Dog Allergy and Weight Gain

monkeynuts111

We have a 5 year old boxer, who has constant allergies, constantly biting her feet and scratching all over. It's definitely not fleas or anything like that. We have changed her food several times but nothing seems to help. Any ideas?

Also, she is underweight despite being a good eater, and we cannot seem to put weight on her regardless of the food we give. On top of her dry food, we would also give high protein foods, but nothing seems to be doing the trick and she often gets an upset stomach which we want to avoid. I don't want people to think that we are neglecting her as we treat her very well, she's part of the family. I would like to have her at a healthy weight that she can maintain. Any advice on both issues would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

muddypaws

Have you tried an exclusion diet? Only feeding one thing over a period of 6 weeks?

What high protein foods do you give? Sometimes overfeeding can cause weight loss, as the food doesn't get digested.

A lot of dogs now seem to have intolerance to chicken and/or beef, and most dry food contains chicken in some form or the other, even lamb based may be coated in poultry fat.

There is a school of thought that it is two protein sources acting against each other that causes some allergies or intolerances, so if you can find a food that only contains one protein source try that. Again though, read the ingredients carefully and make sure they don't use a different protein to coat the kibble, or as 'added support'. James Wellbeloved only has one protein source, and is very good for dogs that have these kind of issues. The only issue you may have with JWB is that it is quite low in fat, which is why I don't use it for my dogs, even though I think its a great food. However, if she is constantly scratching, and stressed, that may explain why she can't hold weight.

Does the allergy get worse at certain times of the year?

DBB

Has your vet done blood tests in her op?
Has her thyroid function been assessed?
Or any malabsorption issues ruled out?

monkeynuts111

Thank you for that.

No I haven't tried an exclusion diet, that's definitely something I need to consider.

The allergy seems to be a constant for the past 7 or 8 months, we have tried changing her food loads of times, but nothing has changed. She also keeps developing an ear infection which the vet believes is linked but doesn't seem to have a solution.

We would give her food containing chicken and beef, maybe I do need to look at that. I hate to see her in distress, so will take all that advice on board and thank you very much for posting.

monkeynuts111

She has been to the vet but no bloods have been done or any proper testing as such, maybe time to bring her elsewhere to have these tests done. We were basically just told this is natural but it couldnt be.

DBB

monkeynuts111 wrote: »

She has been to the vet but no bloods have been done or any proper testing as such, maybe time to bring her elsewhere to have these tests done. We were basically just told this is natural but it couldnt be.

You absolutely need blood tests done, particularly referencing both thyroid and malabsorption problems. I'm not a vet, but there are a number of symptoms there all suggestive of a possible endocrine problem.
With respect, until that is ruled out, and you need to rule it out sooner rather than later, things like exclusion diets need to take 2nd place.