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Boy's allergy results came back today


Miztiki
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Oh, drat. Sorry to hear about the number of allergies. Just in case it will tickle your funny bone and give you a smile, one of the things Shonie is allergic to is wool. Yup, I've got a herding dog allergic to the thing it herds.

My friends get a chuckle out of that one.

 

Do let us know more details when you get them.

 

Ruth n the BC3

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That's terrible, in a funny way!

 

I don't remember what all she said he's allergic to, but he's NOT allergic to beef or chicken. I have lots of beef steaks in the freezer. He can have just beef for a couple of days, right? If so, how much? He's 60lbs.

 

I have lots of research to do!

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See if you can find a copy of Richard Pitcairn's book, I think it's Homecooking for Dogs and Cats. If it's not that exactly, then it's really close! He's a DVM and there's a lot of info in the book about basic dog nutrition.

 

I'd be careful about switching him over abruptly to an all raw or even all meat diet. 2 of my 3 have sensitive tummies, so I can only adjust their diets slowly. Shonie, with all her other problems, seems to have an iron stomach, so I can mess with her food all I want. If you're sure Boy's digestive system can handle it, you might start with some cooked beef first, then gradually transition to raw if that's what you want to do.

 

Slippery elm is a good thing to have on hand, just in case his tummy gets upset.

 

Wendy Volhard's book, Holistic Guide for a Healthy Dog, is a good resource as well. Lots of general info about nutrition. That diet didn't work for Shonie, (either it just didn't work or it was a case of operator malfuntion;) but I still refer to it for general info. They might both be available at half.com.

 

Ruth n the BC3

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Here are the results:

 

 

BL=borderline

P=positive

HP=highly positive

 

I didn't list the negatives.

 

FOOD:

 

Pork BL

Duck BL

Rabbit BL

Peanuts HP

Soy Beans P

Corn P

Wheat P

Rice, brown P

Potato BL

Carrot BL

(and he's 1 point from BL on barley)

 

REGIONAL:

 

Lots of trees, couple grasses, several weeds, one mold (Pullularia pullulans)

 

ENVIRONMENTAL (indoor panel):

 

Mouse epithalia BL

House dust P (but he's negative for dust mite mix) :confused:

Pyrethrum P

Kapok :confused: HP

Tobacco leaf :rolleyes: P

 

And he's BL for Malassezia (which is yeast infection, I think?).

 

 

Ok, what is Kapok? Vet didn't know either but he's highly allergic to it. I can't smoke in the house anymore. I'll smoke in the sunroom. It will help me to quit. IT'S NOT EASY!!! And he's allergic to all carbohydrates I can think of besides sweet potato.

 

I'll order those books.

 

For the tree allergies - does that mean he has to touch the tree? Or is it only when there's pollen? Or...?

 

It's strange that he's only allergic to the less common meats. I guess that helps though.

 

Ok, help me out here guys! Is that barf site the right address? It won't pull up for me. Is that the kind of site I want?

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Sorry hear about Boy's allergies!

 

I feed raw one meal a day and kibble (Wellness) the other. I'm not sure how much of a help I can be, but this is what I buy: http://www.bravorawdiet.com/ and I've been very pleased with it. It's probably the lazy way out, unlike others here who take a lot more time and spend a lot more energy on raw diets. I'm so busy that it's really convenient for me and I live near where it's made and I know that it's a quality product/diet.

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That's quite a list! About the trees, it is pollens. On my Yahoo homepage, you can pull up an allergy index count for your region, just type in your zip code.

 

Being so close to Houston, (I grew up there) the bad news is there's a ton of stuff floating around in the air. A room size air filter might help. If you can, take the carpets out of the bedroom. If there's any foam rubber, (sleeping matts for Boy, or mattress covers for the humans, etc) get rid of them, they're positively ClubMed for dust mites.

 

Do you have air conditioning - make sure the ducts, filters, etc are cleaned regularly.

