# Dog allergies?



## Kai (Jun 10, 2012)

My puppy (6months) has suddenly developed little bumps on his back. He has really short hair and the bumps raise the hair which is how I caught it. He had it once before but not as many a couple weeks ago and it went away very quickly. I told myself if he still had it by the end of the week I would take him to the vet. Well now he has it again  The odd thing is, he is not itchy. I know several things can be the cause but do you think it could be allergies. He is more of an inside dog than out. Only goes out to go to play or use the bathroom. I have changed his shampoo but I have been using it for a while. I stopped using it just to see if that could possibly be the cause but he got the bumps way after a few washes with it.


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## ThaLadyPit (Oct 12, 2008)

If you suspect allergies and changed his shampoo, did you at least go with something hypo-allergenic like oatmeal? Have you thought to change his food? Any chance you can get a picture and post it up so we can see what you're talking about?

The information you've provided is very vague, so we can't really be of much help to you at the present moment, but we can do our best after you answer these few questions and possibly post a picture of the irritation/bumps for us to see. 

Also, there is a section for Health and Nutrition that covers allergies and the like, so I'm moving your thread for you.


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## KMdogs (Apr 22, 2011)

Pictures? USUALLY bumps on the skin, especially inside/on the ears, chest and back is a result of allergies. Not always but i've found majority of the time it is associated with either seasonal allergies or pet feed allergies..

Pictures would help and also how fast they came up, if known. 

If it has just started and IS a feed related issue the BEST thing to do is switch immediately (asap) to a higher quality feed to reduce irritation and reverse itself... I.E bumps go away. 

However its hard to just go by words, pictures and any additional information would be helpful


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## Kai (Jun 10, 2012)

*allergies*



ThaLadyPit said:


> If you suspect allergies and changed his shampoo, did you at least go with something hypo-allergenic like oatmeal? Have you thought to change his food? Any chance you can get a picture and post it up so we can see what you're talking about?
> 
> The information you've provided is very vague, so we can't really be of much help to you at the present moment, but we can do our best after you answer these few questions and possibly post a picture of the irritation/bumps for us to see.
> 
> Also, there is a section for Health and Nutrition that covers allergies and the like, so I'm moving your thread for you.





KMdogs said:


> Pictures? USUALLY bumps on the skin, especially inside/on the ears, chest and back is a result of allergies. Not always but i've found majority of the time it is associated with either seasonal allergies or pet feed allergies..
> 
> Pictures would help and also how fast they came up, if known.
> 
> ...


 Thank you for moving my thread I wasnt too sure where to put it! As for pictures, you cant really see it in a picture. When I move his fur its not red bumbs but just small bumbs from his neck to his lower back. He also has them under his armpits and some on the neck. He isnt scratching them, he has no hair loss or dry looking skin, he is breathing fine and he doesnt look swollen. He is drinking, playing and eating fine. I did do a switch to his food. I put him on a nutro line that he has eaten before that I know never caused him issues. As for his shampoo it wasnt oatmeal. So I have been only giving him a cool water bath just in case it is something in his coat or was the new shampoo. The only other change I can think of is the season. There is alot of pollen here and it could be just that. If he still has it by tomorrow im taking him to the vet to get tested and meds. Sorry I have no photos but the best way to describe it is that his fur is raised where the bumps are and when you run your hand down his back you can feel them.


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## KMdogs (Apr 22, 2011)

Kai said:


> Thank you for moving my thread I wasnt too sure where to put it! As for pictures, you cant really see it in a picture. When I move his fur its not red bumbs but just small bumbs from his neck to his lower back. He also has them under his armpits and some on the neck. He isnt scratching them, he has no hair loss or dry looking skin, he is breathing fine and he doesnt look swollen. He is drinking, playing and eating fine. I did do a switch to his food. *I put him on a nutro line that he has eaten before that I know never caused him issues.* As for his shampoo it wasnt oatmeal. So I have been only giving him a cool water bath just in case it is something in his coat or was the new shampoo. The only other change I can think of is the season. There is alot of pollen here and it could be just that. If he still has it by tomorrow im taking him to the vet to get tested and meds. Sorry I have no photos but the best way to describe it is that his fur is raised where the bumps are and when you run your hand down his back you can feel them.


I'm willing to say almost without a doubt this is your source of the problems, Nutro is heavy on grains and is a feed notorious for splitting, one of many loop holes allowed.. AAFCO is a joke and is used to promote the food as "AAFCO approved" however it means virtually nothing.

Let me give you an example of splitting using Nutro ingredients, the first 5 ingredients is what each feed is majority made up of, the following 5 is the next highest percentage and after that there really isn't all that much of each source to wave a difference between "great", "good" and "bad" feeds..

Example: Chicken, chicken meal, whole brown rice, ground rice, rice bran, chicken fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols), lamb meal, salmon meal, natural flavors, flaxseed...

