Feeding "raw" and allergies..does it work? (itchy OES)
Our 19 month, OES, has either a food allergy or environmental allergy. He has been on food trials with different proteins, and has tried even the Hill's RX food.. nothing is working. His thyroid is normal as well. Last year during the winter months, he was relatively itch free for a few months so we were thinking he may have had an environmental allergy at that time... however this winter, it seems like he was itchy every single day. Food allergy? During the different food trials over the past year, he also had firm stool and soft stool with the different proteins.. which led us to believe maybe he is sensitive to certain food as well. We went to the dermatologist a few months back and he felt he was too young to get the skin testing, etc done. So we were sent home with the usual prednisone, and antibiotics...and to come back this spring. We plan to go back, however we wanted to maybe try this raw food thing out and see if it can help, before we have to turn to allergy prescription drugs, or skin testing, etc. Any feedback in regards to any of this is appreciated!! Thanks!! |
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| Not directly for health reasons. I fed raw for awhile and enjoyed the sheer bliss they experienced eating their......slop. Even my super picky girl woofed down her food, tail wagging. However, I do know of a sheepdog who was near death due to a degenerative muscle conditions where he could barely open his mouth. His prognosis was short time. He went raw food, muscles regenerated and lived almost a half dozen more years. There used to be a raw food OES group on Yahoo Groups. Think it is gone, but I believe there is a raw feed group still there. Of course you'll have to tred lightly, you won't be feeding raw chicken wings if the culprit is poultry, etc. Did you have the thyroid tested through Dr. Dodd in California or just with your vet. Dr. Dodd has studied sheepdogs and thryoids extensively--far beyond what a normal vet does. It might pay to have her do some tests. Blood can be drawn and shipped to her. If you vet gets huffy, find another vet. Most admit they don't know it all and welcome a second opinion: http://www.hemopet.org/education.html |
| Thank you for the quick reply! I have not a clue how to feed raw, but it sounds promising! I am thinking of purchasing a commercial frozen raw food variety, preferably Venison as he did better on that protein. Then possibly switch it over to making it ourselves? If you have any recommendations on which commercial frozen raw is good that would be great to know as well. Yes, we did the MSU full thyroid panel and sent the results to Dr. Dodds (excellent Vet)... all normal. We will do whatever we can..money is not a cost. If food can fix his issue.. I'd prefer this option over RX drugs, shots, etc. Allergies are frustrating, he is our first OES we have had to have this issue. However, out of the three OES we have had...all were exceptional and hard to beat...but he has the best temperament.. despite being itchy everyday! |
| I had Lucy who had allergies. Vet recommended to wash anything she might come in contact with the hypoallergenic detergent and dryer sheets. I washed her blankets and bedding and towels. That did seem to help some. But also noticed hers was worse with spring and fall seasons. Bathed her in special shampoo from vet. All seemed to help but never got over it completely. Also gave her fish oil every day as well. Good luck. It is hard to watch them suffer when you are trying to help so bad. |
| Just did a search on raw feeding on Yahoo Groups........think it is Groups Yahoo......anyway: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/search?query=raw%20feed Look over the groups, see if there is one near where you live......I was surprised to see one near me! Join and start talking with them. The original book was The BARF Diet by Dr. Ian Billinghurst. Probably out of print now but I'm sure there are plenty now. It will be a lot of experimenting, cleaning the home and yard environment, maybe using Benadryl in the worst allergy months, oatmeal baths, fish oil supplements to the diet, finding a safe protein source, elimating grains from the diet, etc, etc. Keep a journal so you don't keep going over the same areas. If there is a vet allergy specialist in your area or MSU, try that. Good news re: Dr. Dobbs, sorry thyroid wasn't the answer to where a small pill would help the problem. Yeah, they are worth the effort. |
| Thanks everyone. We do a lot of the things you mentioned, SheepieBoss & Mable. (Benadryl doesn't seem to really help. We also have the prescription shampoo and used it once, but we may try that again.. i think you have to wash them quite frequently with the shampoo) Kind of narrowed down what food he does okay with, it is venison. Still itchy though. We try coconut oil, fish oil , etc. We went to a well respected dermatologist and we will most likely be going back but wanted to try the raw food route first. I am going to look into that link you provided. Thank you! Ideally, I would like to purchase a commercial variety right now and then switch over. I am looking into Stella & Chewy Frozen. Any feedback with that food? |
| Honest Kitchen....freeze dried. I think I saw a tube of something the other day in a refrigerated section of the pet food store.....forgot to look at name. It's not a concern for my garbage bucket here. When I was doing it there wasn't a prepared other than Honest Kitchen. I just used fresh stuff from the garden supplemented with protein stuff.......green tripe is disgusting. Cleaned, white trip is a big seller here for menudo......a soup. ugh. Neck bones and chicken wings were good for protein since allergy wasn't a concern here. I've heard of vegetarian dogs......assuming protein was beans. You'd have to ask the Yahoo Groups people |
| Our Monty has been on a raw diet since we got him at 8 weeks old. He's 14 months now and has a beautiful full coat, no allergies and firm stools. He has a sensitive tum and so we don't introduce many new foods to him. He gets either kangaroo or beef as his main protein with whatever offal I can find at the butchers. We have introduced this diet to Annie our 11 week old OES as well. She eats all the raw stuff with relish before tackling the dry that she was given by the breeder. Her coat has improved over the last 3 weeks and she is thriving on the diet as well. |
| Where are you located? That can affect raw feed company recomendations. Also, do you just have 1 dog? One thing multiple-dog owners don't think of is sharing a water bowl...what other eat can be transferred in a water bowl. |
| It sounds like there are a lot of positives on raw feeding. We are located in NY. |
Quote: It sounds like there are a lot of positives on raw feeding. Except from vets who call it wacky or see results of folks who are not very careful with what they give the dog. So many vets are in lock step with the food manufacturers and pill pushers, they cannot consider alternatives. If going raw or vegan gets rid of the itches, who cares? |
| Exactly, I agree Sheepie Boss. We are tired of going to the vet to get antibiotics and prednisone that just masks the problem. Our vets have been sympathetic however we are still trying to find answers. I am looking into Primal Raw Foods, the frozen pattie variety- Duck. http://www.primalpetfoods.com/product/detail/c/7/id/1 He has never been on duck before. The only protein that helped him slightly with his stool, but still remained a little less itchy was venison. He has a rash on his groin and around his back side right now. It just appears, he licks it, and it gets worse. So unfortunately he wears a cone a lot when we are not around, or we put a t-shirt on him through his legs. If we did not do this, he would go at himself and definitely make his skin issues worse! So I figured maybe try duck since venison didn't really help him? If I was to feed this as his only food source, it will come out to a little over $400 a month. Quite expensive. I don't mind that price if it helps him! He is also eating the Hills RX right now for about a month, which is quite expensive and it does not help him, and the quality of the food is not good. |
| All these meat substitutes, how about going meat free, vegan? I found this: http://www.peta.org/living/companion-animals/say-kibble-vegan-dog-food-recipe/ OK, this recipe includes peanutbutter that some allergy dogs may not tolerate, but what about the lentils? I also wonder about fish, but unfortunately polluted rivers, oceans make me question this as much as hormone rich beef, pork, chicken and turkey. Lamb? |
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