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| Archie and his itches; The ongoing saga! | |
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| Topic Started: Apr 16 2009, 08:10 PM (326 Views) | |
| ClaireS | Apr 16 2009, 08:10 PM Post #1 |
Moderator
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The poor boy has been itchy on and off since january time, when he got a new bag of JWB lamb & veg. His ears have been worst affected, getting very red & sore mainly in the evenings (must be related to his food then!). 2 weeks ago one ear got very infected - stank to high heaven - so he's been back at the vets for more antibiotics and a swab as the infection isn't clearing. The last set of results came in today and as well as his usual bacterial infection that affects his skin when he has a flare up, he also has a more unusual strain of baceria that flourishes in places with little oxygen :rolleyes: He is such a defecctive dog! The vets are posting me the extra tablets as I just can't get to them until next week. They probably think he's being neglected :huh: Sooo, I now have to go back to the drawing board and discover a food that Archie won;t react to :( looks like they must have added / changed something in the Lamb & veg or maybe he is now intolerant to lamb :err: For the time being he is on Wafcol salmon & potato but I'd like to try and find him some of the new JWB white fish & veg as the biscuits in the wafcol are tiny and are rubbish for training treats. They have to be a decent size as he can eat nothing else while on a food trial! JWB have told me that they don't know which shops stock what vareities of theirs, so I'll have to start ringing round. Not seen it online yet either! Failing that I might have to try a 6-week trial raw fish only diet (fish as he's not had it before in his diet) but I'm not sure if that is do-able nutritionally. Anyone want to swap dogs? :P |
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| westie mum | Apr 16 2009, 08:23 PM Post #2 |
Chatterbox
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aaaawww bless poor Archie (and you Claire!) hope that you can find something to sort his itching out. :hug: |
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| Tafia | Apr 16 2009, 09:07 PM Post #3 |
Total Gas Bag!
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Just wondered whether you'd considered cutting out preservatives? |
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| ClaireS | Apr 16 2009, 09:31 PM Post #4 |
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Don't all prepared dog foods have preservatives :unsure: I'm not much of a foodie so any info would be great :) So far the vet has advised trying a protein source he hasn't been exposed to so far hence the fish diet. |
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| Tafia | Apr 16 2009, 09:40 PM Post #5 |
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Total Gas Bag!
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Unfortunately yes, all prepared foods contain preservatives. I was thinking along the lines of a fresh food diet? |
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| ClaireS | Apr 16 2009, 09:53 PM Post #6 |
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Its something that I am thinking of... but don't really know how it would work for us practically :err: I need to carry treats on walks for distraction tactics and I don't really fancy the idea of a pocket full of raw fish :lol: If I can get this new JWB and it doesn't work, I will have to try raw. He will need to go on fish first I think for 6 weeks then if no problems I would introduce other foods. I have read that beef, pork, and sometimes lamb / turkey can cause reactions in dogs so I worry that if his available meat sources are limited I won't get him the right nutrients he needs. |
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| Marean | Apr 16 2009, 10:18 PM Post #7 |
Total Gas Bag!
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Poor Archie, must be so uncomfortable with all the irritations :stroke: I get Harveys food from Trophy pet foods he has the Hypo-allergenic one which is for skin irritations. Don't know if you have a stockist locally to you, might be worth a try :flower: Hows his dribbling (for want of a better word :lol: ) situation now Claire? |
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| Tafia | Apr 16 2009, 10:27 PM Post #8 |
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Total Gas Bag!
