Puppy Food Allergies

Good evening guys,

Come on here for a bit of advice regarding our puppy Blue and his allergies. He's getting on for 8 months old now and suffers from several allergies which are food related. We have had him into the vets on an almost weekly basis since we picked him up, he's had skins scrapes, blood tests you name it the poor fella has had it to try and get to the bottom of what is causing his bald patches, scratching etc.

After the numerous tests the vets have told us that he has food allergies to:
1) Wheat
2) Soya
3) Rice
He's also allergic to dust and storage mites.

We have put him on a diet recommended by the vets and he has been on various steroids and medication that although they seemed to eliminate symptoms did not agree with the dog (they made him act strange and seemed to change his demeanor). We have since gone back to the vets and had his medication changed again, this has brought him back to normality as well as reducing the symptons, this has come at some considerable cost (£3 plus per day!) and has not completely alleviated his problems.

He is now on Atopica, piriton and antiobiotics plus another dry food recommended by the vets, Eukanuba Dermatosis FP. Forgetting the cost of the medication and vets bills which is obviously quite high we would like to get him off all these drugs he has to take daily as they can't be very good for him in the long run and onto some food that agrees with him a bit better?

From what the vet says these allergies are quite common amongst staffies and I would appreciate anyone who has had similar problems with their dogs giving us a little bit of advice on what they did to solve the problems.
From what we can gather it seems like its just a case of trying different things to see what agree's with them sp any advice/tips would be greatly appreciated. It seems like the vets are more concerned with getting us in every week and onto the dearest medication known to man(or dog) than solving the issues!

Thanks in advance

T  

Hi there, welcome to the forum:) Maybe pop over and say hi when you get chance  

https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/f7-new-member-introductions

I'm sure there will be other members who can advise more but have you considered a raw diet?

Hi & welcome from Darcy & me Darcy suffers from allergies which cause her to have itchy irritable paws we use piriton to calm the itch and a medicated foot wash from time to time, we're considering feeding raw in the hope it'll help with the problem

Hi thanks for the replies, I'm not sure what you mean by raw diet I would have to look it up but my wife tried him on a home cooked diet chicken potatoes etc which didn't agree with him as I think he was a little young at the time and his digestive system couldn't cope.

It's raw meat and bones, have a look at this  

https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/t14787-raw-diet

A natural diet can help with skin problems and allergies

Thanks Sazzle,

Very informative post on the raw diet and something to think about.
Unfortunately as I work away I just can't see the wife feeding them like that while I'm away so we are going to have find a dry food that does the job for now!

Tony

Have a look at this too then, you can search for hypoallergenic grain free foods and it rates them, very useful  

http://www.whichdogfood.co.uk/

Thanks again Sazzle, good site that I will definitely use.

Eden is a very good grain free food if you don't want to go down the raw feeding route.

Can I ask if your pup came from two blue parents?

Eden noted - thanks Caryll.

Yes both parents also Blue. Is that the cause of alot of problems?

It often is, I'm afraid. When you double up on a dilute you often risk increasing skin problems.

If he has dry skin patches you could try rubbing in a little coconut oil. Might help with the irritation.

That's unfortunate and not something I was aware of when we got him but its the reality now so we can only do our best for him.
We will try the coconut oil, the new medicine Atopica seems to be working a treat but we hope to get him off all medication a it can't be healthy for him in the long run.

Atopica isn't as harsh as some treatments & at least it isn't steroid based.

Have a look through some of these....

https://staffy-bull-terrier.niceboard.com/f77-staffordshire-bull-terrier-natural-alternative-lifestyle

there might be something there that'll help you!

Yes it seems to be doing the trick, expensive though!

I will have a gander at the link thanks again

T

I would certainly consider a raw diet maybe talk to the mrs about it, it's really not that much work or mess

Yes I may do, something I need to research first. Can they be started at any age we youngest about 8 month?

yes dogs can be weaned straight onto raw so can start any age, mine go onto raw the day they come home at 8 weeks

Right thanks for the intel ill see what the other half says!