrow down which ones are actually a problem for your dog.

But it can really depend on what your dog has been fed previously. If, for example, you've been feeding a food that contains anything like corn, wheat, beet pulp, molasses, brewers rice or meat by-products in it (all of which are very common causes of allergies) - then Canidae might be worth a try since it does not have those nasty ingredients. But if you don't think those sorts of things are the problem, then it is better to go for an allergy formula food. These types of foods have few ingredients, and are usually something "exotic" like fish/sweet potato, duck/potato or venison/potato. Notably, they are also very low in grains ;)

I don't know what you've got available to you in Korea, but some good options include Wellness' Simple Solutions range and Natural Balance.

[Snowblind]

I squek in again... What about raw food diet? Since, as Gmacleod sayed, granis are often the bad guys, raw food could fix the problem. I know paople who have swiched to raw food and never look back. And many problems with health and skin have solved themselves..

[Martina]

My dogs are on Hill's w/d formula and I NEVER recommend it to anyone! They're right - all you have to do is look at the ingredients and you know that it's an awful dog food. That said ... why are mine on it? Because of Gigi's anal prolapse (and the only other dogs I've heard about who are on it have also had anal prolapse problems). Any high protein (animal) kibble makes her strain to poop and it comes out like pudding - icky!! She needs a super high fiber diet. Lola also does really well on this diet. Oh, and I actually mix it with another good quality kibble. So they both have great, consistently firm, no problems getting it out, poops.

Unfortunately, Tigger doesn't seem to be doing so well on it. Poor me! I want to be able to feed all of my dogs all the same food. I hate to have to feed three dogs two different formulas - you can imagine what goes on when I have to seperate them all to feed them :rolleyes:. And, of course, they all try to gobble up the food they're not supposed to have.

I hope that you don't have to do an elimination diet - what a pain in the a**! Oh! and another comment ... the breeder I got Tigger from also said that she doesn't feed high protein kibble to her frenchies because she has more problems with their bms and arthritis on it. She said the high protein caused calcium deposits in their joints - but no mention about allergies. So that's just one breeders empirical 'evidence.' Good luck!!

[Jordy]

Hello and thank-you for all of your responses. The food I am feeding right now is called Inature. It is an Australian dog food (as many things in Korea are from Australia). It is classified as a super premium food, a lamb and rice preparation. It has quality ingredients, no corn, wheat, or soy. I was surprised with Oscar's problems.

By the way, I was supplementing his food with a sprinkle of olive oil every morning. I have since stopped this to determine whether this was the problem.

Additionally, we feed Oscar a small amount of yogurt every morning. This is quality yogurt, not the high sugar preparations. The amount is very small, we just do it as a probiotic, especially needed with all the antibiotics he has been on with the ear infections.

Other that the ears, there are no other problems, no skin problem, or redness. It's a little odd.

I understand the posters that talked about using a food with minimal ingredients; however, I'm not sure whether this is available, and the raw option isn't really applicable here either (at this time). I liked Canidae for it's ingredients; however, I would like to stay away from chicken. I did like it's probiotic ingredients, great for digestion and the growth of 'good' bacteria.

Has anyone had problems with sensitivities to yogurt, olive oil, or perhaps even rawhide. We give him large, strong rawhide that he can't eat (only chew). Since I am new to FBs, I thought that perhaps this is the culprit.

Thanks again everyone.

[gmacleod]

Yoghurt and olive oil are generally pretty good for dogs, but it is technically possible for anything to be an allergy problem.

Rawhides, on the other hand, are a problem more frequently than not. Quite aside from the choking hazard, rawhide is chemically treated (yum) and if ingested, commonly causes at least mild food poisoning. It is, after all, bacteria-laden leather that dogs can't digest - so it sits around in the stomach breeding bacteria... Far better to give your dog a raw bone to chew on (and that will keep his teeth clean too).

[nana]

hey all. i hope everyone is doing well with their frenchies and if your like me everyday u love this breed just a little more :D yesterday we got the allergy report and :eek: our little frenchie is allergis to some types of trees,plants, and food. the food is my biggest concern becasue i live in spain and after alot of hard work looking for and finding a quality kibble(we feed her Eagle Puppy) my vet has advised me to change it. She is allergic to soy, wheat, corn, peanuts, and carrots.

He told me that he likes science diet d/d but i really dont like that kibble she was already on scinece diet once and her stool was soft and what gas :eek: :eek: then we switched to nutro and then to eagle which has been the best until now..

is it possible to find a kibble without those ingredients?' thats not science diet and that i can hopefully find here?

[gmacleod]

Mmm. I can think of a number of kibbles that don't have any of those ingredients, but I'm not sure about whether they're available in Spain...

I was looking at Eagle Pack's website though - what a shame she's allergic to carrots as that seems to be the only problem with their foods. LOL - allergies aren't terribly convenient, are they?

Well, here's a few I can think of that are good quality foods and that don't have any of the ingredients you've listed as a problem. Whether or not you can get them in Spain is something you'll have to determine though, I'm afraid.

Canidae http://www.canidae.com/
Royal Canin Sensible Choice (aka natural blend) http://www.naturalblend.com/SCHDNBA.HTM
Flint River (the Lamb/millet/rice formula) http://www.flintriver.com/ProductInfo.asp
Wellness' simple solutions range http://www.oldmotherhubbard.com/dogs/simple_food_venison.html
Fromm's Four Star range (not the salmon formula - it has carrots) http://www.frommfamily.com/products_fourstardry_fish.asp
Nutro Ultra http://www.nutroproducts.com/ncuad.asp
Natural Balance http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/products/PandD.html

Well, that's what I can think of just for the moment, but there are many others.

A good place to start looking for a good quality food that is unlikely to contain the ingredients you need to avoid is the Whole Dog Journal's list of quality foods. I've posted that list on bulldogworld previously, I think. Since the WDJ is a US entity, all the foods on their list are available there but not necessarily in Spain - some of them are available worldwide though.

[nana]

thanks gmacleod. i guess ill have to start searching again :( i also forgot to mention thats shes allergic to potatos so i guess natural balance is out of the question what a bummer :( ill keep a searching

[nana]

along with the allergy results the allergy center sent a list of recommended dog kibble. theres hill´s prescription diet :( nutro choice

:( and royal canin veterinary diet :confused: should i stick with royal canin?