No appetite... and hives forever!

[MeAki]

I'm going to try and describe you Tazz's problems, Tazz its now 2 years old beautiful pitbull and he's the smartest most beautiful dog in the world because it's mine Now...since the day I got him as a pup he had hives and his appetite was low.... he never eats like a dog at his age and breed should ... He is not skinny but lean... i thought the food was the problem that's why i tried everything that i heard is good ...from Orijen to Nutro ....now he is on a diet food that is called Hills Prescription Diet D/D potato and venison formula...the hives are still on and he still sheds like a beast.... I went to the doctor with him for the lack of appetite and the hives...spent overall 800 bucks for a blood test and a shot of steroids thinking that he is going to be fine ... from the doctor's point of view he is very healthy ..all his blood tests came back fine...but he still doesn't eat a lot and he still has hives and he still sheds way too much .... I changed all our cleaning products to organic and bla bla bla ...still has skin problems...what else can i try to make him better ....he plays and he is happy ... but i know he is not comfortable because of that ...plus ...if i don't wash him once a week at least he smells very very bad... from what i know a dog should be washed every 2 weeks...idk anymore Please give me your advice even if you think you have an idea that's weird or stupid just post it I'm willing to try anything !!
Thank you very much and pardon my English ....
Alex & Tazz

[star_frances]

At this point you may want to ask your vet to do allergy tests. It could be a food allergy or something environmental. It would probably save you money and heartache down the road to just do the tests and find out exactly what he is allergic to so you can avoid it in the future.

[MeAki]

At this point I'm trying everything ... Somebody told me to put a tablespoon of olive oil in his food ... I'm doing this for the past two weeks and I see improvements ... Another friend of mine said to give him king fish?!? I will try to go back to Orijen food or Canidae !! When he was eating Orijen he was a little bit better but he wasn't eating that much !

[star_frances]

The important thing, if you believe it to be food related, is to just try one thing at a time, and you have to give it a good couple of months to see if it works. You really have to watch what you feed for treats, chews, and even flavored medications (like heartworm pills) because they can also contain allergens. Do a search on allergies in this section, there are lots of people that struggle with similar problems and give some really good advice.

[Curly_07]

If you are going to spend that much on food, would you mind trying a differnt one? Taste of the Wild Salmon formula has worked great for me in the past for my girl with allergies. She recently started having issues again so I'm trying the Nutrisca Salmon and Chick Pea ( Potato and Grain Free). Mine has issues with grains and chicken, so I stick to fish based formulas with as lil cross contamination as possible. I wish I had the space/time to do raw. Also, if you don't already, try adding a couple of pumps of Salmon oil to the daily meals. It's helped alot with the dryness and itching mine get.

I know you mentioned earlier about a blanket she had a reaction to...maybe changing your detergent to something non-scented/organic?

I'll think some more on things that I've found that work/don't work with my dogs. In the mean time tho, I'd be looking at a different vet if yours is telling you your dog is healthy and fine. Obviously there is something wrong, and they should be more willing to help you isolate it.

*Disclaimer* This is all based off of my experiences. All dogs are differnt, and my solutions may/may not apply to your dog.

[Curly_07]

Sorry for the DP but Star made a

I usually keep mine on a food for 6-8 weeks before I decide if anything has improved or not. At that point I either stick with what I'm doing, or I start to weed out another food ingredient for another 6-8 weeks. Also, watch the treats you give. Read the lables. I have to watch out for chicken, and you'd be surprised at how many non chicken(beef/duck/etc) treats are made with chicken or chicken meal, or starches/grains. Just read everything very detailed.

[chinchi_&_chupa]

Both of mine have allergies and I'm wondering why the vet didn't have you give him Benadryl...Thor was a mess for almost a year. Shots every 3 or so weeks, and then we finally found Natural Balance Venison and Sweet Potato (it is a limited ingredient diet) and Benadryl as needed and he is now fine and hasn't needed a steroid shot in 3+ years. Also, just an after thought, but isn't Hills Prescription diet, Science Diet too? Science Diet is what started the whole food allergy/insane hive problem that Thor had. I would also agree that you need to extremely limit what he is eating when you are doing the food trials and give it 6-8 weeks to see if there is improvement. It can take a long time for their bodies to flush all the crap out and heal up. Good luck and keep trying...there has to be something or some combination of things that will fix him up!

