Hydrolysed diet for dogs. Help?!

P

poiuytrewq

Well-Known Member
Joined
3 April 2008
Messages
21,564
Location
Cotswolds
Visit site
Just returned from the vet with my dog who I was convinced had ringworm (they disagree!) they say it's his normal itchiness getting worse. He's always been very sensitive and gets sore skin on his tummy on certain foods. I had thought we had finally found a food he was ok with but turns out maybe not. He's been on Alpha sensitive. He does however eat a fair bit of Spillers racing mix which can't help.
I'm not sure why it's so suddenly flared up so badly.
The vet advised a hydrolysed diet. I've had a google and there are plenty to choose from. Can anyone recommend something good but not too pricey? Maybe around the £25/£30 mark.
He also has antibiotics and a course of steroids and a return visit booked next week.
 
poiuytrewq said:
Just returned from the vet with my dog who I was convinced had ringworm (they disagree!) they say it's his normal itchiness getting worse. He's always been very sensitive and gets sore skin on his tummy on certain foods. I had thought we had finally found a food he was ok with but turns out maybe not. He's been on Alpha sensitive. He does however eat a fair bit of Spillers racing mix which can't help.
I'm not sure why it's so suddenly flared up so badly.
The vet advised a hydrolysed diet. I've had a google and there are plenty to choose from. Can anyone recommend something good but not too pricey? Maybe around the £25/£30 mark.
He also has antibiotics and a course of steroids and a return visit booked next week.
Click to expand...

one of my dogs has had a serious gut issue which he was on steroids, probiotics and omeprazole for months as well as a hydrolysed diet. We tried him on the Proplan HA but it wasn't very palatable as far as I can tell. I switched him to the Hills ZD which, oddly all my dogs actually like, wehther they need it or not.

The ZD comes in tins or dry, so mine get a bit of each. THey also do a hypoallergenic treat which they all seem to like too. Now that his gut seems to have healed, I have started introducing him to other foods and so far so good. No steroids now for about 3 weeks, omeprazole been finished for months. I will keep him on probiotics perhaps forever, but the ZD seems to be keeping him right, so I don't want to mess with it too much.

I buy mine online, and buy in bulk and it costs me £130 for the two dogs to eat for about 5 weeks - a 10kg bag plus 4 trays of tins I think?
 
My girl is on purina ha and eats it really well. We've had her on it exclusively for a few years, but have just started challenging her system with a novel protein in the form of James wellbeloved.
 
I also had to put my dog on Purina HA. It worked wonders. Started introducing other foods very gradually after about 6 months with no problem. She had been quite unwell and her gut was very compromised and this made a difference when needed. I used to buy the massive sacks online when on offer.
 
Could you try stopping the racing mix? There doesn't seem much point spending a fortune on a special diet while he helps himself to wheat and maize and molasses.
 
Clodagh said:
Could you try stopping the racing mix? There doesn't seem much point spending a fortune on a special diet while he helps himself to wheat and maize and molasses.
Click to expand...

Very good point.

With mine I had to stop absolutely every and anything else because it defeats the purpose if they are getting other bits n bobs.

I am only introducing small bits of other stuff just now because my old boy has been months without an IBD episode, but it's only the tiniest amounts so I can see if anything flares him up. If it does, then it's straight back to strict diet again, which is on hand.

But certainly while you are trying to heal the gut, it's really important that it's the hydrolysed food and nothing else.
 
budatiger said:
I also had to put my dog on Purina HA. It worked wonders. Started introducing other foods very gradually after about 6 months with no problem. She had been quite unwell and her gut was very compromised and this made a difference when needed. I used to buy the massive sacks online when on offer.
Click to expand...

I know other people have said the same, that their dogs did well on the HA. Mine for whatever reason, just wouldn't eat it. My older boy, who really needed it kept dropping weight after weeks on end of trying to get him to eat it. I got some of the zd tins to start, and mixed the HA with that and that was ok. Then he just licked the zd off and left a bowl of half licked clean HA lol

Introduced him to the dry zd and haven't looked back. My new puppy, who doesn't need it, keeps stealing it from them. And he is a fussy eater.
 
