Wheat allergy

[Suelin]

We are looking after a friend's dog for a few days. She is a 7 year old spayed whippet. We are told that she is wheat/gluten intolerant. Does anyone know anything about this in dogs? I've not come across it before except in people.

I'd be interested in any information and personal experiences of it. Thanks.

 

[s4sugar]

Very common in dogs and very easy to regulate.
Plenty of wheat & wheat gluten free diets around but beware of treats as these often contain wheat.
Sausages are a common spoiler for gluten free diets.

 

[CorvusCorax]

As above, it is now pretty common. I'd never heard of it either until my own dog developed allergies to, er, most things!!

Agree there are now quite a few alternatives. After all I have learned in the last few years with my own dogs, where possible, I would always feed a raw diet.

 

[blackcob]

It seems fairly common and like in people there are varying degrees, from actual coeliac disease to 'dicky tummy when fed ultraviolet wheaty crap kibble'.

One of mine is more the latter, she can eat scraps and bits here and there but a kibble with grain in it, when fed day in day out, leaves her with horrendous diarrhoea. I now feed a raw diet.

 

[Suelin]

Thankyou for your input. Obviously more common than I realised. She is a shy feeder poor wee girl but very sweet and cuddly. We are feeding some raw food as well ( can't feed it exclusively as one of ours goes very doleful if you don't give her what she considers meat & gravy!) so she will hopefully enjoy that while she is with us.

 

[mynutmeg]

As above, it is now pretty common. I'd never heard of it either until my own dog developed allergies to, er, most things!!

Agree there are now quite a few alternatives. After all I have learned in the last few years with my own dogs, where possible, I would always feed a raw diet.

So glad it's not only my girl, she can tolerate much more now but when younger she was intolerent to pretty much all animal protein

Food wise, unless the dog will be with you for more than a month or two I'd feed as close to what the owners feed as possible.
Just avoid anything with wheat in it (there are plenty of dog foods / treats available that are wheat free.
I would also recommend avoiding all dairy as thats another big allergen in dogs.

From my experiences I would also avoid all mixed meat proteins (which means most commercial dog foods although ones such as wainwrights are decent and single protein sources) as if they are going to have issues with that sort of thing it's the mixed protein source that can cause problems

 

[Suelin]

Thanks Mynutmeg, we are keeping to her diet that her mum wants her to have and she is fine on that. We only have her for a couple more days so I wouldn't want to mess about with her system. I was really just a bit curious as I hadn't come across this in dogs before.

We do feed our own dogs a bit of raw and they seem to enjoy that except for one who will have a go but then looks at you as if you are starving her until she has her "meat and gravy" if you follow.

 

[mynutmeg]

Thanks Mynutmeg, we are keeping to her diet that her mum wants her to have and she is fine on that. We only have her for a couple more days so I wouldn't want to mess about with her system. I was really just a bit curious as I hadn't come across this in dogs before.

We do feed our own dogs a bit of raw and they seem to enjoy that except for one who will have a go but then looks at you as if you are starving her until she has her "meat and gravy" if you follow.

No probs, the biggest problem with dogs with food allergies is working out that thats whats going on and then working out what they're reacting to. My collie just goes really quiet with a bloated and uncomfortable belly and the vets we were using did every test imaginable and couldn't come up with a reason, we went to my old vet when I was visiting relatives and he took a history and right away said 'food allergies'. She went on an incredibly boring diet for this sort of thing that has all the protein pre-digested so there's nothing to react to (took her 3 days before she'd eat it ) then after they've had about 6 weeks to detox from all the bad stuff you start introducing items one at a time and see what they react to, In Meg's case this was everything including chicken and eggs (what we'd been advised to feed as a 'bland and gentle' diet ). She's absolutly fine with fish and now she's older and had years without anything she reacted to she can tolerate a little bit of meat so long as it's one type at a time such as a little bit ham or something.
Having talked to some vets if food problems or tummy problems are suspected then fish is a better option than chicken or egg as it seems to be the least reacted to. Luckily there are several fish based dry foods available which are single protien sources with no wheat etc. I often use a can of tuna instead of meat to make it yummy for her. Oatcakes make a good biscuit and wainwrights make a tomatoe chew that has no allergens in it, no meat or wheat, and they love those.

 

[CorvusCorax]

So glad it's not only my girl, she can tolerate much more now but when younger she was intolerent to pretty much all animal protein

Yeah my old dog could tolerate very little and raw made him tear all his hair out.
He used to do well on a really cheapo fish and rice mix from Jollyes but I think I exhausted all the stock in the country before they discontinued it, and did OK on Wainwrights senior salmon and potato (he was five when he died so not senior but it had very low protein)