Chicken and Chicken Meal is the same ingredient, in fact there is only one source of Chicken however they split the ingredient up by breaking down part of the chicken during the process, it is the same amount of chicken if it was just "Chicken" or "Chicken Meal" listed. The following 3 ingredients are rice, lots and lots of rice.. All coming from the same source and although there are different nutrient values from "brown rice" to just "ground rice" or "white rice", it is all the same in the end and not natural for a dog to eat day in and day out as a method of thriving. Rice is used as a filler and given the first 5 ACTUAL ingredients are "Chicken, rice, chicken fat, lamb, salmon" the actual first ingredient by weight is Rice.

The reason many manufactures split their ingredients up like in the example is so they can have a named meat source first rather than a filler or grain, given the amount of rice listed it is truly weighed as the first actual ingredient.

In this example Rice comes first followed by Chicken and Chicken Fat, Fat can be beneficial however when meat Fats are listed that high in the ingredients, it causes a high risk of bloating in dogs if not used caution.

There are a few other meat sources in my example which IS a good thing however by weight, volume and true source of nutritional values the feed is garbage just in that it is fillers and fat with some meat. It is basically the "Burger King for K9s."

This is also not even going into the quality of ingredients they use and while i could go on to talk about quality, my point is clear from above.

To show you what a high quality feed SHOULD look like, here are a few examples by feeds i recommend not just by face value, but consistency in quality as well.

Instinct Duck And Turkey: Duck Meal, Turkey Meal, Salmon Meal, Tapioca, Canola Oil, Tomato Pomace, Pumpkinseeds, Herring Meal, Sun-Cured Alfalfa Meal, Montmorillonite Clay...

Acana Wild Prairie: Deboned chicken, chicken meal, green peas, turkey meal, chicken liver oil, ﬁeld beans, red lentils, whole potato, deboned turkey, whole egg, deboned walleye...

Orijen Regional Red: Fresh deboned wild boar, fresh deboned lamb, fresh beef liver, fresh deboned pork, lamb meal, peas, salmon meal, russet potato, herring meal, fresh whole eggs, fresh deboned bison..


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## Kai (Jun 10, 2012)

KMdogs said:


> I'm willing to say almost without a doubt this is your source of the problems, Nutro is heavy on grains and is a feed notorious for splitting, one of many loop holes allowed.. AAFCO is a joke and is used to promote the food as "AAFCO approved" however it means virtually nothing.
> 
> Let me give you an example of splitting using Nutro ingredients, the first 5 ingredients is what each feed is majority made up of, the following 5 is the next highest percentage and after that there really isn't all that much of each source to wave a difference between "great", "good" and "bad" feeds..
> 
> ...


Okay food, here is where it gets tricky with my dog. I have tried many brands and each have a different effect on him, the only one that didnt was Nutro which is why I went back to it for now to rule out food as his main cause for allergies. Anything that has a good amount of protein makes him drink alot of water. I mean huge dog bowls full and he will lick it dry and want more. Blue buffalo wilderness was one "higher" quality brand that did this. He is 100% potty trained and on blue buffalo he was peeing everywhere and anywhere because of how much water he was taking in. Once off those brands he stopped drinking so much water and went back to his usual. I dont know what food to put him on. I want him to eat the best quality but it seems it does not work well with his system and believe it or not he does better on the lower quality. Anyone else had this issue before? It seems protein makes him overly thirsty.


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## Kai (Jun 10, 2012)

Oh, and it seems the grain free/protein brands also make him super gassy!


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## KMdogs (Apr 22, 2011)

High protein diets in kibble can put extra stress on the kidneys, also yes high protein diets do require higher amounts of water but based on what you describe i would really recommend two things..

Either stick with what works, that being Nutro OR switch to 100% raw diet. Raw is the most appropriate of methods of feeding as that is what domesticated dogs were fed since day one up until the first part of the 1900s when kibble was first introduced.. Of course, raw feeders are still out there but kibble has been pushed immensely that most vets just recommend it as it is what it is.. Vets aren't nutritionist however and i've come across VERY few that were actually knowledgeable in both nutrition and medicine. Most offices bought by Nutro and Science Diet.. Hence why when you go into a vet office 99.9% of the time if they carry food its one or the other..Or both.

Raw is more expensive initially however once you get going it can be cheaper than kibble (by quite a margin) if you have a good local butcher shop around you.

If you want to attempt higher quality feed you can, Orjien is high in protein however their meats used are mostly fresh meaning not dehydrated meaning still possessing the water content naturally found. Acana (owned by same company, Champion) is also like this but has a little more dehydrated meats mixed in.. Which is fine, but also may have something to do with your problem.

Another possibility is he may not be able to handle high protein what so ever, which the cause could be numerous things and no way for me to tell you exactly what.

However, i would urge you to think about switching to Raw, it would cure the allergies associated with food (if what he has isn't diet based, i haven't met many dogs that throughout their lives don't develop feed allergies on pet store type feeds or grocery.. Especially so if they suffer from seasonal) and be the healthiest of options.

