Chai has started chewing his feet. Food allergies are to blame. The vet has him taking Benadryl, and suggested changing his food. I feed him Beneful dry food, and Alpo canned food. I plan to switch him to cooked chicken that I prepare myself...but he still needs a dry food to be out between meals. What is the best healthy dry dog food to give to him?
Trying not to interfere with another veterinarian's work, but this statement confuses me. How do you know it is a food allergy? The main differential would be atopy, an environmental/inhalant allergy that is generally seasonal. And FAR more common. It is difficult to distinguish between the two - generally one thinks of a food allergy when it is always there, simmering along, and does not 'flare up' at certain times. However, while there is allergy testing (of more or less value) for atopy, there is no good test for food allergies. Food allergies are only really diagnosed by feeding a hypoallergenic diet for at least 6 weeks and seeing if it helps.
Trying a hypoallergenic diet is not difficult- they are available commercially in pet stores by such mainstay companies as Wellness and Natural Balance. They say "Limited Ingredient Diet' in big letters on the bag. These foods typically include only one protein and one carbohydrate, with a 'novel' protein like Duck, Venison, or Kangaroo, and a hypoallergenic carb like potatoes or sweet potatoes. Just read the labels.
Thus the statement 'My dog has been diagnosed with food allergies but I don't know what to feed him' is odd. Feeding the food that demonstrated it was a food allergy would be a good place to start, at least for awhile.
Again, I am not in the least suggesting in any way that your veterinarian was wrong, but more that asking a few questions like 'how do we know this is a food allergy and should we try a trial' would be in order.
