# Help!!!!



## aasteapots (Oct 6, 2013)

My 1yo Spoo has been getting terrible infections in her shout for months. She has been treated with antibiotic four times. The Vet finally did 3 biopsies ($$$) that came back positive for staph and show extremely large amounts of cells caused by allergic reactions. She put her on hills prescription Z/D. Well we can't afford it. I didn't buy cheap dog food in the first place we fed taste of the wild which is high end. There is NO WAY we can afford 40+ dollars for 12 cans of dog food. that is over 100 dollars a month on just dog food. Do any of you have a suggestion on a less expensive choice in foods?? I don't know what to do. At this point it would be cheaper for her to stay on the medication full time. :bawling:


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## poolann (Jan 31, 2013)

aasteapots said:


> My 1yo Spoo has been getting terrible infections in her shout for months. She has been treated with antibiotic four times. The Vet finally did 3 biopsies ($$$) that came back positive for staph and show extremely large amounts of cells caused by allergic reactions. She put her on hills prescription Z/D. Well we can't afford it. I didn't buy cheap dog food in the first place we fed taste of the wild which is high end. There is NO WAY we can afford 40+ dollars for 12 cans of dog food. that is over 100 dollars a month on just dog food. Do any of you have a suggestion on a less expensive choice in foods?? I don't know what to do. At this point it would be cheaper for her to stay on the medication full time. :bawling:


I have a shepherd who's allergies manifest as staph infections on his belly. I struggled with the cost of prescription food as well. I'm not sure if Flint River makes a canned food but they deliver and he did OK on that. Right now he is on California Naturals venison and lentil and doing well. I feed dry only but I know they also have canned. He can't have beef or chicken & totw contains chicken fat so that wouldn't work for us. I like that the California Natural is truly a LID and I can pronounce all of the ingredients. 

I also have to give shots twice a week. If you are not seeing a dermatologist I strongly recommend a referral to one. 

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## Manxcat (May 6, 2013)

Can your insurance help? I know we don't claim for Pippin's gastro food on ours but it might be worth asking the question as it is for such a specific thing. Does the vet say this is a temporary thing until the lesions or whatever subside? What about antihistamine? Just throwing out some suggestions.

Staying on antibiotics isn't an option - it would just cause her to build up immunity to them which is really bad.

Hopefully someone will pitch in with other food options for you.


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## poolann (Jan 31, 2013)

I checked petfooddirect.com, chewy.com & pet flow.com. It looks like all 3 have cases of 12 cans of lamb & brown rice for $25 or less.

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## aasteapots (Oct 6, 2013)

Of course we can't keep her on the antibiotics its just cheaper than the food. I knew that. We don't have insurance for her. We are able to pay for her care. BUT we just invested a lot of $$$ in her training, she is a service dog. We can not continue to afford a high cost diet for her and cooking is not an option as she travels too much. I wouldn't be able to keep her food "safe". The Vet didn't say if this was a full time food change but she wanted to remove everything from her diet and start here. If it were for only a week or so I would say ok but she said 8-10 weeks. at 10 weeks that is well over 500 dollars for just her food vs 120.00 for ten weeks worth of food we feed now. unfortunately we can't keep that pace up.


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## Poodlerunner (Jul 4, 2014)

Did you tell your vet that you can't afford this food? What is it about this food that makes it a good choice? There are a lot of "limited ingredient" foods out there for allergies. I know Wellness makes one called Simple Solutions (or something like that). A neighbor of mine had a dog with staph all over its head. It was awful and I suggested changing the food bc she was not getting anywhere with medications... it just kept coming back. She put him on a fish based diet and his head is perfectly clear. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I'd be skeptical. Good luck...

Barbara


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## MollyMuiMa (Oct 13, 2012)

The Z/D is what is called a 'hydrolzed protein diet' it is an alternative to a 'novel protein diet'.....Google 'How To Heal Your Pet's Food Allergy-Pets-Mercola.com' Dr Karen Becker is the go to vet for allergy problem solutions!!!! 
There are many novel protein LID foods available..... rabbit, venison, kangaroo.fish etc. I would avoid any foods with chicken in any form, to start with, as chicken is said to be the #1 protein that dogs are allergic to...read the labels, chicken in some form is in almost every dog food!


