Fussy JRT with possible food allergy

[Lise08]

Hi all, I'm desperately in need of some help regarding my furry baby. I have a 13 Yr old JRT (who is generally stroppy and grumpy!) and my vet has said she has a possible food allergy. She's been itching herself raw for what seems like months and months. She only itches her underneath. 8 weeks ago, we were given steroids and told to start feeding her on basic food. She had the steroids for 10 days and has been eating Harringtons salmon & potato food. Anyway, long story short, she's still itching like mad. I rang my vet today and they're starting her on steroids again and told me to change the food. I feel like I'm not being given enough Information and there are so many different foods out there, I don't know where to start! Please help!  Many many thanks for any helpful advice! Lise & Mollie the JRT Xx

[COASTER]

Best way to home test for diet allergies is to try elimination diet trials.

Try your dog on home cooked chicken & rice for 2-3 weeks & monitor her skin plus stool output.

If the issue continues then it is either NOT diet related or it is chicken &/or rice related.

You can repeat with other protein sources....beef, white fish, lamb etc.

A proper evaluation period before trying a new protein source is advisable.

In any significant deterioration in condition speak to your vet immediately.

[Dottie]

Hello and welcome to the forum. As Coaster says, trying to find a suitable product to feed involves trial and error so you must be very patient and observant, writing down the dog's response to ingredients.

Have at look at these threads: Feeding dogs with a sensitive digestive system and Feeding the fussy dog.

I think you should consider that this might not be food related. It could be environmental or mites. It might be useful to look for a wet food because dry food contains storage mites and allergy to these is thought to be more common than we once thought. 

[lewie0205]

Hi. As an owner of a dog with food and environmental allergies (inc storage mites), my advice in choosing a food is try to keep to a single source protein, such as salmon or chicken etc... and avoid any food that lists its ingredients in general terms such as "oils & fats" or "cereals" . If you don't know exactly what the ingredient is, don't feed it to your dog. It will help with the elimination process. Regarding kibble & storage mites, try to choose grain free but the mites can develop in the best quality dog food once the bag is open and air gets to it so its recommended to buy small bags of food & decant into an airtight plastic tub which is cleaned thoroughly once empty. I used to feed wet but he ate a lot of grass when on it so I've just recently started using Tribal (a cold pressed food) and it seems to be agreeing with him. There are other cold pressed foods on the market but my dog is allergic to ingredients in them!

[Meg]

Hello Lise08 and welcome to the forum!

I have a 13 Yr old JRT .....She's been itching herself raw for what seems like months and months. She only itches her underneath.....I feel like I'm not being given enough Information and there are so many different foods out there

Our dogs do worry us at time! I'm wondering if her itching is linked to anything that may have changed maybe relatively recently. For example environmental triggers such as using a different washing powder on her bedding? A carpet powder? Or perhaps a reaction to a change of her diet?

You might also research a 'hormonal' trigger for her itchiness....... I've known a bitch that incessantly scratched herself to the point of wounding her own tail, causing herself hot spots (wet eczema), immediately following her seasons!!