My dog has chicken and grain allergies. What food should I feed?

I would consider a food that has an alternative source of protein from chicken since protein is the most common type of food allergy in dogs. Purina ProPlan has a lamb and rice dog food, so I recommend trying that food. I hope this helps!

It's going to be hard to notice symptoms before it's too late - but signs that would be concerning are panting at odd times, decreased exercise capacity, rapid breathing while resting, and coughing. There are prescription diets that are hydrolyzed - which means the food is mechanically or chemically broken up in to such small pieces that the immune system no longer recognizes it as chicken or pork (etc). I would recommending asking your vet if one of those diets would be appropriate. If you can't find another diet that works for Padfoot, it's important to know that the risk of heart disease is low, even though it's higher for grain-free or boutique diets than others, so you have to weigh controlling allergies that cause immediate harm with the possibility of heart disease.

No, do not give your dog milk. Dairy is never recommended to give to dogs because it causes GI upset. There are kibble diets that are formulated with proteins that aren't made from chicken, such as rabbit, lamb, duck, and beef. Eukcanuba has a lamb and rice kibble, that may be a good option for your dog. I hope this helps!

Royal canin makes other hypoallergenic diets such as rabbit and potato or Iams makes kangaroo and Oats. Purina and science diet have their share are hypoallergenic diets also it might be worth trying one of these and possibly rotating some so she does not get bored. Food allergy testing through blood is it very accurate, typically trial and error with food is more reliable

Dogs are omnivores and can get enough nutrition from a balanced commercial vegetarian food. If you would like to try a meat diet, you could consider a novel protein diet. A novel protein is one that Buddy hasn't eaten before. You could consider venison, bison, fish or duck. Natural Balance makes a number of limited ingredient diets that you could consider. https://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/dog-formulas/special-category-limited-ingredient-diets Another option would be to try a hydrolyzed diet. Those would be prescription only and would be more expensive, but might be a good option as well. I am attaching a handout with more information about diet trials for food allergies below. https://veterinarypartner.vin.com/default.aspx?pid=19239&id=4952600 Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using PetCoach.

That is a great question. It is very uncommon for dogs to be allergic to grains. I would make sure that Tallulah does not have a food allergy to protein. It appears in dogs that chicken and beef cause the most skin issues in our pets. I would consult with your vet about possibly trying a hypoallergenic based diet. I would recommend feeding this for 12 weeks to see how she does. I hope that helps

Wow - Ryder certainly has many food allergies! It is surprising that he's allergic to many of the grain sources because as Dr. Leigh mentioned, the vast majority of dogs are allergic to proteins rather than grains. The prescription diets that Dr. Leigh mentioned, including Hill's z/d, Royal Canin HP, Royal Canin Ultamino and Purina HA, are all hydrolyzed diets. This means that the ingredients supply necessary nutrition, but are broken down to the point where the immune system cannot react to them. An immune system response is what occurs with an allergy. I strongly recommend discussing one of these diets with your veterinarian, as it has the greatest chance of helping Ryder. As far as your question about millet goes, it's certainly worth a shot. There is no way of knowing if he's allergic to it without exposing him to it. I don't know of any commercially available diets that does not contain one or more of the ingredients you'd mentioned. If you're really against using a prescription diet, cooking your own food (as long as you're using the proper vitamin/mineral supplement!) is an option. The website www.balanceit.com has recipes formulated by boarded-veterinary nutritionists. I hope this helps and that all goes well!