# Nat'l Bal Lamb/Rice for allergies & tear stains



## Bluebird (Nov 28, 2017)

Is Dick Van Patten Natural Balance Lamb & Rice likely to be a good quality food for a dog that has allergies and tear staining?

My husband and I adopted "Emily", a Maltese/terrior mix in late October. She was a mess: matted, heavily flea infested, and apparently had had no veterinary care. The first night we gave her Nexgard, which killed all fleas immediately, and put her on Orijen original formula dry chow. Unfortunately the foot chewing did not taper off as one would expect after eradication of fleas, and roughly 2 weeks ago the vet diagnosed allergies. What I mean to say is that he said the dog must be allergic to something other than the fleas. We put her on Apoquel to address the itching, and bought Dick Van Patten Limited Ingredient Diet Lamb and Rice dry chow. I just completed an 8-day switch-over to the new chow. The vet said it can take 8 weeks after an allergen is removed from the diet or environment before the itchiness goes away, so I will need to wait as much as 8 weeks, stop the Apoquel, and see if the itchy feet return, in order to know whether the change in food has removed the allergen.

The Natural Choice Limited Ingredient Diet line was recommended by an employee at the nearby Petco store. I am hoping some of you will give your opinion about this line of chow with regard to allergies and also to the tear staining. (I've been doing quite a bit of reading about tear staining and will be addressing it on multiple fronts, e.g. bottle water, wipes, stain remover, pro-biotics, but I understand that a high-quality food is part of the tear-stain battle.)

Any advice and opinions will be appreciated! Thanks!


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## maddysmom (Mar 8, 2012)

Hi! Not a fan of that food. A lot of dogs with allergies are also very reactive to rice.
I would be feeding a novel protein and carb your dog has never had. Kangaroo, bison, rabbit, zeal, boar are examples.
Your vet is correct about needing 8 weeks time before the antigen that is causing a reaction to rid from the body. Actually, it could take up to 12 weeks.
From what I'm seeing on my allergy forum, cytopoint injections are working much better, actually instantly than apoquel, so maybe you can talk to your vet about this to see if your fluff is a candidate for it. Less side effects too.
I do povidone and water foot soaks during allergy times and winter months when my girls are walking on treated roads. It draws out the toxins in the body. Air purifier help too.
Once you figure out what the allergen is that your fluff is reacting to, I bet the tear stains will clear up, unless it's a blocked tear duct, teething.


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