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Post by masha on Mar 29, 2006 1:22:41 GMT -5
Hi.
Ive been feeding my dog a locally manufactured food made from ostrich meat. Ive been feeding this food for about a year now, and I did notice that since I started , the red marks on either side of her mouth have almost dissapeared.
She has always been an itchy dog, and recently its got a lot worse. I have noticed no obvious hair loss, but she is biting herself especially on her lower back above the tail - there are small scabs there. She often scraches her ears, and seems to have an very itchy bum. I get the vet to squeeze her anal glands when she has a checkup, and they are always badly impacted, but the problem keeps coming back.
What are the obvious signs of food allergies, and what else could be causing these symptoms?
I phoned the manufacturers of this food to ask them what preservatives they use but did not get an answer - they just told me their other customers report an improvement in the dogs coat and skin.
I used to mix tinned fish into her food, and also use chicken sausages as training treats. Ive stopped doing both these things as I suspect the colourants and preservatives in these might be causing the problem.
And here I come to the questions: How long after stopping a certain food can one expect an improvement in an allergy situation? How long should I wait before eliminating something else, if there is no improvement?
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Post by willow on Mar 29, 2006 8:08:56 GMT -5
Are you absolutely sure this is food allergies? My dogs suffered for a year or more with severe itching in certain areas of their bodies, had ear infections etc. and 3 Vets told me it was food allergies and prescribed benadryl etc., which did not help. After pleading for help on every dog site I could find, a lady told me her dog had the same thing and she had sarcoptic mange. I went back to the Vet for more skin scrapings, which once again came up negative and was told it absolutely was not sarcoptic mange, but I insisted my dogs be treated for SM and in a month they were "cured".
My female Aussie also loves to swim, and in the summer she would get itchy, have red itchy ears, and a foul body odor. Just this past summer I found out that the ponds in our area contain tannin, from trees, and that is what causes this and once I started rinsing her off with the hose when we got home from our walks, she improved greatly.
Another thing that causes itchy spots, scabs etc. (esp. in the tail area you mentioned) is fleas. You might not even be able to see them, but the Vet will take a flea comb and comb the area for flea dirt....or you can get a fine tooth flea comb and do it yourself if you know what to look for.
As far as finding out what food(s) your dog is sensitive to, you will have to do an elimination test and I am not 100% sure how to do that, so some one else will have to help you with that. All I know is that you have to feed one food your dog is not sensitive to for awhile, and then add other foods one x one until you get a reaction. I also think you can eliminate foods one x one until the reaction goes away, but I don't know time periods etc.
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Post by masha on Mar 30, 2006 8:56:42 GMT -5
Hi
Yes - i am actually very wary of saying its a food allergy - especially since I cant say Ive noticed a big change in her when I change the way I feed her...
The pond issue might very well be agravating things, even if it might not be the cause. She often goes into rivers and ponds, most of which are not clean - never mind tannin! I hate to think whats in them. Rinsing her with the hose is not going to be popular but I think I'm going to have to try it out.
I havent noticed fleas but as you say that proves nothing. Ill deal with that possibility to elliminate it.
Mange is quite a scary thought - but I can mention it to my vet and see what happens. I want to take her to a new vet, who has a good reputation with things of this nature so we will see... Thank for your help
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Post by willow on Apr 1, 2006 8:30:37 GMT -5
Masha, has she been checked for a thyroid problem lately? That can also cause hair loss, itching etc., so if she hasn't had blood work done lately, it might be a good idea to make sure she does not have an internal problem that is causing this.
Let us know what you find out. Finding the underlying cause of skin problems is usually one of the hardest things to do and can be soooo frustrating! When my dogs had SM and were broken out, oozing and being driven crazy with the itch, I would sit and cry because I felt so sorry for them and in frustration at not being able to help them and to find the cause.
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