Allergies to poultry?

[Lola's mum]

Lola has been chewing her paws for the past couple of weeks now (has never done this before) and today one of her ears is smelly.
This has began since I've had them on Burns 'chicken & brown rice'
She's been fine on the other flavours of Burns so is it possible that it's something to do with the chicken variety?
Come to think of it actually her ears were smelly before when she was on 'turkey & rice' James wellbeloved.

 

[gmacleod]

Well, it starts to sound like an allergy (though it's just as possible that it's environmental as food). Food is easier to deal with, of course, as well as generally being easier to track down.

It's hard to say it's the chicken or the turkey though. That's possible, of course. But more likely is probably something that was in both foods (which, I think, is actually everything except the chicken/turkey - those formulas are identical except for the different meats).

Anyway, you could try a different flavour (eg. venison) and see if the itching clears up. If it does, then I guess you've confirmed chicken and turkey as a problem. If it doesn't though, then you're left with rice, oats, peas, sunflower oil, etc as probable culprits and would need to look for a food without those till you can narrow things down further.

 

[Lola's mum]

If it doesn't though, then you're left with rice, oats, peas, sunflower oil, etc as probable culprits and would need to look for a food without those till you can narrow things down further.

I know I'm being quite cheeky but do you know of any food without those things in that I could get hold of here in the U.K?

 

[gmacleod]

Umm. Finding something without rice and oats in the UK is probably quite an ask... There are probably foods that you could buy from Germany, such as Timberwolf Organics and Nature's Variety Prairie. But before going to that extreme (unless you're keen on buying them anyway - it's not more expensive, and the quality is better too), you might find it's easier to test out her allergies via homecooking. It would be the most efficient way - since you can add ingredients one by one and find out precisely what is and isn't a problem for her.

An alternative would be to try to find something like a fish/potato formula. I can't think of one right now, but I'd be surprised if one didn't exist, even if only amongst the veterinary diets.

 

[Lola's mum]

I know that Wafecol (sp?) do a fish and potato food, is Wafecol ok?

 

[carole]

It looks like Finn has an allergy to chicken :( I feed him the Burns Lamb and Rice and this has improved things. As gmacleod suggests a fish and potato could be a good idea to try. I was thinking about trying home cooking for Finn but have found the Lamb and Rice food works well with him.

 

[gmacleod]

Most of the Wafcol stuff is average. That is, quite good compared to most veterinary diets, but not really something you'd want to feed forever.

I can find their salmon/potato online, but not the ingredients list...

 

[Thomas Liggin]

I noticed you're from England, so I'm not sure this applies. I'll pass it on, just in case.

Our first Boxer, Rocky, had an allergy which affected his paws and ears around this time of the year. It was worse during wet summers than dry summers.

Our vet was confident that it was an allergic reaction to ground mold. She had seen a rash (no pun intended) of similar cases that summer, and that was the common denominator, since all the dogs were on different diets.

It primarily affected the hairless area between his toes, and those portions of his ears, under his ear flaps, and the ear canal.

During bad outbreaks, those tissues would get scarlet. Part of that was due to his incessant "ministrations" to those areas.

Dry summers were not a problem since the mold could not form without sufficient moisture.

The only thing that provided relief during severe outbreaks was a prednisone regimen, followed by benadryl. Benadryl was able to provide comfort for mild allergic reactions.

I'm not sure some of the brands of food mentioned are on it, but Natura Pet, the company that produces Innova and California Natural has a web site. On it, you can do side by side comparisons of many dog foods. There is a list of the ingredients for all the foods listed.

Click on the go button in the compare pet foods block. You might be able to find something available with a minimum of ingredients.

http://www.naturapet.com/display.php?d=home-tab


Tom

 

[Lola's mum]

It primarily affected the hairless area between his toes, and those portions of his ears, under his ear flaps, and the ear canal.
Tom

That's exactly where Lola's irritations seem to be too. Her eyes are also getting really yukky.

 

[Thomas Liggin]

I'd give my vet a call. They are, or should be, aware of seasonal allergies. They should also be able to give you meds to relieve the problem.

There is no need for Lola to be miserable. Keep in mind, that the constant licking/nibbling at the paws makes it even worse. Saliva contains digestive juices, and they will go to work on areas that are constantly licked.

Normal grooming is not a problem, but licking at areas or hot spots will only make them worse.

One thing we did, that may help Lola, was to apply Gold Bond medicated powder between the toes. It will help keep the area dry, and has some soothing qualities.

At first, we applied it between the toes with a Qtip, but then came up with a much quicker and effective method. We put a tablespoon or two in a plastic sandwich baggie. We'd insert one of Rocky's paws in the bag, hold the top closed around his leg and "poof" the bag around with the other hand.

It provided a good coating of the powder between the toes withou having to spread them for the Qtip application. He left a few powder pawprints when we were done, but that was less messy than the spillage of the tip technique.

Don't know if you have Gold Bond in the UK, but you must have something similar. It's a corn starch base, I think, with other ingredients.

http://www.goldbond.com/medpowder.asp


Tom