# I think my puppy has food allergies



## sandooch (Jan 20, 2011)

Boy, I could have written that same exact post a couple months ago. I bought a cream-colored toy/mini poodle who was 8 weeks old when I brought her home. The owner did not take very good care of her, but I did not have much sense to ask the questions to him that I would now, knowing what I do now from this forum. I was so Hell bent on just getting a poodle and didn't take the time to do some research. Duh!

Anyway, Gigi was not only dirty, but her ears were hairy and so very dirty. I tried to clean them out myself and pull our a little hair at a time every other day or so, but she would yelp. And she was constantly scratching at them. I took her to the vet but they said there were no mites and no infection. Go figure! I recently took her back because my groomer told me she did have an ifection in both ears, and the vet confirmed it. My groomer cleaned her ears so well. It's nice to see the inside of her ears almost hair-free and gunk-free.

She was also scratching and biting at her backside and licking her paws, which I found out from here could be an allergy to chicken. Tearing can also be an allergy to chicken, too.

I have been feeding her Fromm Puppy Food Chicken flavor for the past month or so. I still have a half bag left, but I'm going to switch her over to Taste of the Wild Salmon, which was recommended to me by GeorgiaPeach. She has two white, tear-free poodle and that's what she feeds them.

As for making the switch, I'd still do so gradually.


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## PaddleAddict (Feb 9, 2010)

How long has your puppy been eating the Wellness? Have you fully switched over? Wellness is a good food, certainly better than the Science Diet puppy food. It can take many weeks for her system to heal itself once you have fully switched over, so it's possible that she might do well on the Wellness.

The Science Diet puppy food has both corn and soy in it, which are common problem ingredients. The Wellness has grains, but what people generally think are "better" grains than corn, wheat and soy.

My mini did very well on the Wellness puppy formula, but when I switched him over to the adult formula, he started getting very itchy. The ingredients were very similar so I was not sure what was causing the problem. I switched him to Taste of the Wild Wetlands formula and his itching become even worse. I started to suspect a chicken allergy, so I switched him to EVO Red Meat formula (which is also grain free) and now finally his itching is almost gone. I will roates his foods from now on, avoiding all poultry.

If your puppy's itching doesn't improve on the Wellness, you might try a food that doesn't contain chicken or other poultry. It's actually very hard to find foods without some chicken (or chicken liver or chicken fat) in it, but they are out there--just read the ingredients list.

Despite the allergy, I think it's still best to switch gradually, especially if you going to try grain free, which is a lot richer and could cause stomach upset if switched over to abruptly.


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## pigasus (Jan 27, 2011)

Thanks to both of you for the help. I'll definitely keep the Taste of the Wild Salmon in mind. I've been switching over to the Wellness pretty slowly, she was at 75% Wellness 25% Science Diet. For her dinner this evening I decided to go 100% Wellness. Problem is, she doesn't seem to like the Wellness kibble- I've noticed her eating around it before and tonight she refused to eat it at all. So I tried the Wellness Puppy wet alone and she ate a good portion of it. I'm going to try sticking with the Wellness and hope that corn or soy is the culprit. If that doesn't work I'll definitely try eliminating poultry.


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## penny_ann (May 29, 2010)

Penny liked the Taste of the Wild Prairie also. She's a red but we were having tearing issues on the other foods. Has been much better since we switched to the Taste of the Wild. I also give either bottled or filtered water. I figure I don't drink the tap water, why should she? It does sound like she doesn't like the kibble. Penny was the same way. Absolutely refused to eat any wet food after I brought her home and this was what the breeder sent with her. The breeder had her on Nutro and I tried to slowly switch to Chicken Soup puppy formula and she would pick out only the Chicken Soup. Good luck!


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## georgiapeach (Oct 9, 2009)

Thanks, Sandooch! I second a fish-based diet for sensitive dogs - and a single protein source, as well. 

Part of avoiding the tear stains Sandooch mentioned is also wiping any moisture that does come out - Potsie's left eye still runs slightly, and only occasionally, and I try to make sure that I wipe it off/clean it as soon as I see it. My vet told me that the staining comes from bacteria growing in the moisture.

I can't seem to use any other protein source than fish for my minipoos and my cockapoo without their eyes running a little bit (my lab can eat anything - I think he'd be happy with cardboard - lol!). I've even tried the other varieties of TOTW, but even they cause the runny eyes. The dogs loved the lamb, but they started scratching when they ate that one. 

I know it's best to change protein source from time-to-time, but I haven't found one that my dogs can tolerate as well as the fish. They seem to be fine staying on the salmon.


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## Skye (Feb 19, 2010)

I'm in the same boat with my cream mini/toy poodles. I had them on corn, wheat and soy free food, now I am switching them to Taste of the Wild Prairie. Wish I had read this first, I would have gone straight for the salmon!

I saw some grain free hard biscuits; but my dogs love the soft ones like Zuke's or Solid Gold Lamb Jerky. They don't have barley, wheat, soy or corn, but they do have some preservatives? Maybe I can get an ingredients list to post; any opinions on Solid Gold jerky treats?

P.S. My poodles don't seem itchy, but they both have tear staining, especially out of their left eyes, and Auggie's right ear gets cucky. It doesn't smell or bother him, and I have been cleaning it every day with Dr. Gold's Extra Gentle Ear Therapy. It has tea tree oil in it, and after using it for a week, there has been a huge improvement. I called the vet, and we agreed his ear didn't seem infected, so I am cleaning/watching it.


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