Favorite limited ingredient food

[Adrienne]

Kira hopefully has food allergies. I tried her on wellness salmon and rice but she was not real enthusiastic about it. She kept stealing science diet at the shelter blah. So I brought what was left back to petco and got the duck and rice which she loves. She is eating the natural balance limited ingredient sweet potato and whitefish treats which she also enjoys. I am curious what others with food allergy dogs feed? I know raw is ideal but it's not doable.

Edit to add: do I also have to refrain from giving her rawhide/marrow bones during elimination? Any ideas on how I can get all her pills into her without causing allergies? Right now I sneak them into turkey dogs.

 

[CharlieDog]

I use the Natural Balance formulas that DON'T have sweet potato in them. Ozzy's been on just about everything else, and there's three of the NB formulas that don't give him terrible terrible gas.

The yellow bag, the blue bag, and I think the green bag are the ones that he gets. He used to itch himself raw on his sides, and have really really bad gas, but these three don't cause him any sort of problem whatsoever.

 

[Saeleofu]

What is it that you think she's allergic to?

I feed Gavroche Taste of the Wild because he apparently can't handle grains.

As far a pills, Pill Pockets has an allergy formula - duck and green pea, I think.

 

[Romy]

We put Seamus on the NB duck and potato when we fostered him. Before that he was covered in hot spots and loosing craploads of hair (and he was even a wirecoated dog). It totally fixed him right up. The fish one worked too, but made him smell kinda fishy and gross.

I like NB for allergy sufferers because they fortify it with supplemental amino acids that are usually lacking in diets with limited protein sources. Stuff like carnitine and taurine, that are necessary for good muscle (especially heart muscle) health.

ETA: If you go with a grain free red meat formula, you should be all right for taurine at least. Carnitine is highest in pork, but you can get it in limited amounts in other sources. The only time I would worry about not getting it, is if you went strictly with lamb, poultry, or fish.

ETAETA:

Natural Balance makes limited ingredient canned food. It's pretty thick, like really thick mashed potatoes. You could make balls out of that and put her pills inside.

 

[vanillasugar]

Other than raw, I go to a grain free first (Orijen 6 Fish or Regional Red, or Acana Pacifica usually top my list), then if that fails after a month or so I usually recommend Go! either Salmon and Oatmeal (Go Natural Salmon and Oatmeal Dog Food) or Duck (Go! Duck K9) but I prefer the Salmon.

 

[MicksMom]

Natural Balance's LIDs here, too (currently the Duck & Potato). The only ones I haven't tried are the Lamb Meal & Brown Rice (Caleb is going grain free) and the two newer formals- Sweet Potato & Bison (Caleb has issues with beef) and Sweet Potato & Chicken (just haven't gotten around to looking at it).

The yellow bag...

Potato & Duck

...the blue bag...

Ultra Premium, but that's not an LID food.

...the green bag

Sweet Potato and Chicken or Lamb Meal and Brown Rice.

 

[poodlesmom]

NB potato & duck here too. Not only has Farley gotten alot of relief from his allergies but only this & Blue Buffalo work for Chloe - any other foods and she has seizures.

 

[MandyPug]

Other than raw, I go to a grain free first (Orijen 6 Fish or Regional Red, or Acana Pacifica usually top my list), then if that fails after a month or so I usually recommend Go! either Salmon and Oatmeal (Go Natural Salmon and Oatmeal Dog Food) or Duck (Go! Duck K9) but I prefer the Salmon.

That's basically the regime we do here.

Occasionally i'll recommend California Naturals Grain Free if there's absolutely nothing else since we don't carry NB.

 

[corgipower]

My allergy dog does great on NV Prairie. Even though the ingredients include a couple of things he's known to be allergic to, for some reason in the Prairie it doesn't give him trouble.

Instinct is also a good grain free food and has alternative proteins (salmon, duck, rabbit).

I used to feed Natural Balance, until it cause him to have several severe UTIs. Switched to canned Pinnacle trout and potato for a while until the store couldn't get it in any more, has him on Prescription Diet Z/D because he had to eat something and I was out of options, then found the prairie and he's been on it for years.

 

[CharlieDog]

No the Ultra Premium isn't a LID, but Oz does well on it, and it doesn't have corn in it. The other one is the Lamb Meal one, we stay away from sweet potatoes, since reading that sugars can cause or feed ear infections and we were battling those with both of our dogs. Since keeping them off foods with a lot of sugars in them they haven't had a problem at all.

 

[Kat09Tails]

A real diet trial should include a protein source your dog has never had before. This can sometimes be a challenge. Addiction dog diets have some of the oddest protein sources on the market. They also make one that includes no chicken, beef, or lamb or any of their by products. It may not be cheap.Wellness has true limited ingredient dry diets. They are however expensive imo.

The easiest diet for trialing imo is raw diet. You control very specifically what goes in, there is always a protein source available if need be that your dog hasn't had before, and it is more economical for the month to six weeks you need to properly trial.

Also as a note because it comes up often. Rabbit cannot be a trial protein alone. It's too lean by itself and requires fat to be added. Google rabbit starvation for more details.

Keep in mind that true food allergies are VERY uncommon. They are often misdiagnosed as well.