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## georgiapeach (Oct 9, 2009)

My allergy dog, Maddie, has a multitude of food allergies and is also allergic to grass (summer is not her friend...). I've found only two kibbles that don't cause a problem: California Natural Salmon and Peas, and Back to Basics Hi-Protein Pork. Both are grain/potato free. 

Many dogs are now showing up with potato allergies. Maddie is allergic to all grains, potatoes (both white and sweet), chicken, turkey, eggs, and alfalfa - and those are the things we're certain of... Unfortunately, these are common ingredients in many kibbles. I had to narrow down what she could eat by process of elimination. Some kibbles have only one ingredient that sets off her allergies - very frustrating!

Allergic reactions to look for: red, irritated feet/skin causing chewing or scratching, ear scratching, ear infections, yeast (ears and paws), skin infections, blackening skin (Maddie's tummy gets darker in the summer especially). Some dogs will also vomit when allergic to a certain food; others will have diarrhea.


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## aasteapots (Oct 6, 2013)

Thanks for all of the info. As of right now we are still on the Z/D but switched to dry and she has been doing well on it but it is still very expensive. I am still putting out fires here and there. The steroids are helping. I use mometamax around her eyes and ears when she has a flare up. I am going to look into getting tested. I am afraid she may be allergic to the grass outside. We are looking into sectioning off an area in our yard and covering it with gravel. she gets a lot of sores on her belly.


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## ipekur (Sep 9, 2014)

*Cook for your poodle!*

What really surprised me in this post is that no one suggested instead of buying byproduct overpriced food, cooking for your poodle!
When out poodle got lime at age 7 and he refused to eat, we started making soups for him. He ate them with pleasure and they work great.
Very easy to do it.
In the grocery store you buy cheapest meat you can find and neck or hip bones. Do not buy tubular bones, unless you take marrow out of them.
Cook in the pot worth water (not too much) with grated carrots, potatoes and such. We also add kale. You can vary the meats and bones (avoid fat though)
No salt or spices.

This will last couple of days.
Yes it takes time and effort to prepare, and it is much easier to go buy pre-made food, but your dog will eat healthier, and enjoy it much more, you can control the ingredients and save money. Work of warning - you dog might not want to eat dry food or caned food after they try the soup.


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## aasteapots (Oct 6, 2013)

Thank you for the suggestion. Unfortunately we have no idea what she is allergic to AND most importantly she is a service dog who travels all over the place with us. I am unable to keep cooked food safe for her and I would have to be able to bring a lot of it with me where ever I went.


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## spindledreams (Aug 7, 2012)

We feed our allergy dog Merricks grain free. It is still expensive but may be something to check out. Then there are things like Stella and Chewy which are frozen or dehydrated raw meals with limited ingredients that we would use if it was just one dog eating here. 

Wry grin finding an affordable food for Monster has been a challenge and one of our biggest problems is still watching folks who want to slip him a treat. Sigh any pork product results in almost immediate diarrhea and sigh you know what that means for a service dog.


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## Jan Ann (Jul 7, 2014)

aasteapots said:


> Thanks for all of the info. As of right now we are still on the Z/D but switched to dry and she has been doing well on it but it is still very expensive. I am still putting out fires here and there. The steroids are helping. I use mometamax around her eyes and ears when she has a flare up. I am going to look into getting tested. I am afraid she may be allergic to the grass outside. We are looking into sectioning off an area in our yard and covering it with gravel. she gets a lot of sores on her belly.



You may want to look at Acana Singles they have 3 very limited ingredient dog food. You can purchase the dog food from (Chewy.com) and they will deliver to your door. Acana's web page list all the ingredients in the food you choose, you can also contact them via e-mail. Best of luck. Just a suggestion:act-up:


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## Critterluvr (Jul 28, 2014)

My poodle/shepherd cross had non stop ear/eye/skin infections when he was a pup. At 6 months I made the decision to put him on a raw diet so I knew exactly what he was eating and ALL of his infections cleared up. He's 4 years old now and a picture of health....shiny coat, beautiful white teeth, and never sick!

Just a thought.... A raw diet may not be as easy and convenient as kibble but if it makes a difference to your dog's health then it is SO worth the extra work involved!!


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