I Think My Dog Has Celiac!

[pain*in*my*gut]

So my dog, Hannah, a 10 year old mix breed began having these weird skin irritations a few years ago. They would come and go, vet thought it was allergies, we tried EVERYTHING from steroids to antihistamines and nothing worked. She would lick the pads of her feet until they would bleed. She would scratch her ears and face until she would bleed. She had bald spots in her usually thick fur and crusty black gunk crusted in her ears. She was miserable.

We always fed her plain old dog chow, nothing fancy. It never occured to me that it could be what she was eating, because it's been the same stuff her whole life. About 2 months ago, my brother who works at PetSmart brought me a few sample bags of Bil Jac dog food. I kinda laughed, because right on the bag it says GLUTEN-FREE!! I jokingly told my brother that just because I had to be gluten free didn't mean that my dog did.

Well, guess what? Her bald spots are totally gone! She is no longer itchy, her ears are clean and her coat is beautiful! She looks 5 years younger (which is a lot in doggie years, lol)!

I am convinced that her skin problems were from gluten! I don't care if her new food is $40 a bag (ouch!), it is totally worth it! I have my fluffy "donkey" dog back!

See how pretty she looks.....

[thleensd]

Pretty girl! Dogs (and cats!) are not designed to eat grains! Good for you for getting it out of her diet! =)

(makes me miss my furry family while I'm out of town for a few days!)

[kareng]

She's beautiful!

My dog food is "no gluten" by pet food standards. It still has rice, a little barley & rye. No gluten in pet food seeems to mean that they don't add a filler that can be made of corn or wheat gluten. It can mean no gluten like we think of but there is no regulation on pet food. Dogs can & many do well, eating a little grain or grasses. In the wild, a coyote does not eat only meat. He also eats, grains or grass, fruits & whatever he can get.

Not trying to start a big discussion or argument, Just wanted people to know that "no gluten" in pet food isn't necesarily what we consider "no gluten". Dogs are all different, so we need to find what works for them.

[sa1937]

Hannah is a beautiful girl!

When my dog (golden retriever/yellow lab mix) was about a year old, she had chronic ear infections. The vet prescribed some ear meds, which didn't do a thing to clear it up. He finally did an ear culture and it turned out it was a yeast infection and prescribed Conofite Lotion (ear drops) and suggested I change her dog food from a beef-based one to Nutro Lite Lamb & Rice with rice being the only grain. I hear you on the price...it's expensive and I just paid $56.17(inc. tax) for a 30-lb. bag. She's now 10 years old and it is so worth it to have a healthy baby.

[Bubba's Mom]

wE adopted a Blood Hound pup that horrible skin allergy/issues. He had the worst case of dermadex mange the Humane Society ever saw. He was still getting treatment when we got him.

In a very short time we noticed the mange was gone, but ear infections and skin issues remained. We put him on an allergy diet. He did better.

Fast forward to this past summer when I was DXed with Celiac. My son had just moved back home, bringing his 2 dogs with him. They didn't have very good "house manners" so I was giving them dog biscuits as rewards for good behavior. Of course my dog wanted them too.

Pretty soon I had 3 dogs itching and scratching, and chewing at themselves. They were on flea preventative so it wasn't that.

I put all 3 of them on Taste of the Wild grain free food. The itching stopped! My thoughts were that if they were eating gluten and licking themselves, I'd get glutened by petting them..and handling their water bowls, of course. I had no idea they would benefit so much from being away from gluten.

The price is around $50 for 30lb bag, which lasts about 10 with 3 large dogs. I'd rather spend the money for good nutrition and happy dogs, rather than on Vet bills though!

[kareng]

Rice Chex make a cheap, low fat, dog treat. Good for training because you can give a lot of them. Of course my dog will tell you the backyard neighbor has the best training treats - leftover chicken!

