Could My Dog Make Me Sick

[Chrisco]

I just read a topic about wheat in dog food and it made me think about my situation. I have been on the diet for 2 months now and I have not been feeling any better. I have 2 dogs and one is an obsessive licker and I also kiss my dogs all the time. They sleep with me and are always by my side. If there dog food and treats contain gluten and they are licking me could that make me sick?

[ravenwoodglass]

I would switch them to a gluten free food and see if you feel better. If you have a licker he could be CCing you. Many of us do use gluten free pet food for that reason. We usually find the dogs do better on it also.

[kareng]

Never thought about the gluten in dog food until recently. Realized that when my dogs over the years were switched to rice based - no wheat - they did better. No gas, bettter poops, etc

Might check the shampoos & conditioners used on them. Some have wheat proteins which make the fur beautiful by leaving a coating on it. Got one with oats & I know the contaminated oat thing but didn't have a problem. I'm going to get a different one before the next bath.

[lizzers]

Sounds almost more to me like you might have other hidden areas of gluten, or you may be sensitive to another food as well (milk and lactose are big ones, eggs, etc). Maybe start up a food diary w/ symptoms to see if patterns develop?

RE Dogs - you should get all the wheat and corn out of their diet anyhow - that stuff will tear up their insides...

  On 4/1/2010 at 9:39 PM, Chrisco said:

I just read a topic about wheat in dog food and it made me think about my situation. I have been on the diet for 2 months now and I have not been feeling any better. I have 2 dogs and one is an obsessive licker and I also kiss my dogs all the time. They sleep with me and are always by my side. If there dog food and treats contain gluten and they are licking me could that make me sick?

[Chrisco]

I am definitely going to switch their food to gluten free. I talked to my Doctor about this, this afternoon and she doesn't think that it's a problem for me. After talking with her I realized that I have had improvements in my health since starting the diet. I haven't had acid reflux for weeks now and my constipation has cleared up completely. I guess I didn't notice because I am still having the nausea which is my biggest complaint. She reminded me that it's going to take a while to feel better all over since I have been damaged for so long. I am just being impatient about it. I'm glad I found out about the wheat in dog food. I love my dogs so much and want them to be with me forever, so if changing their dog food is going to give me more time with them then that's what I'm going to do. I know they may be a little upset with me. I currently feed them the wet Beneful dog food and they go crazy for it, but it is full of wheat. I also feed the Purina Pro Plan dry food which is also full of wheat. I just hope that I can find a gluten free food that they like. It took a while for us to find a food that they liked eating. One of my dogs will not eat if she doesn't like the food and we had issues with her when it comes to food. Does anyone have any suggestions as far as brands of gluten free dog food both wet and dry?

[bigbird16]

My guy likes Orijen kibble. Nature's Variety Instinct kibble is good, too. (Their Prairie line contains barley, so nix that one.) My princessy boy turned his nose up at Instinct, but it's a matter of taste. I also spice up his kibble with Stella and Chewy's freeze-dried lamb patties to give him more texture. (Also good warm with a bit of water or broth.) For wet I use Nature's Variety raw frozen. He goes bananas for that. Merrick, Evo, Fromm, and Wellness also have gluten-free wet and dry formulas. Some of those do contain dairy, though. Read the ingredients on every bag and can, even if you've bought the same brand and flavor for forever, because the companies can change ingredients like they change socks.

K

[kareng]

I have a lab so he'll eat gravel with a little chicken broth if I put it in his food bowl. You could try putting a little rice or olive oil in with it at first. Or something else they like. Usually vets say to "wean them off" one food. Give them 3/4 regular food & 1/4 new, then 1/2 & 1/2, etc. For about a week -10 days.

I feed Blue Buffalo.

[tarnalberry]

Salmon oil on kibble also tends to make it more appealing, besides giving dogs some excellent omega-3's.

(Weaning is definitely a good thing to do if you generally only feed your dog one type of food.)

[Reba32]

My dogs currently are eating Nurture Healthy Harvest made by Sunshine Mills Open Original Shared Link

Their website really sux, but the food is pretty good!

They also get Purina One canned food. Their favourite is the Salmon & Brown Rice. They each get a spoonful or so on their kibble, and my Saint Bernard gets a spoonful to take her pain medicine.

They had been eating a food that had barley in the kibbles and wheat in the canned food. I was getting CC'd I think when I fed them (scooping the dry food out of the bag) and when they licked my face.