What is the best dog food for a dog that is sensitive to it’s food and will start scratching?
Thursday, January 26th, 2012 at
7:02 pm
My dog is really picky about food and I notice when she eats cheap brand foods she starts scratching. What is the best dog food any one out there has used for a sensitive dog.
taste of the wild is a great all natural dog food
iams.
my dog has that too..apparently he’s allergic to wheat which is what they use in most cheap dog foods as a filler. He does well on Eukunaba but doesn’t like it. Some people say the raw food diet helps with that..I couldn’t do it though.
ProPlan Sensitive Systems. Or Natural Balance. Most definitely stop feeding the horrible store brand foods. They are bad for your animals in general, let alone an animal that has sensitivity to foods. I highly recommend the ProPlan, but if your pets symptoms worsen, you may have to take her to the vet. The vet sells prescription diet foods for pets with issues just as you are describing. But they are expensive, so I would try the ProPlan first. You can get that at Petco or Petsmart.
You won’t really know until you find out what is in the food to which your dog is allergic. Let your vet run the food allergy tests. Then you’ll know if it’s corn or a certain meat, or whatever. Based on that, you can choose the right food. Otherwise, you’ll just be guessing at the expense of your dog’s comfort.
The reason the cheap dog food is making her scratch is because it doesn’t have the nutrients for the skin…purina is a good one, my dogs have very sensitive skin and I have to give them a fish oil pill everyday or they get dandruff and scratch…make sure the food is proper for the size, age and breed (it does make a difference) the best I have found to deal with sensitive skin in dogs is fish oil and purina.
I have a pug that has major allergies. The allergies usually come from GRAINS- cheaper foods including IAMS are full of grains. The best thing to do is go to a higher end dog food store and get a food that is GRAIN FREE. It will work trust me.
Most likely they will give you free samples to try.
The best would be foods with a base of lamb and rice, which seem to be more hypoallergenic.
Science diet! That has worked wonders for my dogs. They have specialized brands such as “sensitive skin”, “sensitive stomach”, etc. It is a little on the expensive side, but I would say it is well worth it!
if your dog is scratching due to the food then the dog probably either has a poor coat due to the food or the dog has food allergies. if the dog has food allergies then you should take it to the vet and determine what it is that your dog is allergic to and avoid food containing those things. you should also try to avoid foods with corn meal and high in grains (many dogs are allergic to these and they are not easily digested by dogs). i know of some dogs that are allergic to chicken or other major meats used in dog food
IAMS, Eukanuba, Purina are all garbage foods. Anything you buy at the market is junk. My dogs do well on Canidae.
diamond…chicken is the first ingredient…and no byproducts… ;o)
or you can make your own…with natural products…like ground beef boiled…or chicken boiled…and add rice to them…
She sounds like she has allergies to something in the food.I had gone through that for years.The vet has a food that you can start your dog on.hypallergetic food.The name escapes me right now.but your vet will know it since it can only be purchased through vets and MAYBE certain specialty stores(doubtful).(I am thinking the name is Hills hypoallergetic food???)
All the grocery store foods are full of fillers, and its very likely your dog is allergic and sensitive to some if not all of those.
Go to the list below and find something rated 5-6. Those are the best foods. Try to find one that is grain free. It will list the ingredients and give it a rating and explain why the good the rating it did.
http://www.dogfoodanalysis.com/dog_food_reviews/
There are plenty of options you can go with that will help your dog. The reason your dog scratches when on a cheap brand of food is because the chances are the food you are feeding contains, wheat, soy, corn or preservatives. Your best choice would be to switch to a food that is 100% allergen and 100% grain free.
Some choices are: Pinnacle Holistic, Orijen, EVO, Merrick, Solid Gold, Wellness CORE, Honest Kitchen and Timberwolf.
Honest kitchen is 100% human grade dehydrated dog food that is all natural with no fillers and no corn, wheat or soy.
If you switch to a food that is 100% grain free [devoid of corn, wheat, soy protein and preservatives] you’ll notice a huge difference in your dog [no scratching].