[AVR1962]

That is amazing! I have a dog with alot of stomach issues. We'd be gone too long and come home to messes from one end of the house to the other. I started feeding her yogurt in her food twice a day and th boughts stopped, however she will still end lots of grass and she will lick the hair off the other dogs' beds so I am thinking her stomach is still giving her issues. I give her an antacid every day but maybe I need to consider a gluten-free dog food. What brands are gluten-free? I don't think I have ever seen it.

[Duhlina]

I'm a professional pet sitter and have learned SO much about pet food since I've been doing this. I'm amazed at the people who feed Ol' Roy and then complain that their dog sheds everywhere. I ask them if they ate Doritos for every meal how would their skin look? That's the equivalent! Read the ingredients....don't buy anything that lists CORN as the first ingredient! Crap in, crap out! The better the quality of food the less you have to feed, the less that comes out the other end because they actually absorb the nutrition from it.

Think about it. If Beneful can afford to run bazillion dollar ads on tv do you really think the product you're buying for $5 (or whatever it is now) for a 30 pound bag is going to be quality ingredients? I think not.

That is awesome that your dog is doing better! I know I was amazed at the change in our pets when we switched to a grain free food!

[pricklypear1971]

We feed our dog Blue Buffalo - the grain free one.

He really likes it, and at 10 1/2 is very healthy. He does have a joint issue on his neck, but that's an injury.

We've never fed him "cheap" dog food but this is probably the most expensive.

[IrishHeart]

Your dog is a beauty!!!

Our cat came to us as a neglected stray---her coat was a mess, she was starving and her eyes drippy, etc.

She eats a grain free cat food by Merrick called BG--Before Grains and her coat is gorgeous, she gained 3 lbs. and is as healthy as can be.

I believe they make dog food as well.

[Takala]

That is amazing! I have a dog with alot of stomach issues. We'd be gone too long and come home to messes from one end of the house to the other. I started feeding her yogurt in her food twice a day and th boughts stopped, however she will still end lots of grass and she will lick the hair off the other dogs' beds so I am thinking her stomach is still giving her issues. I give her an antacid every day but maybe I need to consider a gluten-free dog food. What brands are gluten-free? I don't think I have ever seen it.

____________

Dick Patton's Natural Balance makes several different combinations of dog and cat foods with limited ingredients, some of which are grainless because they are made with potatoes as the starch. This is what we feed here, so my dog with allergies does not get cross contaminated. It's not cheap, but they eat much less of it by volume because it doesn't have fillers.

You can also ask your vet for directions on how to make your own dog food, it's not that difficult if you are trying to do an elimination diet to get the dog eating something safe.

I used to feed Bil- Jac, until they changed their formula a few years ago to include oats (it used to be just corn and chicken). Bil -Jac is not 100% gluten free. I know this because I had two wheat sensitive dogs have the mother of all reactions when we started feeding out of the "new" bag. Which still, unfortunately, had the "gluten free' label prominently on the front - what a bunch of bunk. I don't think their oats are specially grown to be gluten free. Brewer's yeast is also not a gluten free product, but typically a leftover from beer making.

Now their basic adult formula is:

Bil- Jac

Open Original Shared Link

Chicken, Chicken By-Products (organs only, source of arginine), Corn Meal, Chicken By-Product Meal, Dried Beet Pulp, Brewers Dried Yeast, Oatmeal and Flaxseed.

I was pretty upset with this company at the time, as we had done so much work to get this one dog healthy, and then here we were back at the vet again, with him chewing and licking giant raw hot spots. When I did a search of supposedly gluten free dog foods at the pet stores, to try to replace the now not usable Bil- Jac, I was appalled to see that many of these fancier brands (such as Blue Buffalo) were also deliberately mis labeling the dog foods to say "gluten free" when they were not. I even saw a few flavors of supposedly grain free foods that STILL obviously had wheat family glutens in them, by my study of the ingredients on the label, because they were using things like oatmeal, pearl barley or brewer's yeast. That *&^%$#@ barley is showing up in LOTS of places. I have explained this cc problem to a manufacturer's rep for one company, but I don't know if it has had any impact.

