After almost 2 years of researching and trying different diets we have finally come to the conclusion that our Wheaten Terrier is allergic to wheat, soy, corn and grains. Sounds like alot but don’t worry, there are plenty of food brands that eliminate all of those ingredients.
We are currently feeding him Canidae food. His redness on his front paws have shown a HUGE improvement and I am psyched to find that the major redness between the pads on his paws are completely gone. Also, his chewing has dropped tremendously. By reading other posts you will find that we tried absolutely everything! Allergy shots, every cream imaginable, different food diets and nothing worked. We are SO relieved and Ted is much happier now.
Canidae is a great dog food brand to buy for your Wheaten. We also have found tons of treats that are free of these food allergies. Its crazy to now realize that these four ingredients are very common in dog allergies. It shows that our beloved animals really don’t need to be eating all of these processed ingredients.
Let me know if you have questions about your dog’s food allergies. I feel like somewhat of a pro noe in this category….like said before, it took us two years of figuring all of this out! Good luck, ruff!
Thursday, 25. March 2010
Norris is a 20 months old Wheaten and he too has been having skin and allergy problems since summer 2009.
Norris started to scratch his face (and ears) and to gnaw his paws, more and more. It took some while to understand that he really needs to see a doctor.
At the vet nose, paw and ear infections were revealed. The Vet said almost immediately that we should not just concentrate on the symptoms, but also do something with the ultimate cause, which according to her experience is allergy.
So not only did Norris take antibiotics, was washed with Malaseb shampoo, he was also right away on allergy diet, first with hypoallergy food, which was later changed to home made food.
We got ultimately the infections under control, a short steroid period was required before the final healing. It took months to get rid of the very persistent ear infection.
Norris is definitely allergic to wheaten, there is an immediate red response in hear ears if he finds any noodles dropped on the floor by the kids. Looks like pork is causing redness too.
Norris is currently doing pretty well with buckwheat porridge, pollock (=fish), sunflower oil and daily lactic acid bacteria. Does not sound as a gourmet food, but Norris loves it. This diet will continue and very slowly new food ingredients will be introduced/tested, but only gluten-free ones.
Additionally Norris’ paws are very carefully trimmed, cleaned and washed - especialy during the muddy autumn.
Would love to hear what Canidae food you are feeding Ted now (e.g. lamb and rice or grain free perhaps?). Naturally we would like to try it too - and can you believe: just checked that even if we live here up north in Finland, it looks like they sell Canidae in the nearest mall!
Thanks for sharing you thoughts and information on Ted’s allergies. Though it’s not so nice to hear that other wheatens are suffering from allergy too, it has been helpful to read what has helped and what not. And it’s always nice to have friends who know how difficult it is =/
And last but not least, we are so happy that Ted is better now! Give him a healthy treat as a greeting from Norris&co! =)
Monday, 29. March 2010
First, thank you so much for your comment. We are so glad to hear that you have Norris’s allergies under control. The Canidae that we feed him is combinations of Chicken, Lamb, Fish, Rice in either Chicken or Lamb broth. Way back at the beginning of all our issues our vet had advised us to stay away from chicken and beef and just stick with fish and lamb. But we’ve learned that is definately not the case anymore. As long as we stick with eliminating wheat, soy, corn and grains he is ok. Luckily this brand doesn’t have any of these ingredients. Thats great that you have found Canidae all the way in Finland! Its a great food brand and Ted loves it too! Good luck with Norris!
Saturday, 3. April 2010
Hi, we met you guys and Ted at the DeSoto Dog Park about a week ago. My Wheaten is Maisy, and I’m so looking forward to seeing the photos you took! Since then, we’ve taken Maisy to several other dog parks, a couple of nice ones in Venice. Florida certainly has great dog parks. We leave Tuesday for home after a great trip.