Food Allergies...?

So, we have had Maromi going back and forth to the vet for months. They think he has a food allergy because he was not eating, had irritated skin, vomiting, and diarrhea. we tried everything the vet told us and it would always get better, but weeks later we would end up back at the vet for one reason or another. It's been a constant back and forth with him and he started losing too much weight and was down to 18 pounds.

A few days after his last vet visit we started adding chicken broth to his hypoallergenic food and adding some rice (Vet's suggestion) He would still only eat the rice and ignore his round chicken broth covered kibbles. We were really at a loss and didn't know what to do other than get him some x-rays and see if there is something else going on that we can't see.

But recently he came with me to my parents house who have two senior dogs. They ended up feeding them while I was there and Romi decided he wanted to eat whatever was in their dog bowls. He ate half a bowl food before my dad stopped him. Needless to say, they sent me home with some of their dog food and he loved it. Normal poops, no vomiting, and the only consistent problem we've been having is his skin.

So when we ran out of what my parents gave us we went out and bought what we thought was the same food. Turns out, there's a small bites kind (which my parents sent me home with) and a regular which has big round kibbles and some other different shaped stuff in there. We fed him the regular kind anyway thinking that it wouldn't be a problem. But, oddly enough, Romi sifted through all of the food, left the bigger round kibble and ate every other shaped food in his bowl.

Now I don't know if I just have the pickiest dog on the planet or there is something going on in his little noggin that he just can't tell me.

Has anyone else had their pooch pick through their food in accordance to the shape of it?

Regardless, we will probably still take him in for some x-rays and another visit to the vet to see if they can make sense of any of this. And he did start putting more weight on which I guess makes me feel better.

Anyway, was kind of curious as to what everyone's opinion is on this, or even if anyone else has had a problem similar.

Thanks, and I hope everyone is enjoying which ever holiday you do or do not celebrate!!

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Permalink Reply by Anna Morelli on December 20, 2014 at 11:24pm

I believe in " don't argue with success ".

With all that you've described, I would just stick to whatever your parents gave you and allow the dog's system to adjust to that and consolidate his gains, without going overboard on the amounts. I would not continue with Vet visits or X-Rays, unless absolutely necessary. Fingers crossed.

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Permalink Reply by Vicky Hay on December 21, 2014 at 9:03am

Hmm... That's an interesting phenomenon.

The size of the kibble has no bearing on the vomiting, skin rashes, and other manifestations. But if he prefers the smaller bites, I'd give him the small-bite kibble. Personally, I'd probably try to find out -- possibly from a different vet? -- if he has a dental problem or a sore in his mouth. Otherwise, I"m with Anna: back off the veterinary care, especially if the symptoms are subsiding.

You could try switching him over to real food. This requires some work on the humans' part -- cooking meat, dog-safe vegetables, and some sort of dog-compatible starch (rice, oatmeal, sweet potatoes...depending on the dog). In my experience, dogs thrive on this...but it surely does add to your workload, as if you didn't have enough to fill the hours of your day.

But think about it: would you like to be fed dry breakfast cereal morning, noon, and night, for your entire life? You could probably live on it -- it's artificially filled with nutrients. But how enthusiastic would you feel, come dinnertime? That's basically what kibble is.