Kiah's health issues

[kiahpyr]

Kiah's always had health issues. The main issues right now are her knee & ears. We deal with recurring ear infections. She also licks the bottoms of her paws to where their red and raw. The vet says it's some type of allergy and to give her benedryl. It doesn't help much if at all. Plus she's a pita to give pills too.

Three years ago she tore her acl in the left knee and had tplo surgery. That surgery was a success. This year in march she had tplo surgery on her right leg. The surgery itself was a success. The muscle in that leg is still weak. She also developed a skin infection. She's been on 2 rounds of antibiotics. It still hasn't gone away yet. Kiah can't tolerate the main antibiotics the vet says is the best. I'm so tired of dealing with this.

Thanks for reading. I know I'm new and I'm trying to jump right in.

[mezmerelda]

Maybe you posted somewhere else - if so, please direct me to the right spot. What do you feed her?

[kiahpyr]

I posted an intro thread. Right now she's on kirkland chicken and rice. I've tried so many different foods. Some she can't tolerate because of her sensitive stomach. I've also tried no grain foods and didn't see a difference. Unfortunately money is an issue right now.

Kiah is a 5 year old purebred great pyrenees.

[ToBScholarly]

Kim (ALDOGMOM) found that her spaniel had issues with chicken. Once she got her a food that was chicken-free, her ears clearned right up and she did not have any more problems.

[ALDOGMOM]

Try fish!

Birdie had chronic ear infections - very typical for a spaniel. She was eating the regular Evo.

Our vet recommended putting her on a novel protein food - since one of the most common reasons dogs have re-occurring ear issues is due to an allergy.
I put her on a fish based food (no grain) and her ears cleared up in 7 days.

When she went back for a recheck our vet could not believe it. She has not had an ear infection since.
I never have to clean or treat her ears at all.

She also used to have terrible gas (no GI issues - just really horrible room-clearing gas).

Now that she is off all poultry - we don't have that issue either.
She is obviously allergic to chicken...

You might try that and see if it works for you.

As for the knees, it's not uncommon for them to blow the other knee out if they have had problems with one. My vet told me with a previous dog I had that had to have TPLO that there was a 50-50 chance he would injure the other knee - but thankfully, he didn't.

[kiahpyr]

Thanks for the responses. What's a good fish food? What about lamb? I heard that lamb isn't good to feed all the time.

Yeah I knew the other knee would go. I was surprised it took 3 years. The muscles aren't rebuilding like they should be. I think her body is fighting so much right now. She's also on glyco-flex III.

[ALDOGMOM]

I put Birdie on Taste of the Wild - Salmon.
She now eats a combination of the salmon and venison/bison flavors by Taste of the Wild.

Wellness makes a salmon based food as does Blue Wilderness.

I would go with fish as opposed to lamb...And I would stick with grain free because grain creates sugar that will feed yeast - the most common ear issue with dogs..

Good luck!

[mezmerelda]

I would second, third, fourth - whatever - the suggestion to avoid chicken. The Kirland has flax seed in it too, which tends to be an allergen. I'm guessing it's the chicken, though. We had that issue with our old beagle, and she had issues with cooked chicken, but not raw. Is raw an option for you? It can be decently priced, but I'm not sure if the price would be ok, or if you'd even do it.

You could try Kirkland's lamb, but it does have chicken fat in it. I'm not sure if it would be enough to bother her or not, but I think I'd stay away from it too.

Other brands w/fish formulas are:
Acana (tends to be pricey, but it's good)
Blue Buffalo (not sure if anyone has fed this)
Eagle Pack Holistic (ditto on the not sure - and I'm sure it's pricey)
Fromm (I love their products)
Halo
Orijen (pricey)
Timberwolf
Wellness

Actually, I'm not sure any of those are as decently priced as Kirkland. I'm sure there are others, but those are the ones I can think of now that haven't been mentioned.

[kiahpyr]

Thank you for the list. Costco does have a grain free salmon food called nature's domain. I looked up the ingredients and flaxseed is high on the list. I called around and got prices on tow. I'm going to see if it's possible to switch her over.

[ALDOGMOM]

I have to tell you that I was in Petsmart today and priced the Blue Wilderness formula. I think it is more expensive than TOTW.
I have found TOTW to be one of the more reasonably priced "premium" foods on the market.

[LJL]

If she's got a contact or environmental allergy, you can use (vest prescribed) Genesis Topical Spray. It is truly a miracle with our mastiff.

[Delynnr]

We use TOTW -salmon with Boku and Caza and my parents have switched their Sheltie. Kya (their Sheltie) had chronic ear infections, skin issues, and was just all around sick a lot before I convinced my dad to switch. He was just commenting last night that he really thought the switch in food was worth it. They are on a tight budget as well and he remarked that the reduction in vet bills alone was worth the switch. Before they changed her over she was at the vet for her ears and other issues all the time. She has not had an ear infection since they switched 9 months ago and has just had her usual yearly visit w/o issues. Her skin is a lot better as well. Not perfect (she has some environmental allergies) but it is SO much better!

Also- if you do switch to TOTW watch her weight. TOTW does not have as many fillers and you will likely feed less. We feed half as much as we did on cheaper food. So in the end we don't spend any more. When we took our two for their yearly visit our vet was so impressed with their overall condition that she said she was going to look into TOTW.

[Itsapyr]

April, Abby was very allergic to chicken and grains too...she used to chew her feet like crazy until we switched her to a no chicken no grain formula.

[Yeti_Girl]

Ditto on the chicken thing for us. Fish formula all the way. Lamb didn't sit well in Copper's sensitive stomach.

[kiahpyr]

I'll be so happy if the switch works. We've been dealing with this for years. She can't tolerate venison or bison. We've tried so many different foods, it will be nice to find one that works. I'd love to feed raw, however meat is so expensive here. I'll pick up a bag of totw salmon tomorrow. There's a pet store within 5 minutes of my house that sells it. I called around today and totw is the cheapest no grain salmon formula.

[Lora]

April Apollo had chronic ear issues so we switched to TOTW pacific stream a 1.5 hears ago and not a problem since. B and R are on it too. They only get 4 cups per day so you feed significantly less which really makes up for the price difference.