My dog has heart disease & allergies. What food won't affect heart?

A hydrolyzed therapeutic diet might be the best option for a dog with food allergies and potential heart disease. Hills makes a version called z/d, Royal Canin makes HP and Purina makes HA. Your vet would know more details however and might make a different recommendation based on Champ’s history so you should contact them before changing the diet.

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.

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!

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.

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)

Dogs with food allergies are difficult because of the balance between the best nutrition and the type of protein used in these food. The most ideal food would be a prescription kidney diet (i.e. science diet k/d) but most of these have chicken in them you could look at Purina NF the dry kibble as there isn't any chicken listed on the ingredients. I would call Purina or have your vet call and confirm that they don't have any chicken in the dry kibble. If you choose this food, your vet will likely have to order it for you and give you a written prescription for you to buy it. I would not put him on high protein diets like blue buffalo or wilderness. These diets put a lot of strain on the kidneys. I would look into Natural Balance venice and sweet potato. If he is really allergic then I would talk to your vet about whether he should be on a prescription hypoallergenic diet. I hope this helps!

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!