Purina Hypoallergenic - cheaper equivalent

[hopscotch bandit]

Hi long story, will be brief as I can. We use Purina Hypoallergenic for one of our dogs, a 7yr old beagle. She has a recurring ear infection (sometimes yeast infection, sometimes bacterial infection) which the vets think is due to a food allergy and they have been treating her for about ten months now.

Previous to her ear problem she wouldn't eat dog food from when we rescued her as a two year old, even if that was all we gave her relentlessy every meal for four days, she still held out!

So we resorted to cutting up bits of ham, turkey, beef, cheese, chicken and pork (sliced processed meat from Aldi) and mixing with gravy bones or small bite mixer.

So eventually after four round of ears drops and ear wash prescribed by the vet to try and get rid of the ear infections with the vet certain it was a food allergy she put her on steroids as a last ditch attempt b4 surgery to wash her ears out completely. We were told to cut out all the cr@p, we are not stipid, we knew it wasn't healthy to have so much fat and salt in her diet but she would not eat dog food no matter how many brands we gave her, she is exactly the same with treats, lost count if how many I've given away over the years to friends with 'normal' dogs lol.

During this time we took advantage of the fact steroids increase appetite drastically and put her on Purina Hypoallergenic and much to our delight, our fussy dog started eating it with a very small amount of finely cut up chicken or turkey mixed in, literally 1/4 slice per meal. Because she was so hungry her recall which was previously non existent was amazing, she'd come bounding over from quarter mile away and sit at your feet for a small treat! ?

She's lost a fair amount of weight which is pleasing to see and looks so much better, runs more too. Her ears are clean and she doesn't rub on the carpet as them as much as she did although i have noticed she has started scratching them, probably three times this week. We stopped the steroids last Thursday.

This wonder dog food has really helped her but is very expensive so can anyone recommend a similar product, i.e no grains, etc that is cheaper please? Even if it turns out its not a food allergy I think its doing wonders for her joints by keeping the weight off her, her face shows how much she's lost!

TIA

 

[CorvusCorax]

Is it the HA/hydrolised stuff? If so that's meant to be an exclusion diet and not for feeding long term anyway. You're supposed to add a protein at a time and see what works.
There's actually very little in it.

If she is good on chicken or turkey I'd suggest a food for older dogs, grain or at least wheat free, low protein. You'd be best going to a pet shop to ask advice.
Or just feed cooked chicken/fish and rice/coconut oil, etc.

I've recently moved all three of mine onto Autarky, the older two on salmon Mature Lite and the pup on Puppy/Junior.

 

[hopscotch bandit]

Is it the HA/hydrolised stuff? If so that's meant to be an exclusion diet and not for feeding long term anyway. You're supposed to add a protein at a time and see what works.
There's actually very little in it.

If she is good on chicken or turkey I'd suggest a food for older dogs, grain or at least wheat free, low protein. You'd be best going to a pet shop to ask advice.
Or just feed cooked chicken/fish and rice/coconut oil, etc.

I've recently moved all three of mine onto Autarky, the older two on salmon Mature Lite and the pup on Puppy/Junior.

Yes it is the HA to be used under vet supervision apparently.

Is it the HA/hydrolised stuff? If so that's meant to be an exclusion diet and not for feeding long term anyway. You're supposed to add a protein at a time and see what works.
There's actually very little in it.

If she is good on chicken or turkey I'd suggest a food for older dogs, grain or at least wheat free, low protein. You'd be best going to a pet shop to ask advice.
Or just feed cooked chicken/fish and rice/coconut oil, etc.

I've recently moved all three of mine onto Autarky, the older two on salmon Mature Lite and the pup on Puppy/Junior.

I don't think we realised or were told we had to introduce things, I've just read up on it and it says you aren't meant to give treats either!

We are going to the retail park later this morning so I will.pop into Pets At Home and see what there is. I know Hills Science Diet and Autarky which is what you mention for tailored diets is meant to be good but its such a waste when she won't eat the stuff. I wonder if they do trials of food? Maybe if I contacted the manufacturers they will send me samples.

 

[SAujla]

The company I use is simpsons premium and they do trial bags of most of their food, could maybe try her on the £3 500g trial bag of potato and salmon sensitive, its grain free. It's the only food that sits well with my pup at the moment she can't have chicken or beef

 

[FinnishLapphund]

Probably not less expensive than your current food, but I went through lots of different foods with an old Cornish Rex cat last year, including Anallergenic (different brand's version of Hypoallergenic), z/d, and d/d (both of the later is for different food sensitivities/allergies). The only one of those which she liked, and thought was acceptable to eat for more than a few days, was (Hills) d/d based on duck meat. But after about two weeks, she started peeing more, so her kidneys didn't quite agree with her taste buds, and she eventually ended up mainly eating a kidney care food.

