Allergy Elimination Diet -is Barf Roo Acceptable?

[zayda_asher]

And be aware that the more different foods you throw at him you a) limit the ingredient options you have when you do a real elimination diet with the derm, and this will leave you with only the exotic and more expensive options like venison and emu and b) exposure to more foods opens you to the risk of him developing more allergies / intolerances to these foods, which can leave you forced to feed the exotic and expensive options in the long term. Speaking from almost 11yrs of experience with two allergy dogs I can tell you that foods like VAN with its large, multi ingredient list is just shooting yourself in the foot until you know what you can and can't have.

Here's a flow chart of a correct elimination diet:

[Mason_Gibbs]

I'm having a really hard time with my pup he was put on elim diet due to diarrhoa, been on elim diet for 2 days and worst case of upset stomach I have ever seen.

[Frodo's mum]

I'm having a really hard time with my pup he was put on elim diet due to diarrhoa, been on elim diet for 2 days and worst case of upset stomach I have ever seen.

did I read somewhere you were trying him on horse ? horse is very rich and can upset their tummies

hope Gibb's is feeling better soon

[aussielover]

Have been chatting to Belinda at Vets all Natural, and for now I think I'll try the roo with VAN omega 3 and skin and coat formula with the sensitive skin mix and see how that goes for 6 weeks. I wasn't aware the Roo Dr B BARF had beef in it....thanks for the heads up.

... which isn't an elimination diet?

The above

I probably do agree with this approach. Best in this case to probably wait and see a specialist before going down the path of elimination trials. May as well just make sure the dog is on a great diet and healthy in every other respect so that the derm can really see what is going on.

Actually, speaking with the 2 derms in sydney recently and they both said they don't mind if the dog has already been on an elimination diet if it has been prescribed to and adhered to properly by their referring vet. It can even be beneficial and shorten the process/cost as some dogs will be food allergy positive and not even need to see the derm!

It's actually a BAD thing to try the dog on lots of different types of food before starting an elimination diet as it can make finding a novel protein and carb hard to do.

[booge]

Well I'm diverting from the all raw kangaroo, sweet potato and VAN sensitive skin mix. My boxer is losing a noticeable amount of weight and his coat looks pretty dull and average now. I'm thinking of putting him back on some BARF and dry food as I'm feeding him a mountain of roo and sweet potato at meals and bones in between and he's still looking skinny. What are the good dry food recommendations for dogs with sensitive stomachs?

[trinabean]

I can't tell you what the recommended amount of dry food to feed is, it depends what you are feeding. Some manufacturers have recommended amounts on their packaging. I'm pretty sure Royal Canin did, I think I was lucky to get mine to even eat half the recommended amount though!

As for the roo, it is very lean. My vet and I chose to suspend a roo/ sweet potato elimination diet at the 3 week mark. He was so thin and lethargic that his itchiness was the lesser evil.

[Guest english.ivy]

Well I'm diverting from the all raw kangaroo, sweet potato and VAN sensitive skin mix. My boxer is losing a noticeable amount of weight and his coat looks pretty dull and average now. I'm thinking of putting him back on some BARF and dry food as I'm feeding him a mountain of roo and sweet potato at meals and bones in between and he's still looking skinny. What are the good dry food recommendations for dogs with sensitive stomachs?

Big Dog Barf has roo only in their range.

Which dry have you tried already?

[Guest english.ivy]

I'm busy doing an elimination diet with my youngest, I'm doing horse and pumpkin.

Dont know how you can feed horse to your dog.

[Crisovar]

Well I'm diverting from the all raw kangaroo, sweet potato and VAN sensitive skin mix. My boxer is losing a noticeable amount of weight and his coat looks pretty dull and average now. I'm thinking of putting him back on some BARF and dry food as I'm feeding him a mountain of roo and sweet potato at meals and bones in between and he's still looking skinny. What are the good dry food recommendations for dogs with sensitive stomachs?

He may need a fattier type meat or the roo simply may not agree with him. Instead of changing his diet radically (thinking of his tummy here)maybe try switching the meat component first. Does he tolerate chicken? My previously hard to keep condition on girl does famously with chicken and VAN, roo didn't work for her. Now she is a recovered skinny scratchy walking sad sack she is doing marvelous with chicken and Van and Lamb bones. Also remember there really is no rigid rules re quantities to feed, depending on your dog (and Boxers can be hard to keep condition on)you may need to up your quantities and split into 2 feeds.

[booge]

I already split the feeds morning and night. He tolerates chicken fine, his poos were better with roo, but he's just looking too thin now to continue. I've tried Supercoat sensitive stomach blend and it seems to agree with his stomach, but given that it's cheap I thought I should try for a better grade of dry food.

[Mason_Gibbs]

I'm busy doing an elimination diet with my youngest, I'm doing horse and pumpkin.

Dont know how you can feed horse to your dog.

Well sometimes one has no choice as he has to have a novel protein and I couldn't get any other protein. "Get off your high horse so to speak" and don't judge others. The horse was dead already it's not as if I killed it. My old horse was PTS due to arthritis and I donated his carcass to croc world back home. I had no issues with it

[Frodo's mum]

I'm busy doing an elimination diet with my youngest, I'm doing horse and pumpkin.

Dont know how you can feed horse to your dog.

what's the difference between feeding horse to other meats ?

sure some might say horses are like companion but I have a pet cow

and several pet sheep..but my dogs and myself still eat beef and lamb

[Guest english.ivy]

I'm allowed to have my opinion. Aren't I?

