It’s been six weeks since I started Maddie on the elimination diet in the hopes of controlling her itching and scratching.
And for that six week period I have been diligently making the food mention in Dog Food Allergy Elimination Diet.
Maddie loved it.
Could not wait to eat.
Licked the design off the bowl!
Yesterday it was time for a chat with the vet to discuss the progress of the diet. It was during this discussion that she asked exactly what I was making.
As soon as I said ‘chicken’, she interrupted to inform me that chicken is the number one protein that causes allergic reactions in dogs.
What?
You mean that was six weeks of cooking dog food for no results?!
She went on to tell me that the true elimination diet had either duck, rabbit or venison as the source of protein.
And, no, chicken would not work.
Well I don’t know where you live but duck, rabbit and venison are not real prevalent in my local supermarket.
The vet suggested that Pinto beans are a great source of protein and that I could substitution a meat protein with Pinto’s.
Faithfully I remade the recipe mentioned above and replaced the chicken with Pinto beans. It was actually easier to make since there was no chicken to cook.
I dished out a batch to Maddie and instead of licking the bowl clean she looked at me with an expression that simply said “Really? You expect me to eat this?”
So there I am with a HUGE pot of potatoes, pumpkin, peas and Pinto beans with a dog that has no interest in eating any of it.
So I start to Google local meat markets to see if they had duck, rabbit, or venison.
Fortunately I found a shop up the steet that sells venison patties.
So I microwaved (sorry folks, that the method of cooking I’m left to after this fiasco) the patties, poured the juice into the pot, and crumbled in the venison.
Whoa! Home run!
She loved it.
Only 4 more weeks of this until the next vet discussion.
You watch. It will turn out that she isn’t allergic to any food – she’ll turn out to be allergic to the cat!
In memory of Annie
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This is exactly where I’m at. Our pup is 5 months old and exhibiting the signs of having a food allergy. I did the same thing-homemade chicken and rice. I only used it for a week, though before switching over to lamb and rice. She seemed better on the chicken and rice and now (after a week on the lamb and rice) I think the symptoms are as bad as ever. I didn’t realize you need to stay on the elimination diet for 8 weeks. And I certainly didn’t know that chicken was bad. My breeder has recommended Natural Balance duck and potato (very limited ingredients). I think I might try that. Your comment about the cat made me laugh…we said the same thing about our situation.
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