Vet wants change in food - Page 1

Through the years, many of my GSD's have had ear and skin problems always diagnosed to be food allergies. My current dogs are on Blackwoods 5000. It is a catfish/duck/potato food with no wheat, soy, corn etc to cause allergies. All 3 have wonderful coats, firm stool, good weight, etc. My vet lectures me each visit about the problem I will have if they develope food allergies. In my opinion, this has worked great for 3 years, and aren't there other foods like ZD Ultra that could be used if allergies arise? She wants me to go on a chicken based food. What do you think?

If your dogs do fine on the food you feed, and it meets minimum standards from the organization that sets the standards for dog food, it is up to you to make the decision. I personally would use a different protein source too, but then I do not have food allergies in any of the 23 GSDs I have and never have had such trouble in any dog I own. I think the most important thing about foods, besides the obvious need for meeting certain standards, is that sometimes with these other brands quality control is a real problem. Catfish are also bottom feeders so this is not the type of protein source I want to use because depending on where the catfish come from, they may be full of pollutants. Personally I use Royal Canin, Maxi GSD 24 and find the dogs do very well on it. The proof is in the pudding, in terms of how the dogs act, look and how much energy they have for working. I would not want to have to feed a food like ZD Ultra. It is not a very good food for a dog who is otherwise active and needs good nutrition, but it can help when dog does not do well on normal food. In my experience, food allergies are not as common as people like to think. But sometimes it is the first thing people think and then, without real proof that the food is the problem, they get talked into some really expensive diet which is not a great food.

Chicken is one of the leading food allergens so that does not make much sense. Feeding Z/D Ultra would be silly if your dogs are not having any problems, the stuff is $40 for 18lbs so feeding 3 GSD's would become outragiously expensive! If the dogs are doing well on the food they are on, I see no need to switch provided the catfish is farm raised and not wild caught. Like hodie says, I wouldn't want bottom feeder protein from an unknown source.

Gershep2 wrote: "Through the years, many of my GSD's have had ear and skin problems always diagnosed to be food allergies." My first question to you is this: have all your dogs come from the same breeder and/or same or similar lineage? If the answer to that question is 'yes', then I'd have to wonder about the breeding program's vitality...and would probably stay away from either that particular breeder, or those particular combinations of lines, in the future. Your present dogs are doing well, but if all you've ever fed them is the 'speciality' food, you really don't know if they are affected with allergies to the more common feed ingredients, just as your previous dogs were. The only way to truly know that would be to try them on it...and I don't know that I'd want to go that route if I were in your position. That said, you made a comment that needs to be addressed: "My current dogs are on Blackwoods 5000. It is a catfish/duck/potato food with no wheat, soy, corn etc to cause allergies" Foods don't CAUSE allergies--they cause reactions which are classified as allergic responses when the symptoms or conditions occur only in relation to exposure to a substance to which the affected individual is hypersensitive. Therefore, you can't cause a dog to be allergic to wheat or chicken--all you can do is bring that propensity to the surface when you feed an item that is found to be an allergen for that dog. There is some thought that we unwittingly can create food allergies by feeding a variety of 'new' foods too early in a pup's life, instead of gradually introducing one or two items of the most bio-available foods (such as egg whites, cooked rice, cottage cheese, etc) in small amounts once the pup is fully weaned. Whether or not this theory will prove out remains to be seen, but it is an interesting point to consider.

Gershep2: a couple of suggestions to consider. First a dirty or infected ear canal can cause dogs to scratch their ears and other body parts. If you haven't done this recently you may want to clean each ear and inspect the canal with a scope (you can buy at the drug store cheaply). If there is infection and/or mites, get this treated. Second, if this doesn't work have a TLI blood test drawn to look for low pancreas output which can in some cases cause skin problems and scratching. If not found, it may be an inhalation allergy alone, which likely will respond quickly to a vet's RX for benadryl, and baths in oat based shampoo.

No, my dogs have not come from the same breeder or lines, and I have no problems with my current 3. All of my dogs, past and present have always had their ears cared for properly. The 2 with the ear problems were diagnosed by 2 different vets as having the sensitivity to wheat. I am well aware that we don't make them allergic, but I remember all too well how miserable the dogs were in the past with the skin and ear problems, and was hoping to not put the current kids through that should any of them have the same sensitity.

"my dogs have not come from the same breeder or lines" More proof that ALLERGIES ARE A REAL PROBLEM IN THE GS. BTW, I agree - why change if your dogs are OK? Only be prepared to change if it looks as if they dogs are gaining allergies.

My take is "if it ain't broke don't fix it" BTW, I do have a dog who IS allergic to chicken. The usefullness of the Z/D to me is that it allowed an elimination diet to find the culprits (alas, flax is one of them). I would NOT find it to be adequate as a long term food if you ever need to go that route - there is a lot wrong about it to me (I was having to feed 6 cups to barely maintin weight on a dog who is doing just fine on 2 cups of the Purina and it smells funky and has ethoxyquin.....) Right now he is doing great on Purine ONE Sensitive Systems which is salmon based (and BTW has corn - another common allergen that does not bother him - ) My other two GSDs could probably eat rocks and not have problems; he is the only one with food sensitivities......