Pedigree as in Chum?

One quick thought for you - and something I've seen in the past - Pedigree can really upset some dogs and cause some/all of the symptoms you mention. This is often because they have beef in the diet and some dogs just can not tolerate it...

Had a dog at a vets where I did work experience years back - the owners were about to put him down as he couldn't hold anything down - even the special vet food. I did a qick bit of research into the food stocks and found that all had a beef extract in them.
Badgered the vet for days before she agreed to try a non-beef containing product. Patch went home three days later all better

Hiya
Thanks for that. Bonnie was on Bakers weight control when she started having her problems. I changed her diet to Pedigree as she had been having what I can only describe as 'jelly red poohs' On Pedigree, she never had them again. I had to spend nearly £600 in October 2008 having her allergy tested. The testing came back that she was allergic (even that late in the growing season) to all the long wild grasses which have seeded fronds (all specifically named on the test along with picture for ease of recognition, Dandelion, Dock, Nettles, Scots Pine and Alder Tag, House dust mites and PORK. I checked with my vet re the food she is now on Pedigree, and he said that was fine. Then began a nine month recovery period due to a chronic Malasessia and skin eruptions episode. She was put on Anti-fungals for 2 weeks (cost £150 I could not afford for longer, the vet had said a month) plus steroids and antibiotics. Aurizon for her ears and Coatex antibacterial antifungal shampoo baths x 3 per week.
It was recommended to put her on Evening primrose oil and cod liver oil. It was hard work. Over the past 2 months or so I have been putting a raw egg yolk in her food once a day (read about its ability to boost the immune system online). I think for her this was the turning point.
I have to be careful that she does not get anything with Pork in it....and stay away from anything that says meat derivatives...coz I can't be sure. She has an Apple at bedtime and a carrot at lunchtime...she also loves cuecumber and a strawberry if she can get it. I give her chicken Bonios too. Other than that she has nothing else.
I started taking her out for a walk nearly 3 weeks ago and when it looks like she is having a bit of a reaction I give her one steroid tablet a day for 5 days (half dose) and then leave her off them. When she next needs some help I give her 1 antibiotic tablet a day for 5 days. I then let her go without anything until she has a flare up when I repeat the process. My vet keeps me supplied with a valid prescription and I get all her meds from Petmeds.co.uk at a fraction of the cost from my vet. I need to now try a different diet, so have ordered the Barf food online. I will try her on that for a month to see if I can reduce or ideally get her off medication altogether. I have monthly visits to my vet, just for a checkup (he does not charge me for those visits) Last checkup he was really pleased with her progress.....since then she is out walking again (on cultivated areas only) so I am looking forward to seeing him again on 31st July.
I just want my dog to enjoy the same quality of life she enjoyed before her illness.
So sorry this went on a bit
lol
Stef

Stref - just make sure all bones and metr are raw - no cooked stuff!

Stef,

As t4bl has said, do make sure that everything is raw, but beware of the weight bearing bones of the larger animals, these have very dense bone, which can (and frequently do) slab fracture the dogs teeth, often you will not notice this until the dog is in pain and the tooth has to be removed. I would suggest beef or lamb rib bones, the dog will eat either all of these, or with the beef rib just leave a short stub.

I have fed up to 15 dogs raw for over 17 years now, and have brought all my babies up on raw. Without going into too much detail, what is right for the dogs system will not hurt it. Obviously other than an allergic reaction to certain meats.

Yearly boosters can have horrible side effects as well, so do talk to your vet about only boosting when really necessary. I nver boost mine after their initial shots. I think I may be forced to do 3 yearly rabies.

One other thing, a month is not enough time for a new diet to get through the system, you need to feed your dog raw for at least 6 weeeks, preferably 8 to see actual results through the skin. Aklthough you will see many benefits before that.

Yearly boosters can have horrible side effects as well, so do talk to your vet about only boosting when really necessary. I nver boost mine after their initial shots. I think I may be forced to do 3 yearly rabies.

My Dachshund is highly allergic to all vaccines, he swells with hives all over his body, which we learned first time we took him in as a pup for shots.

We now skip all vaccines except rabies which is done every 3 years, he still gets hives but the vet gives him some benedryl right after which keeps them to a minimum, but rabies is the only one that can't be skipped.

Hi All, we feed our two female Westies Arcana, which I was told at our Petstore was the best and the breeder also uses this brand. Having looked at the ingredients before we bought the dogs I had to agree, they looked far better than most of the other big names available everywhere. I was also told to ensure we use the variety without the grains as Westies are prone to itching due to grains. So far it seems to do them good and they both thankfully like it. In addition we also make sure that they get some good beef marrow bones from our local butcher.

Acana is a great brand! Dog was on this until the store ran out. It's by the same people as Orijen. It's an alberta company too.

Like a lot of others. our Newfie gets / likes Orijen. We give her that with either canned food (Miller???.... no nasties in it!) or "leftovers" which she likes best... makes her feel like part of the family!

Years ago when I had Newfies I fed them Iams (it was independent then) but now it has been bought by Procter & Gamble who are involved in animal experiments, so I won't touch their stuff for that reason alone. Plus these days it's sh1te (allegedly). Did you know road kill goes into a lot of popular food?

http://www.thedogfoodconspiracy.com/

HI the best all round food reasonably priced is Iams. They make a more expensive version but they only put regular product in their dry food, ie chicken and fish with rice no offal. If any thing you should slightly under feed your puppy for the first 12 months, not starve him or her but better to little than to much.If his ribs start to show increase the amount to compensate. this will help his joint development and keep his excerise down for the first 6 months at least. The puppy need all his energy for bone and joint structure during his early growth, this will prevent problems when he is older, preventing hip and joint defects,enabling him to run and play for long periods with out damage

Chicken, Corn Meal, Ground Whole Grain Sorghum, Chicken By-Product Meal, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Dried Beet Pulp, Chicken Flavor, Chicken Meal, Potassium Chloride, Dried Egg Product, Brewers Dried Yeast, Salt, Flax Meal, Fish Oil (preserved with mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Caramel, Calcium Carbonate, Choline Chloride, Minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Manganese Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Potassium Iodide, Cobalt Carbonate), Vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Ascorbic Acid, Vitamin A Acetate, Calcium Pantothenate, Biotin, Thiamine Mononitrate (source of vitamin B1), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Niacin, Riboflavin Supplement (source of vitamin B2), Inositol, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (source of vitamin B6), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid), DL-Methionine, Rosemary Extract.

Compare this to:

Fresh deboned salmon, salmon meal, herring meal, russet potato, fresh deboned lake whitefish, sweet potato, peas, salmon oil (preserved with vitamin E), fresh deboned walleye, fresh deboned herring, sun-cured alfalfa, fresh deboned flounder, fresh deboned lake trout, dehydrated organic kelp, pumpkin, carrots, spinach, turnip greens, apples, cranberries, saskatoon berries, black currants, choline chloride, psyllium, licorice root, angelica root, fenugreek, marigold flowers, sweet fennel, peppermint leaf, chamomile flowers, dandelion, summer savory, rosemary, sea salt, vitamin supplements (vitamin A, vitamin D3, vitamin E, niacin, vitamin C, thiamine mononitrate, riboflavin, vitamin B5, vitamin B6, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12), mineral supplements (zinc proteinate, iron proteinate, manganese proteinate, copper proteinate, selenium), dried Lactobacillus acidophilus product, dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product.

Not to mention where I am Iams costs more. Iams is not the worst, but there are better foods out there for close to or the same price.

They sell Iams at Walmart -- doesn't that say it all!?

almost one more

could be one less though