How to find out if my dog has a food allergy? What should I feed??

[Bitsy]

Sophia gets itches and has a sensitive tummy. I am wondering if she might be allergic to something she is eating.

Have any of you dealt with this? How do I go about finding out. Is she possibly allergic to corn, chicken???? What do I feed her? Should I just assume it is a food allergy and feed her something without corn or chicken?

I plan on talking to my vet about this as well, but would really appreciate hearing your personal stories.

Thanks!

[kjc]

You could begin by eliminating chicken, as it's the #1 allergen in small dogs. Some pups are fine with homecooked chicken, but are allergic to chicken based dog foods. Then I'd be looking more at the preservatives in the dog food.

When you begin, only eliminate one thing at a time, if you want to find what she's allergic to.

Food allergies usually begin with facial and front feet itching. Plastic water or food bowls can do the same, and may be worse right after eating.

If you're not sure, and it's more total body itching, it could be something else, like a flea or mite allergy. It's easier to treat the dog with Revolution or a similar product that specifically kills mites first, to rule them out, and if no improvement is seen after treatment, then begin the food elimination diets.

Also, I could ask a million questions, and this may help in preparation for talking to your vet. I'd keep a diary of sorts and note times and places she seems to be itchy, or times of day it may be worse or not as bad. Is she worse in the bedroom? Dogs can be allergic to dust mites, denser populations are found in bedrooms, although also found throughout the house.

Any new air fresheners, detergents, carpeting or other environmental changes in the house? Plug-ins are notorious for causing problems. Some scented candles too.

Yorkies are prone to getting Sarcoptic mange (Scabies in humans). Any humans itching at home, esp after holding her? Telltale signs are tiny white flakes along the very edges of the ear flaps, may help to use a magnifying glass to see. Also one may notice a puckering to the abdominal/genital or chest /underarm skin, similar to elephant skin, in some or all areas. A red rash will appear on humans, and feels like something is crawling under the skin. See the doctor if the itching is too bad.

I've only touched the subject here, but you'll be off to a good start at getting to the root of the problem... good luck at the vets... it can take a few months to years to figure these problems out.

[Patti]

Cali had bad itching and tummy issues. I did the food elimination diet, the blood allergy testing and still no answers. We finally got her on a medicine called Atopica and the improvement was 95%. I hope you can figure out what the cause is and get Sophia feeling better.

[Bitsy]

Thanks!

The itching is not severe at all. We were at the vets just over a month ago and my vet (who is top notch btw ) said that it is probably just dry skin. She recommended adding oil to her food, which we've been doing. I do think it has helped...but, it has not totally eliminated it.

She does not do the paw and face licking. She gets itchy on her tummy and underarm area. It might just be dry skin. I asked my vet about Atopica because I had heard about it from someone I met. She said she does not recommend it for light itching...only extreme.

Anyhow, I'm considering trying a grain free/chicken free food. We will see how that goes.

Thanks again.

[kjc]

I use Coconut oil for my 4... on their food and in the bath, Lol! I've never heard of it causing pancreatitis in a Yorkie, and it's excellent for the coat and skin. You can even dab it on cuts, sores and itchy spots, it's naturally antibiotic, antifungal, antiviral, and antiparasitic.

Seems like in winter with the heater running mine get dry skin too. I tend to leave the conditioner/creme rinse on a few minutes longer in the bath while they get a massage.

I'd look into a dose or two of Revolution... when mine got mites, Peek kept himself up 3 days in a row and broke off most of his coat scratching. Then come to find out, a neighbor's Golden had been itching for over a year... they went through allergy tests and shots, food elimination diets, the whole gambit to no avail.

When I mentioned mites, she got the Revolution from her vet, and the poor dog fell fast asleep (Peek did too when first treated). They were exhausted from all the itching and lack of sleep. The neighbor's DH had a bad recurring case of Scabies... they didn't realize the dog kept passing them back to him. Once the dog was treated, her DH got treated at his doc's, and it never came back.

My vet said the dogs probably picked it up in the damp leaves on the road that passes through a woods where some wildlife frequents, squirrels,rabbits and foxes, and raccoons.