Advice on dealing with your dogs allergy's

[cbrooks]

I have a yellow lab that has been dealing with allergy's this spring. He's turning 4 this summer and has never had the breakout he has had this spring. He's itching under his belly mostly his groin area. Been to the vet twice now. They prescribe prednisone. It seem to work when he was on them but now he's been off for a couple of weeks. Back to itching and scatching.

Vet thinks it could be the food he's eating. I was feeding him Iams(for large breeds) then Nutro and now trying purina(lamb & rice formula). Does anyone have any suggestion? Any advice is much appreciated . I really want to fix this. Thanks

[Kyhl]

Sounds similar to food allergy symptoms that one of our dogs had. Chicken based food causes a belly and chest rash on one of our dogs.

If this started after changing foods I'd be thinking about changing back quickly.

[Chaws]

Allergies in dogs typically go back to the feed they're on. Look at the ingredient list in all those you mention and I'd bet the first ingredient is corn. I'd recommend going to a higher quality feed where corn isn't in the top two or three ingredients. If that still doesn't fix it, I'd look at going to a grain free feed like Diamond Naturals.

[cbrooks]

Thanks fellas

[eric29]

My lab has allergies from grass or pollen, and i give her benadryl every day and it takes care of it. Just another idea in case its not food allergies.

[GFNER]

I've got a chocolate and started feeding him Infinia Bison and potato recipe holistic dog food, no grains. He's not all to crazy about it but I've had zero allergy issues this year. Pretty spendy but I figure I'll wean him off of it later this summer and see how he does.

[broken line]

My lab will be 11 this fall....every spring, no matter what she gets severe itching on her belly and under her legs. She also has been on prednosone (which worked very well as long as she stayed on it), but I hate to give it to her as it makes her drink a ton of water and go to the bathroom constantly. If anyone has any more suggestions....let me know. I know she is miserable for the whole summer scratching all the time, then in the fall it just simply goes away. This makes me confident it is not a food related issue versus something in the air or grass in the summer.

[eckum54]

I have a yellow lab with allergies and I have heard benadryl works well...just wondering if you use standard or childrens benadryl...thanks

[Ice Shack Baby]

Do not take this as vet advice, I would check with your vet before you prescribe. But my roommate's dog was dealing with alegies and the vet said to give 2 tabs of benadryl three times a day. Dog weighs around 60 lbs. Alergies did clear up.

[870Express]

They make a genaric benadryl. My mother works at a hospital and it is pennies on the dollar compare to benadryl (they are dogs).

[Hibbing]

My springer had allergy issues last year. Vet put him on prednisone and suggested I switch dog food. Switched to Taste of the Wild - Buffalo and couldn't be happier! Dog loves it and looks great! A little high priced but worth it.

[cbrooks]

I appreciate all the feedback. I will try the dog you suggested Hibbing. Might give benadry a shot. Doesn't seem to be as bad lately but tough to say for certain. I hate allergies.

[cbrooks]

Well...I thought I would follow up on this since it seems other dog owners are having the same problems. My dogs itching hasn't stop so I'm trying something different. I order a package of NZYMES. Talk to the lady from that company she suggested a pet food called NutriSource (chicken & brown rice formula). Want to avoid ingredients that feeds yeast. NZYMEs is for yeast infection in the digestive tract. Maybe it wasn't allergy's all along. I actually have a good feeling that this might just work after reading up on NZYMES on the web. This process can take up to a year but usually takes a couple/few months and it will get wrost before it heels up completely. Its just how the medicine works from what I been told. The stuff isn't expensive(just over hundred dollars) when your talking Vet bills so I have nothing to lose there. I'll follow up on this thread and let you know how it works. thanks again.

[cbrooks]

Here's a follow up on my dogs itching problem. The NZYNES did the trick. After six weeks all of his fur has grown back almost. His ear infection isn't anywhere near as bad. The dog is more lively. I couldn't be happier with the results.

[wkngmomof2]

We feed Nutri source as well to ur golden that has allergies, she hasn;t completely stopped itching but is 98% better - haven't tried the NZYMES....

[cbrooks]

We feed Nutri source as well to ur golden that has allergies, she hasn;t completely stopped itching but is 98% better - haven't tried the NZYMES....

I suppose that maybe just changing his food to the nutri source fix his itching problem like it did with yours. Nymes is just a bunch of natural ingredients that don't have yeast in them. Nyzmes product is geared towards avoiding yeast. So it can't hurt the dog either.

Its kind of funny for treats I give him frozen broccali or califlower and he likes it. No more milk bones for him. Not trying to give Nzymes a free plug. Just thought maybe this info can help some other dog owners without paying for a bunch of expensive vet bills.