Weird Symptoms: Pet Food Allergies
September 1st, 2010
After the dog food I had been feeding my two dogs scored an F on K9Cuisine.com’s Dog Food Rating Tool, I found another / new line of food from the same maker that scored an A+. As I mentioned in the post Dog Food Rating Tool – Explained, everything seemed terrific … until it wasn’t.
Dog Days of Summer: A Whole New Meaning
July was a rough month at my house with veterinary bills totaling more than all our other monthly bills combined. Ginko’s third knee surgery in 10 years cost us FOUR times the initial estimate.
He is mostly recovered now, after two major rounds of antibiotics to deal with the massive infection they found tunneling its way through his right knee.
Ginko was none to happy to wear the collar that kept him from licking his surgery leg, after last month's knee surgery.
But, in the process of healing, Ginko suddenly developed an unquenchable thirst, which of course led to lots of peeing and very little sleep for anyone at our house.
He would literally stand at the empty water bowl and CRY, after having just slurped down the entire thing.
Weird Symptoms: Pet Food Allergies
During one of his post-op appointments, where they drew blood samples and did some urinalysis (and found nothing of concern), our veterinarian concluded that the change in dog food was to blame.
How’d she know?
Oddly enough, she had recently switched her dogs to the exact same food, and they too had become “water mongers.”
Other Possible Causes
Now, with Ginko having just come through a tough 2+-hour surgery, and with the massive antibiotics he was taking, it was easy to think that perhaps those things had something to do with his sudden water issues.
Dog Food Switch: Take 2
But, just to be sure, we switched him from the salmon and sweet potato formula to the turkey and sweet potato formula.
My worried, skeptical husband really wanted to switch Ginko back to the old food … F grade or not, but I convinced him to that we’d just try another protein source in the A+ line instead.
He begrudgingly agreed, saying, “Let’s hope it isn’t the sweet potato that’s the problem.”
Problem Solved
After just one week, Ginko’s thirst issues vanished. He is completely normal again.
I’m not saying that Ginko is “allergic” to the salmon, but I believe there is some dog food intolerance or dog food sensitivity there. I cannot imagine that all that thirst and drinking and peeing doesn’t wear a dog down, so I’m glad we switched, and I’m glad he is doing better.
While we could have just returned what was left of the salmon food, I’ve continued to feed it to Lilly (my border collie, the canine heroine of our blog Champion of My Heart) … because she is doing great on the new food. I’ll just switch her over to the turkey when we run out of salmon.
This experience makes me VERY leery of moving them to a dog food rotation schedule … because, frankly, my budget can’t take many more expensive veterinary scares right now.
Trading Ills
Alas, the salmon-based food virtually made Ginko’s “gas” problem disappear, so now that he is back on the turkey (grain-free, gluten-free) formula … the gas has returned.
I’m also a bit stumped that we haven’t seen a great reduction in stool quantity from either dog.
Because Ginko was on strict house rest during his recovery, I supervised every trip to the dog pen for him to potty for several weeks, and I’ve got to say … what’s coming out the other end is NOT less than it was on the old food.
So, either the old food wasn’t all that bad, in terms of fillers, or there is a goodly amount of sweet potatoes, peas and such in the new food.
It’s been a long, long time since I fed so-called “grocery store” brands. Perhaps I just don’t remember stool quantities from the old days.
What Weird Symptoms?
So, beyond the typical symptoms veterinarians see in dogs with food allergies, what crazy things have you seen when a food didn’t agree with your pet?
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Tags: allergy symptoms, animal protein, dog, dog allergies, dog food, dog food allergies, Dog Food Dish, food sensitivity, hydrolysate, K9Cuisine.com, novel protein
Posted in Dog Allergies, K9 Nutrition | 14 Comments »
14 Responses to “Weird Symptoms: Pet Food Allergies”
A professional writer based in Colorado, Roxanne Hawn doesn't just love dogs. She deep-down requires them in life. Something inside her genes, perhaps? That's why it's such a joy to write about all things canine. Roxanne began writing about pets in 1995, when she worked for the American Animal Hospital Association and later for the American Humane Association. During this period in her career, Roxanne served on the board of directors for the National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy (a coalition of animal welfare groups). Roxanne also volunteered for many years at an animal shelter, where she witnessed firsthand what happens when the human-animal bond breaks or never forms.
