Flaxseed Allergy & Feeding Advice Needed - Long Post!

[its_lulu]

Hi everyone,
I'm looking for some feeding advice for my allergy queen Lulu. She's been tested and is allergic to: Poultry, Soybean, Flax, Kelp, Alfalfa, Carrots, & Green Peas. I'm having a heck of a time finding a quality food that doesn't contain Flaxseed!

We've tried a few foods with no success. When we got her tested she was on Wellness Super 5 Lamb - she had skin problems on it which prompted the testing. We then tried: Prairie Brand New Zealand Venison Medley (skin got worse), California Natural (skin got much worse), then Nature's Recipe Lamb Rice & Barley (skin better but had diarrhea.) Between each we gave her Beef and Rice and her skin improved. We also gradually mix in the new food with the beef and rice. Due to her reaction to the California Natural I include Sunflower oil as an allergy even though she wasn't tested for it.

For about 6 months now she's been eating Solid Gold Holistique Blend without any issues. In the spring she had a UTI and crystals in her urine. The vet thought the crystals could be from the food since it is solely a fish protein based food. She's been on a supplement for over a month now and the crystals have cleared up. I want to switch her off the Holistique and onto something else because I really don't want her to have to have supplements the rest of her life. Also, Lulu really doesn't care for the food and spits it out all over the house. I've even found pieces on my bed!

Does anyone have any suggestions besides a homemade or raw diet? I have a strong aversion to raw meat and don't even cook for myself!

Also, does anyone know if flaxseed listed on a label is different from flax oil? Our thinking was if Lulu's allergic to the protein in flaxseed it might not be present in flax oil? Does anyone have any experience or knowledge about that? If flaxseed is different from flax oil we've been thinking of trying Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance Food. Either the Potato & Duck, or the Venison & Brown Rice Formula.

I am grateful for anyone who's read this far and has any advice to offer us!

Thank You,
Amy & Lulu

 

[Boxermom1434]

Amy,
Not sure on the foods for Lulu but I was wondering if you mind telling me what supplemnt your Lulu was on for her crystals? My pup has been fighting the crystal route for 3 months now. I have tried everything that has been suggested and they are not gone, the vet said they we re getting better but his urine ph is a 7 which is completley neutral. Thanks.

 

[Net45582]

You may want to do some research on allergy testing with foods with canines . I read the food allergy testing results were deemed unreliable. My vet offered this info without my asking when we were trying to find the cause of Chanceys hives. It seems more often than not the food allergy tests were coming back with false positives.
Have you looked into Timberwolf Organics foods. Good luck

 

[gmacleod]

I would say its very unlikely that a dog allergic to flaxseed is not going to have problems with flaxseed oil

When you say "poultry" does that mean every type of poultry? If so, you might as well pass on NB duck/potato - duck is poultry. And the venison formula contains both flaxseed and kelp, I'm afraid.

And it's a pity about the sunflower oil being suspect. Otherwise you could have tried something like Innova EVO Red Meat. Everything else you've listed as a problem is absent from that food.

In fact, I think you're going to have a hard time finding another food that contains none of the ingredients you're trying to avoid. Within the decent quality foods, the only one I find with none of those things is Annamaet Option 24: http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/showproduct.php?product=67&cat=4

Personally, I'd say that your best options - beyond switching to a raw or homecooked diet (which would certainly be the best - since that's the only way you can control precisely what is consumed) - are either to try the EVO RM and see for certain whether sunflower oil is a problem, or to stick with the Solid Gold and/or Annamaet and supplement/alternate the diet with meat (both are a bit deficient there).

 

[its_lulu]

Boxermom1434: Lulu is currently getting a supplement called UT Strength from Vetri Science. Here's a link: http://www.vetriscience.com/ut-strength-dogs.php My vet wanted to keep Lulu on this but I see it says in plain English on their web page that is not recommended for continual use. I'm going to have to ask him about that.

We do use her positive reactions as more of a guide than fact. I did read that the allergy testing can be over sensitive but so far we have found it to be correct. We knew even before the testing she couldn't tolerate chicken and she came back positive for that. And once I gave her a supplement I got free without checking the label and she had a bad skin reaction to it. When I did check the label the first ingredient was flaxseed. Oops! I’m much better at checking everything now and Chicken and Flaxseed are the two I totally avoid.

I've actually been slowly mixing in Innova Red Meat for the past two weeks but in an effort to keep my original post concise I didn't mention it. For a few days now she been getting half Solid Gold Holistique and half Innova RM. Unfortunately, its given her horrendous room clearing gas and soft stool - but no skin problems. She was tested independently for duck and its ok for her but we really are at a loss for what to do next. Should we give the Innova/Holistique blend some more time? Should I just mix some Pumpkin and Yogurt in? Or jump to the Natural Balance? I'm going to start checking out homemade diets just to be prepared for the worst though.

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[Boxermom1434]

Thank you for the information. I will be asking my vet what he thinks as I am ready to get this mess cleared up.