# Bailey is SO itchy! Switch foods again??



## Jamiemarie (Jul 6, 2013)

Hi everyone,
Bailey has had a problem with an itchy face and head as well as tear staining. I switched her three days ago to Natural Balance limited ingredient duck and potato formula because of the suggestions in this forum. Well the first day I saw an increase in itching. I thought it was way too soon to judge it so I've been continuing. She was itching all night and biting herself! Also frantically licking her paws! It's definitely worse than before! I guess the limited ingredients are affecting her. Any advice? I'm really feeling discourged. This is her fourth food in two months.


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## tokipoki (Jun 20, 2012)

What other foods have you tried? I know some dogs don't do well with white potatoes. When I got Teddy, his former owner was feeding him Natural Balance (the organic formula) and he had horrible tearstaining and would itch a lot and lick his paws an excessive amount. I switched him to a grain-free and white potato-free food (Canine Caviar Open Sky) and that seems to have helped him immensely. I also looked into Nutrisca and Zignature but ended up being able to have a store special order the CC.


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## IzzysBellasMom (Jan 16, 2013)

A lot of dogs are also allergic to poultry, mostly chicken ingredients, but duck is in the poultry family. My daughters Jojo is allergic to everything. Everything outside, poultry and grains in food, and he won't eat much. I feed the Fromm Four Star Grain Free Beef Fritata kibble with the Wellness Wet 95% Lamb grain free. It literally has 95% of the ingredients are lamb. Good luck with the itching. Have you discussed giving him an allergy med? Jojo takes 1/2 Benadryl tablet in and and 1/2 in pm. When his itching is really bad I give him a whole pill though. It really does help especially when it's not food related. He potties outside so it is kinda hard to keep him from going there.


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## mdbflorida (Feb 28, 2013)

My Wheaten had the same problem and we had to keep trying new diets until we found one that worked for him. We are about to start Boo and Zach on Canine Caviar. It also is suppose to be good for allergies.


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## Jamiemarie (Jul 6, 2013)

Thanks guys! I know it will probably be more trial and error. I picked up the natures balance limited ingredient fish and sweet potato formula to try. Although honestly I hate the smell of fish and was a little put off when I opened the wet food and it smelled bad. I don't want her breath smelling of fish.. Yuck! The dry seems less smelly. Well see how this round goes! Thanks again for your reccomendations! I'll let you all know how it goes ))


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## RileyDC (Apr 20, 2011)

Riley has been eating Canine Caviar for almost a year now and still doing Awesome!!!!! LOVE IT!! He's On their website's testimonial page... :thumbsup:


Here is an earlier post of mine about it. 

http://spoiledmaltese.com/forum/60-...eats/128209-canine-caviar-6-months-later.html


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## Jamiemarie (Jul 6, 2013)

Wow! Canine Caviar is definitely something id like to try. I have been using only products that I can find at petco for now because I have a store credit in trying to use up. I don't think any retailers sell CC by me. Might have to find it online.


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## mdbflorida (Feb 28, 2013)

Yes, I just ordered mine from chewy.com Free shipping if you order the bigger bag


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## Jamiemarie (Jul 6, 2013)

Which flavor do you use?


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## mdbflorida (Feb 28, 2013)

I ordered the chicken and pearl millet, but others on here also use the ocean one. I am like you don't like the fishy breath


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## RileyDC (Apr 20, 2011)

Jamiemarie said:


> Which flavor do you use?


I ordered my first bag through chewy.com
I believe petfoodstation.com also sells it
I now have three places near that sell it.

I have been switching every bag between the open sky and the wild ocean. 
Riley can also be picky at times, but I have found that he Still really likes the CC... 

I will occasionally buy some of their canned and add about 1 teaspoon mixed with his kibble. Just to coat it a teeny bit for a special treat. 

He is about 9lbs and eats little under 1/4 cup morning and little under 1/4 cup night.


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## RileyDC (Apr 20, 2011)

Jamiemarie said:


> Thanks guys! I know it will probably be more trial and error. I picked up the natures balance limited ingredient fish and sweet potato formula to try. Although honestly I hate the smell of fish and was a little put off when I opened the wet food and it smelled bad. I don't want her breath smelling of fish.. Yuck! The dry seems less smelly. Well see how this round goes! Thanks again for your reccomendations! I'll let you all know how it goes ))


Riley's been eating the canine caviar wild ocean right now... He has never had fish smelling breath with it...

You may be able to call CC them and get samples sent to you??
They also have a Facebook site... They have great testimonials there, as well.


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## RileyDC (Apr 20, 2011)

I will be getting a bad of the open sky tomorrow...

If anybody would like me to send them a sample from it, just PM me. :thumbsup:


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## Jamiemarie (Jul 6, 2013)

Oh awesome! I found a location about 20 minutes from me who sells it! I'd prefer to buy it in person so I can bring it back if it doesn't work out.


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## gopotsgo (May 21, 2009)

I would switch the pup to a raw diet. I've had mine on it for years. They LOVE it. And it is so good for them


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## Grace'sMom (Feb 22, 2012)

Allergies are immune system reactions.

Gus was an "allergic to everything" dog... he still has multiple allergies (mainly environmental).

But for years he was allergic to just about every food we tried.

Homecook was the best option for him, but I know it's not for everyone.

He did really well on Fresh Pet - their Vital brand (grain free).

We considered Raw - tried it, but neither of mine would touch it. Not an option for us.

But I'm sure some you could find some kibbles that will work for Bailey. Or think about Raw. A lot of fluffs here have success with Stella and Chewy's... and they just crumble it dry I think.

