Allergies... vitamins from where???

[Crested]

Now I'm really... upset. I changed Ben's food recently from Nutro Choise Maintance Mini to home food because he got allergic. A bit later we found that he still scratched his throat so that it even bled a little and looked absolutely horrible (when he was on antibiotics and fuciderm it stopped) and we had to do some detective work and found that he started to scratch himself everytime he had chewed on a piece of firewood. So we took the firewood out so that Ben couldn't chew on them and he became to his old self.
Yesterday I gave him for the first time a big bowl of Solid Gold food (before I had just given him a few) and he started scratching himself. Well I figured that he must have gotten a piece of firewood from somewhere and started searching the floor inch by inch... and found nothing. He ate about a half of the solid gold (he hadn't eaten for about a week... only that much that he didn't starve) and at night I wonderd why he kept scratching his throat, then licking his paws, scratching his HEAD, then licking his paws, scratching his HEAD, licking his paws, scratching his throat, licking his paws... So I took a good look at him. His throat was a bit red, but nothing serious, but then I took a look at his head. He had a big bump under the skin and the area around it was blood red. He had scratched the bump so that it bled. So I cleaned it up with betadine and then washed it off (betadine just to get rid of any bacterias he might have there just to be on the safe side) and then I put fuciderm on it. I took away his cup of Solid Gold and this morning the bump in his head had gone down (it is a bit red, but nothing too bad anymore). His troat was ok. A small area was still a little redish, but not at all bad.

[DogPaddle]

I am so sorry to hear about your little Ben. We feed Solid Gold Mmillenia and have had no problems but then we do have problems with just about eveything else :roll: so maybe the stuff in there is quite different, allergies are so tricky. It sounds like you will be feeding a BARF diet. You will definately need a good book. There are several people here who might suggest a good source.

[Crested]

DogPaddle: What's a BARF -diet?

[DogPaddle]

BARF and similar diets are nearly the opposite of what some vets and petfoodcos have been telling you for years. People food is not bad for your dog but some dog foods maybe. You have to be careful though, you want to balance there diet and avoid (depending on who you talk too) onions, grapes, the green parts of potatoes, garlic and of course chocolate. We only supplement our dogs kibble with people food - raw beef, raw chicken liver, raw shank bones for chewing, oatmeal, yogurt, some fruit and veggies. We are thinking of adding uncooked chicken backs and uncooked/frozen sardines. I only supplement so you are better off talking to Newfiemom and/or getting a book.

Oh and Newfiemom or anyone else who feeds a non kibble diet:
What does it cost you weekly to feed your diet and what do your dogs weigh? I want to compare to the cost of my kibble per week by weight. Thanks.

[daisykatep]

Why not garlic? Our pet store sells doggie garlic capsules which work well in preventing fleas ! :o

[bk_blue]

Daisy too much garlic is bad for a dog because it is from the same family as the onion. In moderation I believe it is very good though. It's like avocadoes... I've always been told they are toxic but there are sites which tell you it is ok to feed to dogs... :wink:

[Crested]

Thank you all for helping and supporting me. A couple of breeder friends I have suggest that it's not food allergies, but allergies to something else. I've been getting help from many diffirent sources and everyone seems to have their own idea. I'm still very happy that people are willing to help. It don't seem like I'm that alone because of this. So thank you all! I still would like to know more of what you think and I'm still searching for anwsers. I think I will go to homemade food but it's the vitamine thing that scares me the moast. What kind of vitamines should a dog get daily and where can I get them from?

I told you that Ben got this "bump" on his head last night. Now it's much better and looks like this (picture below). So it doesn't look too bad, but there is a sign still that reminds me that something is wrong. It has gotten a tiny bit more red then it was this morning, so I will put a bit Betadine again and clean it away with water and put Fucitalmic again. (I don't want to mix two diffirent medicins)

[img]http://personal.inet.fi/koti/crested/pipi.jpg[/img]

So I still would like to know your theories allso of what it might be.

Thank you a milion!

/Crest

[daisykatep]

I don't know if this will help but vets can do allergy tests by taking a skin scraping , it isn't cheap but you will then know what your dog is allergic to and it will probably cost a lot less in the long run. :fadein:

[imported_Cassie]

To Newfiemom
[quote]I follow the diet outlined by the book, Holistic Guide for a Healthy Dog and I do not feed the bones part, I just add bone meal to the diet...[/quote]
I just wanted to add that Raw bones are different than bonemeal. Bonemeal is a cooked and processed product, often high in lead content which cannot match the nutrients found in raw edible meaty bones.

and to Crested, have you thought about supplementing your Dogs diet with Essential Fatty Acids, these fatty acids help support healthy skin, hair, joints and hearts...Good sources of EFA's include fish, fish oil, some vegetable oils, dark green veggies, eggs, raw nuts & seeds. Flaxseed oils, and eggs from properly fed chickens (free range) offer a good supply of the important omega-3 fatty acids.
I am very much a supporter of the BARF diet, I have my Rottie and 3 Newfoundland dogs on it.

[RR]

Cassie wrote:
[quote]have you thought about supplementing your Dogs diet with Essential Fatty Acids, these fatty acids help support healthy skin, hair, joints and hearts...Good sources of EFA's include fish, fish oil, some vegetable oils, dark green veggies, eggs, raw nuts & seeds. Flaxseed oils, and eggs from properly fed chickens (free range) offer a good supply of the important omega-3 fatty acids.
I am very much a supporter of the BARF diet, I have my Rottie and 3 Newfoundland dogs on it.[/quote]

[color=blue]I agree these are great things to add to your dogs diet. If you are thinking in terms of a raw food diet or a home cooked diet invest in a couple of good books. You have to make sure your dogs nutritional needs are being met over time. With the knowledge and studying done the BARF diet is a lot less controversial now and many more (not all but many) vets are accepting and even promoting this diet. Some companies offer prepackaged raw food with all the supplements and everything added which might help to start but can get more expensive then when you do your own raw food & supplements. I'd be careful about using flax seed oil right away as some dogs are irritated by flax.

Bens problems may stem from an environmental allergen/irritation instead which can be hard to track down. You mentioned this happened before, could it have been this time last year when new flowers and plants are blooming? Has there been any change in the household products...from changing laundry soap to using fabric softeners, indoor and outdoor chemicals, preservatives in food.....so many possiblities.[/color]