an allergy story for anyone interested............ - Page 1

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Rik

by Rik on 04 February 2021 - 11:02

my dad, who is 93, has a shih tzu, who has suffered terrible allergies for several years. he has spent several thousand dollars over the years. ear infections, constant chewing on his feet, skin broken with open sores at times. I have been giving him a shot every month and ear meds to keep it under control.

whatever my dad ate, he fed Harley, didn't matter what it was. the dog was grossly overweight and I couldn't make my dad understand this was bad for the dog.

long story short, for the past couple of months, my dad has been unable to care for Harley, so my sisters or I have been feeding him. he gets 1 small can of white chicken and kibble only. he has lost close to 10 lbs. but the most amazing thing is that when it was time for his shot this month, he didn't really need it. I haven't had to use ear meds in over a month and he has stopped chewing his feet. skin is clear.

makes me wonder what the hell is put in our processed foods and maybe I should try kibble.

if his skin is still clear next month, I'm going to postpone the shot and see how he does.

always learning,

Rik

GK1

by GK1 on 17 February 2021 - 09:02

who knows, maybe less the food and more the miracle of weight loss. I can't speak for other countries, but a high % of dogs in the US are chronically overweight and sedentary. More profitable for vets to prescribe meds than to educate their clients regarding long term lifestyle changes.

Q Man

by Q Man on 17 February 2021 - 11:02

I think it also depended on what your Dad was feeding his dog...RAW diets are better in a lot of ways...But even RAW diets have drawbacks...Such as what is put in our meats...etc...
I feel "Dog Foods" such as Kibble is some of the worst stuff we can give our dogs...Of course some are a lot better then others...
I think your Dad might not have been feeding his dog the best foods and probably feeding too much...

~Bob~

by Klossbruhe on 17 February 2021 - 11:02

Glad to hear the improvement. Having dealt with allergies or what may have been allergies with several of my GSDs over the years, I can tell you that the possible variables that may be causing the allergic response are almost endless---food, environment, heredity are the big ones.

One would not have thought that kibble and chicken would be the answer...chicken so often is an allergen. Anyway, my guess would be a change of environment, that there may have been some substance in your father's home or yard causing problems. Strike that, if your father was living with you or you with him...Still, its great that the dog has improved.

Bad as processed foods are, if I were you, I don't think you should start eating kibble...good on the wallet, tough on the teeth and you might notice a change in your bms...

Rik

by Rik on 17 February 2021 - 11:02

Qman, whatever he ate, the dog ate. Spaghetti, chili, brunswick stew, lots of spicy foods didn't matter. I will say that the dog has a pretty strong digestive system as I've had dogs in the past that would have blow outs on a diet like this.

another thing is spring is just around the corner so will be interesting to see if there could be some environmental issues.

I'm not advocating any particular diet, just that restricting what this dog has access to seems to have helped a lot.

at one point, I was having to bath 2 times/week with medicated shampoo and ear meds 3-4 times per week plus shots.

another thing is that there are several shih tzu (not related) in my family and all have allergy issues requiring vet care.

A trip to the vet in my area, for this issue, is an automatic $200-$300.

by jillmissal on 17 February 2021 - 21:02

Raw diets, for the thousandth time, are not better.

Hundmutter

by Hundmutter on 18 February 2021 - 04:02

Jillmissal: Didn't see anyone here suggesting even that raw should be fed, let alone that raw is (always) better.

Rik didn't put his dad's dog on a raw diet, he simply fed him kibble plus canned chicken. What he also did was stop all the inappropriate feeding and over-feeding. And made some environmental changes / maybe increased exercise. Of course he got a result.

Rik

by Rik on 18 February 2021 - 08:02

actually, the environment hasn't changed, he's still with my dad. It would be very detrimental to both if he were removed. we just go to extra effort to keep them together.

as mentioned by Kioss, chicken was the first suspect, because of all the additives, but apparently Harley has no issues with it. The kibble is also chicken based, Purina ONE.

we did have an allergy panel run on him a few years ago, but I'm not sure I can put my hands on it.

and I;m sure we wrung the raw stuff out pretty thoroughly in the other thread. some people/dogs have good results with it, some
don't. and I see no benefit to it being repeated a thousand more times, especially by someone just parroting what they read or google.

and to be sure, I'm not putting forth some miracle cure, just the results seen first hand from these changes.

environment will be observed when all the pollen and grasses come out. if he regrades to his past condition, I think it will be reasonable to assume that the allergies are not food based.


by jillmissal on 19 February 2021 - 09:02

@hund, upthread someone did. Someone always does. They just can't stop no matter what evidence is put in front of them.

@rik, allergy panels are notoriously unreliable in dogs. Food trials are the only way to identify allergens. Sounds like the pup was just having too much junk food.

Hundmutter

by Hundmutter on 19 February 2021 - 12:02

I did read back through this whole thred before I wrote that. Promoting Raw may have been what Q Man and Klossbruhe were doing but they both qualified what they were saying, in neither case did either state "Raw = better". Neither seemed to be pushing for a raw diet in this particular case. Like Rik, I thought enough had been said on the other thred to discourage such an "Oh no it isn't ! " response from you. You seem to be living up to your own remark about not being able to resist.

Rik I hate to state the obvious but even if the dog is still living with your father, the agreement to let you take over the feeding and (apparently) leaving out or drastically cutting down on the human foods and snacks while he is unable to care for the dog IS an 'environmental change'. Living accomodation or location is not the whole environment.






 


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