I chose Fresh Pet because it was very few ingredients. No preservatives. Which Gus seems to react to. So it was the best option for us before we chose homecook.

The first step our Holistic vet did was have me eliminate "hot" foods from his diet - since inflammation is heat. She had me focus on "cooling" foods:

Yes, try to avoid white potatoes right now.

Fish, Turkey, Bison, or Beef are good cooling meats.

Lamb, chicken, venison - tend to be "heating" - Lamb is the "hottest" meat. So avoid those if you can.

I liked the Freshpet because it had other things in it she recommended: blue berries, spinach, pomegranates, and other veggies.

I switched between 2-3 kinds of the FreshPet Vital - one kind a week.

Also gave him pureed fruits - strawberries, bananas (very cooling), cucumber

He was also put on Traumeel by Heel which is a homeopathic anti-inflammatory.

We stayed on "cooling" foods and the Traumeel for a month. Then when his symptoms got better started introducing more "warming" foods.

Eventually because of Grace needing to be vegetarian, we did homecook. And he thrives on that. But I would have kept him on the FreshPet had we not gone homecook.

The important thing is:

1. Lower the inflammation - because if you don't, Bailey is likely to develop allergies to foods you switch to. Traumeel by Heel - Grace and Gus both get 1/2 tab twice a day. That's been the dose since Grace was a 3 pound puppy. It helps a ton. You can get it on Amazon or at a health food store.

2. Switch foods. Don't stay on the same formula for more than a month. With a dog who is super high allergy you may need to switch every 1-2 weeks. Rotate the foods. Try to do different proteins and if you choose a grain different grains. At least 2 different foods.

Hope Bailey feels better soon.


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## Jamiemarie (Jul 6, 2013)

Thank you so much Tori! I see your dog Gracie is a maltipoo as well! I was really considering Vitals by fresh pet. Although they have a ton of ingredients so it scared me off a bit. She was on their bagged version ( little round pieces of soft fresh food) that I kept in the fridge although she still itched...could have been the chicken in it? I'll definitely look back into it. Thank you for such an in depth response!


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## Grace'sMom (Feb 22, 2012)

It was probably the chicken and maybe beef.

Gracie is a Maltipoo 

And Gus is a poodle mix.

The easiest way for me to figure out what Gus could eat was cutting things down to just 1-2 proteins and then fruits and veggies.

No grains.

And I went to proteins that are less likely to cause allergies... Fish is one.

He can eat Millet, Rice, and Quinoa. But we try to stay away from Wheat, oats, and barely.

He and Grace are vegetarians now, so only eat eggs and cheese.

But I kept him away from Poultry (Chicken, Duck, Turkey), Beef, Lamb, and even Bison (though that may be a good option for you).

He ate things that are harder to find: Rabbit, different Fishes, Boar, etc.... I used Acana brand dog food for this. I liked it because I could get him very small bags (slightly bigger than samples) to try out to make sure. Because like Bailey he showed allergies fast. So if he got red ears or itchy I'd just not feed it again. But Acana had different grainfree brands with proteins that aren't typically seen.

I don't know if they still have them... haven't shopped for dog food in ages.

Keep trying. You will find something that will work.


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## MalteseJane (Nov 21, 2004)

I don't know, but it seems to me that you are mostly focusing on one ingredient and it's the protein who is the meat. But you don't take in consideration all of the other stuff that's in dog food. And in my opinion, that's the one who is the most harmful to the dog. 
Charlie has mostly home cooked food. He is not allergic to anything. Maybe because there are no chemicals in his food. He is getting a whole variety of meat depending on what WE are eating. His basic plate is : raw eye of round beef mixed with rice and vegetables. But depending on what WE eat, he will get veal, pork, rabbit, duck, cornish hen and even sole filet or smoked salmon or foie gras. I have some dog kibbles just in case because he rarely eats in the morning and you cannot let people food out all the time. I hope I choose the right ones even tho he rarely touches them. I have the Ultra Mix Lamb and Rice (http://www.wag.com/dog/p/castor-pollux-natural-ultramix-lamb-rice-adult-dog-food-116057?site=CA&utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc_W&utm_term=CAS-043&utm_campaign=GooglePLA&CAWELAID=1323896867&utm_content=pla&ca_sku=CAS-043&ca_gpa=pla&ca_kw={keyword}
I have it in my freezer because a bag will last for ever.


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## mysugarbears (Aug 13, 2007)

I feed a raw diet (Stella and Chewy's frozen raw) in the morning and Grandma Lucy's Pureformance (right now they're eating the formula with rabbit). I was feeding Primal frozen raw and still had some itchy pups with terrible staining, i noticed that Primal now has yams in their food...that's the reason for the switch to Stella and Chewy's...no yams and there are no yams or potato of any kind in the Grandma Lucy's Pureformance....the itching has decreased tremendously along with the chewing of the feet and the tear staining is finally clearing up. Chloe and Kelly have a problem with yeast and that was the reason i looked really closely at the ingredients in the food.


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## Jamiemarie (Jul 6, 2013)

I just bought bailey some of the canine caviar ocean one. I had to special order it. At first feeding she didnt seem to love it. The kibbles are a little larger than her previous food. She's 9 month old and she's used to very tiny kibbles. Hopefully she'll get used to it.


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## Grace'sMom (Feb 22, 2012)

You can always try breaking the kibbles... I did this for Grace as a puppy... put them in a baggie and rolled them with the rolling pin (or could crush them with a mallet).... breaks them up a big so they are pieces.


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