Dog's got tons of allergies, especially to grains, but even grain-free food giving him hives. Tips?

[Buttzerker]

I've talked to the vet multiple times and they've recommended three kinds of grain-free food [Blue Buffalo, Oxbow, and another I forget] but no luck. My dog's got hives pretty much no matter what almost 100% of the time, and I'm not sure what else to do.

Anyone know any good options for dog food that are sure to have no grain or grain by-product?

 

[Fiction]

If you find out let me know. Still trying to figure out what my dog is allergic to :(

 

[T002 Tyrant]

Was the dog's allergy test a wide spectrum one? I know I got one done online where you send some hairs in and they test your DNA against something like 300 things, there could be other things in the food. So I'm wondering If a similar service is available for pets?

I mean do you have a local butcher? I'm thinking offal might be the way to go instead of tinned food, and they may give you a good deal on cheap cuts you can feed. The vet may provide advice on preparing meat if necessary.

Just throwing ideas at a wall and seeing what sticks here.

 

[Buttzerker]

Was the dog's allergy test a wide spectrum one? I know I got one done online where you send some hairs in and they test your DNA against something like 300 things, there could be other things in the food. So I'm wondering If a similar service is available for pets?

I mean do you have a local butcher? I'm thinking offal might be the way to go instead of tinned food, and they may give you a good deal on cheap cuts you can feed. The vet may provide advice on preparing meat if necessary.

Just throwing ideas at a wall and seeing what sticks here.

Click to shrink...

They wanted like $450 for a wide spectrum test, which I just don't have right now. My budget's getting better, but I can only do so much. I'm also trying to consider environmental factors, changing the soap I bathe him with, washing all his linens/bedding etc, but unfortunately I'm also wondering if it's an issue with the very grass outside my apartment, which is kind of unavoidable.

 

[joecanada]

Did you try that raw food ? That's what my sister uses . It's in fridge in pet foods .
There's probably recipes online too

 

[T002 Tyrant]

They wanted like $450 for a wide spectrum test, which I just don't have right now. My budget's getting better, but I can only do so much. I'm also trying to consider environmental factors, changing the soap I bathe him with, washing all his linens/bedding etc, but unfortunately I'm also wondering if it's an issue with the very grass outside my apartment, which is kind of unavoidable.

Click to shrink...

I guess if it's unavoidable than antihistamines could be the only option? With food the only thing you can do is make food from scratch so you know what's in there, obviously get proper advice on vitamin balances etc. But at least you'll 100% know what is going into their diet, which means you can do an exclusion test easier. Again I'm just throwing ideas around rather than making it advice.

 

[AppleBanana]

We had our dog on some hydralized protein food from Royal canine. The best advice we received was to cycle through 1 protein ingredient at a time to figure out which is causing the issue. With our dog it turned out to be chicken.

Once we figured that out we switched back to regular kibble. Stella & Chewy's brand is great!

 

[Buttzerker]

We had our dog on some hydralized protein food from Royal canine. The best advice we received was to cycle through 1 protein ingredient at a time to figure out which is causing the issue. With our dog it turned out to be chicken.

Click to shrink...

Yeah I know for sure mine is allergic to chicken stock and finding food that has none of that or grain in it is difficult.

 

[Static]

Buttzerker here you are again taking care of another disadvantaged furry friend. You're a good guy. I hope you figure it out.

ps pics please

 

[Buttzerker]

Buttzerker here you are again taking care of another disadvantaged furry friend. You're a good guy. I hope you figure it out.

ps pics please

Click to shrink...

Haha sure. He's not new or anything, had this boy for about eight years now.

 

[evil solrac v3.0]

Raw diet. Cats had similar issues plus bloody stool and vomit constantly. Switching to a raw diet fixed it all. We tried all kinds of high end kibble, vet visits, etc.
Best decision i have made .
We order our meat from hare-today, they offer great quality.

 

[BLEEN]

Mutt or pure? Paperwork?

 

[BLEEN]

A lot of issues can be traced back based on the breed.

 

[III-V]

If you can handle it, stop bathing him for awhile. In my experience, this is often the issue. You may see the hives go away completely.

 

[Buttzerker]

If you can handle it, stop bathing him for awhile. In my experience, this is often the issue. You may see the hives go away completely.

Click to shrink...

I actually don't mind his smell and all but bathing him is the only thing that keeps the hives down. He gets way worse if I do not

 

[Buttzerker]

Mutt or pure? Paperwork?

Click to shrink...

Not sure. Vets always theorize Jack Russell and Beagle mix, with possibly some bulldog. No paperwork, found him in a parking lot in 2010