Do the cheap brands all have the same protein source (meat)? It’s most likely the wheat and beet pulp they are using for filler, but it could also be the protein source. I had a dog that was allergic to lamb and corn so we had to be very careful with what we fed her. I would recommend an allergy test and careful monitoring of your dog’s diet. Watch what treats you give her and make sure she eats nothing but dog food while you are trying to narrow down her allergies. Remember that it will take a couple weeks to see any results so once you switch her from a food that is causing allergies, wait to see if the new food is working before switching again. If you’re looking for good, not too expensive food, Purina Pro Plan is pretty good; it’s really the only good food Purina makes. I’ve also heard Kirkland’s (CostCo brand) dog food, while not top of the line super premium, is good and not too expensive. I recently switched my dogs from Pro Plan to Blue Buffalo Large Breed formula Chicken and Brown Rice (a little more expensive) and they are doing great. Even our 14 year old poodle is doing well on it. Good luck, I hope you find a food both of you can live with!
Any dog who’s “sensitive” to food is allergic to one of three things. Number 1: Grains in grocery store brand dog foods. Number 2: Cooked proteins. Number 3: The fillers and other junk that’s dumped into dog food. The best way to make sure your dog isn’t eating any of those things is to stop feeding dog food…they’re all cooked, most have grains, and all have some sort of filler…research a raw prey modeled diet…
I have a dog with food allergies. I haven’t had any testing done to see what exactly he’s allergic to. I just feed him a hypo-allergenic food, one made with fish and potato which avoids the usual allergens which are grains and meat of any kind including chicken. If your dog is picky, try mixing a spoonful of canned salmon in with the dry food. I have yet to see a dog who didn’t go nuts over fish. A spoonful of olive oil is good too.
The hypo-allergenic food may seem expensive but it’s much cheaper than vet visits, and usually with better quality food you don’t need to feed as much.
Also make sure that the dog gets nothing, and I mean nothing, other than its special food. Most dog treats have grains so if you must, use some of the dry food for treats. You should see a difference in a couple of weeks if a food allergy is causing this itchiness.
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Cheap brands have corn (bad for dogs) and lots of filler grain.
My dog eats Canidae no grain formula. It isn’t cheap, but it does have junk like corn in it.
I actually agree with Bonnie. Canidae is really good food. Also decently priced. The better quality food, the less your dog will eat and the less waste it will have also.
If you want really good food, don’t feed your dog anything that has the ingredients “corn” or “animal by-products”.
To put it plain and simple, all dogs are carnivores NOT herbivores. Most cheap dog foods have many things that are not so great for your dog and act as fillers (wheat, other grains).
Look on the back label for proteins and fats. Protein should be no less than 30%, and fats no less than 18%. Also, look at the list of ingredients and meat should be the first thing (its usually chicken) on the list. Also stay away from foods that contain food coloring. With all this you should be able to find a good food, and there are many of these out there, that makes your dog one happy 4 legged animal
I would first caution you against assuming that it is a food allergy. Even if you are correct, dogs who have one allergy frequently have other allergies. To be the best pet-parent that you can be, please make an appointment with your veterinarian to have your dog tested for both food and environmental allergies. Your goal should be to definitively find out what your dog is allergic to so that you can avoid giving her anything she is allergic to. Without testing, you are just guessing what she might or might not be allergic to, and you risk prolonging her distress.
While waiting to keep your veterinarian’s appointment, try switching your dog to a limited ingredient diet (such as a duck and potato kibble) to see if that does help make a difference. You can try switching your dog’s kibble from “cheap brand foods” to other high-end foods, which are typically more expensive and more easily found in pet food specialty stores, rather than in supermarkets.
I am currently fostering a dog who has allergies. Like you, the owners assumed the dog was allergic to the food, and the vet sold them a very expensive prescription limited-ingredient food. After weeks and weeks on this food, there was no improvement – meanwhile the poor guy was scratching so much that he lost all his fur on his back, ripped open his skin, and developed infections. The owners eventually had him tested and found out he has no food allergies at all – but is allergic to cats, tobacco smoke, wool, ragweed, and a few grasses and trees. By that time, this dog was in agony. His owners gave him to a shelter, who asked me to foster him back to health so that he would be adoptable.
Please, learn from this lesson and get your girl tested. It may save both you and her months of agony and unnecessary expenses in the long run.
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