General Chat

I'm just wondering if any of you have a very allergic dog and if so what you feed him/her? I have just had a load of allergy tests done on my German Shepherd and it turns out that he's allergic to almost everything - chicken, white fish, lamb, beef, pork, turkey, rice, wheat, soya, milk....think that's all of it? He also happens to be allergic to dust mites, storage mites and certain grass seeds!! We now need to find a suitable dog food for him and I was hoping that perhaps someone on here could advise me? Any advice at all would be very much appreciated. Kaye x

Only leaves Veg and vitamin drops doesn't it? (mine eats soap but dont suppose that has many vitamins...) What does the vet suggest? Oh heck.... Jess

Have you asked your Vet for information on Specialist food suppliers.?. He should know,or be able to put you in touch with some one. Hal.

Your poor dog, Kaye and poor you trying to find a suitable diet for him. Perhaps you could try contacting a few of the big name dog food manufacturers to see if they have anything in their range which might help. Would a vegetarian diet be worth a try ? I think you can get processed vegetarian food for dogs.

Jess - do you mean soup? Surely you don't feed your dog soap? Hal - yes our Vet is very good and we have an appointment to discuss it with her next week, but even she's struggling to think of something - will most likely end up with a prescription food, just wanted to know if there was anything on the market I could buy now, or if anybody had any advice really. He can have scrambled egg (just made with egg obviously) and mashed potato, but don't think that's going to give him everything he needs. Kaye x

Javee - that's a good idea about contacting the manufacturers, I will do some searching on the net. I thought about a vegetarian food, but would that contain soya, wheat or milk? Poor Storm is only 3 years old and seems to be the result of bad bredding - he's got Hip Dysplasia in both hips and Arthritis in one, he had to be neutered at four months old as one of his testicles hadn't dropped, he's got dodgy knees apparently, he's got a toe missing on one foot and his ears don't stand up! lol But he is one of the loveliest dogs you could ever wish to own - full of character. K x

Kaye, Why don,t you ask your Vet for the Address of The Vetenary School in Cambridge,They may be able to come up with a solution or something to counteract the allergies. Hal.

Thanks Hal - I will do that. I actually have relatives in Cambridgeshire, so I might give them a call tonight and see if they know of it. I think getting something to help counteract the allergies would be a good idea. Thanks everyone for the advice - will let you know the outcome. K x

Kaye- I did mean SOAP- i don't give it to her, she helps herself just as often as she can, and will scramble up onto the side of the bath to get it off the rack, which (believe me) is high on the wall! Imperial Leather original is No1 on the choice list. The vet says it wont harm her...which i find hard to beliveve. Not to be incouraged! jess x (and Bobbin, .....with very clean teeth!)

Wow Jess - I really thought you'd mistyped! I've never heard of a dog scavenging soap before - how bizarre. You could check the ingredients in the Imperial Leather Soap (good choice by the way Bobbin) to see if there's something that perhaps Bobbin is lacking - bit like pregnant women and their cravings? Storm isn't a scavenger fortunately, but my other dog Bonnie just has a penchant for horse dung - a real delicacy in her book! lol Kaye x

Kaye,It could be that the dog was too closely interbred,Check on your Pedigree Document. it might also be common in that line. you may be able to ask the breeders, Also The Vets Collage is or used to be on the road that leads to the American Cemetery,just going out of Cambridge on the left hand side. Hal.

One of our Labs is allergic and has to have de-sensitising injections each month. However, Eukanuba lamb and rice seems to suit him. Along with as much human food as he can steal.

Thanks Hal - I will ring my rellies later and find out an address for the veterinary school. We were silly and got Storm from someone local who owned two German Shepherds and decided to breed from them - we went to see Mum & Dad and they seemed fine and so we thought the pups would be ok! We should have known better really, but we don't regret getting him - at least with us he's still alive and has a loving, happy home. Bryan - we already give him James Wellbeloved Lamb and Rice and he's apparently allergic to that too. You Lab sounds typical - bit like my Retriever - always on the look out for scraps! lol Thanks everyone Kaye x

I used to feed my dog on mealie meal in Africa, he did very well on it with just a little meat. Its jsut a thought brenda

Hi Brenda - What's mealie meal? Kaye x

Try this site, it says they specialise in foods? If not they may be able to advise? http://www(.)pets-express(.)co(.)uk/ REMOVE BRACKETS Maz x

Thanks Maz - have had a quick look at that website. I will go back later and have a proper look, it may be worth emailing them? Kaye x

We used to have a Dalmatian who was always scratching and itching. We took him to the Veterinary College in Cambridge and after a barrage of tests they told us he was allergic to one of 28 grasses - well worth the trip and money! In fact he got better on his own. Our old Lab also developed an allergy in later life. I stopped feeding her ANYthing other than her one meal a day - we actually used something called Repnor Gold. And we washed her in sulphur shampoo and rubbed sulphur ointment into her sores. It did work and all her hair grew back and she was a healthy girl after that. But I guess each dog is different.

One of our cats had the same sort of problems. Had him tested & then a cocktail of anti alergy injection was made up for the ten most things hes allergic to, Took many months of desensitising injections on sliding scale timewise to inject the full course. I rang around the cat food suppliers to get details of what their foods had in them to find one that didnt contain any cereals(the worst of his reaction) or veggies because he s very allergic to carrots. We did finnalyy find a food he could & WOULD eat,they are so fussy!! & as we have two cats,that the other one would be ok on too. AS others have said your vet is probably the best one to advise. Have found with the prescription ones that they dont seem that appertising to them. Plus they seem to be rice based rather than cereal, & guess what?? he's allergic to rice too!!! Shirley

my dogs allergic to grass, that means she cant go for many walks, and when its really sunny she takes piriton, and evening primrose, shes allergic to one brand of dog food but we just advoid that