 

As I remember more, I'll post it. It does bring back unfond memories.

 

The good news is that while you can't control all the environmental stuff, every little bit helps. Your vet will help you with the meds, and it might be worth it to talk to someone at A&M if they've got a verterinary dermatologist there.

 

Give that Boy a scritch for me!

 

Ruth n the BC3

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Kapok is a fluffy substance that they used to stuff pillows and flotation devices with.

 

If he's not allergic to oatmeal, you can use that as a grain. I didn't see it on your list.

 

Other less common grains are spelt, quinoa, kasha, rye, and amaranth. He might be allergic to one or more of those, I doubt that the test included them as they are so unusual. If you want to try them, you'll have to get them from a health food store.

 

More as it surfaces.

 

Ruth

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I'd be really careful with quinoa and kasha, they are both very closely related to wheat. Many fruits and veggies provide carbs - Ben's diet consists of plenty of fresh apples, carrots, sweet squashes, and other fruits and vegetables. Don't even mess around with grains of any kind if you cna get away with it. Later, you may be able to experiment, when his "allergy bucket" is no longer overflowing. For instance, Ben used to rreact to beef, but now I can feed him fresh beef in various forms on occasion.

 

What you will be aiming to achieve eventually will be the equivalent of 2 to 3 percent of Boy's ideal weight in meat/bone. Here's some other guidelines to get you started really quick: http://www.healthy-paws.ca/feeding.htm#dogs

 

There's a yahoo group I found really helpful a couple years ago when switching - it's called "BARF Lite" Do a search on that at yahoo and it should come up. I'm still there though I don't read much. They are very supportive and casual - some of the bigger groups are a little, er, fanatical.

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Oh, one other thing, I feel strongly about supplementing with "E" - our Border Collies need a high level of antioxidants. If you use a lot of carrot and fruit in his diet, plus the bone and organ meats, you've got everything but E and selenium covered.

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Rebecca,

 

Thanks for the info about quinoa/kasha - I didn't know that about them.

 

About the E, do you use the soyless dry E? And do any of your dogs have digestive issues? I'm considering going homemade/raw again, but Sammi and Buzz both turn into poop machines with very small changes in their diets, and Buzz has a tendency to get c.perfingens overgrowth with diet changes, so I want to be veeerrrrryyyyy cautious.

 

Thanks for the info - I love reading your posts!

 

Ruth n the BC3

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What would I do without you guys!!! Thank you SO MUCH for all of your help! This is all very intimidating, having someone's life in your hands and not knowing how best to keep him healthy with something as basic as food.

 

I promise that as I learn about these things, I'll share what I've learned with other people and give y'all a break from answering all of those basic questions. :D

 

I just got back from Kroger. I'll be on the look out for a cheaper and better source of meats! I got him enough stuff to last a few days though. I got chicken wings, beef neck bones, spaghetti squash, sweet potatoes, yogurt (live cultured plain) and bananas.

 

My vet did order either antigens or teeters/titers or whatever to help desensitize him to some of the things he's allergic to. It will take a couple weeks to get it/them. She will show me how to do it and I guess it will be an ongoing thing. She said it's a similar process to what humans go through, but since I don't know anything about human allergies either... :rolleyes:

 

I'm bookmarking all links. I'm joining lots of groups. I'm buying books. My hair is turning gray. I think that just about covers it, eh? :D

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It's my pleasure, Miztiki. Allergies are such a PITA, anything I can do to help any dog is just dandy.

 

One more thing my guys all love is butternut squash. They gather round in the kitchen when I cook it, and will eat it plain right from the pan!

 

When we were doing an allergy elimination diet with Shonie, the only way I could get her to eat the vegetarian kibble was if I mixed home cooked steamed butternut squash in with it. Do I have a princess or what!

 

Ruth

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I really do appreciate the help you and everyone else are offering me. I really, really do!

 

Some sites say cooking food (including veggies) diminishes the nutrients. Some say veggies are unnecessary.

