Food Allergies and bumps not hives

[luvmymak]

Our 10 year old baby has struggled with allergies since he was 2 years old. We had him allergy tested and it came back with a HUGE list of things he was allergic too (various grasses, trees, feathers, chicken, turkey, green peas). The list just went on and on! He ate Science Diet potato and venison for years (before I knew any better). He has been on Natural Balance Fish and Sweet Potato for several years now and has done SOOOO much better!
We went through many shampoos, and now only use a non-scented oatmeal shampoo. That helps as well! Also, ask you vet about frequent bathing....weekly bathing helped ALOT!
He was also allergic to a certain brand of heartworm meds too. I can't remember which one he started on, but takes Heartguard now.
Also, the Frontline drops made him loose all the fur in the area it was applied. Now I only used a SMALL amount of the Frontline spray on a washcloth. That doesn't bother him.
Hope this helps!

 

[KoaKai]

hi Guys,

Just thought I would give a quick update. The home cooking seems to be working, I've been mixing in a whole chicken, sweet potatoes, spinach, carrots and broccoli stems that are leftover...

The bumps are healing but there have been a few small ones that popped up this last week. That may be residual stuff so Im not too concerned. Im pretty sure by the end of week most if not all the bumps will be gone.

One other note, he has definitely lost weight since I started home cooking. Im giving him 1 3/4-2 cups per feeding, 3xs a day...he was getting about 1 1/2-1 3/4 3 times a day on kibble. With the kibble, he looked on the skinny side but was a healthy looking dog and his weight stayed pretty constant. Now he is definitely looking a little too skinny. The vet already said we were over feeding him, but he doesn't put on weight. He is almost 2 now and I really don't think he is going to fill out much if at all.

I was thinking of adding some pumpkin for some filler to maybe put some meat back on his little riblets since they are starting to show pretty good now. Any other tips? I read another person was using corn oil...what about that?

 

[Caney Creek]

Glad to hear the new diet is working!

As for putting some weight on him, pumpkin is not going to do that. It is a filler, meaning it provides lots of bulk with very little calories. It is good for dogs who need to lose weight, and it's also good for treating constipation and diarrhea in dogs as it is high in fiber.

I would not go for corn oil either just because corn is a big culprit of food allergies.

I wonder why your vet thought Koa was being overfed? :confused: Was this when he was on kibble or now with the home cooking? How much does he weigh?

When figuring how much food he needs daily you have to keep in mind the water content of cooked food as compared to kibble. Also, the veggies add so little calories that they should not be included when you portion out his meals, but added afterward. For instance, measure out 2 cups of JUST the chicken and sweet potato, THEN add all the veggies you want.

Personally I would try increasing the amount you're feeding rather than trying to add something else, since you know that what you've got right now is working for his skin issues.

Also remember that you need to add calcium to a homemade diet that does not include bones.

DogAware.com has lots of info about home cooking for your dog, including what and how much to feed, how to get correct ratios of nutrients, etc.

The "must-read" sections of the above article:
Review: Three Basic Rules
Types of Foods and Proportions
Amounts to Feed

 

[KoaKai]

well let me rephrase...we had him up to 7 cups a day and that is really when the vet said we needed to cut back. Now he thinks he is on the high end but ok...this is with the kibble.

he weights 67lbs...ill get a pic up in a bit so you can take a look...theres no doubt you can see his ribs more and his hips stick out more since hes been on the home diet.

Also, FYI, Im cooking a whole chicken, bones and all, and mashing it all up. Im wondering if I should just double the chicken since adding pumpkin wont do much...whole chickens are pretty cheap, not much more than buy extra sweet potatoes or something.

It just seems like 2 cups of food per sitting is a lot. I look at his bowl and I think, there is no way I could eat that size 3 times a day and Im 3 times his size...hmmm, but Im not a dog.

Anyway, thanks for the link. I will check it out.

 

[KoaKai]

Hey guys,

So now Im a bit worried...the past couple weeks even month to month and a half, i've noticed Koa has been a lot less energetic. I didn't really think much of it other than watch him and we were switching around his food so much I thought some of the food may not be giving him enough energy.

