Hypoallergenic wet dog food suggestions and help with licky dog

[TPO]

At the vet for vaccinations today and I mentioned he'd been scratching. I can't find any sign of fleas, and he's up to date with flea treatment. He's also been licking his paws.

I've had him at the vets before about his paws and was given a pack of wipes. He did seem to improve, and it's only recently that he's started licking again. I knew I had this appointment coming up.

He had a wee bit of a sensitive tummy when he was a pup, so i tried quite a few other brands/types of feed but he done best on Butchers Grain free so I've kept him on that ever since.

When he was licking his paws as an adult I did try him on Bella & Duke (pre made raw) and Rún (cold pressed food), but he wasn't keen on either and went a bit scabby. I went back to butchers grain free and his coat has been fine since.

At vets today I raised my concerns. She said that there isn't an infection but can see he's been at his paws with the brown saliva staining (she used a fancier word then dumbed it down for me!). She's given me medicated shampoo that he's to be bathed in 3x a week.

She looked in his ears to see if that's why he was scratching. She said they looked a little red but they could just be his over excitement. He loves going to the vet and acts like an untrained hyperactive moron every time. His excitement makes his eyes go like an albino rabbit's I've now got drops to put in 2x a day.

He has some brown staining on his droopy spaniel lips and apparently that's a thing that spaniels can get that causes skin issues? So I've to wash his face with salt water and when it's thoroughly dry to apply ointment. We tried that tonight but turns out this spaniel never has a dry face! He either licks with his massive tongue when I'm towelling him dry or his droppy top lips fall down and soak his lower folds again. Obviously he needed a massive drink right after thr cream was applied

On top of this she wants him to go on hypoallergenic wet food for 2 months to rule out any food allergies. She suggested purina.

When I googled the butchers grain free came up as hypoallergenic. Am I already feeding him a hypoallergenic food? Should I still change his feed? I did tell vet he was on grain free butchers after trying others.

Any suggestions?

Also should I clip his feet? I've just left him to have hobbit toes. He does get groomed, baths, thoroughly dried etc. I thought hair would offer some protection when he's running through cover and just general spaniel activities.

Only £130 bill so far and he's got a follow up in two weeks. I'm waiting on 2 vet bills for the horse so if the feed suggestions didn't bankrupt me that would be appreciated

Disclaimer: that was a joke. He'll always get whatever he needs

 

[Redders]

Just to point out, hypoallergenic is not a protected term, so doesn’t mean what the means it to mean, if that makes sense. The reason they suggested Purina HA is because it is hydrolysed. Hydrolysed means the protein in it is broken down so small it can’t cause an allergic reaction. So the food you need is actually hydrolysed, which is often called hypoallergenic, but hypoallergenic in non vet brands doesn’t mean hydrolysed - if that makes sense! Other brands will call something hypoallergenic but it’s just grain free, or only has chicken or turkey or single protein.
For a food trial, because they are gruelling and have to be 6-8 weeks of being the absolute strict only food to pass their lips, I always recommend a hydrolysed diet and point out a couple that are, Purina HA and RC Anallergenic are hydrolysed so I would stick with those for the food trial

 

[TPO]

Thank you

 

[Redders]

There is also a new food brand called Trovet. They are good and I have had some success with them with fussy eaters. The mostly do single source (strict) protein, so I recommend picking one of the proteins your pet has never eaten and pick that to trial (can’t be allergic to something they have never had)

 

[Boulty]

It depends if you’re wanting single source protein (ie just one, named protein source), novel protein (usually something random like venison or insect protein that they’re unlikely to have come across before and so hopefully shouldn’t react to) or a hydrolysed diet (where the protein has been broken down in such a way that they shouldn’t react at all to it).

Hypoallergenic generally means they should have a set recipe, a named protein source & a limited no of ingredients (to lessen the no of potential allergens). Some hypoallergenic diets are grain free, some aren’t (I think the butchers you’re currently feeding probably is as most of their wet diets are)

If you’ve got a pretty good idea of what sets things off then hypoallergenic may be ok for you but if no idea then hydrolysed may be worth trying to see if it helps although you’ll then potentially have the fun of reintroducing things and seeing if they cause an issue (there are also a few different methods of allergy testing and things like immunotherapy vaccines but this may be unnecessary if you think it’s food based)

My creature has a suspected chicken intolerance that shows up as GI issues. We’ve never gone down the allergy testing route as avoiding chicken (& certain dental chews that also trigger the same reaction) seems to avoid the issue. Finding a non chicken, non grain free, reduced calorie dry diet for him has been interesting shall we say as it’s not a niche many manufacturers cater for (literally all the “light” / “diet” foods are chicken based & most novel protein diets assume you want grain free which as he ALREADY is very at risk of heart issues due to breed I don’t want to possibly raise that even a tiny bit). Your niche sounds like it should be easier to find as there’s quite a good choice of single / novel protein wet foods