I see a horse much different to a pet cow or lamb.

I'm not judging you Mason_Gibbs. I just don't agree.

[Mason_Gibbs]

I'm allowed to have my opinion. Aren't I?

I see a horse much different to a pet cow or lamb.

I'm not judging you Mason_Gibbs. I just don't agree.

I disagree my sis in law has a farm and their cows etc were all pets and I would feel bad about eating steak once I had visited their farm. in Africa us humans are part of the food chain for a variety of big cats, in the ocean we are part of the food chain for sharks. Back in the day hunters hunted what they found to survive. At the end of the day meat is meat. I think spending time in Africa seeing animals hunt reminds us that no matter how beautiful and sweet an animal is another animal has to hunt it to survive.

And for the record the topic was elimination diets your comments were in no way helpful to the topic saying I don't know how you can feed horse, but I'm not going to loose any sleep over it tonight ;)

[Guest english.ivy]

Comment wasn't meant to be helpful, as I said, just an opinion :)

Well how is Gibbs doing on his elimination diet? Has the runny tummy settled down?

eta - I'm honestly interested .. how it is you ended up with two Labradors that have allergies [apologies if that isn't the correct wording]?

Thought Labs have iron stomachs? My two certainly do and can eat anything with no ill effects.

Edited June 16, 2012 by english.ivy

[Frodo's mum]

I'm allowed to have my opinion. Aren't I?

I see a horse much different to a pet cow or lamb.

I'm not judging you Mason_Gibbs. I just don't agree.

I have( and breed horses) if my dog did well on horse meat it wouldn't stop me using it

I really feel for people who's dogs have bad allergies..and i would feed what i needed to if it helped

and my pet cow and pet lambs mean just as much to me as what my horses do

[Andisa]

I'm allowed to have my opinion. Aren't I?

I see a horse much different to a pet cow or lamb.

I'm not judging you Mason_Gibbs. I just don't agree.

I have( and breed horses) if my dog did well on horse meat it wouldn't stop me using it

I really feel for people who's dogs have bad allergies..and i would feed what i needed to if it helped

and my pet cow and pet lambs mean just as much to me as what my horses do

When I was a kid I lost one of my mares due to foaling, vet couldn't save her but the foal lived and we handraised her. My father called one of the local greyhound breeders telling him to come collect the horse for his dogs, he called the vet and it was fine to use as long as it didn't go to the current working dogs (no idea on the drugs used so who knows) I was pretty pissed off with my father at the time but eventually realized it was better to use the body than waste it. We only had her for about 6 months, never knew she was pregnant when we got her, she came from a large horse property in NSW.

We have raised many calves and lambs, they were sold at the markets so would have ended up on someone plate - just not ours. Had no worries eating their relations though .

I had horses for almost 20 years and love them, however if I could get horse meat for my dogs today I would, especially for my boy who needs a lean diet.

[Jumabaar]

Have been chatting to Belinda at Vets all Natural, and for now I think I'll try the roo with VAN omega 3 and skin and coat formula with the sensitive skin mix and see how that goes for 6 weeks. I wasn't aware the Roo Dr B BARF had beef in it....thanks for the heads up.

... which isn't an elimination diet?

The above

I probably do agree with this approach. Best in this case to probably wait and see a specialist before going down the path of elimination trials. May as well just make sure the dog is on a great diet and healthy in every other respect so that the derm can really see what is going on.

Actually, speaking with the 2 derms in sydney recently and they both said they don't mind if the dog has already been on an elimination diet if it has been prescribed to and adhered to properly by their referring vet. It can even be beneficial and shorten the process/cost as some dogs will be food allergy positive and not even need to see the derm!

It's actually a BAD thing to try the dog on lots of different types of food before starting an elimination diet as it can make finding a novel protein and carb hard to do.

My point was based on the confusion the OP is having making up an elimination diet. I do agree with doing one before seeing the Derm but you have to look at the person in front of you to make the best recommendation for them. Thus making sure the dog is on a healthy (ideally basic) diet and then having a diet specifically explained to the OP by an expert and monitored by someone IRL seems the best way forward.

[Andisa]

Comment wasn't meant to be helpful, as I said, just an opinion :)

Well how is Gibbs doing on his elimination diet? Has the runny tummy settled down?

eta - I'm honestly interested .. how it is you ended up with two Labradors that have allergies [apologies if that isn't the correct wording]?

Thought Labs have iron stomachs? My two certainly do and can eat anything with no ill effects.

Very generalized comment, most dogs have an iron gut - not all...breed has nothing to do with it.

[trinabean]

Comment wasn't meant to be helpful, as I said, just an opinion :)

Well how is Gibbs doing on his elimination diet? Has the runny tummy settled down?

eta - I'm honestly interested .. how it is you ended up with two Labradors that have allergies [apologies if that isn't the correct wording]?

Thought Labs have iron stomachs? My two certainly do and can eat anything with no ill effects.

Some of us are unlucky enough to have dogs with health problems. This can even happen when you buy through a good, registered breeder. My dog is a good example.

Doing elimination diets and sourcing novel proteins is not easy. It can be financially and emotionally exhausting trying to find out what helps your sick dog. And it seems when you are struggling with doing the best by your dog, as though everyone else takes for granted their 'easy' dogs. Who can eat anything and thrive, and hardly ever need to go to the vet.

I hope the OP and MasonGibbs find some answers. :)