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Comment by Geri & Sidney on September 23, 2009 at 4:21pm

Many stores will let you return/exchange food if your dog has a reaction to it. You should ask at the store.

Comment by Rachel on September 23, 2009 at 4:09pm

Haha, darn maybe I might have to switch her food. :-/ Just after I decided I would buy the big ol' $50 bag of food this time around instead of the smaller bags. Izzie would clean her paws regularly before but usually it was only the pads and that was after we'd take a walk and would lick them clean to get the pads back to pink.

Comment by Amanda on September 23, 2009 at 3:07pm

Oh, I also heard someone say (on here I think, though I haven't looked it up) that Blue Buffalo was recently sold to...I think Diamond pet foods? It's possible that the formula has changed since then, so that may also be why you didn't notice anything before.

This is only something I remember hearing. I don't know it for a fact, I'll try to do a little research later, in the meantime, if anyone can confirm that it's true, it may help you uncover the mystery. :)

Comment by Geri & Sidney on September 23, 2009 at 3:01pm

Sidney was also on Blue Buffalo and was itching a LOT. We switched to Wellness Simple Solutions (for itchy skin doggies) and he's quite a bit better. He still licks his paws a little, too. Maybe it feels good? Like Dax, his paws are not red & raw, either.

I added a little fish oil to his kibble because I hear it's good for their skin, though he did see about 80% improvement after switching foods.

Good luck Rachel! I hope Izzie feels better soon.

Comment by Amanda on September 23, 2009 at 2:52pm

Are there any significant changes in the formula? More grains maybe? I had Dax on Blue Buffalo up until about 2 months ago, and he was scratching like CRAZY. Every 10 seconds he'd have to stop and scratch. He was biting and licking his paws raw, pawing at his eyes, sneezing a lot (which he couldn't do unless he jumped in my lap and sneezed on me, of course), his eyes would constantly water, he was even pawing at his mouth/gums (which was weird to me) like they were itching too. Switched him back to Wellness Super5mix and saw a huge improvement. I recently switched him to Wellness Core (grain free), and he's back to his normal self again. No scratching! He still licks his paws, but they're not raw like they were when he was on BB, I think he just does it because he's bored and likes to lick. Lol.

I know how you feel, I would watch him scratch and paw and itch and lick and just feel so bad for him, wondering what I could do. I didn't think it was the food because he was fine for the first month he was on it, but I was told by my vet that it takes about 6 weeks for them to really transition on a new food and for allergies to start, or stop. Sure enough, about 6 weeks after I had him back on Wellness, it all went away.

You might want to just try a grain free food. Give it about 2 months and see if she's doing any better. Good luck!