Since your dog is picky with her food, I only wanted to mention that at least my late Cornish Rex thought d/d with duck was tasty. And as I recall, the d/d is a full food, which they can remain on.

 

[skinnydipper]

Purina HA is a nutritionally complete food for dogs with multiple allergies. It does not need anything added to it. It can be used indefinitely. My last dog was prescribed it.

It was significantly cheaper to buy from Fetch than from the vet (no prescription needed).

This is a copy of an old post of mine from a couple of years ago. Which I hope you will find helpful. The hypoallergenic food I referred to that didn't suit him was not the Purina HA but was a veterinary prescribed hydrolysed kibble containing chicken. He was allergic to chicken and even though it was hydrolysed he reacted to it.

It doesn't matter if the food is cheap, expensive or "hypoallergenic", what matters is whether it has an ingredient your dog is allergic to. Chicken and rice are common allergens. The term hypoallergenic is meaningless. Hydrolysed veterinary diets are an option but the dog might still react to them, as mine did.

An elimination diet is a good place to start - feed a novel protein, one that *** is unlikely to have eaten and feed only that until his stomach settles. Then add ONE ingredient, leave a couple of weeks before adding another ingredient. Done this way will you be able to identify which foods are culprits and exclude them permanently from his diet. Broadly speaking an allergy is an immediate reaction, a food intolerance can take a couple of weeks to produce a reaction but its effects to health are no less serious. When vets conduct the elimination diet they give the initial protein 6 weeks trial but usually results are seen before that but it can still take a matter of weeks before the problem food proteins are out of the system.

Blood tests for immunoglobulin reactions to food are useful and can instantly identify allergens and you then know not to add them to his diet. These tend to test for a limited number of allergens and my dog had two panels done with two different labs to cover a wider range of allergens. Although the tests are useful as a guide, they are not perfect and my dog tested negative for something that subsequently made him ill.

Some people think grain free is the answer but it is missing the point. Dogs can be allergic to any protein in any food. Pea and potato which are used as cheap fillers in dog food are both common allergens.

I wish you luck and lots of patience, there is no easy fix and it is a long road.

 

[hopscotch bandit]

We went to Pets at Home and spoke to one of the nutritionists there who suggested the AVA Vet approved Optimum Health which is a hypoallergenic and £9 for a 3KG bag. We are in the process of mixing with the Purina and eventually moving across. First impressions, she left the AVA kibbles however by tea time they'd been gratefully eaten! They do smell quite strong which i think she found off putting but she will get used to them I'm sure.

Thanks for your suggestions, we hope this will be an easier item to purchase and more cost effective too in the ling run, plus the store is only round the corner from where we live! Hopefully by just using a combination of the two products until the Purina is used up in there own will be sufficient, if not we will have to continue to add the turkey.

 

[Thistle]

Millies Wolfheart are great, they do some single protein foods too, no wheat or grain in any of their products. Mail order, home dekivery.

 

[CorvusCorax]

We went to Pets at Home and spoke to one of the nutritionists there who suggested the AVA Vet approved Optimum Health which is a hypoallergenic and £9 for a 3KG bag. We are in the process of mixing with the Purina and eventually moving across. First impressions, she left the AVA kibbles however by tea time they'd been gratefully eaten! They do smell quite strong which i think she found off putting but she will get used to them I'm sure.

Thanks for your suggestions, we hope this will be an easier item to purchase and more cost effective too in the ling run, plus the store is only round the corner from where we live! Hopefully by just using a combination of the two products until the Purina is used up in there own will be sufficient, if not we will have to continue to add the turkey. View attachment 60508

My Mum's very senstive rescue does really well on the fish version, she also adds sardines (her house stinks lol) best of luck!

 

[Odyssey]

I can't help with food suggestions beyond avoiding chicken, beef and grains, especially wheat (the commonest foods that dogs react to), but wonder if a product for "allergic" dogs might help. I bought CSJ Resist for my mum's itchy dog, and it worked wonders. There's a powder called Thornit, I think, which is very good for ear problems.

 

[twiggy2]

My lurcher has been on purina HA for over 4 yrs, it is a complete food and she does really well on it, I have found I can add raw green tripe 3 or so times a week with no issues

 

[CorvusCorax]

I must be thinking of a different type then, the stuff I am thinking of resembled extremely expensive rice crispies with no real nutritional value.