# Wheat, Barley, Oat, Grain - I'm confused about allergies!



## Hunter's Mom

My vet said that Hunter should be on a grain free diet and I should start him on a poultry free diet. I understand that poultry includes chicken, turkey, and duck BUT could someone please help me to figure out just what grains are. Are Barley and Oats grains too? I tried google and ended up with too many links that were too confusing to me.

Hunter and I both thank you.


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## jmm

Your choices are prescription diets (rabbit/potato, venison/potato, fish/potato) or over the counter diets with similar protein/carb sources.


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## Nikki's Mom

grains: 

wheat
corn
rye
oats
millet
barley
rice
triticale
spelt
amaranth
quinoa
teff


potatoes and peas are _not_ grains, but they are carbohydrates.


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## Hunter's Mom

Thank you so much for this list. Finding treats has been really hard without knowing what the 'hidden' grains are!


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## dwerten

The proteins are the source of allergies- pollens are proteins, flea saliva is a protein and meat are a source of protein so some vets feel that a vegetarian diet is suited best for a allergy dog like natural balance vegetarian. I am on an allergy dog group on yahoo and have been for years and many dogs do well on duck and potato by natural balance and fish and sweet potato -- if your dog has never eaten fish or duck then do 12 weeks with no treats or anything with one of these diets as they are way cheaper than vet foods and good quality and on the wdj for best dry foods. 

Many believe grains cause problems in dogs and trigger yeast thus causing dogs to itch more. This is why with allergy dogs i stay away from oatmeal shampoos even though everyone things they are best as they are drying and allergy dogs can be allergic to it as mine is. I use hypoallergenic shampoos - earthbath hypoallergenic works best on her. 

It is best to put limited ingredients into an allergy dog diet even if environmental to keep the system from being overactive -

Blood can determine environmental allergy but not food allergy -- the only way to know if truly a food allergy is through elimination diet. Allergies to food are only 10% of the time --90% of the time it is environmental and those are the toughest to control  




QUOTE (Hunter's Mom @ Feb 2 2009, 07:22 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=718065


> My vet said that Hunter should be on a grain free diet and I should start him on a poultry free diet. I understand that poultry includes chicken, turkey, and duck BUT could someone please help me to figure out just what grains are. Are Barley and Oats grains too? I tried google and ended up with too many links that were too confusing to me.
> 
> Hunter and I both thank you.[/B]


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## dwerten

if you do the natural balance foods they have treats to go with the food as well 


QUOTE (Hunter's Mom @ Feb 2 2009, 08:37 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=718111


> Thank you so much for this list. Finding treats has been really hard without knowing what the 'hidden' grains are![/B]


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## dwerten

white potato is inflammatory and sweet potato are not also so I tend to go the sweet potato route as demi and dex vomit potato up. A good test is to steam some white potato and i always use organic. If your dog can keep it down then they do not have an issue as my dd eats potato every day as i pill her with it but whenever i give to dex or demi they vomit so I know neither can tolerate it and how i found out dex could not eat potato based diets.




QUOTE (Nikki's Mom @ Feb 2 2009, 08:21 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=718101


> grains:
> 
> wheat
> corn
> rye
> oats
> millet
> barley
> rice
> triticale
> spelt
> amaranth
> quinoa
> teff
> 
> 
> potatoes and peas are _not_ grains, but they are carbohydrates.[/B]


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## elizabeth

Some may not agree, but after trying Bella on 8 different high quality dry foods, I gave up and took the advice of the vet who sai: "why not canned food, it is more pure if it is a high quality food". So, I have her on EVO canned. It is pure meat and veggies and some fruit. NO grains because it doesn't need them to bind the food into kibbles. She loves it, no more allergie to grains and no more fighting to get her to eat. I just have to brush her teeth or make sure she chews on flossies etc to help with tartar.
Something for you to consider. Hope you get it all figured out!
Hugs!
Elizabeth


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## Hunter's Mom

Right now we are on NB duck and potato but are going to be switching to NB venison and sweet potato as well as switching the treats. We have some other treats left over and will be using those up because we don't have the money to just throw everything else out and he's not sick from the food - he just has lots of tearing so the vet said it was ok to finish up what we have. I'd say we have about one month's worth of stuff before we are on a 100% grain and poultry free diet.


