Hypoallergenic food advice

[RescuePointer]

I have a six year old rescue pointer. He's a beautiful dog, but incredibly thin and in the four years I've had him his weight has really yo-yo'd up and down - arriving at c16kg and up to 21kg, down again to 18kg... and so it continues. I've tried various foods and added leans in etc and settled into thinking he was just very thin and active.

At a totally routine appointment, the Vet suggested he may have allergies and suggested a hypoallergenic. Put him straight onto Royal Canin and wow the transformation is fantastic. He's gained LOADS and although i haven't weighed him yet the visible gain is immense, his bones are now covered in plumpness, red skin has gone and fur is great.

BUT, he doesn't like it. He has now realised that my other dog (overweight cockerpoo) is still eating the old food and he's gutted. From taking lots of coaxing he's now refusing to eat.

Does anyone have any advice?

 

[Goldie's mum]

I have a six year old rescue pointer. He's a beautiful dog, but incredibly thin and in the four years I've had him his weight has really yo-yo'd up and down - arriving at c16kg and up to 21kg, down again to 18kg... and so it continues. I've tried various foods and added leans in etc and settled into thinking he was just very thin and active.

At a totally routine appointment, the Vet suggested he may have allergies and suggested a hypoallergenic. Put him straight onto Royal Canin and wow the transformation is fantastic. He's gained LOADS and although i haven't weighed him yet the visible gain is immense, his bones are now covered in plumpness, red skin has gone and fur is great.

BUT, he doesn't like it. He has now realised that my other dog (overweight cockerpoo) is still eating the old food and he's gutted. From taking lots of coaxing he's now refusing to eat.

Does anyone have any advice?

Hi, welcome to the forum.
Could you perhaps find a hypoallergenic diet that suits both dogs and is cheap enough to feed both on?
That's what I ended up doing when I had 4 dogs. It solved the problem of worrying if the allergic one would get ill from pinching the wrong food & made it much simpler to organise help if I was going to be away.
Would it help if you knew what he's allergic to?

 

[RescuePointer]

Thanks so much for replying. I am not sure if it will hurt my other dog if he doesn't really need it? But yes have considered it!

To me, it makes sense that I feed my allergic dog enough hypoallergenci food to give him what he needs, topped up with his old food to make it palatable? that seems common sense to me, but I don't know.....!

 

[skinnydipper]

To me, it makes sense that I feed my allergic dog enough hypoallergenci food to give him what he needs, topped up with his old food to make it palatable? that seems common sense to me, but I don't know.....!

No, don't give him the food that you know he is allergic to.

 

[Amymay Again]

Don't pander to him.

Put both dogs on the hypoallergenic diet. He'll soon start eating it up.

 

[RescuePointer]

I think that's the problem, he has food envy. will it harm my other dog?

thanks for replying!

 

[skinnydipper]

I think that's the problem, he has food envy. will it harm my other dog?

thanks for replying!

No, it will be a complete food, fine for both dogs but probably more expensive than what your other dog is eating now.

 

[Goldie's mum]

Thanks so much for replying. I am not sure if it will hurt my other dog if he doesn't really need it? But yes have considered it!

To me, it makes sense that I feed my allergic dog enough hypoallergenci food to give him what he needs, topped up with his old food to make it palatable? that seems common sense to me, but I don't know.....!

No, you can't give him even a tiny bit of what he's allergic to, it would affect him badly.

The other way round is fine though. Hypoallergenic food is great for non-allergic dogs.

 

[Lauraback]

I feel your pain! my girlie is on royal canin hypoallergenic food after 2 days at Newmarket before Xmas due to anaemia. I have the complete dry as well as the tinned food, I think she prefers the complete but isn’t that keen on either and has completely refused to eat any of it today so far I did find taking her on a very long walk increased her appetite the other day but today is a work day so usual walks. Newmarket gave me a sample of Purina hypoallergenic complete and she chucked that up immediately I’ll keep a look out on this thread for any ideas. We also have a vet check up next week so I’ll post back of any thoughts he has about the lack of interest in the food

 

[lozzles]

Not the cheapest but canagan salmon has suited our fussy dog who we know has allergies. Essentially we were told the trick is to feed a protein they havent previously been exposed to. Otherwise try them both on the current hypoallergenic one. You also need to make sure any treats you feed aren't triggering allergies. We stick to fish ones as we know she's fine with that

 

[Pearlsasinger]

We used to have Rottweiler who could only eat a salmon and potato kibble. We had to feed 7 dogs on it, so that she didn't get anything she couldn't tolerate. It did get expensive!

 

[twiggy2]

Maz the lurcher has been on purina hypoallergenoc for 8yrs or so and does really well in it, all the other dogs love it too and will steal it, she has never turned her nose up at it in all that time.

 

[RescuePointer]

thanks for all the replies - really appreciate everyone's input.

I will give the Purina a go....

the thing is, he didn't have any symptoms. He's never had a stomach upset, his poos were fine, no itching he was just thin - I put it down to him being a very active Pointer. He's been seen by the vet lots of times - dental work, a funny lipoma type thing on his chest, anal glands, annual checks as part of his vet club etc. As soon as I rescued him I took him to the vet for a once-over and he said he was score 2 - but he'd come from a kill shelter so that was unsurprising. We got him up from 16kg upon getting him up to c21kg and he's hovered between 18-20kg since.

It was only on his last annual check that a new vet said he thought he had allergies because his weight has yo-yo'd and he had some pinkness around his armpits. I can't deny that he has gained weight on the hydrolysed diet (I weighed him yesterday and I think he's gained 3kg), but the bottom line is he's miserable at meal time

 

[MurphysMinder]

Have a look at this group on facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/2341185262818548

I'm not usually a fan of this sort of group but the nutritionist who runs the page is excellent. She was recommended to me when my little lad went down with severe pancreatitis while on a kidney diet. We nearly lost him and I really didn't know what to try and feed him as the kidney diet was high fat but he needed low protein etc. I just did a search on the group and found a recommended food which is working brilliantly for him, his weight has gone from 5.5 to 6.3 kg and he is very happy currently. The page is often paused for new posts but you could probably find some help if you do a search.

 

[RescuePointer]

thanks - I am not on facebook byut will see if my daughter can take a look, that's a grat idea,.

 

[Slightlyconfused]

I can recommend royal canin satity for your over weight dog.

My spanner who is allergic to life is on it, but we freeze the dry food to kill off the storage mites which she is allergice too.

That might be an option for both. Though you need to really soak the dry in water before you give it to them as it can make their poos crumbley.

 

[Honey08]

My allergic to everything dog has done really well for 10 years on James Wellbeloved Turkey and veg (or salmon and veg). Initially we put our lab on it too, but it’s expensive so we changed him to their grain free turkey and rice feed, which works well for him and it isn’t the end of the world if our other dog eats it.