My dog has allergies and an enlarged heart. What food is best?

If you think that the HD is the cause of the sudden severe allergic reaction, than switching foods might help. However, in my experience, sudden severe allergic reactions don't typically occur from foods. Typically they are from something else in the environment. With regards to food, another good choice for cardiac disease is the Hill's or Purina Kidney Diet. The kidney diets and heart diets have very similar ingredients due to the fact that they are both attempting to control the same things. The good news is that the majority of both dogs and cats absolutely love the way the hill's K/D diet tastes. Hope this makes sense.

Many OTC wet dog foods can be high in salt content, which should be avoided in dogs with heart disease. If you would prefer that Champ be on a wet dog food, then you may want to discuss a prescription heart diet with your vet. If your vet does not have concerns about salt content at this stage of heart disease, then you can choose a diet based on your budget and dietary preferences for Champ. I feed my dogs Purina ProPlan because I like their quality of ingredients and the diet fits in my budget.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Scooby. I would recommend considering Purina ProPlan Veterinary Diets HA. This a diet made of hydrolyzed soy protein. It is ideal for a dog with a food allergy. Depending on the stage of heart or kidney disease, it can be ideal for those conditions as well. Your veterinarian will let you know based on staging of Scooby. I hope this information helps!

I certainly understand your concern. I would use a skin sensitive food like Royal Canin Dog Sensitivity. Royal Canin is not a brand of food that the FDA has implicated in this rise of heart disease in dogs.

Hi there and thanks for posting. Although there isn't a food that is formulated for all three medical issues you listed, but there are separate foods for sensitive stomach/skin and cardiac disease. Prescription diets by Royal Canin or Hills such as Hill's Z/D Diet or D/D or Royal Canin's Ultamino Diet or their Cardiac Formula would be ones I would recommend. I hope this helps and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

The best type of food for a dog with food allergies would be a prescription hypoallergenic diet such as Purina HA or Hills z/d - these are diets that are specially formulated to avoid any proteins that can cause an allergic response, and can be ordered online with a prescription from your veterinarian. If you need an over-the-counter option, some dogs with food allergies do well on Natural Balance limited ingredient diets - these don't work as consistently as prescription diets do, but are often less expensive so can be a reasonable alternative option if needed due to cost.

I would try hills z/d ultra or royal canin anallergenic (an even more restricted version). Ensure also she is not receiving any additional treats, flavored tablets, bones, table scraps or raiding any garbage bins. She may also require prescription medication to resolve the current flare up. A home prepared diet may be an option but would have to be formulated with the help of an expert nutritionalist and can only comprise of novel ingredients (foods she has never eaten before such as kangaroo/venison/sweet potato etc - these are very difficult to supplement sufficiently and are very expensive to maintain in the long term)