Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Not the Turkey

After furtherbinvestigation, we discover that Bailey's allergies may not be related to the Turkey. SAfter a further investigation into the ingredients of her Dry food from "Taste of the Wild", we discover that the Venison and Bison Flavor includes Peas! We are putting her back on the Salmon and Sweet Potato flavor, "Taste of the Wild" that does not include peas, but poor Bailey has another ear infection and she is miserable.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

It's the Turkey

Bailey is still eating the beef and rice mixture and her itching has decreased. It seems she is allergic to Turkey. After 4 days of being Turkey free, she is hardly itching at all. I will still start adding some beef broth to her mixed food, as the beef and rice are a little dry for her. I was going to add gravy until I remembered that gravy is made with flour or cornstarch. At least for today Bailey is getting some relief. We will start reintroducing her grain free biscuits tomorrow and see if she is actually allergic to any of those.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Rice

Bailey is itching more than ever now. Maybe I should of left the rice out of her cooked beef mixture. After all, she is allergic to other grains, she could be allergic to rice too. I will cook some more beef and mix in some gravy and see how she does on that.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Back to Beef

Taking away all of Bailey's biscuits has reduced her itching. I have read the ingredients on the biscuits and I still don't see anything she is allergic too. Since she did not have any adverse reaction to the beef and rice I mixed up for her before, I will start her back on the beef and rice today with some dehydrated beef jerky treats. She is still on the Taste of the Wild Venison and Bison Potato dry food and that is not causing her any problems. I will keep her on the dry food and substitute the beef for the turkey as a moist food. After a couple of days I will introduce her back to the biscuits and see how she does.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Sock Thief

When Bailey was a puppy, she quickly discovered that her possession of someone's errant sock would set off a lively game of chase, with the sock owner trying to regain possession of the footwear. Now that she is older, she still makes off with any socks that are carelessly left on the floor, the chase game is not as long as it used to be. Now she prefers the attention she gets when she gives the sock up. The promise of a belly rub or a head scratch will quickly return the now soggy sock to it's owner.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Itching Again

Bailey had us all up at 3 Am this morning. Not really her fault. My brother had stayed over, and he was getting reaady to leave for work at that time, when he noticed Bailey was awake and wanting to go outside. Unfortunatly, the security alarm was set off, so everyone else ended up wide awake. I took Bailey outside and noticed she was scratching more than ever. I brought her in and gave her some Benedryl, so now she is sound asleep, and I am still wide awake. We will now take her off of all her treats, with the exception of the turkey jerky I made her on the dehydrator, and see if we can find out the cause of the itching. If she is still itching tomorrow, we will take her off of all turkey and see how she does.

Monday, April 5, 2010

Trixie

Bailey's sister dog Trixie, is a 13 year old Jack Russell Terrier, who thinks she is the Queen of the Universe. She also has food allergies, and is highly allergic to chicken. Her incontinence and hatred of the House Cat has relegated her to outdoor life since I moved in with Mom. I believe after being stuck inside the Condo alone during the day while I was at work, she enjoys the outdoor life. She has a sheltered, heated area when it's cold, and her own swimming pool when it's hot. I think the only thing she really misses is watching television. When we lived at the Condo, I would leave the television on for her during the day while I was at work. Many times I would come home to find a couch cushion pushed off onto the floor in front of the television with Trixie in the center of the cushion thouroughly engrossed in whatever was on at the time. Her and Bailey are great friends except when Bailey accidently stumbles over Trixie when they are playing chase. Trixie quickly reasserts herself as queen of the universe and Bailey is confined to a small area of the back porch until all is forgiven. They do love each other, but Trixie is the Queen.

Food allergies

So far, we know that Bailey is allergic to corn, wheat, oats, soy, flaxseed, and peas. She is also potentially allergic to green beans, chicken, barley, and rosemary. She did not have the "No Grainers" biscuits at all yesterday and she has not been itching so far this morning. The rice I mixed into her diet does not seem to be causing her any problems. Hopefully we can keep her on her current diet.

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Bailey's diet

Bailey's diet right now consists of "Taste of the Wild" Venison and Bison formula dry food. She gets 3 cups a day divided into 2 feedings.
She gets a tablespoon of plain yogurt or cottage cheese mixed into her morning feeding. In the Evening she gets 2 tablespoons of my homemade mixture mixed into the dry food. By mixing a little canned food or other goodies into their dry food your dog won't get bored with their food.
My homemade mixtures are ground turkey or beef, browned and mixed with either rice or mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes. I also mix canned salmon with mashed sweet potatoes. I cook up enough for of these mixtures to last the week and then on Saturday mornings I fix enough for the next week, alternating between the recipes. The mixture is stored in a large covered Tupperware bowl in the refrigerator. It lasts good for a week in the fridge.
Since Bailey is now getting food that does not have all the grain fillers found in most commercial dog foods, she is now dropping some of her weight a little at a time, and starting to slim down. She also has more energy and a shinier coat. She is not getting all the sodium, sugars and preservatives that are found in most canned food and the "Taste of the Wild" Dry food has limited ingredients with high protein and a single carbohydrate source.
We are still watching her treats for any allergic reactions. She seems to like the "Natural Balance" brand venison and sweet potato biscuits, and so far we have not noticed any reactions. I can tell more tomorrow, as Mom slipped her some of the "No Grainers" biscuits yesterday, so she is not completely off of those yet.
I looked into the"Natural Balance" Brand dry food, as an alternative, but it has flaxseed meal, and we already know Bailey is allergic to flaxseed. luckily they do not use flaxseed in their line of treats.

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Rosemary extract?

The Beef and Rice didn't seem to cause Bailey any more problems than the Turkey and sweet potato did. Mom neglected to tell me that we were running out of the ground beef mixture, so she cooked up some more of the Turkey mixture. We are leaving the green beans out for now. This week we are taking Bailey off of the "No Grainers" Treats and we have some "Natural Balance" Dog Biscuits from Petco that are Venison and Potato. These are small dog biscuits that look like milkbones. Bailey seems to like them. The only thing I can see in the "No Grainers" that Bailey might be allergic to is the rosemary extract. Since she is allergic to flaxseed, I am almost certain she is having a slight reaction to the rosemary also.