I stayed at a Holiday Inn once and have watched a few veterinarian TV shows, so to say I am an expert on canine health would be completely ludicrous. How about I toss in that I have also watched numerous veterinarian YouTube videos (LOVE VetRanch) and read a book once, I think.
No?
Okay, how about I just say that I know my dog. The one I have lived with for the past 8+ years. I will say that I am an expert when it comes to Kilala, the Doberman. After all these years of feeding, cleaning up after her and fixing all her boo boos, yes, I am an expert on Kilala the Doberman.
So, in keeping w/ the theme of my blog (this is the first article, so I reserve the right to change the theme at will, unless heavily paid to do otherwise), when it comes to Kilala, my “what I wish I would have known if” tip of the day concerns her allergies.
Over the years, Kilala had the habit of chewing her paws and occasionally scratching invisible fleas (she’s never had real ones). We thought this was due to being stuck home alone all day and gave her more chew toys, chew treats and took her out more often. We also went through countless boots & vet wrap trying to bandage said paw bites as she would wear down spots until they bled. None of this worked.
Then one day at the Vet, I asked him about it and he advised she probably has allergies. This was a bit of a surprise as we never considered a dog having allergies like humans, but yes, they do. Our Vet offered to test Kilala for a staggering $286 and we painfully agreed.
Two weeks later, the report came back and listed all of the things she is allergic to. To name a few; peas, barely, alfalfa, sweet potatoes, numerous kinds of grass, cockroaches of all things, and a bunch of other stuff I don’t remember. It was a daunting list.
Now what?
To our dismay, we grabbed a bag of the food we were feeding her, Spot’s Stew, and the ingredients were peas, barely, alfalfa, sweet potatoes, etc., no cockroaches though. This is when the light bulb went off.
I would like to say this is where this journey ends, but it turns out that finding dog food without these ingredients is near impossible (give it a try and you’ll see). After spending hours online reading ingredient lists, we stopped by the Chow Hound in Pearl City (Hawaii), a specialty dog food shop, and with the help of the owner there, found three types of dog food that did not have these ingredients. They were California Natural blue & green, plus Evo red (I only go by colors).
Ta da!!
Once we started Kilala on her new diet, the paw chewing & scratching stopped in about a week. She started sleeping through the night (which was another pain I neglected to mention) and we put away the boots & vet wrap. That was three years ago and we are still going strong.
So, if your dog is chewing their paws & scratching for no reason, you may want to consider they may have allergies. Ask your Vet.
For More Information on Allergies in Dogs, visit Pet Education. http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2111&aid=504