[MeAki]

I will be moving in 2 weeks into a new house .... That's when I will try to change everything and figure out what's the problem ... Change my detergent to organic det etc etc etc... He's been on prescription diet for almost 2 months now ... No change why so ever, my GF said that he was doing good on Origen but I don't remember it like that ... I'll try to do that and also change he's bed to a 100% cotton one ! Me personally I'm allergic to synthetic clothes.. He had a bad case of hive when he's blanket was synthetic ... I will try everything once at a time and try to figure out the problem ... And I'll try to look for a different vet and do a allergy test !!! Pffffffiiiuuuu ... I'm tired already :)) now another problem is that he doesn't like dry food ... He barely eats 2 cups a day !! And he's skinny he's only 69 pounds !! Sometimes I make him beef with rice carrots ... Make like a thick soup that I add in his dry food .. That's the only time he will eat 2 full bowls ... Any other suggestions will e much appriciate it !! That I you guys so much for your time and help !!!

[Curly_07]

Do you have any top and side shots we can look at of him? 2 cups of food really isn't that little. Mine get 2 cups a day. Also, stop mixing in other stuff to get him to eat more kibble. That's only going to make him picky where he doesn't want kibble, and could possibly be messing with his allergies. Many dogs are allergic to different seasonings and such, so depending on what soup/ingredients in the soup you are mixing with the kibble, it could be causing his issues as well. Also, depending on his hieght and breed, 69 lbs is not small/skinny for the Pit Bull breeds. Most are between 45-60 lbs unless they are mixes or bred out of standards.

[AllisonPibbleLvr]

d/d is a prescription skin diet, meaning there are NO contaminants that aren't listed on the ingredient list.

When your dog has been on the d/d has he been getting any other treats or chews? (cookies, rawhides, deer antlers, etc?) My guess is yes, since you're making him a beef stew. Why feed him a novel protein/card diet only to add other things? Didn't your vet explain the process of an elimination diet? When starting a new diet as part of an allergy trial, the dog is meant to eat that diet and NOTHING else. So before you start switching his food again, try doing a proper 12 week elimination diet trial.

Hills and Science Diet are owned by the same company. Hills is their prescription line. While many people disagree with their ingredients, you can't argue with the fact that their diets generally accomplish what they set out to do (unlike the 928392 diets out there with falsified or misleading ingredient lists). Not every diet works for every dog, but in case of true food allergies, why risk ingredient contamination?

Also, there's a strong likelihood that your dog also has environment allergies. For most dogs, it's things like grasses, molds, tree pollens, and other organic things that trigger a response. I've had one dog come back with strong allergies to cat dander, and another to wool.

Either way, I would start a TRUE diet trial and find yourself a veterinary dermatologist. Someone who specializes in skin issues. It's a long, frustrating road but the earlier you start with a derm vet, the better off your pup will be.

[heartbullies]

My friend's dog eats z/d ultra food. Only. Nothing else. No treats, no chews, no extras. She sets some of the food aside to use as rewards for training. It is the only food she can eat without disaster.

It sounds like you are on the right track. I wonder if it could be grass causing some of the allergy response? Does there seem to be a season where the hives are better or noticeably worse?

Sent from my ATRIX using Tapatalk

[MeAki]

He's doing Better !! For the past few days Tazz didn't had any treats or anything but he's food !! He's hives aren't swollen any more and sa skin is healing pretty fast ... And he's a little bit happier !! I will still give him the same food for now and keep using the same shampoo ... Im kinda decent on using my laptop yet I still can get it... How do u post pix on this site :)) thank you all for your help ... Gotta go now ... NASCAR here I come !!

[star_frances]

You have to upload your picture to a hosting site like Flickr or Photobucket (there are lots of free ones) then you can post them here =)

There's instructions posted in more detail here:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=10790

[MeAki]

I went with Acana food ! Let's see how that works! I stopped giving him treats and everything else ! He's now on food and food alone !! He's doing well and surprisingly he even likes it !! I could t be more happier ! I hope he's gonna be ok with this food !!

[1lila1]

If your dog's appetite is low it's probably from the histamines his body is producing. They can cause nausea which can lead to lack of appetite. Hopefully your new food will work but food allergies can be so frustrating! I have a dog and a cat with environmental allergies and it's a huge pain so I can only imagine how awful it would be (for you and your dog) to have food allergies. Things haven't gotten bad enough for me to spend the money on a blood allergy test but I may have to in the future. For my dog his symptoms are managed with twice weekly ear cleanings and weekly baths and he gets very stinky without them. During the spring I have to hose off his feet and hose him down if he's been playing in grass since he apparently things every single patch of green grass in So Cal is meant for him to roll around in.