HEALTH: Antihistamine
Louis Cornelio
---stuff deleted --
>As you said, the lamb/rice diet used to be a good diagnostic
>tool and alternative diet. In my uneducated rush to provide
>my dog with "the best", I fed her lamb/rice and now to give
>her any relief at all from her allergies, I'm paying through
>the nose for Venison/Rice or Rabbit/Rice. If only I had
So what is the implication of feeding lamb/rice w/no certaintly that
it is needed??
Perhaps it is a good idea to _vary_ food ,say, every 20 lb. bag?
- Louis
Paula Wheeler
: ---stuff deleted --
No! Allergies *develop* and for that to happen, say a chicken allergy,
the animal must have eaten chicken for a time. To diagnose a food
allergy accurately, an elimination diet must be fed (blood & skin tests
are fairly good predictors but elimination is the most accurate method)
and if a dog has had wide exposure to various foods, it becomes very
difficult to find a safe diet. My dog, by the time she was a year old,
had been fed pork, chicken, lamb, rice, wheat, brewer's yeast, beef,
corn, salmon, potatoes, carrots and peas. Trying to come up with a safe
protein and carbohydrate that could sustain her for a 6 week elimination
trial was tough (especially getting her to consider what's left
palatible!). She ended up on pinto beans and millet - not a happy
puppy! True food allergies aren't all that common, according to the
veterinary dermatologist that we visit. He recommends starting a dog on
one of the "premium quality" foods and sticking with it unless/until
problems occur, preferrably one of the chicken/corn based foods.
Interestingly, recent studies from Cornell disspell the old warnings
against corn and in fact suggest that it can help prevent the expression
of CHD. (Animal Health Newsletter, Vol 11, No.9, Nov., 1993)
Feeding a lamb diet without medical cause just eliminates one of the best
recourses for a dog that does develop food allergies. Lamb isn't
hypoallergenic in itself and dogs can and do develop allergies to it.
If your dog is already on a lamb/rice diet, that's not harmful but
switching around a lot can be a real pain if allergies do develop.
Paula
Kathleen Brewer
Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs
Organization: DONOVAN ENTERPRISES - San Diego, CA
PW>As you said, the lamb/rice diet used to be a good diagnostic
PW>tool and alternative diet. In my uneducated rush to provide
PW>my dog with "the best", I fed her lamb/rice and now to give
PW>her any relief at all from her allergies, I'm paying through
PW>the nose for Venison/Rice or Rabbit/Rice. If only I had
PW>known then...
I know that Lamb & Rice is not a cure all, but when vets are charging
people hundreds of dollars for allergy shots and not making any
progress, the lamb & rice diet is worth a shot. Most vets in my area do
not even suggest a change in diet, I have people coming in with dogs on
allergy shots and still feeding Old Roy....go figure. The vet has never
suggested a premium diet of any kind. So I suggest it, I give free
samples and tell them to give it a try for 30 days, if there is no
improvement fine, but in 90% of the cases there is and the owners come
back and thank me. I never in anyway suggest they should stop the vet
care, in fact I encourge them to tell their vet about the change in
diet, in case it changes the treatment.
Kathleen Bre...@cutting.hou.tx
---
* OLX 2.1 * COLT: the original "point and click" interface
---
- Kathleen Brewer
Internet : kathlee...@cutting.hou.tx.us
Paula Wheeler
: I know that Lamb & Rice is not a cure all, but when vets are charging
: people hundreds of dollars for allergy shots and not making any
: progress, the lamb & rice diet is worth a shot. Most vets in my area do
: not even suggest a change in diet, I have people coming in with dogs on
: allergy shots and still feeding Old Roy....go figure. The vet has never
: suggested a premium diet of any kind. So I suggest it, I give free
: samples and tell them to give it a try for 30 days, if there is no
: improvement fine, but in 90% of the cases there is and the owners come
: back and thank me. I never in anyway suggest they should stop the vet
: care, in fact I encourge them to tell their vet about the change in
: diet, in case it changes the treatment.
: Kathleen Bre...@cutting.hou.tx
Changing from generic to premium is great - no quarrel with that at all.
But lamb/rice is no magic cureall, is all I've been trying to say and can
in fact complicate things if the dog actually does have food allergies
and is not simply doing poorly from insufficient nutrition. Go read
labels in your spare time - you'll find that with the exception of
Nature's Recipe foods that all the other lamb/rice formulas contain
things like dried whole egg (NutroMax), chicken liver meal (Iams
Natural), wheat (AvoDerm) that are common allergins. Not that they are
bad things for a dog without allergies - they're good foods but common
allergins. Now that lamb is popular and commonly fed, it's become a
likely allergin too and is not a useful tool for either diagnosing food
allergies or feeding a dog who has them. I repeat - if I had it to do
over again, knowing what I know now (and after thousands of dollars worth
of lessons from an expensive [but worth it] veterinary dermatologist), I
would offer a premium diet that did *not* include lamb for no other
reason than if food allergies *do* develop, lamb would be the first
alternative of choice. Venison & rabbit based diets are much more
expensive, especially when calculated over the life of the dog.
Kathleen Brewer
Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs
Organization: California Technology Project of The Calif State Univ
LC>So what is the implication of feeding lamb/rice w/no certaintly that
LC>it is needed??
If your dog is having skin problems then you may want to try a Lamb &
Rice Diet, it does seem to help a good percentage of the dogs with
allergy problems. Venison is also a good alternative but more expensive,
by about $10.00 per 40#'s.
LC>Perhaps it is a good idea to _vary_ food ,say, every 20 lb. bag?
It is not a good idea to vary a dogs food too often. It can cause
stomach upset which will result in loose stools. If you want to change a
dogs diet then you should do it over a 5 day period mixing the foods.
But I would not do this on a regular basis. If you are feeding a premium
dog food, the dog is healthy and the dog likes the food, then there is
no reason to switch IMHO.
Kathleen Bre...@cutting.hou.tx
---
* OLX 2.1 * "Very funny Mr. Scott...now beam down my clothes!"