Pix
Well-Known Member
Warning, long essay ahead!
Looks like Loki might have developed a sensitivity and allergy to the food he's been on for the last 18 months+
He started scratching at the beginning of winter, in a habitual enough way to be particularly noticeable. I use advocate so kept his treatments up to date and kept an eye out for fleas, bites etc., but nothing there. As it carried on I assumed he just had sensitive skin and was suffering a bit in the same way people can with being out in the cold and wet, then coming into a heated building (we don't control the heating here either, as it runs in from the main building, so even with all the rads switched off the pipes that run through the rooms are still hot enough to sting if you put your hand on them. End result being that we're either a bit too warm or frozen with all the windows open). So was extra careful to dry him off fully, put sudocreme or vaseline on his ear tips if we were heading out/when we got back, that kind of thing.
About a two months ago he started to get thinning hair and small bald patches on his ears. Again I assumed this was the cold/hot affecting but over the last couple of weeks they've gotten really bad. Big bald patches with thickened skin on the tips and small sores on the inside As the last staw over the last couple of days noticed there's a faint yeast-like whiff and that he's also now licking his feet quite a bit (looks like he's trying to eat them sometimes!).
I feel rubbish that it's taken all winter for it to click into place that he might have a food allergy, it seems like the obvious first thing to test for now. I can't believe I've just been piling on creams and the odd oil thinking it was just sensitive skin from the changes in temperature
I'm getting him booked in with the vets for a professional opinion, and hopefully have some skin tests done, but I'm struggling to think of anything else it could be. It's going to be a few days before he gets checked out and possibly longer before any test results, so I want to be prepared with some foods as I reckon it will be the elimination diet route to find out what the issue is/what he can tolerate.
So the point of the thread, sorry He's been on Arden Grange Large Breed, which is chicken and rice. I'm looking for foods that have a novel source of both protein and carb, but I'm coming undone with it a little. Does anybody have an idea of an affordable novel food (so for example, fish and potato, like fish for dogs) that isn't hideously expensive? He'll have to be on it for approx 3 months so will need over 15kg. Usually price wouldn't bother me, but there's a chance he'll have to try several different foods over the next year or so if we use elimination and challenge diets, and some of the foods I've looked at that don't use rice, for example, are 50-87 quid per bag I know that I'm probably asking the impossible, and will have to stick my fingers in my ears, close my eyes and hum loudly whilst ignoring the squeals of my credit card! But if anyone can throw out some foods I might have skipped over I'll be very grateful!
I'm not against raw, and long term it's likely to be what I go with. However for now, if he has a food allergy, I'd prefer to pin point the problem (with the annoying footnote that there could be several) and that means trialing him on specific sources, levels and breakdowns of proteins and carbs. It's easier to feed him the same quantity and mix of the above every day with a dried/wet food, than with a balanced raw diet.
Really sorry for the long, long post!
Looks like Loki might have developed a sensitivity and allergy to the food he's been on for the last 18 months+
He started scratching at the beginning of winter, in a habitual enough way to be particularly noticeable. I use advocate so kept his treatments up to date and kept an eye out for fleas, bites etc., but nothing there. As it carried on I assumed he just had sensitive skin and was suffering a bit in the same way people can with being out in the cold and wet, then coming into a heated building (we don't control the heating here either, as it runs in from the main building, so even with all the rads switched off the pipes that run through the rooms are still hot enough to sting if you put your hand on them. End result being that we're either a bit too warm or frozen with all the windows open). So was extra careful to dry him off fully, put sudocreme or vaseline on his ear tips if we were heading out/when we got back, that kind of thing.
About a two months ago he started to get thinning hair and small bald patches on his ears. Again I assumed this was the cold/hot affecting but over the last couple of weeks they've gotten really bad. Big bald patches with thickened skin on the tips and small sores on the inside
As the last staw over the last couple of days noticed there's a faint yeast-like whiff and that he's also now licking his feet quite a bit (looks like he's trying to eat them sometimes!). I feel rubbish that it's taken all winter for it to click into place that he might have a food allergy, it seems like the obvious first thing to test for now. I can't believe I've just been piling on creams and the odd oil thinking it was just sensitive skin from the changes in temperature
I'm getting him booked in with the vets for a professional opinion, and hopefully have some skin tests done, but I'm struggling to think of anything else it could be. It's going to be a few days before he gets checked out and possibly longer before any test results, so I want to be prepared with some foods as I reckon it will be the elimination diet route to find out what the issue is/what he can tolerate.
So the point of the thread, sorry
He's been on Arden Grange Large Breed, which is chicken and rice. I'm looking for foods that have a novel source of both protein and carb, but I'm coming undone with it a little. Does anybody have an idea of an affordable novel food (so for example, fish and potato, like fish for dogs) that isn't hideously expensive? He'll have to be on it for approx 3 months so will need over 15kg. Usually price wouldn't bother me, but there's a chance he'll have to try several different foods over the next year or so if we use elimination and challenge diets, and some of the foods I've looked at that don't use rice, for example, are 50-87 quid per bag I know that I'm probably asking the impossible, and will have to stick my fingers in my ears, close my eyes and hum loudly whilst ignoring the squeals of my credit card! But if anyone can throw out some foods I might have skipped over I'll be very grateful!I'm not against raw, and long term it's likely to be what I go with. However for now, if he has a food allergy, I'd prefer to pin point the problem (with the annoying footnote that there could be several) and that means trialing him on specific sources, levels and breakdowns of proteins and carbs. It's easier to feed him the same quantity and mix of the above every day with a dried/wet food, than with a balanced raw diet.
Really sorry for the long, long post!
