Dog food for sensitive skin: Royal Canin too expensive? Grain-free?

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. I would recommend asking your veterinarian if there is any other type of food that would be compatible with Riley's medical needs that might be less expensive. Without knowing what specific type of diet your veterinarian has recommended and what specific medical issues Riley has that have necessitated a special diet, we can't really make any recommendation for a particular type of food.

As far as commercial breeds that come to mind, Wellness would be a good choice to meet your requirements. It is a little pricey, but I feel that it is a very high quality diet. A raw diet would also be an option, but would definitely require a significant amount of financial and time investment (though there are commercially available raw diets as well now). Hope this helps.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Cooper. You have several options regarding the risk of DCM from feeding the grain-free diet. In these cases, DCM results from the diet being deficient in taurine. There is a blood test that your veterinarian can submit to measure Cooper's taurine levels. He could also have an echocardiogram (an ultrasound of the heart) to ensure he does not have any structural changes. Lastly, you can change his diet. You can consider Purina Proplan Sensitive Skin and Stomach as it is a trust worthy brand and will help any underlying skin disease. I hope this information helps!

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. No, this is not a grain free diet. Oat groats are the first ingredient on the list. They are the hulled kernels of cereal grains: in this case, oats. Groats are whole: they include the cereal germ, the bran, and the endosperm of the grain. They are very nutritious. The novel protein is not a concern for DCM. So this diet would be good for Jack! I hope this is helpful!

The main ingredient in that food is duck and tapioca. Duck is commonly found in several formulations of dog food, both prescription and over the counter. However, tapioca is not. It is limited to this brand. If the protein source is the problem, then staying on a duck formula is ideal and the carbohydrate portion will not matter. However, if the carbohydrate is the problem then you will have to perform an elimination diet to see what besides tapioca he can tolerate. Science diet makes a D/D version that does contain duck you can try, however the carbohydrate source is potato. Puirna Beyond has a duck and sweet potato formula you can try also.

Grains are very rarely the cause of any skin issues so switching Kyya to a normal, grain containing diet is recommended. Keep in mind that the link is not understood but as long as the pet is not showing signs of heart disease, changing the diet will help avoid any heart pathology. The brand I like best is Royal Canin. You would pick the large breed formula. I also like Purina ProPlan. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.