Anyway, today I was puppy sitting his girlfriend...they alway play like crazy almost all day with little rest. This morning he was fine but this afternoon he is either sleeping or just laying there with his eyes open watching her. This is really not like him at all when she is around. I have a vet appt tomorrow but after doing some reading could he have hypothyroidism? It seems like the symptoms fit. Definitely lethargic and sleeping a lot more, no hair loss though...my wife semi joked the other day he looked depressed, but now thinking about it more maybe he is.

The thing that got me was the inability to gain weight and the sensitivity to cold. It has been cold here in San Diego the past week or so (well cold for us) and he has woken me up the past 4 nights to put a blanket on him...ya you read that right...we started putting a blanket on him when he was napping just to be funny and he loved it. So now in the middle of the night, if it falls off the couch or away from where hes sleeping he wants it on again. Pretty funny, but I guess he may not be feeling well or actually really cold.

Anyway, I was looking at this page:
Thyroid Diseases: Hypothyroidism in Dogs

 

[Caney Creek]

Yep hypothyroidism sounds like a possibility. I was surprised to read that he's a lean 67 lbs and was eating 7 cups of kibble daily :eek: That is a TON of food! Did your vet not want to do bloodwork when you originally mentioned that he was being fed that much?? I'd find that very strange if not. As for him being cold that might be a symptom of hypothyroid or might just be due to the cold plus the fact that he's lost a little weight. Regardless though I think you've got a few valid concerns that warrant a trip to the vet to find out if there's something medically wrong.

Good luck, keep us posted.

 

[urupe]

Hi - I just read your posts and my dog, Cassius suffers with the same "pumps". The vet did a allergy test on him and hes not allergic to anything like grass, dust, flowers, etc. He's been on Royal Canine Venison Potato diet. It seems to be working, but just last thursday (Thanksgiving) my nephew gave him a piece of turkey and Cassius is breaking out again, not on the top of his head. It breaks my heart to see him like that. The vet did mention that it takes up to 3 months for the whatever makes his breakout to leave his system. He is not on any medication as of now. My fiance and I are not going to keep bringing him to the vet - i think at this moment we need to figure it out on our own. No more meat (chicken, turkey or beef) for 3 - 4 months and then we will try beef and so on. Hopefully we will figure out what kind of food his allergic too.

Hope Koa feels better.

PS: We've been dealing with this since June. Cassius is 1 yr old and he weights 55lbs

 

[KoaKai]

My wife and I were talking and we both kinda think he got tested for thyroid problems when he was little, but we can't remember for sure. He has been a super high maintenance dog with tons of little (and big) problems. But I was reading that the blood test may come up negative early in life and then show up positive later in life.

Just need to take him to vet to have him properly checked out

 

[KoaKai]

Went to the Vet...He had his blood/urine done on Friday all came up with no problems. He did, however, have a mass biopsied..The vet was holding around his neck area to draw the blood and felt the couple of bumps he has on his upper chest/lower neck area. He felt like they may be mast cell tumors. So we will get those results back tomorrow or Wednesday. So that is a little worrisome. The vet tech mentioned his boxer had the exact same thing, couldn't get rid of hives, then when they finally started going away, his dog popped up with some mast cells. I thought they were just hives but what do I know.

So the other thing we are going back to his original dog food before we started messing around with trying to get rid of the hives. We are putting him on Wellness core ocean since that was his food for the longest period of time and the hives were some what minimal. Hopefully, the idea is to see whether or not is lethary and sleepiness is tied to diet.

If he doesn't improve by Wednesday, we are going to have an ultrasound down of his abdomen and/or colon. So the drama continues...

 

[KoaKai]

Well the Vet called within 30 minutes of me posting and those bumps came up semi positive as mass cells. I guess it wasn't a complete 100% positive, but given some time they would be. Anyway, so I brought him down to get those things removed. Same deal, if his energy level doesnt pick up then we will do an ultrasound to make sure it hasn't spread to any organs.

The vet mentioned that mass cells cause antihistaminies to build up/be let off more so that is probably where the hives are coming from. (I think I got that right) So its probably not his food that causing the hives but more likely the masses. So after the masses are removed stick with the plan of going back to his original food and see how he does.

What do you guys think?