# Dermatitis and Food?



## cmarrie (Sep 17, 2014)

I posted about the dermatitis concerns in the health forum.

I believe Wrex is suffering from dermatitis. (scaley spots, itching, sticky ears, gooey eyes). My first step will be to change his food, but I'm absolutely at a loss for what to choose. I am not interested in raw. 

I feed him what his breeder fed him: Fromm Classic Adult Formula. 2/3 cup, 3x per day (total of 2 cups). He gobbles it up and looks for more. We don't experience any digestion issues, and he eliminates 2x (occationally 3) per day (morning and night) solid, well formed and easy to clean up. As was pointed out to me a couple weeks ago in another thread, within the first 6 ingredients of this food, 4 are grains (rice/barley/oatmeal/rice). 2 are chicken (chicken and chicken meal). From what I've read here grains and chicken are the two most common food sensitivities for dogs. 

I am overwhelmed at considering an alternative food. There are so many choices and things to balance. What nutrition balance is correct (ratio of protein/fat/carbs ect). My breeder mentioned that too much protein can cause bowed legs...how much is too much/too little? I saw someone else mention to watch the calcium levels. 

I want very much to make the right choices, but I admit to having tendency to over read/over think. Is there some place that spells out a good "formula" to follow? I've been reading reviews on Dog Food Advisor, but again...to many choices cause me to freeze!


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## ChantersMom (Aug 20, 2012)

I am no expert but a few months after we brought Chanter home, he began scratching like crazy. We took him to the vet and a special prescription dog food was recommended; however, it was very expensive! After trialing a bunch of different brands (tried Fromm's also) we found what worked for out dog (Horizon Legacy). I don't think there's grain in the food but I am unsure as to the chicken..I now buy the bag without looking (it's been 2 years). Me bad.
Good luck.


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## Shamrockmommy (Aug 16, 2013)

I'd try something from Natural Balance LID diets. Like the salmon and sweet potato formula and see if there are any improvements. It could be food but the symptoms you describe my bichon gets and her confirmed allergies are to grass, not one food allergy as I had assumed for years. 
Good luck.


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## Poodlerunner (Jul 4, 2014)

cmarrie said:


> I posted about the dermatitis concerns in the health forum.
> 
> I believe Wrex is suffering from dermatitis. (scaley spots, itching, sticky ears, gooey eyes). My first step will be to change his food, but I'm absolutely at a loss for what to choose. I am not interested in raw.
> 
> ...


You said you are not interested in raw and I respect that but I think you might get your fastest results that way even if you just used it temporarily. You could choose a novel protein, like rabbit and see if that makes a difference without buying a whole bag of kibble. A whole bag of Stella and Chewey's (for instance)... would be enough for you to see improvement (if it's food related) and then you could wean him onto kibble. The reason I'm obnoxious about it is because I seen a girl of mine go from a miserable itchy mess to perfect on Stella and Cheweys Duck Duck Goose. She doesn't eat raw food anymore either. 

I have a bag of Orijen Large Breed Puppy and I feed it every day as treats and it seems fine for Piper. The company that makes Orijen also makes Acana. I would try that one too. Ziwi Peak is in a class of its own (apparently). I mix that in with the Orijen or alternate it. Any one of them is intended to be fed as a complete diet though. 

I hope Wrex stops itching soon, poor guy 

pr


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## Charmed (Aug 4, 2014)

I suspect getting Wrex off of grain will eliminate the itching. There are plenty of medium cost foods available that are grain free. Since he is itching I would try to find a food with a single protein source... like just fish, or just turkey. I recently switched my pup off of Fromm and on to Honest Kitchen Embark; it is a dehydrated turkey based grain free food. His eyes goobers are cleared up; stools firmer, smaller and more regular. My daughter is switching her pup off of the Fromm to a combination of Honest Kitchen and Taste of the Wild , a kibble (HK is pricey/TOW very reasonable). Just remember when switching foods to keep an eye on the calories per cup. Even within the same brand, the different flavors can have higher/lower calorie content. Also, it helps to add a spoonful of pumpkin to his food while you are transitioning to avoid loose stools. I like the PetFlow website because they list the price per pound for food which helps when you are comparing costs.


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