Cody's food allergies/staph infections - ideas?

[nowwown]

Hi,

 

Cody was at the vet again for a staph infection; they are ugly scaly scabs on his back and near his genitals. Poor guy. So now he's on antibiotics again for 30 days.

 

He also suffers from ongoing diarrhea. No matter what the food. I've tried numerous dry foods, from Purina to Nutro Natural Choice to Timberwolf to many other all-natural brands only sold in "higher end" pet stores.

 

Everything else about the guy is "perfect health" - coat, eyes, teeth, nose, energy level, weight, etc. But the darn diarrhea is ongoing for months and months.

 

So the vet said no more treats, except for the anti-allergic ones from Prescription Diet. And no more of the food I've been feeding. I'm trying now Prescription Diet ZD (I think that's what it is called). It is EXPENSIVE -- $50 bucks for the big bag. She wants me to transition it over the next 5-7 days and then exclusively that food for a month or so. That way we then can start figuring out what he is allergic to that is causing the ongoing diarrhea and the recurring staph infection on his skin.

 

Oh she also recommended an antibacterial shampoo and suggested washing him once a week with that.

 

Whew.

 

Okay, here's my question to all you very knowledgeable and much more experienced BC owners. The vet makes a lot of money on all this Prescription Diet stuff, right? Any suggestions about how to figure out his food allergies short of expensive testing or this expensive Prescription Diet food? The only concern I have about raw food, by the way, is the amount of time I would need to prepare. I work full time, commute two hours a day and I just can't fit in a lot of dog food preparation into the day.

 

Please help with advice or suggestions! Thanks!

[red dog fan]

my food prep takes about 30 seconds a day

i buy in bulk, portion and ziplock. so once or twice a month i spend a couple of hours prepping food.

 

i transfer bags from freezer to fridge in the am and out when i get home

 

Dont give up on the idea of raw just yet

[MaggieDog]

The one thing that gets me is that ZD is chicken based - my girl is allergic to chicken! I would say it's probably worth the money to have him allergy tested so you know exactly what to avoid.

 

Have you tried a grainless food?

[urge to herd]

The short answer is no, there's no easy way to determine what's going on for Cody. Your info doesn't say where you are, but a visit or two to a doggy dermatologist was a life saver for Shoshone.

 

If Cody does have food allergies, the only way to find out what he's allergic to is 1) elimination diet using the prescription food, or 2) elimination diet using some protein (if you can find one) that he hasn't been exposed to, along w/a carb source like oatmeal or rice, and keeping him on it for a month. Then you do add one thing in at a time and see what his response is. I've heard different things about the skin test, that it's not all that good for food, but that was a few years ago and it might be different.

 

I'd give the ZD a try, it probably won't be forever. It does take a while to sort through everything. If you go the ZD route, and you're not seeing some improvement in say 2 weeks, then he's probably allergic to something in the ZD. There is a kibble that's vegetarian that's available OTC, Avoderm makes it I think. It does have soy, but Shoshone did great on it. I got it at feed stores. There's another prescription diet that (they claim) the protein is broken down into such small molecules that it doesn't trigger any allergic reaction.

 

And, the bathing once a week did help a lot for Shonie, it kept her a lot less itchy. I tried a lot of different foods and many different approaches: accupuncture, homeopathy, home made diet, all meat diet - she didn't do well on that - and a bunch of other stuff. Each dog is different, and it takes time to sort everything out.

 

Good luck, I know it's not the easiest thing to go through. PM me if you want more details.

 

Ruth n the BC3

[Liz P]

Unless you can figure out that your dog is allergic to one thing, say chicken for example, and just never feed chicken as part of a raw diet switching to raw won't address the allergy issue. What certain allergy foods like ZD are is "hydrolyzed" protein. That means that the protein molecules are broken down into such tiny pieces that the dog's body will not react to them. You cannot make hydrolyzed protein at home and the process of hydrolyzing the protein is what makes those diets so expensive. There are, however, many brands that make allergy formulas including Royal Canin (my fav brand for prescription foods) and Purina. One of those may cost less, or you can try to find another source for the ZD other than your vet.

