Nutrition

Re: Emma is allergic to.... (jennie_c_d)

sl2crmeg — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 20:19:49 GMT

NB Sweet Tater and Fish would work, Jennie. I think...

Re: Emma is allergic to.... (jennie_c_d)

jennie_c_d — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 21:52:17 GMT

I know that there are cross sensitivities, but haven't wrapped my head around that, just yet. Today, I went out and bought a matress cover and hypoallergenic pillow to block dust mites and "pet" dander, LOL. Emma's allergic to her "pet" human. Arg!

I will email Sabine, and see what she has to say. When I finish with this figuring things out period, I'm going to have her help me with Em's diet, again.

Re: Emma is allergic to.... (jennie_c_d)

brookcove — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:45:02 GMT

mulberry trees (which, umm, we don't even HAVE here!)

Regarding oddball plant allergies. When you are allergic to one thing, there's a lot of cross sensitivities, particularly to foods. Monica Segal has information about this phenomenon in dogs, and probably Sabine does too. I'm not sure where to start researching this, honestly - I only know a couple of them offhand - possibly Callie knows. But mulberry rang a bell for some reason.

Re: Emma is allergic to.... (jennie_c_d)

jennie_c_d — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 11:56:49 GMT

Four months of kibble, only, and Emma had some nasty buildup, too. The first thing I gave her was a bully stick, LOL. She was the happiest little dog, ever! She pranced around with it, for a few minutes, before she started eating it.

I got nothing, from the vet. I took the lab's paperwork to him, told him this is what I want, and he sent the blood. He gave me no feedback. Poor Em has been itching year round, for five years. She's "very" allergic to human dander. The scale was 0-6, with 0 being nothing and 6 being extremely severe. 1 is reacted slightly, 2 is reacted, 3 is severe, 4 is very severe, 5 is watch your dog, and I guess 6 is buy a plastic bubble. She got 3 on human dander, fleas, and mulberry trees (which, umm, we don't even HAVE here!), It said on the paper that they reccomend immunotherapy for 2s and up. She had lots of 2s. I'm going to go by, on Tuesday, and ask him about what he thinks we should do. He'd told me he could have a homeopathic made up to help sensitize her. I'd really rather not do the immunotherapy vaccines, if I don't have to.

Re: Emma is allergic to.... (jennie_c_d)

jessies_mom — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 01:02:06 GMT

jennie_c_d:
I have no idea if she scored high enough for immunotherapy. I was not very happy with the interaction I got from the vet, this time. I called, a week after he recieved the results, and he faxed them to me. That's all I got.

Without any comments as to how to interpret the results? I take Jessie to a dermatologist at a vet teaching school and she decided, based on the test results and Jessie's history ( what times of the year she has the most problems) that she needed immunotherapy and what allergens to include in the serum.

jennie_c_d:
I'm doing exactly that, Janice. Adding one food at a time (starting with foods that she scored 0 on, of course), before I make any real decisions. This week, it's beef. Emma is extremely pleased.

I started with beef too so Jessie could have bully sticks; she had gotten a lot of tartar on her teeth. I tried each food for two weeks or until she showed a reaction. She reacted to salmon the quickest; I added 2 ounces of canned salmon to the z/d daily and after four days two of her feet were red because she was chewing on them and her ears became itchy. It never took her more than a week to react to foods she was allergic to.

Re: Emma is allergic to.... (jennie_c_d)

jennie_c_d — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 12:24:10 GMT

I have no idea if she scored high enough for immunotherapy. I was not very happy with the interaction I got from the vet, this time. I called, a week after he recieved the results, and he faxed them to me. That's all I got.

I'm doing exactly that, Janice. Adding one food at a time (starting with foods that she scored 0 on, of course), before I make any real decisions. This week, it's beef. Emma is extremely pleased.

Thanks so much for the suggestions, everyone. I hadn't even heard of Back To Basics. This is all very good to know.

Re: Emma is allergic to.... (jennie_c_d)

jessies_mom — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 00:06:00 GMT

jennie_c_d:
PEOPLE! ! No more big meals of human flesh. Seriously. People, and fleas are at the top of her list.

