Suggestions of Food for Itchy Dog - Preferably Dry

suki1964

The wainwrights is as good as any

Alfie had terrible skin, twice weekly baths with malaseb were the norm till I got him on Wainwrights fish and potato I think it was. I know it wasn't their totally free from, we would have gone up to that if the fish and potato one hadn't made an improvement


Poppy, sorry for your loss.

madlyn

My dog used to suffer with itchy skin, I feed her wainwrights dry dog food salmon and potato from pets at home, she has half a tea spoon of Yumega itchy dog and I also give her half an antihistamine each day (this was the vets suggestion)
And touch wood she has been itch free for nearly a year now.

Sean_Carroll

I come across this everyday, as mentioned above the most likely culprit is "Wheat", or "Cereals" which is a term that covers all and often to hide the fact it has wheat.
Not sure what your dog breed is, several breeds are particularly sensitive ( Westie, Schnauzer, Lab, JRT, Rottweiler ) but many dogs suffer from this.
Before spending hundreds on vet tests, and assuming the dog is in fine health otherwise, please try any food that is wheat free, an independent pet shop should be willing to have an informed conversation with you and point out all your options whereas Jollyes and Pets at Home will usually only show their own brands (k9 optimum, Lifestage, Wainwrights etc)
Even a good working dog food should be available wheat free for less than £5 for a small bag to try (eg Autarky Chicken)....... but remember while trying this to avoid ALL other foods and treats unless you are sure they are wheat free.
If this doesnt work then try a grain free single meat protein food - there are many available but again the best value one i can find is Autarky Grain Free, less than £10 for a small bag, around £30 for a large.

Sean_Carroll

I forgot to say, try one thing at a time - there is no point trying a wheat free food, a new shampoo and food additives like salmon oil or yumega all at the same time.
Wheat free food and nothing else for a week

Katiehound

One of my hounds is gluten intolerant....(no, not a vet's diagnosis but trial and error as he was in bad state when I got him......) He doesn't itch but had severe poop problems!
I feed him half and half Burgess Lamb sensitive and Skinners duck & rice.Either of these might be worth a try.
For itching perhaps Camrosa ointment
But as said before try one thing for at least a week to establish its usefulness- or nto

sheramber

It can take 6 weeks to see the effect of changing the diet. One was reacting to lamb ( he was being fed a so called hypoallergenic food of lamb and rice) and the other to wheat gluten in the day when all dry food contained wheat.

Fortunately, with my two one was the next morning- no further eruptions- and the other was three days when the itching stopped.

Both cases were established by trying a different food and being successful. My vet didn't believe it was caused by food. That was before you got all the different varieties you get now and food sensitivity was not really recognised.

A friend's dog is sensitive to beef, lamb, chicken and rice established with allergy tests.

w06

doglover86 wrote: »

My guess is that your dog may have a Gluten allergy, which I've seen cause itching in dogs before. I would 100% try Pet Connection Super Premium. It's what I regularly feed to mine, but I've used it recently on a rescue Westie who had itched his skin red raw and it cleared it up and stopped the itching within two weeks. This is the stuff: https://www.petconnection.ie/pet-connection-super-premium-hypoallergenic-dog-food-adult-chicken-and-rice-cube-12kg-c2x24246796

That food isn't gluten free doglover86, barley is one of the major sources of gluten

sheramber

Barley, oats and rice all have gluten , just different kinds.

There is no such thing as a food that is hypo allergenic for all dogs.

It depends on what the dog is reacting to.

One of mine reacted to wheat gluten. She was fine with oats and rice.

My other reacted to lamb so a lamb and rice food was no good for him.

Find a food that doesn't contain anything he has had before and as few additional ingredients as possible and no colouring.

This site has reviews on dog foods
https://www.allaboutdogfood.co.uk/the-dog-food-directory

Have environmental causes been eliminated? Dust mite and grass mites can cause problems.

Also, storage mites, which live in dried foods , can cause itching.

Have you tried a wet food?

A colleagues dog had open sores on his paws until she fed him only wet food