Here is a link for a "limited ingredient" version of Blue Buffalo, note the many, many ingredients:

Open Original Shared Link

Turkey and Potato Recipe, Blue Basics

Deboned Turkey, Peas, Whole Potatoes, Whole Ground Brown Rice, Turkey Meal, Flaxseed (source of Omega 3 and 6 Fatty Acids), Canola Oil (preserved with Mixed Tocopherols, a source of Vitamin E), Tomato Pomace (source of Lycopene), Natural Turkey Flavor, Oatmeal, Whole Carrots, Blueberries, Cranberries, Barley Grass, Dried Parsley, Alfalfa Meal, Dried Kelp, Yucca Schidigera Extract, L-Carnitine, L-Lysine, Turmeric, Oil of Rosemary, Dried Chicory Root, Beta Carotene, Calcium Carbonate, Vitamin A Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Riboflavin (Vitamin B2), Niacin (Vitamin B3), d-Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B5), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Biotin (Vitamin B7), Folic Acid (Vitamin B9), Vitamin B12 Supplement, Calcium Ascorbate (source of Vitamin C), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Choline Chloride, Sodium Selenite, Calcium Iodate, Salt, Caramel, Potassium Chloride, Dried Yeast (source of Saccharomyces cerevisiae), Dried Lactobacillus acidophilus fermentation product, Dried Bacillus subtilis fermentation product, Dried Enterococcus faecium fermentation product.

In summary, always read your labels, especially if you have a sensitive pet.

[kareng]

What I tried to explain in my post is that gluten-free in dog food is not the same as gluten-free in human food. Pet food manufacturers have a different definition of gluten-free. There are no laws that pet food gluten-free must mean what human gluten-free means. Like every thing, we must read the labels and then decide what to do. Some people do choose to make thier own food but I hope to avoid that.

Cooper wants me to add that the beef stew I am eating right now is gluten-free and he would like me to fix that for his pet food.

[Marilyn R]

We had to put down our dearly beloved 12 year old (minus two days) Doberman yesterday morning. She ate gluten-free from me but DP always fed her gluten treats. I haven't allowed her to kiss me for ahile because of the gluten treats, but she licked the tears of my cheeks and gave me a lifetime of kisses yesterday. RIP Ruby, she was a very good girl!

[Rebecca92]

I've worked at a grooming shop and have seen many cases of dogs coming in with hot spots, yeasty skin or other skin problems saying they've tried everything. We tell them to change to a holistic grain free corn free diet and within weeks the dogs skin issues disappear, canines are meant to be carnivores they just fill pet food with corn for a filler.

[pricklypear1971]

We had to put down our dearly beloved 12 year old (minus two days) Doberman yesterday morning. She ate gluten-free from me but DP always fed her gluten treats. I haven't allowed her to kiss me for ahile because of the gluten treats, but she licked the tears of my cheeks and gave me a lifetime of kisses yesterday. RIP Ruby, she was a very good girl!

I'm so sorry. That's incredibly difficult.

[sa1937]

We had to put down our dearly beloved 12 year old (minus two days) Doberman yesterday morning. She ate gluten-free from me but DP always fed her gluten treats. I haven't allowed her to kiss me for ahile because of the gluten treats, but she licked the tears of my cheeks and gave me a lifetime of kisses yesterday. RIP Ruby, she was a very good girl!

I'm so sorry, Marilyn. Losing a pet is losing a member of your family. And just thinking about that brings tears to my eyes.

[ravenwoodglass]

We had to put down our dearly beloved 12 year old (minus two days) Doberman yesterday morning. She ate gluten-free from me but DP always fed her gluten treats. I haven't allowed her to kiss me for ahile because of the gluten treats, but she licked the tears of my cheeks and gave me a lifetime of kisses yesterday. RIP Ruby, she was a very good girl!

I am so sorry for your loss. I lost my best freind last summer and it does hurt so much.

