# The Accidental Week-Long Grain Experiment



## Poodlerunner (Jul 4, 2014)

Well, if you had any doubt before that the food was the problem, there is your answer. Poor Wrexie's butt 

pr


----------



## itzmeigh (Apr 28, 2014)

Our not-a-poodle Cotton is allergic to Chicken and we suspect other proteins as well. She isn't as reactive to some of the other proteins as she is to chicken. 

But the quickness that you describe in the change is true of what we see in her if she gets chicken by accident. It is almost before she can finish the bowl of food!

She does well on TOTW and she has also been doing really well on 4Health. For her, not only did we remove grains but also all proteins except Fish. We tried lamb recently and while it took her longer to spiral out of control we decided it just wasn't worth trying anything else. 

So if you want 2 brands of food you might give 4Health a try. It is very similar to TOTW and we haven't had any issues switching between the 2. 

We also just feed Hazel (18 weeks) the same food as Cotton and she's done fine. With Cotton as allergic as she is I didn't want to chance her getting the wrong food so we have kept Hazel on only fish as well.


----------



## cmarrie (Sep 17, 2014)

We feed Wrex the Bison/Venison formula. I picked it over the fish for the simple reason that I personally thought it sounded better than fish, lol. (not a seafood fan). Is is good/necessary to switch up flavors? Or should you just stick with what works when you find it?


----------



## itzmeigh (Apr 28, 2014)

cmarrie said:


> We feed Wrex the Bison/Venison formula. I picked it over the fish for the simple reason that I personally thought it sounded better than fish, lol. (not a seafood fan). Is is good/necessary to switch up flavors? Or should you just stick with what works when you find it?



We did a little bit of both with Cotton. She was fine most of her life and then around 6-7 years old is when her allergy started to show up. At first we thought it was environmental. It would get better then worse... That went on for a couple of years. Then all heck broke loose and it went completely out of control when she was around 8 years old. We tried to remove grains at first. We'd see a little bit of improvement but not a lot. Then we started messing with the proteins. After a long battle of sorta, but not quite getting better a vet suggested going to fish. She cleared up completely within a week of going to fish/no grains. After a long time of fish we decided to try other proteins. Chicken she reacts to within days. Rabbit took a "small bag" she tolerated it but it was like the early stages. 

By the end of the small bag (4 pounds) of Rabbit (TOTW) we decided that it wasn't worth it to her for us to keep trying things and making her itchy and uncomfortable. We now just avoid all proteins except fish for her. (I have found that she can handle a Bully Stick. But she only gets one a month so maybe it just isn't often enough for her to react, I don't know.

I did want to have at least a second food in mind in case our Tractor Supply was out of TOTW. That's what lead us to 4Health. If her protein choices weren't so limited I probably wouldn't care. But most brands only have one fish option. 

(Cotton is 10 years old and a mutt. Too mixed to really say what she is but I suspect a fair amount of terrier and lab. But more "Terrier Mutt + Lab Mutt = Cotton" not "Terrier + Lab = Cotton")


----------



## Charmed (Aug 4, 2014)

I don't have that much experience with allergies in dogs, but I do know that you should have at least two foods that Wrex can eat ... just in case his regular food has a recall, or there is a disruption in distribution, or he develops an allergy to his regular food. Over the years I have come up with an "eclectic" diet that works for my dogs; it is ever evolving, but the dogs rarely have ear infections. I switch protein sources, however I do not mix them, so if there is a problem I know what it is. I am picky that I get single source proteins--all fish, all poultry, all beef. Even then I have to be careful as companies are sneaky about the source of their fat. Anyhow, back to at least two food choices that Wrex will tolerate; it is more for your peace of mind, so that you will be prepared if the need arises.


----------



## cmarrie (Sep 17, 2014)

Itzmeigh & Charmed: You two make a really valid point about recalls and out of stocks. I hadn't thought of those perspectives. I'll have to find a back up for Wrex. I'll try fish. I'm sure whatever it is he'll love it. LOL.


----------



## hopetocurl (Jan 8, 2014)

cmarrie said:


> We feed Wrex the Bison/Venison formula. I picked it over the fish for the simple reason that I personally thought it sounded better than fish, lol. (not a seafood fan). Is is good/necessary to switch up flavors? Or should you just stick with what works when you find it?


HA! I am in the process of switching Willow from Solid Gold Just a Wee Bits to Natural Balance because Solid Gold changed their formula from fish to bison. I thought the fish sounded better.  (Not a red meat eater here.)


----------



## hopetocurl (Jan 8, 2014)

Charmed said:


> I don't have that much experience with allergies in dogs, but I do know that you should have at least two foods that Wrex can eat ... just in case his regular food has a recall, or there is a disruption in distribution, or he develops an allergy to his regular food. Over the years I have come up with an "eclectic" diet that works for my dogs; it is ever evolving, but the dogs rarely have ear infections. I switch protein sources, however I do not mix them, so if there is a problem I know what it is. I am picky that I get single source proteins--all fish, all poultry, all beef. Even then I have to be careful as companies are sneaky about the source of their fat. Anyhow, back to at least two food choices that Wrex will tolerate; it is more for your peace of mind, so that you will be prepared if the need arises.


That is a great idea. Do you go as far to have 2 different manufacturers? LIke Natural Balance and say, TOTW? Willow has honestly eaten everything I've given her....


----------



## Charmed (Aug 4, 2014)

ccmarrie- Of course, Wrex will love everything, the question is will his, ahem, sphincter? And yes, I make sure that choice two is a different manufacturer. Call me paranoid; I have a local and a Canadian brand.


----------



## Streetcar (Apr 13, 2014)

hopetocurl said:


> HA! I am in the process of switching Willow from Solid Gold Just a Wee Bits to Natural Balance because Solid Gold changed their formula from fish to bison. I thought the fish sounded better.  (Not a red meat eater here.)


Years ago I fed Wee Bits to my last dog and for a while to my current one. If memory serves, I'm fairly certain it always had both bison and salmon, though the salmon quantity seems very diminished now. Salmon used to be mentioned on the front of the bag (I _think_). Second ingredient is ocean fish meal and I don't recall whether that was there in the past or not.


----------