To be fair, she had been neglected (ex racer) and ate everything (mouth guard & USB stick included) at great speed! Don't think my current fussy girl would touch it. I had to soak it in warm water to try to prevent bloat. I introduced tinned Chappie later as her morning feed and she did really well on that. Never upset her tummy.
 
budatiger said:
To be fair, she had been neglected (ex racer) and ate everything (mouth guard & USB stick included) at great speed! Don't think my current fussy girl would touch it. I had to soak it in warm water to try to prevent bloat. I introduced tinned Chappie later as her morning feed and she did really well on that. Never upset her tummy.
Click to expand...

Greyhounds are not always as straightforward as they may seem! I would definitely remove the racing mix - far too high in protein and energy for his retired lifestyle - and switch to something like Skinners Duck and Rice Kibble? Or a raw diet. Those are what have suited my ex-racers most.....
 
poiuytrewq said:
I had thought we had finally found a food he was ok with but turns out maybe not. He's been on Alpha sensitive. He does however eat a fair bit of Spillers racing mix which can't help.
I'm not sure why it's so suddenly flared up so badly.
The vet advised a hydrolysed diet..
Click to expand...

Firstly, you say you had found a food the dog was okay on - was that as a result of allergy testing/an elimination diet or a bit of hit and miss?

Regardless, I would say to eliminate the Spillers Racing Mix - grain is one of the highest triggers for allergies in dogs.

Secondly, before putting on a hydrolysed diet (yuk!) I would want to attempt allergy testing (yes, not overly accurate, but it can give an indication as in, food or environment) and/or an elimination diet with an unusual protein as the sole source.....goat/kangaroo etc etc, dependent on what the dog has previously been exposed to.
 
i was going to suggest raw as well, anything with grain is a total no no for allergy prone dogs. mine wouldnt eat hydrolysed, but love raw chicken necks, and mince. As well as oily fish. I never feed any grain products to them and as a result they are totally allergy free. one of my dogs is a breed that are allergy prone. And he is fine.
 
My gsd had sensitive skin and stomach. When we got him aged 2 he was being fed very high grain Wag- his ears were bright red! Switched to skinners with some improvement. He still had a flare up around this time of year and needed steroids. So I think it was a mixture of grain allergy and some pollen issues too. Then went to raw- best his skin ever looked. We did use Millie's wolf heart while on camping holiday for ease.

Sadly we lost him to cancer aged just 5. I can't help but wonder if 2 years of eating food he was reacting badly to contributed. Not that we could of done anything about that.
 
gunnergundog said:
Firstly, you say you had found a food the dog was okay on - was that as a result of allergy testing/an elimination diet or a bit of hit and miss?

Regardless, I would say to eliminate the Spillers Racing Mix - grain is one of the highest triggers for allergies in dogs.

Secondly, before putting on a hydrolysed diet (yuk!) I would want to attempt allergy testing (yes, not overly accurate, but it can give an indication as in, food or environment) and/or an elimination diet with an unusual protein as the sole source.....goat/kangaroo etc etc, dependent on what the dog has previously been exposed to.
Click to expand...
The food I settled on was purely by trial and error. Some brands make him very bad this one has been the best so far up til now. I've been very careful about the horse mix. Making sure no stable doors are ever left open (as soon as a horse leaves he pops in to clean up!) I think that will help.
Is hydrolysed food bad/horrible? Why?
I just dislike the thought of raw feeding and am pretty sure it would make our other dog have serious tummy explosions?! We can only really feed him dry food.
 
poiuytrewq said:
The food I settled on was purely by trial and error. Some brands make him very bad this one has been the best so far up til now. I've been very careful about the horse mix. Making sure no stable doors are ever left open (as soon as a horse leaves he pops in to clean up!) I think that will help.
Is hydrolysed food bad/horrible? Why?
I just dislike the thought of raw feeding and am pretty sure it would make our other dog have serious tummy explosions?! We can only really feed him dry food.
Click to expand...
Hydrolysed food is messed with as much as any food possibly could be, that said it is the only food mine has been able to eat
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top