Food allergies!!

Question
QUESTION: I have a 2yr old yorkie-min pin mix with severe alergies (wheat barley rye soy chicken duck turkey venison potato green peas are the major foods, not to mention a large group of plants & trees) currently feeding Science Diet ZD, Any suggestions on what I can do to vary her diet?

ANSWER: Hi Trish,

I'm sorry to hear about your dog's problem - I deal with so much allergy professionally, and it is one of THE most frustrating conditions. The good news is, there is likely to be a lot you can do to help. Let me just ask you a few questions to help me get a better picture before I start tossing out suggestions.


1) Is your dog on any medication?

2) Any other health problems?

3) Are you open to trying a home made diet?

4) How do you feel about using natural supplements like quercetin, fish oils, Vitamin E, nettle?

5) How long has she been on the ZD, and to what extent do you think it's been helpful?

Fill me in a bit more and I can offer you some suggestions and ideas.

All the best, Catherine

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: she gets an injection every 4 wks anti-alergen, prednisone 1/2 tab every other day (would really like to get away from this) no other problems. ZD since June '07, if we try other food she reacts within 30 min (read ears severe itching mouth & stomach, sores on stomach) Open to anything!

Answer
Well, it's not an easy situation, and what I would suggest as the gold standard for this dog is a true elimination diet, which entails a minimum of 8 weeks on one novel protein and one carb. To do this correctly you should have professional supervision, and you need the co-operation of your whole family so no little bites here and there get slipped in. For more information check:
http://www.vin.com/VINDBPub/SearchPB/Proceedings/PR05000/PR00093.htm

Generally speaking, with the cases I work with, we do 12 weeks and then begin to challenge with new foods. Many dogs can only handle a few items so then fairly extensive supplementation needs to be introduced, and one at a time, to ensure the dog doesn't start reacting to the supplement. With clients I generally use products from Allergy research group which have been most successful. It can take a long time before the dog is finally eating a properly balanced home made diet, and then - only then - I will start to add in supplements such as fish oil, which helps reduce inflammation, or quercetin which is so useful for allergy in general.

Using a commercial diet is much more difficult. There are many hypoallergenic foods available now - but I can't say I see good results from them. With clients I often use ostrich, pheasant, buffalo, or vegetarian (pinto beans) and quinoa, wild rice or buckwheat.  You might try adding small teaspoons (or half tsps) of these foods to your dog's diet to see how she reacts. And while I don't promote raw diet as a panacea for all ills - it has strengths and weaknesses - one place it is often very helpful to with allergy. Some dogs can tolerate a food in it's raw form that causes a reaction when cooked.

I hate to say this but this is a problem that is best handled professionally. I would be pleased to discuss working with you if you wish to contact me privately, or you might consider joining my discussion group on yahoo where many others who have gone down this particular road  can be supportive ongoingly.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ThePossibleCanine

I don't know if this has been helpful, but I can only speak from experience. With severe allergy, the very best results come from a supervised elimination diet, to which new foods are slowly added as a test, and finally supplements added in the amounts needed to balance the diet. Extra supplements like fish oil, L-glutamine etc can be very helpful but - ideally, at least -  should be added  after the foundational dietary strategy is in place. The problem with doing this on your own is, laypeople don't have any idea what supplements to add in which amounts. And nor do most vets.  It can take months of teamwork and discipline to get it right.

Not sure if this has helped at all, please let me know if you still have questions. You *could* try adding the supplements to the ZD and see if you notice improvement and can wean off the pred, too, although it's not nearly as successful as doing the home amde diet first, it's worth a try if the home made feels intimidating.

All the best, Catherine