Renee750il said:
I understand that switching to Canidae dog food has had very good results for dogs with skin allergies.
And go to
www.greatdanelady.com and read her information about allergies and different feeds.
Renee & all interested in the itchy skin problems!
In researching to change kibble I had decided to start with Canidae because I'd heard from several different sources that it is often good for dogs with allergies. I was just changing to Canidae as I joined a dog diet list hosted by Catherine Lane. She was so helpful in making suggestions, and I wanted to share what she had to say to me on Canidae, and some of the other kibble choices available.. plus some other great info. Lucy & Holly have been on the Canidae kibble for almost 1 month now. Though they really love the food, I am noticing that Lucy is still itchy (though not anymore than she was on the Nutro Lamb & Rice she was on most of her life) but I had really hoped to see some improvement by now on the new food. Since I did decide to alternate kibbles, I plan to try some of the others Catherine recommends for skin problems, over the Canidae to see how Lucy does on these. I hope this information will be helpful to some other "itchy furbabies" out there!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Catherine Lane
Canine Holistic Consultant
Nutrition, TTouch, Herbal Solutions
http://www.thepossiblecanine.com
You're very welcome. I hope Canidae works for you, I think it's a very good food, but have seen two problems with it; one, it can exacerbate certain allergies because of it's yeast and flax content, two things about it I don't like, because both can both be irritants for sensitive dogs. It also puts weight on, is very energy dense so you really need to restrict the amount you feed carefully. Since it IS a highly palatable food, many dogs are more than happy to overeat it. But it's a good food in terms of overall quality and I've seen many dogs do well on it.
If you're interested in comparing premium foods, you can go to
www.naturapet.com and check their comparison page - people have reported certain inconsistencies with this page (naturapet makes innova, California Natural and lately has added Karma and EVO) but it's a starting point if you haven't sat down with the ingredient lists and looked them over. You can also go to
www.doberdogs.com and check out the websites of many, many premium food companies and compare ingredients yourself. If you're looking for a good food for an allergic dog, Canidae wouldn't be my first choice. I'd try something like California Natural Lamb and Rice, which I've personally had good experience with; there are many others, depending
on what is causing the itching. If it's lamb, then you need to go to something like Pinnacle trout and sweet potato, which also contains oatmeal and flax;
http://www.breeders-choice.com/Dog_Products/pinnacle_dog_trout.html or Wellness fish and sweet potato
http://www.omhpet.com/dogs/wellness_detail.asp?pCode=dryDogSup5MixSwtPot or Wysong (
www.wysong.net) makes a couple of good possibilities. Look for short ingredient list (eg, the more 'stuff' in the bag, the
greater the possibility that something in there will aggravate the itching) and novel proteins (eg something your dog is unlikely to
have overeaten in past - trout, venison, duck etc).
In my experience a home made diet is a necessity for very allergic dogs and can be helpful for milder cases like your girl Lucy. If the skin problems are related to, as someone - Dee? suggested, an EFA imbalance or other nutritional problem, you can correct that with supplements. But I often find with allergy it's more about what we take out, than what we put in. It's just a bit of detective work to pinpoint exactly what the allergies are, and then the task of trying various approaches to controlling them.
Both yogurt and veggies (pulped or cooked for maximum digestibility) will affect bowel function; depending on the dog and
how much/what type you add, you could see some loose stool over the next while. Start slow especially with the itchy dog, with her I would add only one item at a time. If you make a big batch of veggies, which a lot of us do (one of my RR friends who homefeeds coined the term 'veggie slop' and that's pretty much what it looks like) you may have a reaction but you won't know what she's reacting to. Ditto for supplements, add one at a time and observe (especially important with itchy dogs or dogs with gastric problems). Additional oils can also soften stool and you need to know why you are adding a specific oil. Salmon oil provides Omega3s while safflower bumps up your Omega6 intake; remember that as a general rule, Omega3s are anti-inflammatory and Omega6s, while a dietary requirement for canines, are pro-inflammatory. We often add salmon oil precisely for its anti-inflammatory effects, so be sure you know why you're selecting an oil before you use it. When feeding Canidae, I generally suggest adding salmon oil, and if the dog is itchy, sometimes try a round of GLA - found in evening primrose oil or borage seed oil. You can buy capsules of either one at the health food store; get a good brand and give 500 mg daily, to start. Because Omega6s are so much more plentiful in both human and canine diets, I start with Omega3s and
watch how the dog does.
Again - add one new item at a time. Give your guys a few days with Canidae before adding the veggies and yogurt, then a few more before you add the salmon oil. And be very selective with brands too. All supplements are not created equal.
Once you're adding veggies and yogurt you an consider making perhaps one day a week of home made food. I find a lot of people gain confidence in home feeding just by starting slow and homecooking maybe just on weekends. Nothing wrong with a cautious approach; in fact I encourage it over just jumping headlong into a radical dietary change. I'm sure you'll do very well with your dogs!
Good luck!
Cat