Cajsa's diet...

[April]

As I'm sure most of you know Cajsa has been on a restrictive diet the last little bit due to her allergies.  We are still not sure what she is allergic to, but we've ruled out quite a few things.  She has been eating Science Diet's line of Prescription Diet Z-D ultra allergen free for tha last little bit.  She is finishing up her second bag and I'm really ready tohave her eat something else.  Her back toe nails are peeling and cracking and just aren't healthy.  Her coat isn't a shiny either.  So, David and I went out looking at dogfood last weekend to see what we could find that had ingredients she can eat.  We found Wellness Super5mix (I think that's the name anyway...it's super5 something anyway).  She can have chicken, carrots, banana, oat flour (so I assume oats are OK), tomatoes, eggs, plain yogurt, whole wheat flour, rice (both white and brown),apples, sweet potatoes, olive oil (so I'd assume olives are OK?) and numerous other things.  I can't think of them right off hand although I have a list at home. 
I bought a small bag and have been giving her bites as treats everyday without her having any problems.  Do you think it would be safe to switch her food over to this even though we haven't actually determined what she is allergic to?  This hasn't been causing her problems so I doubt it would suddenly trigger one, but I wasn't sure what everyone else thought. 
I personally have the idea that she's allergic to beef and/or pork.  Artificial additives also tend to upset her tummy easier (another reason I want her off the Science diet.)  She got a Milkbone at my in-laws and ate it before we could stop her and was having trouble the next day. 

[Krista]

If you keep a careful eye on her, I think it would be okay to try it.  Obviously be prepared for it to not work well for her and have a back-up plan in place.

My dogs have been eating the Wellness chicken formula for over a year now and are doing very well on it.  Roscoe gets very itchy from foods with corn or wheat in them (I wouldn't want to feed a food with corn products in it anyways, knowing it is a filler) and Rudy gets major gas on lamb-based formulas, so this is one that works well for my whole gang.

[Leslie]

My kidz eat the Wellness 5 and have had nary a digestive problem.  I used to supplement for coat, but when I ran out and the little turkeys don't like the new oil they have been going without.  Loki gets gas occasionally, but I think that is more due to her INHALING chewies.  (Yesterday she broke wind really loud, and it startled her so much she looked around to see what was behind her making that noise!)

[April]

Cajsa does get some nasty gas.  It doesn't seem to matter what she eats for that to happen though.  She hasn't gotten any chewies and I think we will probably introduce beef and pork back to her before giving her any.  I don't want her to get a setback from the chewie and not know if it was the rawhide or the animal it was from causing the problem. 

[BridgetLouise]

Joy, our lab has major food allergies as well.  Surprisingly, the only thing she can eat is IAMS for small breeds.  Anything else makes her break out in hives so bad that she'll scratch herself bloody.  Bridget the doxie is just a short, long, round garbage can.

[oceangirls]

I like Wellness products; I feed my two a combination of foods, but they always get some Wellness canned and Cassie gets Super 5 Mix as part of her diet (she loves it, but she also likes to eat paper towels, fuzz, leaves - not a picky dog  ).  Wellness has a line of food called "Simple Solutions" that is specifically for allergy-prone dogs, and I know people who have had good luck with it.  If she doesn't do well on the Super 5, you might give those a try - your pet supply store may be able to give you some sample bags.

Good luck!  Mine have not had allergies, but Angel is picky so we had to try a few foods until we found a combination she likes.

[April]

I saw the allergy formulas, but I had tried a bite of a kangaroo (or bison I forgot) based food that I know she'd never had before and she didn't do well with it at all.  I had treats made with one and the food with the other and they weren't good for her, even though they were novel protein sources.  I"d rather stick with a protein source I  know she's OK with to be honest.  bloody poops are not fun for either of us.

[CA_Trixie]

I have used Wellness Simple Solutions this is for dogs that have allergies.  SS only has five ingredients you might check it out and see if it would help.  Also for top dog foods see www.dogaware.com  (dog feeding info).

[April]

I saw the SS formulas and decided against them because i wasn't sure how she'd react to the different foods.  She has been doing well with the mixture of her special allergy food and the Super5mix so far.  I really don't want to mess with it if it works.  As I said above I've given her bites of food with protein sources she'd never had before and they caused a bad reaction.  That's what the SS is based on - novel protein sources.  I may end up doing something different, but I don't want to mess with something if it is working. 

[Tashas Mom]

Have you looked at Evo by Innova?  Tasha has trouble with wheat, corn and soy and does so much better on Evo - but Wellness Simple Solutions also worked for us.  No more bile barfies on a daily basis!   :apls:

[April]

I've not tried Evo.  I'll check the website and see though.  Just in case this doesn't work I suppose I should be looking for alternatives.  lol 
As of now we still aren't sure what Cajsa is allergic to so we can't just say no food with "X,Y,Z" in it.  It's still trial and error.

[Jen]

April,

Have you asked your vet about doing allergy tests to see what she is sensitive to? That way you can make your decisions based on what she "can" eat.  I think these days dogs seem to have more allergies than they used to i am convinced it's because we over-vaccinate them and it really taxes their immune system.  Vegan dog food? Who every heard of a Carnivore that can't eat meat? Odd huh?

Good Luck  :thumb:
Jen & the Crew

[April]

I did ask him about them but he told me the allergy tests for foods weren't really as reliable as he'd like them to be for the cost.  He was happy with the inhalent allergies (like pollen and such) but not the foods.  Too many false positives?  Honestly I've not gotten Cajsa every shot every year.  She had the full set as a puppy then rabies, distemper and Lyme when she was 1 and only rabies this year because it's required by the state.  She won't need any more shots for three years.  I didn't see the point in giving her all of them since her immune system should still be good against the "bugs". 
As for the vegan dog food I tend to think that's more for the owners than the dog.  I could be wrong though...