((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((HUGS))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

[ravenwoodglass]

That is amazing! I have a dog with alot of stomach issues. We'd be gone too long and come home to messes from one end of the house to the other. I started feeding her yogurt in her food twice a day and th boughts stopped, however she will still end lots of grass and she will lick the hair off the other dogs' beds so I am thinking her stomach is still giving her issues. I give her an antacid every day but maybe I need to consider a gluten-free dog food. What brands are gluten-free? I don't think I have ever seen it.

We use Innova Evo. My pets thrive on it. When changing your pets food remember to do it gradually. They are more likely to accept the new food that way and less likely to get any tummy upset.

[IrishHeart]

Cooper wants me to add that the beef stew I am eating right now is gluten-free and he would like me to fix that for his pet food.

Like Cooper, my Gracie always preferred what her humans were eating over what was in her bowl.

Then again, this is the rocket scientist labrador who also ate rocks, firewood, a picture frame and the occasional snuggle dryer sheet....

[IrishHeart]

We had to put down our dearly beloved 12 year old (minus two days) Doberman yesterday morning. She ate gluten-free from me but DP always fed her gluten treats. I haven't allowed her to kiss me for ahile because of the gluten treats, but she licked the tears of my cheeks and gave me a lifetime of kisses yesterday. RIP Ruby, she was a very good girl!

My deepest sympathy on your loss, Marilyn. The hardest thing we ever have to do is let them go. I am crying just picturing you doing this because I had to do this myself on more than one occasion and it heart- wrenching.

Someone sent this to me after our beloved Gracie had to be put to sleep. I wish I knew who wrote it as I have been unable to find the source. It's a lovely sentiment.

"It came to me that every time I lose a dog they take a piece of my heart

with them. And every new dog who comes into my life, gifts me with a piece

of their heart. If I live long enough, all the components of my heart will

be dog, and I will become as generous and loving as they are". -Unknown

[Bubba's Mom]

We had to put down our dearly beloved 12 year old (minus two days) Doberman yesterday morning. She ate gluten-free from me but DP always fed her gluten treats. I haven't allowed her to kiss me for ahile because of the gluten treats, but she licked the tears of my cheeks and gave me a lifetime of kisses yesterday. RIP Ruby, she was a very good girl!

I'm so sorry for your loss Marilyn. It's heart breaking to lose such a dear friend.

[pain*in*my*gut]

What I tried to explain in my post is that gluten-free in dog food is not the same as gluten-free in human food. Pet food manufacturers have a different definition of gluten-free. There are no laws that pet food gluten-free must mean what human gluten-free means. Like every thing, we must read the labels and then decide what to do. Some people do choose to make thier own food but I hope to avoid that.

Cooper wants me to add that the beef stew I am eating right now is gluten-free and he would like me to fix that for his pet food.

Wow! I had no idea that the rules for dog food labeling were different than human food. That seems very misleading, doesn't it?

Apparently it's gluten-free enough for my dog, but I would be very upset if I thought I was feeding her pure gluten free chow and it actually wasn't.

[pain*in*my*gut]

We had to put down our dearly beloved 12 year old (minus two days) Doberman yesterday morning. She ate gluten-free from me but DP always fed her gluten treats. I haven't allowed her to kiss me for ahile because of the gluten treats, but she licked the tears of my cheeks and gave me a lifetime of kisses yesterday. RIP Ruby, she was a very good girl!

((Marilyn))....I am so sorry about your dog. I lost my very first "baby" at the ripe old age of 13 on my birthday this year (nice timing, eh?). It's so hard to lose our furbabies....

[Reba32]

My dog has been on grain free food since I was diagnosed 2 years ago. I don't even buy cookies or treats that have gluten in them. There are lots of choices available for grain free foods, a little more expensive, but well worth it!

[Kate79]

We put our dogs on a grain-free dog food after one of them started getting really bad D - sometimes several times a week. We made that change about 6 weeks ago, and since then, he's been fine. Evolutionarily, I'd think dogs (and cats) would be even less adapted to grains than people are.