 

My husband says he's jealous because Boyden is getting so much attention.

 

I say it's late and my brain is full enough for one day! :rolleyes:

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On a hunch I looked at the ingredients in Innova Evo -- it looks like you could prob use it while you were getting the raw diet set up and during traveling since it does have potatos and carrots (BL on your list) but no other allergy inducing ingredients.

 

I would hate to feel rushed in setting up a raw diet and it's always good to have a backup food for traveling, etc. where raw may be difficult to use.

 

For allergies, you may want to look into supplementing with Nettle - it's supposed to help with itching, etc.

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Hi my name is Robin. I have a female border collie that is almost 3. We have had her since she was a puppy and have spent a lot of money trying to figure out what is wrong with her. She scratches constantly to the point of pulling out her fur. Her poor skin is always red and inflamed. We take her to the vet all the time he has never referred us to an allergist though. He did put her on special food that we buy at the vet but even that has not done the trick. I feel bad for her because she is miserable. She used to be a very happy dog and very loving also but now she usually just lays in the corner scratching and biting and doesn't want to be bothered. I live in the Houston area does anyone have any ideas what we could do to help her.

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I live in the Houston area too (Pearland). Where are you?

 

Several days ago I started Boyden on a totally raw diet w/no veggies. So far he's doing good on it. He's not as miserable as your girl sounds and I think it's too soon to have any effect on his allergies (especially since he has environmental allergies too, and it's spring), but I've heard good things about the raw diet. I'm willing to give it a try.

 

My vet simply took some blood from him and sent it in. We got the results back in a couple weeks. The place she sent it to (Bio-Medical Services, www.bmslab.com) has made alot of progress with the accuracy of the blood test, according to her, and that it's just as accurate as the skin test. Dunno, but it's worth checking into.

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I live in Spring. I know our vet has done many blood test but he has never given us any results. He recommended Prescription Diet food for dogs with allergies and said she was allergic to fleas. He had us using Frontline for a while every 2 weeks and then Advantix every 2 weeks. He then had us bring her in once a week to get a bath and he would give her a pill to kill all fleas if she had any. We also had our yard sprayed and our house, with no success. Nothing so far has helped. Do you use a dermatologist or a regular vet? We asked to recommended to a dermatologist but he wouldn't refer us because he just thinks it is the fleas. I welcome any feedback. I feel terrible that she is just so miserable.

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Regular vet. I would go to a different vet. See if you can find one who people trust and recommend. If you can't then just walk into several vets offices and tell them you want information about them and ask how they might do things differently.

 

Your girl doesn't have to be miserable all the time. I'll soon be giving Boyden allergy shots (vet arranged that), just like people get.

 

I would say, find another vet.

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Just wanted to say good luck to you!! My Jack has allergies to a lot of things, at first I switched him to a food the vet recommended but didn't get the results I wanted. I switched to barf a few months ago and he is wonderful now, no scratching, no bald spots, and is coat his so shinny he gets stopped on the street!! I feed only chicken wings, beef, cod liver oil, livers, and a powder vitamin my vet gave me. Hope Boy is feeling better soon!!

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We're pretty sure our Tiga has allergies too. The vet has recommended a couple of different types of food to try. We're now working on food number 4. It should only be the third, but I misunderstood the vet. I thought she said Nutrience so that's what I bought, and he started getting worse again. When I read the ingrediants and corn was number 2 on the list I knew something was wrong. I was confused, so I asked her again, and she said no that it was Nutros. I obviously heard wrong. The good thing about putting Tiga on a new food is that he LOVES anything new that he is allowed to have. When we're integrating a new food, he will eat all the new stuff first and leave the old stuff until he has to eat it. I'm hoping this will finally stop the itching and his patches will grow back. It kills me to see him so uncomfortable so much. How long does it usually take for the symptoms to clear up if we've finally found the right food? This one is a chicken, oatmeal and rice for sensitive skin.

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