Our vet suggested that we look into a venison based food for Shanahan because it might eliminate some of his ear infection issues.

Anyone know of a good brand or have experience with this?

Thanks

Marianne

Marianne
I don't have an experience with the food and ear infections, but Haley had very bad allergies when I first got her, stunk to high heaven too! After some trials we got her on Wellness, I think its the 1 carb/1 protein formula and its the Venison one. She's been on it for over 2 years and I can't tell you what a difference it has made for her. She was scratching her legs raw and now not at all. She really likes it too. Bit on the pricey side, just went up another 3 bucks I think. It's so worth it though. Perhaps it will help for the ears too. I stay on top of the ear situation and thank God we've never had an infection.
Hope this helps.
Carol

Keeper can have bad ear allergies and she inflames at the most minute of things.

She's on a pretty expensive diet, ZD Ultra described at the link below (bought from our vet)

http://www.surreypetsupplies.co.uk/acatalog/info_2_945.html

Bring your wallet if you want to buy this stuff. Might be overkill on our part but it works.

Keeper also gets au natural things like carrots and berries she manages to loot on the property.

Not sure if that helps. Hope Shanny gets well.

Keeper could do without the ear problems she has sometimes:





Rick C
www.goldentales.ca

What a cute photo of Keeper -- I love it!

Logan also suffers from allergies, and the ears are always affected first when he gets an attack. Many years ago we switched foods as we were trying to narrow down the causes. For a few years we used the ZD Ultra food from the vet that Rick mentioned. It was a bit of a pain to have to stock 2 different foods, one for Logan and one for Lacey, and it was too expensive to feed it to both of them. I did some searching on the web and found that any of the high-end foods that were "fish & potatoe", "duck & potatoe", etc. were a good match in place of the ZD Ultra food. I have used the Dick VanPatten, Wellness, and California Natural brands (not sure if that is available outside of California)and Logan has done well. All 3 dogs get the same kind now. I buy very few dog treats from the pet stores as you never know what is in them. Instead all the dogs get little baby carrots for treats. Since they still like to have doggie treats, I buy the large-bit size dental dog food from the vet. It's good for their teeth and you get more for your money.

Cheers,
Phyllis L.
Logan/Lacey the Goldens, Ralphie the Corgi

Nutro has one we are using now, it is venison and brown rice. We also tried the Wellness brand at one point, but we got very loose stools with that one. We've been planning to switch them off Canadae just for a change of pace, so when Snickers came on the scene and needed a now wheat diet, we decided it was a good time.

So far the Nutro is working OK for all 3 dogs, no stool issues and everyone likes it. Not enough time to see if Belle's ears will improve yet.

We tried the ZD for Murphy ( a long time ago ). She wouldn't eat it, nor anything that it touched. She did well on a venison and rice for quite a while, then we switched to duck and rice. Then we went to the fish-based foods: salmon and rice was a favorite. Murphy couldn't have sweet potatoes or barley, so many of the other foods were not allowed. We had her on the EVO after she had the first round of cancer, and she liked that.

Right now, with Spikey, we are going for the fish-based foods, because they seem to cause less problems for him, and I'm not ready for any more rounds of ear surgery.

I hope the venison is good for you. (By the way, Murphy also could not tolerate any potato, white, or sweet, so the foods that have one meat and a potato were not good for her either. She was an extremely allergic girl.)

Regards,

PJ

Marianne~
We have used Dick Van Patten's Natural Balance previously. We used Potato and Duck and also used the Sweet Potato and Venison. It worked for a while with DEZ, but because her allergies were so severe she ended up on a BARF diet.
Good luck with Shanny - hope he feels better soon.
Jill

Her Highness is on Natural Balance. While I am using a potato and duck formula I know there is one with venison. She is NEVER itchy, has beautiful ears and beautiful teeth. Oh yes, her poop is (can't believe I am saying this) beautiful. Firm, no slime, small and easy to clean up. I do add some canned meat to her kibble but she is more kibble than anything else.

When I got Annie her vet said she had severe allergies. She ate the duck potato food, when we ran out we just fed her what Baxter was eating and we noticed no difference. Our vet said she didn't think she was an allergy dog. I took her to the vet two weeks ago and she has a bacterial infection in her ear, gave her drops and told me to feed her Purina, otherwise she was in great shape, has gained about seven pounds, has beautiful fur and is a happy dog!! The BAD smell she had when we first got her is gone, I think it might have been the duck food.

Pat, bacterial infections in the ears are frequently a sign of food allergy. Very frequently.

Below is the ingredient list for purina dog chow, I know they have different names under purina but this is the most common. FIRST ON LIST, CORN used as a protein source and one of THE most allergenic ingredients in dog food. ANIMAL FAT...generic fat form any and all animal sources.POULTRY BY PRODUCTS...all the left overs from preparing chickens for humans. CORN GLUTEN, another protein source. MEAT, again generic and could be absolutely anything leftover. Brewers rice, leftovers again. Soybean mela, another high on the allergen list, and whole wheat...another real problem. And ANIMAL DIGEST...


"Whole grain corn, poultry by-product meal, animal fat preserved with mixed-tocopherols (form of Vitamin E), corn gluten meal, meat and bone meal, brewers rice, soybean meal, barley, whole grain wheat, animal digest, calcium carbonate, salt, calcium phosphate, potassium chloride, L-Lysine monohydrochloride, choline chloride, zinc sulfate, Vitamin E supplement, zinc proteinate, ferrous sulfate, added color (Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 2, Yellow 6), DL-Methionine, manganese sulfate, manganese proteinate, niacin, Vitamin A supplement, copper sulfate, calcium pantothenate, copper proteinate, garlic oil, pyridoxine hydrochloride, Vitamin B-12 supplement, thiamine mononitrate, Vitamin D-3 supplement, riboflavin supplement, calcium iodate, menadione sodium bisulfite complex (source of Vitamin K activity), folic acid, biotin, sodium selenite.
S-4101"

Margaret

I hate to think what animal digest might be.

I think it was better when we just fed the dogs whatever we ate. (At least it was all human-grade food, and no melamine-contaminated proteins from China.

Regards,

PJ