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Everything I've ever read on allergies in humans says to cut out as many preservatives as possible. For some reason, vets don't seem to recommend it though, maybe it has something to do with the syllabus spending next to no time on nutrition. Treats can be a problem, but sunflower seeds are easy and dogs love them, at least mine do! It used to be difficult to find freeze dry fish treats in pet shops, I used to get them ordered in but they're cropping up all over the place now. |
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| Linda & Fred | Apr 17 2009, 07:49 AM Post #9 |
Chatterbox
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Beauty was on JWB fish, then on Burns fish and that suited her digestion really well - she didn't do poos before then, she did cowpats! impossible to clear up. Hopefully it will work for you too, otherwise naturediet is a really good food and what we use now. Hardly anything in that, and they do a fish variety. Very low in calorie and you can make treats out of it by cutting it up and baking it. |
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| ClaireS | Apr 17 2009, 06:51 PM Post #10 |
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That is a fantastic tip, thank you! I will see how I go sourcing the new JWB. The advice I have had so far all says to try an exclusive new diet for a minimum of 6 weeks without adding anything new so that is what I will aim for. I've seen those fish skins (Archie had them once but they stank :lol: ) I can introduce those if he doesn't react to the fish food trial :ok: Thanks for the link Marie - I've checked the ingredients and the Trophy one has brewers yeast unfortunately and I have been warned off that for dogs with skin problems :err: it is all very confusing! His dribbling was ok on the JWB for quite a long time, but has come back a little while he has been on the Wafcol!!! Must be something in it that irritates him :help: it is never ending! |
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| Sky | Apr 17 2009, 07:36 PM Post #11 |
Chatterbox
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Ohhh poor Archie :wub: Pete knows how he feels because he is "up and down" with his itiching at the moment. I still think that his problem is to do with whatever is on the fields and when he is really bad I give him Piriton and it seems to keep him sort of ok until the next time :( |
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| Laura | Apr 18 2009, 09:59 AM Post #12 |
One of the regulars
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Meg used to get iches amd excema when she was on dog food. Now she gets a raw chicken leg, and either fish or veg. Sometimes she get's beef or liver (but liver gives her wind! :err: ) Not an itch in sight since she's been on natural food. For treats she either gets cooked chicken, sausage or cheese. Dog's just aren't designed to cope with all the preservatives and additives in dog food. |
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| Red Rascal | Apr 21 2009, 01:17 AM Post #13 |
Chatterbox
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Poor Archie :stroke: , I had Rascal on JWB for a few months, at first I thought it was great less to pick up, but as the weeks went on he got constipated so now trying Burns. I was able to get the JWB Fish and Rice (blue pack) from Pets at Home. JWB also do Fish Treats which might be OK for Archie to have while on the fish food. Other good fish treats are Dried Sprats or Large Blue Wittling Dry Fish, both smell totally gross to me but delicious to Rascal and he goes mad for them. If you'd like a few to try I can easily pop a blue wittling and some sprats into a small container and post them to you as have plenty here, just PM me. Rascal's allergy although not bad is from dust/dust mites and I've only just realised that dried dog food can easily have mites, and the smaller bags not open for so long less likely to have them, hence the change from CSJ who only do 15kg bags to JWB and now Burns, don't know if its relevant to Archie though, but might be an idea to go for the smaller bags. Hope Archie is feeling a lot better soon. :flower: |
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| Sky | Apr 21 2009, 06:51 AM Post #14 |
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I had heard this recently too. A local lab with an awful skin condition had all the tests and it was ascertained that it was house/dust mites. The owners were also told that these can come from opened bags of dried dog food and they immediately switched to cans. The condition has completely cleared up very quickly :yes: and as well as that the dog, which was overweight, has lost weight after changing from dried to moist food :yes: I feed mine on Burns which is supposed to contain no artificial colourings or preservatives and Pete seems to be coping with his allergy better since being on that for the last year as well as his various herbal bits and pieces!! |
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| ClaireS | Apr 21 2009, 06:58 PM Post #15 |
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Thanks for that RR & Sky, very interesting! Archie was back at the vets again today for a check up - continuation of his antibiotics as hie ear still hasn't cleared up. I asked the vet about changing his diet to a home-repared one and he was all in favour of it (but said recipes weren't his strong point!). The vet said it would be ok to put Archie on a home made diet with a single protein source for a 6 week trial then add others in after testing for a reaction. So now I need to work out exactly what to feed him on - raw or cooked, chicken or fish (don't actually know what foods he is allergic to, only that he is allergic to something!) and whether to include rice. I had read that dogs don't need grains and I don't want to have too many ingredients to start with so that I can pinpoint any reaction. Any more ideas / links to read will be most welcome! |
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