NFR Dogs With Food Allergies?

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Breck

Breck

The Whisk(e)y Dick
Last weekend my boy Hanzo came down with a bout of pretty severe diarrhea that lasted the weekend and into Monday. I took him to the vet with a stool sample and they ruled out parasites and bacteria. The vet's theory is that he's allergic to his food. I've been feeding him Royal Canin German Shepherd Formula his entire life without issues and he likes it. The vet said that they can develop allergies to things over time, and more often than not, chicken is the culprit. Royal Canin isn't cheap ($110 for a 30lb bag) and he goes through a bag a month but it does have a lot of chicken in it. The vet prescribed a special food made by Purina with a $160 price tag for a 15.5lb bag.

This was my first time visiting this vet clinic. My former vet of over 25 years recently retired and the vet that took over his practice has had very bad reviews. I'm wondering if the vet I saw earlier this week prescribed this particular food because he gets kick backs from Purina. I'm wondering if there's another less expensive option out there that doesn't contain chicken. I don't want to shell out $320 a month to feed my dog. I want to feed him quality food that's healthy for him, but $320 a month is pushing it.

Does anyone have any experience with a dog with food allergies? If so, what has been working for you?

Thanks,

-Breck

*Edited to add that Hanzo has gone back to normal poops since the vet visit.
 
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One of our dogs has issues (primarily with skin) with chicken. We just buy the standard salmon/rice formula. It's Purina and doesn't have any chicken meal in it. It's one of their standard varieties (can't remember specifically which).
 
One of my dogs is allergic to grain or at least thats the conclusion we came to years ago after trying process of elimination on all sorts of random things and spending tons of money testing him, we've been feeding him Farmina N&D grain free which is around $120 for a 30ish pound bag, it looks like the one I have has no chicken as well.
 
clarkman said:
One of our dogs has issues (primarily with skin) with chicken. We just buy the standard salmon/rice formula. It's Purina and doesn't have any chicken meal in it. It's one of their standard varieties (can't remember specifically which).
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Purina Pro Plan maybe?
 
My Lab Maggie developed a severe gut infection after which she had food allergies. I Gave her boiled chicken & steamed rice which worked. Then I tried a variety of dry foods . Nutro lamb & rice worked & Mags thrived on it. Hank couldn't tolerate grain, so I put him on grain free chicken or lamb. Both worked for him (I had to switch protein during covid when supply was spotty.). Good luck.
 
Jim F. said:
My Lab Maggie developed a severe gut infection after which she had food allergies. I Gave her boiled chicken & steamed rice which worked. Then I tried a variety of dry foods . Nutro lamb & rice worked & Mags thrived on it. Hank couldn't tolerate grain, so I put him on grain free chicken or lamb. Both worked for him (I had to switch protein during covid when supply was spotty.). Good luck.
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I did this for my last dog Cody. For the runs, add some pumpkin in and it helps. I varied it with boiled chicken and ground beef. I did this probably the last 18 months he was around and I usually prepared enough for the week at one time. Add some chicken or beef broth too, to vary it up.
 
I have raised 4 Goldens and dealt with some allergy issues. I am a bit skeptical of the diagnosis as well. If handsome Hanzo is better then perhaps it is not a food allergy? Keep a close eye on him. If you want to try switching foods maybe try another protein from Royal Canin since you have been satisfied with that brand. When switching foods introduce the new one in small quantities. Best to both of you. Woof.
 
Only other thing I have to add to the above: Many vets have deals and are incentivized to sell/promote Purina and sometimes Hills brand foods. Not that they're bad products, but vets recommending those two brands often has little to do with it being best for your dog and more to do with being good for their bottom line.

Edit: To add-on a bit. There's the incentive thing, and the fact that the WSAVA (World Small Animal Veterinary Association) which is a food guidelines thing set by said organization, is essentially run by those companies, and they do outreach/education to vets about pet nutrition. So of course, what vets learn about nutrition comes from the companies selling those foods.
 
Had a lot of dogs over the years and quite a few had allergies...without conducting actual allergen testing (via vet administered allergen panels) it's often a real crapshoot finding the problem. Just like humans these critters can suddenly develop an allergic reaction to something they've been exposed to all their life. Sometimes vets prescribe antihistamines to control an animal's allergic reactions.

Currently have an old dog that rapidly developed skin problems....turned out to be severe thyroid deficiency. Once discovered via bloodwork thyroxine was prescribed and he given Coseqine with sodium hyaluronate supplement he proceeded to regrow a luxurious and thick coat (at 17 years of age). No change in diet.
 
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Our dog has severe skin reactions to almost all types of foods. She would bite her paws raw, itch her chin til it was spraying blood, it waas horrible to see and we tried a lot of different things. Medicines, injections, etc but not a lot seemed to help.

We eventually got an allergy test done and put her on Hydrolyzed protein food, made by Royal Canin. Definitely expensive and I believe you need a prescription for it, but that in combination with Apoquel has really made a difference.

Not exactly the same scenario you're in but I figured it might be helpful, hope your pup feels better soon.
 
That hydrolyzed protein food helped our dog also
 
Our dog has had some horrific bouts with diarrhea over the years. The kind that has had me up and awake for 24 hours straight doing multiple loads of laundry with windows open trying to de-odorize the house, afraid to go to sleep lest I miss another accident. And one time an uncontrolled shart at 4am, painting the wall as he jumped up onto the bed with us.

We've never identified the culprit. I suspect he's getting into something outside, but the stool sample checks at the ER vet have never found a parasite. I'll talk with my wife about possible food allergies and see what she's currently feeding him. We've had a good run of over a year with no issues, so whatever he's eating now seems to be working for him.

One thing I did discover after a night at the ER vet, is Dia-Gel anti-diarrheal. You can get it on Amazon and one dose usually firms them up within 24 hours. We keep a stash on hand now.

 
Evan B said:
Only other thing I have to add to the above: Many vets have deals and are incentivized to sell/promote Purina and sometimes Hills brand foods. Not that they're bad products, but vets recommending those two brands often has little to do with it being best for your dog and more to do with being good for their bottom line.

Edit: To add-on a bit. There's the incentive thing, and the fact that the WSAVA (World Small Animal Veterinary Association) which is a food guidelines thing set by said organization, is essentially run by those companies, and they do outreach/education to vets about pet nutrition. So of course, what vets learn about nutrition comes from the companies selling those foods.
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Yes, many vets get incentives to promote Purina, one of the reasons we stayed away from it for ..., bought fancy brands touted as natural - salmon and trout formulations, until about 2 years ago, when Maggie (the Golden one) seemed to develop stomach issues and some skin irritation. Vet recommended Purina Pro plan for sensitive skin (surprises surprise), but I thought OK, give it a try - we got Pro plan salmon formulation and it seemed to work, stopped all the stomach issues - $100 for a 40 Lb bag (was $80 6 months ago).

Anyways, that is our experience ...

Good luck.
 
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