That's a tough one; poor Emma. Was her score high enough to need immunotherapy? If she tested allergic to storage mites it's helpful to store her food in an air tight container and use all the food within a few weeks.You also need to wash the container with soap and hot water before refilling it. Storage mites are in foods that have grains so feeding a grain free food is a way to avoid them.

jennie_c_d:
If the test is right, they aren't at all what I expected. It has her allergic to milk, eggs, wheat, rice, turkey, and lamb.

You may want to see if she's really allergic to some of those foods by giving them to her while she's still on the z/d. You would need to give one food at a time, adding it to the z/d. If she doesn't show a reaction in a few weeks, it's unlikely that she's allergic to that food. Jessie's food allergies are different so my list of acceptable foods won't help. Good luck; feel free to e-mail me if I can help.

Re: Emma is allergic to.... (jennie_c_d)

tzu_mom — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:06:19 GMT

Addiction also has a line of kibble--I think the Salmon formula meets your criteria. Also check out PureVita----they have a Duck/Oatmeal, and Salmon Potato that meet your needs, as well.

Re: Emma is allergic to.... (jennie_c_d)

willowchow — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 04:14:08 GMT

Back to Basics I think makes a pork based food that I think doesn't have anything from your list.

I know Merrick has Before Grain now but not sure if would meet your criteria.

Evangers makes a food too, not sure if it's pheasant??

Good luck!

Re: Emma is allergic to.... (jennie_c_d)

brookcove — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 03:49:41 GMT

Addiction has a dehydrated too. Several formulas aimed at different sensitivity groups.

Check out K9 Cuisine for free samples - you have to pay shipping unless you purchase $50 of something, but they've got the Ziwi Peak cans right now, and seveal othe dry foods that are worth checking out. It changes all the time, too.

Re: Emma is allergic to.... (jennie_c_d)

tzu_mom — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 01:47:51 GMT

I know you would like to keep the protein levels a bit lower, but how about the Ziwi Peak "air dried"---it's not kibble, but are jerky-like bits----the Venison formula is 28% protein, and the Venison/Fish is a bit higher at 30%. I actually love this food (as well as the cans) as the formula is quite simple and my G-I challenge guy does great on all of the formulas (esp. the lamb---which is out for Emma). It can be a bit expensive to feed as the staple of the diet, but could be used for supplemental feeding and treats.

Re: Emma is allergic to.... (jennie_c_d)

jennie_c_d — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 01:21:34 GMT

Geez, every Blackwood food has eggs, cheese, or turkey. Emma Nems is such an evil, evil, little learning experience. I can't believe all the stuff I've done trying to help, that's hurt her. I spit kibble at her. I fed her from my hand. I dried her, after her bath, with the towel I used last night. I have even brushed her hair with my brush, because she was clean, and asking to be brushed. I just ruuuuub dander all over her, and then feed it to her.

LOL, these realizations ALONE might be enough that she feels much better.

Re: Emma is allergic to.... (jennie_c_d)

jennie_c_d — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 01:15:26 GMT

They didn't test her for dogs! That's one I'm fairly certain of. I noticed, quite some time ago, that if a dog was high dander, her face puffs up. She LOOOOOVES Chinese Cresteds, though. She was in a room with 15 of them, the other night, eating it UP!

I don't *mind* canned, so much, but kibble is easy. It's easy to travel with, easy to use for training (highly food motivated dogs that I have), easy, easy, easy. Blackwood is one I didn't think of. That's a good idea. Eagle Pack all has rice in it. Rice, everywhere. *sigh*

Re: Emma is allergic to.... (jennie_c_d)

brookcove — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:48:45 GMT

You should be able to find Blackwood down there.

And check out the Eagle Pack formulas. Don't dismiss their regular line just because of the corn. I like their food because they tend to be simple.

If you don't mind feeding canned there's lots of nice options - Tripett, Ziwipeak, Canine Caviar, Addiction all have some interesting choices.

Ben was allergic to people dander too. AND dogs. Top that one! LOL.

Re: Emma is allergic to.... (jennie_c_d)

jennie_c_d — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 13:34:34 GMT

It's all very entertaining, Meg. I was tempted to just put up a post about having to get rid of the kids because the dog is allergic.

Thanks for all of the food suggestions! She can possibly have all of those foods, if she doesn't show any sensitivities when I'm actually feeding her stuff. I'm really wondering how accurate the test was. I haven't fed her chicken since she was a puppy.