gooster Posted July 5, 2011 Report Share Posted July 5, 2011 As some of you may remember, we have been having lots of issues with Ted and his tummy. For years he was fed on Burns, but then seemed to develop an allergy to it. So we swapped him onto naturediet light, as his symptoms were looking like pancreatitis. However after he had been on that food about a month, the symptoms returned. We then tried him on naturediet sensitive, which again he was fine on for about 6 weeks before the symptoms came back with a vengeance. Following advice from the naturediet rep, we tried him on the lamb naturediet, which again he was fine with for a bit longer. In the meantime I took him to see one of my friends who is a vet in Nantwich. He did x rays, blood tests and took a sample of his poo for analysis, all of which came back fine. He did recommend a further blood test when he had his next attack, which he had this weekend at a flyball show (which luckily Tom was there, and was able to take bloods there and then). If it turns out Ted doesn't have pancreatitis, it is looking like he is going to have to go on a hydrolysed diet, which basically has the proteins of the food broken down into a different shape, so that his body doesn't set off an allergic response to it. From browsing on the web, it looks like the only hydrolysed diet available is Hills Zd I really don't want to feed Ted a food made by them, and the ingredients list is shocking, but I don't really know what else to do Am going to buy a small bag of wafcol salmon and potato today to see if he is allergic to that, but as we have already tried a food with salmon in and he was allergic to it, am not hopeful. Only theory I have is it might be the rice he is allergic to Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne Grose Posted July 5, 2011 Report Share Posted July 5, 2011 Have you thought about either home cooking (with no starches included) or trying a raw meat diet. I can't remember if we have had this conversation before, but if we have I apologise - it is my age Anne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kats n greys Posted July 5, 2011 Report Share Posted July 5, 2011 (edited) Have you tried the various "premium" foods? Like Acana or Orijen or Taste of the Wild Purina do a hydrolysed diet. Royal Canin too. Found this too:- Other Options to Consider Hydrolyzed protein diets are one option owners of dogs with food allergies can try, but they may not work in all cases. If your dog’s symptoms do not improve with a hydrolyzed protein diet, you may want a commercially prepared hypoallergenic diet that features unique sources of protein and carbohydrates that may not create an allergic reaction in your dog. If a hypoallergenic diet doesn’t work, you may want to try a bones and raw food (BARF) diet, which uses a combination of foods similar to those wild dogs eat, such as: fat muscle meat organ meat bones This omnivorous diet is believed by many to be healthier for your dog, but it may require an unusual meat source to be successful for your dog, which may be allergic to beef or poultry since both are commonly used in commercial pet foods. Copyright © 2010 VetInfo. Edited July 5, 2011 by kats n greys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gooster Posted July 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2011 Thanks, hills must be paying google a fortune to make sure that they feature so heavily in the search results when you google hydrolysed dog food We did feed him on a BARF diet when he was a puppy, but my main concern was that he wasn't getting the right nutrients for the growth and energy that he needed. His beard was also constanty needing to be washed (which he hates having done), which was why we swapped him to Burns. He also tended to vomit back any chunks of meat that we fed him (probably because he didn't chew them properly and just inhaled them). I suppose all this is going to hinge on the results of the blood test, which we should get in the next couple of days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne Grose Posted July 5, 2011 Report Share Posted July 5, 2011 Hi Gooster - when you get the results let us know. I have fed BARF to 3 generations of dogs now so if you are worried about getting the diet right I can certainly advise you. Some dogs really don't do well on cooked, just like some dogs don't do well on raw. Let's see what the results are and then we can see if we can help you find the right kind of diet for Ted. Hill's pays a fortune in promotion every year to make people think that their Prescription Diets are fantastic. Sadly most of the contents are chemicals and I would urge you to try and find something better than that to put inside Ted. Anne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gooster Posted July 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2011 Thank you My vet is going to write me a prescription for hydrolysed food if he does want to try ted on it, so hopefully it won't specify hills on it, so I can try either the purina or the royal canin one. Am trying to make it as easy as possible, as my parents have the task of feeding him most of the week, and don't have that much freezer space for made up portions (as I have borrowed their chest freezer ) Am planning on buying my own freezer though, so they can have theirs back!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kats n greys Posted July 5, 2011 Report Share Posted July 5, 2011 K9 Naturalis getting some good reviews- although it's expensive - people have commented that you need less than you think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceredigion Animal Rescue Posted July 5, 2011 Report Share Posted July 5, 2011 I take it you have tried Laughing Dog products? Had a tour of their premises in Rugby years ago and can confirm that the stuff is slowly oven baked and not extruded the way a lot of other stuff is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackmagic Posted July 5, 2011 Report Share Posted July 5, 2011 Have you considered seeing a holistic vet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gooster Posted July 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2011 Not considered a holistic vet, the vet we are seeing now is highly recommended by a lot of flyball people. I don't trust my current vet, which is why we go and see Tom. I suppose if Tom runs out of options, we'll go down the holistic route. With regards to trying other manufacturers, I think it is the meat source he is allergic to, which is why it doesn't make any difference the brand of food we feed him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gooster Posted July 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 Just phoned the vets to get the results of Ted's bloods. They came back normal, so am guessing we are going to be looking at special diets. Tom was busy, so couldn't speak to me, but he's going to ring me later today or tomorrow to discuss the next step. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne Grose Posted July 12, 2011 Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 Keep us informed as to his progress and if we can help - we will Anne Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gooster Posted August 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2011 Just to update you all in how we are getting on. We decided to keep Ted on Naturediet whilst we were on holiday, just in case he had a reaction to the prescription diet. Anyway, whilst we were away, his tummy improved loads. This got us thinking what he has at home that we didn't give him on holiday. It was at this point, Dad admitted that he usually gives all the dogs a little bit of milk after their breakfast. One day on holiday, dad gave him an empty pot that had had clotted cream in it, sure enough after a few hours, he had an upset tummy. We thought we had it sorted, so decided to keep him on the naturediet. Unfortunately, since coming home, despite not having any milk, his upset tummy has returned My theory is he's allergic to me going out to work, and needs his me around all the time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen Posted August 21, 2011 Report Share Posted August 21, 2011 How frustrating to be so close to getting Ted's digestion issues sorted! Do you think your parents are possibly sneaking something else into his food? Did you persuade your mum not to add cat food? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gooster Posted August 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 21, 2011 I don't think they have been putting anything in his food. Dad managed to take the cat food to work and give it to someone who actually has a cat!! Just ordered him the royal canin hypoallergenic food to see if that helps his tummy. Thankfully the insurers have paid out on the claim, and paid the vets direct, so we didn't need to pay anything towards the £500 vet bill we managed to spend!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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