There are plenty of threads here on the subject of raw, take a look and if anything just think about it.


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## Kai (Jun 10, 2012)

KMdogs said:


> High protein diets in kibble can put extra stress on the kidneys, also yes high protein diets do require higher amounts of water but based on what you describe i would really recommend two things..
> 
> Either stick with what works, that being Nutro OR switch to 100% raw diet. Raw is the most appropriate of methods of feeding as that is what domesticated dogs were fed since day one up until the first part of the 1900s when kibble was first introduced.. Of course, raw feeders are still out there but kibble has been pushed immensely that most vets just recommend it as it is what it is.. Vets aren't nutritionist however and i've come across VERY few that were actually knowledgeable in both nutrition and medicine. Most offices bought by Nutro and Science Diet.. Hence why when you go into a vet office 99.9% of the time if they carry food its one or the other..Or both.
> 
> ...


Thank you so much for this info and advice. So far he is doing great on nutro, no gas.  As for his hives, he seems to have allergies to the pollen around our backyard/house. He likes to go outside in the bushes and I realized he gets hives whenever he comes back inside.. I use to let him go to the backyard freely with the doggy door to go relieve himself but now I dont let him. He also gets very itchy paws and I have started to wash them immediately from taking him out. As for food allergies chicken seems to be a no no for him so I have stayed away from any thing with chicken, corn, or wheat in it. I would like to try raw but honestly I feel like I still dont know too much about it and I want to do more research before diving into it esp since his dog food seems to be doing him well for now.

Here is a photo of him a day we had a get together in our backyard. He woke up with no hives and as soon as we went outside they came up. Its kind of hard to see but they start from the top of his back down. They are little raised bumps.


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## Jazzy&Veronica (Mar 18, 2011)

My dog has a ton of environmental allergies. She is an inside dog and only goes out to potty or when we are out together playing; however surprisingly that does not make a huge difference during her allergy season.

We brought her to a dermatologist and had the intradermal skin test done (think scratch test in people terms); and from that the dermatologist produced an allergy serum and she gets an injection every 20 days. It does help her hives tremendously...but I think whether or not you go this route depends on how serious your hives get.

If the hives are leading to bacterial infections and you find yourself going round and round with antibiotics and prednisone to keep them down; then you may want to consult a dermatologist.

Otherwise your vet can recommend topical meds (medicated shampoo and anti-itch sprays) and allergy meds such as benadryl and zyrtec (even with allergy shots my dog still gets the ocassional benadryl and zyrtec during her "allergy season".)

Just FYi on the food issue; @ 20% of canine allergy are food related, but vets always want you to do an elimination diet as part of the diagnostic testing if you want to get to the bottom of the allergies; mainly I think because food allergies are the "easiest", least expensive and least invasive to rule out.

With our dog it was pretty clear that her allergies were environmental (although we did do the elimination diet) as she was only symptomatic summer - fall; regardless of what she ate; then of course the actual testing confirmed a list a mile long of things she was allergic to.

Just fyi: testing really cannot confirm food allergies; but it is accurate for environmental allergies.


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## Kai (Jun 10, 2012)

Jazzy&Veronica said:


> My dog has a ton of environmental allergies. She is an inside dog and only goes out to potty or when we are out together playing; however surprisingly that does not make a huge difference during her allergy season.
> 
> We brought her to a dermatologist and had the intradermal skin test done (think scratch test in people terms); and from that the dermatologist produced an allergy serum and she gets an injection every 20 days. It does help her hives tremendously...but I think whether or not you go this route depends on how serious your hives get.
> 
> ...


Thank you for that information!  When he gets his hives or the itchy paws seem to match when he gets back from outside. He is also mainly indoors. Only goes out to potty or for some playtime but some of the playtime I keep indoors. I have been able to keep it down. When ever I see him break out in hives I give him a cool bath and they go away which is why I also think it is environmental. His paws however are usually pink or red when he starts to lick them. I wash them with a medicated shampoo whenever he gets itchy and he quits it. Vet recommended benadryl but it doesn't work much for him :/ I haven't done any testing but I might need to. 
Im hoping he wont need to monthly shot.  His paws seem more of an issue that the actual hives.

Oh, another thing! Apparently many dogs here have allergies this time of the year because of pollen and fruit. I spoke to a couple of people in his training class and some told me this time of year brings up alot of allergies, in dogs and people! lol.


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## ktlove161125 (Jun 29, 2012)

My 3 month recently had little bumps on his head and i found out they were mosquito bites. 

I live by a creek and i would take him outside after he had his dinner to go potty and play. and then i started noticing bumps and i thought it was allergies. i researched intensely for about a day or 2 about bumps and found out it could be alleriges or bug bites. so i stopped taking him out for a long period after dinner and just let him out longer during the day (when mosquitos aren't out in full force) and the bumps started going away. and now they're all GONE  i did all this before i changed his diet or anything.

So there could be a possibility that they are bug bites.

I hope your puppy gets better soon!


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