 

While on a food trial it really is critical that the dog eat NOTHING but the prescription diet. Even the monthly heartworm pills contain flavoring that can make your dog react! A food trial really is one of the least expensive ways to find out if your dog has a food allergy and if so, exactly what he is allergic to. Once he has been eating ZD (or another hydrolyzed diet) for about a month to 6 weeks you can experiment with adding in one food at a time (like plain beef, chicken, corn) to see if you can figure out what he is allergic to.

 

Of course, first you would want to know if allergies really are the problem! We were reviewing cases during dermatology where the primary vet had misdiagnosed the dog. In one of them the dog had mange but was being treated for a skin infection for months. The vet had decided the dog must instead have Lupus and has started immunosupressive therapy, the LAST thing you want to do if the dog has a parasitic infection!

[OurBoys]

Process of elimination is the best way to figure out the right diet for Cody. If the ZD doesn't work, I would switch to a grainless and see how that works. A lot of dogs are allergic to corn.

 

There is an allergy skin test they give to dogs around here but I think they travel around. They are in the area about once or twice a month and it can take a month to get him in. It's also expensive ($600-$800). That's what JJ's vet told me so she might be a bit off.

 

Did your vet scrape his skin and look at it under the microscope? JJ's hygroma vet didn't and assumed he had a staph infection and loaded us down with a bunch of meds including the shampoo. When I took him back another time, JJ saw a different vet (same group). She scraped his skin and looked at it under the microscope. It turned out to be a bacterial infection instead.

[BustopherJones]

Annie is also extremely food-sensitive, and Missy is battling cancer and Cushing's Disease. Both dogs are on prescription dry food (Royal Canin Intestinal HE). Annie is also on prescription moist food (also Intestinal HE), while Missy gets a combination of Innova Senior and Merrick mixed with the kibble. I agree that it is an expensive proposition; but since going on this diet, Annie has not had a recurrence of the diarrhea that used to plague her regularly. As has been suggested, it may take more than one try to find the right combination of foods; I would trust your vet to guide you through the process.

[nowwown]

Hi,

 

Just a quick update that four days into the Prescription Diet ZD, with some "mixed in" "old" food to transition, Cody is already doing better in the poop department. So far, so good. And he's totally off the mix of yummy treats I used to give him daily to keep him occupied while we were gone. He gets two little Prescription Diet hypo-allergenic biscuits that the vet suggested instead.

 

His skin scabs are already clearing up and he seems as lively and healthy as he was before.

 

I haven't used the prescription shampoo on him yet but will give him a bath this weekend with it.

 

So we'll see. After a month of this, we will be able to introduce some other foods one at a time.

 

Any other suggestions are very welcome...

 

And thanks for your input and comments. I ALWAYS learn so much from others on this board.

[OurBoys]

That's good news! Glad to hear Cody's doing better!

[urge to herd]

That's great news. For treats, our dermatologist said Shoshone could have anything that was already an ingredient in the kibble she was on. That meant she could have rice cakes, or cooked rice, etc. He also said she could have steamed squashes, like pumpkin or any hard winter squash, and she LOVED bits of those. Check w/your vet to be sure, but you may be able to have a little more variety in treats.

 

Hope everything continues on as well as it has begun.

 

Ruth n the BC3

[MaggieDog]

You might want to consider going to a holistic vet for longterm treatment. My parents' had great luck w/ their cat who developed food allergies late in life - the holistic vet turned him around much more quickly than what our traditional vet could do.

[nowwown]

You might want to consider going to a holistic vet for longterm treatment. My parents' had great luck w/ their cat who developed food allergies late in life - the holistic vet turned him around much more quickly than what our traditional vet could do.

 

How would I find a holistic vet in my area vs. a "regular" vet?

[MaggieDog]

Go here: http://www.holisticvetlist.com/

[nowwown]

Go here: http://www.holisticvetlist.com/

 

Thanks. There is a vet here in Charlotte, they are about 30 minutes away, not so bad. I will contact them.

[MaggieDog]

You're in Charlotte? NC? I'm only about an hour from you! Small world. Let me know how the contact goes, I'm in the holistic vet market myself.