No Wheat – Gluten-Free, no meat, no dairy, Allergies!! I have a friend who has an auto-immune disease, while it is not celiac, her reactions are serious and not good! And because of the serious nature, I have learned so much about which what it takes to eat Gluten-Free and it takes cooking and feeding yourself to the next level.
And, now, my dog has of all things, allergies. She has these persistent ear infections. Now I have to learn about feeding my dog to reduce the ear infections. Beef, Wheat and Dairy are the most common allergens for dogs. And my dog is very motivated by food and in addition, she expects to get some of mine! This is hard as dogs expect to eat with the pack and while they acknowledge the leader of the pack eats first. They expect the leader to share some of the food with them — a tidbit or two at least. Okay, maybe it’s just my dog that expects me to share. How did the diet go?
The beef was easy to cut out as it is not my pup’s fave. Although she enjoyed it when I warmed it up with some water to make a broth to flavor her kibble. The dairy has been a bit harder as she likes a taste of ice cream or whipped cream when I have ice cream. That said, it hasn’t hurt me to cut out the ice cream but I do miss it. Now I am watching to see if she is shaking her head or chewing her paws whenever she eats. I purchased the new sensitive skin kibble and will have to begin that transition. It’s usually best to slowly add in the new kibble 90/10 until you ease the dog over. Also gives you time to see if they adjust.
I also have to need to change over her heart and flea meds to rule out an allergy to chews. This is proving to be a bit of an exercise. However, given that if the ear infections don’t calm down, she can go deaf. She is only six years old so I have to take this very serious.
So to give an update on the precious princess, things are better! The major change is the flea meds. This one is important. Using topical Revolution (Selamectin) instead of the NextGard chews has reduced the hot, flared ears. And I will say this version of the topical is way better than one of the older brands. The liquid dose of Revolution for her is so much less in quantity, you can smell a bit of the alcohol and then it disappears. No sticky, oily streak — so much better for everyone. Using the HeartGard even though it is oral chew seems to be fine. It contains ivermectin and pyrantel. The ivermectin works to prevent heartworm disease by allowing the immune system to recognize and inactivate heartworm larvae before they can develop into adults. The pyrantel in HEARTGARD Plus chews treats and controls hookworms and roundworms.
As for the dietary changes, the sensitive skin kibble did not agree with her — once we got more than half-way of the ratio of the new kibble to old — she wouldn’t eat it. Also, it changed her poop — not enough fiber? So I switched back to her regular kibble.
I cut out beef and this has made a some difference. – although steak seems to be better than ground beef. I did try to use ground turkey and it seems to be ok but she does not love it. So far the biggest difference in changing her food has been to remove the dairy. Any bit of dairy will flare the ears. So no “pup cups” and no ice cream nor licking the yogurt containers. So she does seem to be missing the dairy treats as do I. Overall, it’s best for both of us to not have it for our bedtime snack. That said, sometimes while I am out, I get ice cream without her — Shhh…don’t tell her. Although I feel like she somehow knows!
I am not being paid or sponsored for the mention of Heartgard or Revolution. These comments are from personal experiences with my pet. That said, please note the oral flea chews do NOT kill the fleas until the fleas have actually bitten your pet and your pet can get other diseases from the bites such as a potential anaplasmosis infection. The Topical flea treatments and flea collars helps to repel and/or kill the actual fleas.
