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Dog allergies

11:54:04

Question
My 2 year old GS was diagnosed with allergies. The vet started with a skin scrapping all negative, then change food to chicken (scratching continues) try lamb, not better now we are on vegetarian food - no change. We even give him Maqua water not tap water - no change. In the meantime he was put on Prednisone, which he is not on anymore since this is very hard on him. He continues to scratch like crazy and nibble his paws, I changed his bed, what else? Any suggestions for natural therapies?

Answer
Hi Carole,

This is a bit of an investigative process.
What was he diagnosed as allergic too? were allergy tests performed? Dogs can be allergic to anything from chicken, corn, yeast, any food to grass, wool, mold, pollen.
If you arent wanting to spend a large chunk of money to find out exactly what he is allergic to then it is a process of elimination, trial and error, watching his symptoms acutely and with patience, and building his immune system with healthy naturally balanced diet and supplements.
No dry food ever again! This exacerbates glycemic index and sends allergy related issues into overdrive. No commercial pet brands either. I can give you a nutritionally complete diet specifically designed home cooked diet with organic ingredients and proper balance of calcium, protein, phosphorous etc if you contact me my website contact form submission accessed from internet explorer. www.thenatureofthebeast.org
If you are unwilling to cook i will find a specific commercial brand that will work for his needs. If cooking, one starts simple and then adds ingredients until it is nutritionally complete. We wait about two weeks to make any changes with the new natural diet because that is roughly the average time to see if there is significant improvement.
There may be main ingredient like venison or rabbit and millet.
How long has he been itching and chewing? Is it all of a sudden? Then we need to think about what has happened or changed or occurred since they showed up. Any new treats added?
Let me ask you how long ago were his VACCINES? If less than a month you can also think that this is a secondary reaction to over-vaccinating. The solution to that is to have vet run titers every 2 or 3 years to test antibody levels every few years and if his bloodwork is adequate then we do not vaccinate.
Could you still giving the same treats that have an ingredient that can be setting off the allergy as well?
We need to isolate ingredients in food formulas.
Lamb formulas are often suggested because it is a less commonly used proteins in commercial brands. However, is it designed to be allergy specific food? Or just a lamb and rice formula? A regular lamb and rice formula wont solve any issues bc the other ingredients in product may be what he is allergic too.
Adding Essential Fatty Acid's (good quality Norwegian fish oils like Nordic Naturals or Tyler) and antioxidants to the diet are good for helping skin issues.
I am not sure why chicken was tried as chicken is a common allergen as is things  like grains and yeast.
What were the ingredients in the food he was eating? Also, how long are you giving until you decide he is still allergic? If allergen is eliminated you will see minor improvement in 3-5 days and more of a reasonable improvement in 14 days. Yes, it can even last longer! One bite of allergy related food can cause immune system to continually overreact for a while! Yes, it is pretty exhausting but once you figure it out with the help of someone trained to see cues things can be resolved!

What brands were you feeding?
Prednisone is awful and has the potential for many life threatening diseases so i am glad you stopped.

Good luck with investigating as this will definitely need your detective skills,
Shanti