Excessive thirst surely isn’t a typical food allergy symptom. Perhaps there could be some ingredient taxing the kidneys …?
Either way, I’m glad the food switch worked!
Wow, third knee surgery? What happened?
Maybe, Jana … I don’t know for sure. Neither the urinalysis or blood work showed any kidney function problems. They even checked his pH, and everything was fine. I’m just glad changing foods fixed the problem.
Oh, and we’ve been through the wringer with Ginko’s knees …. See these links.
The original injuries (both knees)
http://championofmyheart.com/2009/01/21/cranial-cruciate-ligament-rupture-in-dogs/
The problem with the right knee (7 years later)
http://championofmyheart.com/2010/07/26/ginko-surgery-update/
Roxanne – So glad you shared this blog post! I just had a client tell me today that she switched her dog’s foods to a new, better one and both dogs got sick. Her Irish Setter is already thin, but lost 5 lbs as a result. She’s now cooking them food until all bellies are settled and she can try a different dog food.
Interesting post! We’ve had some crazy reactions to food – Buster is pretty sensitive. Once, we bought a high quality, grain free kibble and Buster reacted like he was on caffeine! He was all over the place, couldn’t sit still, and was pulling on his leash during walks like he’d never done it before. It was awful. I couldn’t get him off that food fast enough! I was so grateful for the K9Cuisine customer service reps – they were fantastic in helping us select another food that would agree with Buster.
I am very glad to read this post. My old dog (14) has developed severe food sensitivities in the past couple of years. I got a whole battery of tests done for his senior checkup and unfortunately in the process (via the catheter) he picked up a UTI. During the 3 weeks of antibiotics, I also started to change his food to a grain free venison (California Naturals) mixed in with his California Naturals Lamb, to help with solving his colitis/loose stool mystery. That combined with Tylosin powder made his poops much better but he became a “water monger” too. I recently stopped the grain free and went back to the old food and have started monitoring water (some of this could have been a habit developed during the UTI) and while he is not 100%, I have to say he is much much better. The vet cannot figure out any reason for this water intake as tests, ultrasounds and what not show none of the obvious symptoms of other potential issues (no diabetes, cushings, EPI, kidney issues, etc etc). Since he is not 100%, I cannot state this with confidence, but changing his food back definitely seems to have made a visible change for now…
Aarti — While I’m sorry to hear your dog went through something similar, I’m glad to hear things are headed in the right direction.
When we found out Sensi had food allergies, the first vet we brought him to diagnosed the problem as jewelry that had fallen down into his ears (it appeared he had a shiny, metallic object deep down both ear canals). After an unsuccessful procedure to remove the “jewelry” we were referred to a specialist, who determined the so-called objects were actually sites where infections had manifested into growth-like things. The infections occurred because his immune system was so beaten up from constantly battling the food allergies. For one of the infections, he was prescribed the same medicine used to treat patients who had come into contact with anthrax!
Oh, geez! Karen, that’s crazy. I’ve never heard of such a thing. And, a medicine used for anthrax? Yikes!
This just happened to my allergy-riddled 3-year-old Golden Retriever! I tried to switch her from Healthy Balance fish and sweet potato to Blue Wilderness salmon and sweet potato and after we made the complete switch her drinking was out of control! We just switched back to her original food 2 days ago and really hope her drinking goes back to normal soon! It’s difficult not to worry that something much worse is going on.
Well, isn’t that weird that we both had a salmon thing? Very, very strange. I’m happy to report that Ginko is fine, and it took about a week for this drinking “problem” to resolve.
I just recently switched my white boxer who is 1yr to grain free salmon food, and with in 10 minutes after eating he has bumps all over his back, i think they maybe hives,and he is biting at his front paws, I give him benadrl,He also has very bad gas. we had to try him on this food due to his red spots with hairloss. the patches seem to be growing back, any suggestions.
That sounds really scary. I hope your dog felt better very soon.
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