Alright, after last nights charade - I am starting to wonder if Delilah has a chicken allergy. She has always been a bit of an itcher, Yesterday, I fed Delilah her Grandma Lucy's, like normal, and she seemed to like it just fine, in fact she always enjoys eating it. .But, then we went outside, she scratched her face (which she does quite a bit) when we came in and the hopped on the couch. After that, she became lethargic, started vomiting and her muzzle got red, itchy and swollen. When we go to the E Vet, she vomited again and her face got incredibly swollen and she was itching like crazy.

Now, they said they think she must have gotten stung, but thanks to her coat were unable to find anything. I'm starting to really think it might be the chicken.

What do you think?

Has she reacted to her GL food like this before? Have you noticed these symptoms gradually leading up to this episode?

I personally have not experienced or heard of the vomiting and swelling symptoms to food allergies but I have heard the itching symptom.

If you gave her another food other than chicken or turkey based protein, does she itch?

Allergic reactions can take many forms, including any parts of the body sensitive to histamine. Swelling would be consistent with high levels of histamine in an allergic reaction. The face and around the eyes is very vulnerable. Even if your dog gets stung on the tail, the swelling can occur around the eyes, face and lips.

I am not sure why anyone would use that food. Clearly the company cannot even formulate a correct calcium/phosphorous ratio.

How much zinc is in that food? What are the Omega 3 levels and what is the source?

I agree with Claudia. If there were no problems with the GL before this, I think it's unlikely it just developed now.

Claudia and Tori,

You don't think it could be a progressive issue? I have noticed that she was itching her face a lot after she ate, but i wasn't sure if it was related. either way, I'm going to avoid chicken for now.

What do you guys think of the Artisan freeze dried? I only wonder because I was considering feeding the fish formula or one of the other more hypoallergenic formulas.

Grandma Lucy's doesn't have a fish formula in their freeze dried Artisan or Pureformance line. The only 'whole' (GL, THK, etc.) that has a fish formula is The Honest Kitchen. At least that I know of (It's one of the reasons why I'm on THK - Ginger does extremely well on fish).

Just so you don't have to make a long transition, maybe you can try another protien in GL's line of Artisan other than chicken or turkey? Or GL's Pureformance Rabbit or Lamb?

Otherwise, you can try THK Zeal (fish protein base formula).

Oh! You could try GL's Artisan Pre-Mix and add your own fish (so you wouldn't have to make much of a transition except on the fish portion) and see how she does.....

Hmm we are thinking of going with thk - anyone have any coupons?

I do! PM me your email address and I will email some to you.

How do you guys feel about Earthborn? We were thinking about trying their Coastal Catch

Earthborn is a great food. We just switched from TOTW to Earthborn to try something new and are really pleased with it. Great protein count, reliable company... came highly recommended by some members on this forum and we are pleased. The price is very comparable to TOTW too.

Koda wrote:

Earthborn is a great food..

Agreed, I'd have no reservations giving it a try. Although I haven't tried it with my dogs to date.

Huskyluv wrote:

Koda wrote:

Earthborn is a great food..

Agreed, I'd have no reservations giving it a try. Although I haven't tried it with my dogs to date.

I also know a few other non-forum members feeding this to their huskies and they (human and huskies) are fond of Earthborn.

I would feed Earthborn over TOTW...

But with Rodeo his allergic reactions built up. He was on a higher quality kibble from day 1 and slowly but surely he began to react to the chicken in most foods, in time he couldn't tolerate kibble at all. But he was fine initially on all foods it seemed. Once we completely eliminated chicken from the diet and then put him on raw- it was an overnight change. So what you're experiencing could be a chicken intolerance.

IT just seems like they have chicken in a lot of their products. We do want to give it a try, but it might be a better option for us to find a fish bashed. Even if it's not necessary, we do want to try to get away from the chicken for a bit, to see if Delilah is sensitive to it or not.

arooroomom wrote:

I would feed Earthborn over TOTW...

But with Rodeo his allergic reactions built up. He was on a higher quality kibble from day 1 and slowly but surely he began to react to the chicken in most foods, in time he couldn't tolerate kibble at all. But he was fine initially on all foods it seemed. Once we completely eliminated chicken from the diet and then put him on raw- it was an overnight change. So what you're experiencing could be a chicken intolerance.

That's what I was thinking! How did you start him on raw and how do you keep the cost down even though he cant have chicken? I've really been thinking of starting on PMR. I am just not willing to put her through that again.

What do you think ladies, PMR a good plan of action?

Blue Ridge Beef is the supplier we buy from. Initially- I was feeding those damn patties from Natures Variety (Venison) and once I saw the immediate change I knew we were going in the right direction. But $60/week for 1 dog wasn't going to cut it. I found that supplier through our local raw feeding yahoo group and they offer all sorts of novel proteins (Venison, Quail, Rabbit... ect. ect.) at decent prices and pre-ground so it was easy to store.

Since then we've expanded him to beef, quail, turkey... and he's taken it fine. We still avoid chicken in any form with him.

Kristina, they don't supply to us Would it be okay to try a butcher?

Sorry, I'm really new to this. I could use any help I can get. I am reading up, but I don't really know what is appropriate as far as meats. Can they have gizzards? Bones? I'm overwhelmed!

mheath0429 wrote:

Kristina, they don't supply to us Would it be okay to try a butcher?

Sorry, I'm really new to this. I could use any help I can get. I am reading up, but I don't really know what is appropriate as far as meats. Can they have gizzards? Bones? I'm overwhelmed!

Yeah, you can try anything really. We don't have much of a meat supply (besides chicken, pork, and beef) here so BRB was the option for us.

They can eat just about anything. For bone content I usually use chicken for everyone else and Rodeo either gets turkey necks or even ribs (turkey necks being the main source lol) You just want to avoid weight bearing bones. For regular meat I used to get whole pork shoulders and cut the meat off the bone (weight bearing) and feed that. Cow tongue, heart... seriously, anything! It's gross but the truth!

"Ideally" you shoot for about 80% meat, 10% bone, 10% organ. Usually my bone content is about 25% but that's just what my dogs do better on.

Try and search for raw feeding groups in your area, usually they won't mind revealing where they get the majority of their meats.

//Here you go http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/MichiganBARFersandSuppliers/

Thanks Kristina, I posted a thread about my raw questions, would love if you could give it a look and I will absolutely look up all of this info!