huski Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 (edited) Cherry has always been prone to rashes, itching and allergies to certain things, although we couldn't never pin point the exact cause. For many years she always had hot/itchy spots (usually on her belly, feet and at the end of her back, near her tail). She has always been worse in summer. The only way we could manage it (she becomes obsessive about itching and will bite/rub herself until she bleeds) was to get the vet to give her cortisone injections. A couple of years ago we changed her over to Royal Canin and she has not had rashes or itching since then. However, since changing all the dogs over to BARF I have noticed she has become itchy again and it has really escalated the the last few weeks. She can't stop itching/biting herself. At first I thought it might have been fleas (fleas really affect her and bring out her rash) or the heat but I think it is the change in diet. Before changing her to BARF, she was eating the RC and would also have raw chicken bones (like wing tips, necks). I know RC is chicken based so I am wondering if her recent allergies could be the red meat we are feeding her? She only gets red meat in the BARF mix I make up (beef mince) as she struggles with any bones larger than chicken wings. I doubt it would be the vegies or sardines, or yogurt, as red meat is the only thing I can think of that she would have before we changed her to RC and her allergies went away. Is it relatively common for a dog to react to red meat? The other two have thrived on BARF. I have changed Cherry back to RC and chicken bones only, as I can't see how I could feed her on a BARF diet without any red meat. And how long should it take for her allergies to go away now she is back on dried food? (she's only been back on it for the last 2 days). The itching is really bothering her Edited February 3, 2009 by huski Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 You could make up the BARF mix with lamb, pork, chicken or roo mince. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huski Posted February 3, 2009 Author Share Posted February 3, 2009 (edited) You could make up the BARF mix with lamb, pork, chicken or roo mince. So she can be ok on a BARF diet without any beef? The only problem I have found with getting non-beef mince is that it seems to be a lot more expensive and less available. ETA: I'm not sure how she will react to lamb or roo mince, but once her allergies have cleared up I can try her on some. Edited February 3, 2009 by huski Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam&Saki Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 My previous dog Kia was allergic to the protein in red meat. So she couldn't have beef, lamb, roo or any red meat whatsoever her whole life. She could only have chicken. She was diagnosed with the allergy as a pup, symptoms were extremely itchy red skin, little red lumps all over her belly and the most terrible smell. However once on a no red meat diet she did really well and it cleared it up 95%. Don't think it's all that common but it's not unheard of, either x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huski Posted February 3, 2009 Author Share Posted February 3, 2009 Thanks for that Sam. That's what I worry about with Cherry - that it won't just be beef she is allergic to. The rash makes her stinky too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laffi Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Thanks for that Sam. That's what I worry about with Cherry - that it won't just be beef she is allergic to. The rash makes her stinky too. I think allergies to red meat are actually pretty common. What are the ingredients of RC you are giving her? More specifically what are the sources of proteins? I would just stick to that source just in the raw version. So if it's chicken I would give her chicken mince rather than beef. She is tiny so you will not need a lot of it anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huski Posted February 3, 2009 Author Share Posted February 3, 2009 Thanks for that Sam. That's what I worry about with Cherry - that it won't just be beef she is allergic to. The rash makes her stinky too. I think allergies to red meat are actually pretty common. What are the ingredients of RC you are giving her? More specifically what are the sources of proteins? I would just stick to that source just in the raw version. So if it's chicken I would give her chicken mince rather than beef. She is tiny so you will not need a lot of it anyway. The RC she does well on is chicken based. So it is ok to feed her a raw diet that is just made up of chicken (and all the other stuff I include obviously like vegies etc)? I have changed her back to RC for now just to clear her rash up as quickly as possible, if it is indeed the food (I can't think of anything else it would be). Once she is ok again I will make up her own little BARF mixture using chicken mince Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sam&Saki Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 NP, if the rash is stinky too I wouldn't be surprised if its the same thing! Hope she improves soon x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
huski Posted February 3, 2009 Author Share Posted February 3, 2009 NP, if the rash is stinky too I wouldn't be surprised if its the same thing! Hope she improves soon x Cherry has always been a dog that gets stinky quickly, maybe I notice it more because Daisy has short hair and the Sibe never smells and rarely needs bathing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frufru Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 I have a standard poodle who is allergic to lamb, beef and roo and chicken- and all grains. She has fish based biscuits, tinned mackered and one turkey neck per day. After many years I figured out that she could tolerate a small amount of the meats if they were cooked (she only gets this as a small treat on rare occasions). For many years she was able to eat raw chicken and then at about the age of 6yrs she started reacting to this as well and the hunt was on for some kind of bone she could tolerate for the sake of her teeth. Her symptoms were pretty much what you described plus really bad "wind" and nowdays if she steals any "illegals" from my other dogs she gets diarrhea in a pretty spectacular way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparkyTansy Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 I have an ES who is allergic to chicken, but also shows a high intolerance for other fresh meats... namely beef and pork. He can tolerate lamb and turkey once or twice a week, but anything more and he will develop pustules which take weeks to clear up by themselves, or require a course of antibiotics to help him through. Although the other dogs are on raw, he is on a lamb based kibble that contains no chicken by-products or poultry meal... it took a really long time to find a balance for him and resulted in a difficult puppyhood. By having excess chicken when he was young (before we discovered the cause) he would also get terrible tummy upsets.... If she has no reaction to chicken mince you could try that, as well as roo, lamb or turkey... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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