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## dwerten

yes and dust mites which most allergy dogs are allergic to are also in kibble as well. Brushing is good as i have read that soft food gets under the gum line easier thus causing gum issues in dogs. 


QUOTE (Elizabeth @ Feb 2 2009, 11:39 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=718268


> Some may not agree, but after trying Bella on 8 different high quality dry foods, I gave up and took the advice of the vet who sai: "why not canned food, it is more pure if it is a high quality food". So, I have her on EVO canned. It is pure meat and veggies and some fruit. NO grains because it doesn't need them to bind the food into kibbles. She loves it, no more allergie to grains and no more fighting to get her to eat. I just have to brush her teeth or make sure she chews on flossies etc to help with tartar.
> Something for you to consider. Hope you get it all figured out!
> Hugs!
> Elizabeth[/B]


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## dwerten

a true elimination diet takes 12 weeks of only that before you start to see results as it takes that long for the allergents to get out of the system. 



QUOTE (Hunter's Mom @ Feb 3 2009, 06:22 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=718759


> Right now we are on NB duck and potato but are going to be switching to NB venison and sweet potato as well as switching the treats. We have some other treats left over and will be using those up because we don't have the money to just throw everything else out and he's not sick from the food - he just has lots of tearing so the vet said it was ok to finish up what we have. I'd say we have about one month's worth of stuff before we are on a 100% grain and poultry free diet.[/B]


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## Hunter's Mom

We knew about the 12 weeks - we were told that once we had eliminated all the 'yucky foods' to call the vet and we would schedule a consult during a visit in May that we have scheduled for a booster shot. Then we would schedule 6 weeks out to weigh him and do his necessary blood work to ensure that things are going ok. Our only problem is that puts us in the spring where we run into pollen trouble because Hunter also has issues with that.

As far as wet food - we were told to stay away because of his broken teeth and already poor dental health (he came to us this way) and his aversion to having us touch them. Too many cracks for the wet food to get into and not come out. But thanks for that advice - had my vet not said anything initially I would have been checking with him about it


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## 2maltese4me

I have to say. My bulldog was allergic to grains. Once I switched his food over to grain free. We saw results VERY fast. Within 3 weeks all his yeasty issues cleared up...no more itchy feet. I was amazed. That said, he also suffers from many other allergies...grass, trees, dust mites, human dander..so he is also on allergy shots...which are finally working. The other thing my vet suggested - because of all the airborne allergies was in addition to his weekly bath, to also rinse him down a few times a week. He thinks it helps to get all that "airborne" stuff off of his skin. I do think it's helping.

BTW- we also feed Natural Balance. We feed Sweet pot and Duck. He seemed to have issues with the Venison.


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## Hunter's Mom

QUOTE (2maltese4me @ Mar 4 2009, 10:59 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=739261


> I have to say. My bulldog was allergic to grains. Once I switched his food over to grain free. We saw results VERY fast. Within 3 weeks all his yeasty issues cleared up...no more itchy feet. I was amazed. That said, he also suffers from many other allergies...grass, trees, dust mites, human dander..so he is also on allergy shots...which are finally working. The other thing my vet suggested - because of all the airborne allergies was in addition to his weekly bath, to also rinse him down a few times a week. He thinks it helps to get all that "airborne" stuff off of his skin. I do think it's helping.
> 
> BTW- we also feed Natural Balance. We feed Sweet pot and Duck. He seemed to have issues with the Venison.[/B]


I am glad to see that I am not the only one with an allergy sick pup. We have switched all his food over and 99% of his treats. We are seeing great results. Combining that with weekly baths and the spa lavash face was every other day Hunter is looking and feeling good! We still have a little smell if I let his face wash go too long but skin and feet are great! 

Thanks to everyone for their help and suggestions - I really appreciate it!


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## Ladysmom

I am so glad you are seeing a big improvement! :cheer:


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