Anallergenic Diet?!

[Rebeccask]

Hi Everyone,

Does anyone have any experience of putting their pup on an anallergenic diet?

I have a 7 month old working cocker and a few months ago he tested positive for Giardia and Isospora. After treatment he had a another flare up of diarrhoea and fever. So I had his stools tested again and he had another round of antibiotics and Pancur. A month later its started again. His second stool sample was clear. So we've decided to have him allergy tested (bloods) and put him on a 6 week anallergenic diet which is fine but which food?!
The vet suggested the usual Royal Canin, Hills or Virbac but the nutritional value of these brands are not great. Not keen on the idea of feeding him a highly processed food...

[Archie bean]

Archie suffers from colitis and we had the same suggestion. The allergy test was eye opening and really fixed the problem (which was many things but the most drastic ones were soya and peas - particularly peas.) The anallergenic diet just needed to be very bland and a main protein that he had not had before. Vet said there were some on the market but that they were expensive and not necessary. She just suggested salmon so we put him on a salmon and potato only diet. He is wet fed so I give him fishmongers finest wet trays from pets at home. It has literally no nasties in it - many other wet trays contain vegetables which invariably means peas. Treats are fish skin chews and sprats. He’s been in this for years now and it totally worked.

[Rebeccask]

Thank very much for your reply!! 

Incredibly helpful and good to hear Archie's colitis is under control. I am interested to see what the allergy test results show and I will keep fishmongers in mind!! Thanks again for your advice.

[bizzylizzy]

Have you considered raw? I do realize its not for everyone but it does have the advantage of being totally free on any kind of additives so it does make pinpointing any allergies easier. Giardia thrive on carbohydrates so a diet low in carbs can help if you do have repeat infections.
I changed my dog to raw at around 5 months and we‘ve never looked back, have had no more Giardia and no more worms. I have his pooh tested every now and again as Humphrey’s a bit of a scavenger but I don‘t like deworming unless necessary, but its always negative.

[Mudmagnets]

Minstrel had colitis when a youngster and the vet recommended a wet hypo-allergenic diet including treats - so I use Forthglade grain free complete meals and treats for my two, Minstrel also has Fish4Dogs Mackerel treats. Minstrel is 8 this year and seems to be doing well on it.They do have veggies in the meals they have, but Forthglade also do  meat only varieties.

Here is a link for Forthglade  https://forthglade.com/pages/shop

Hope the vet can find out the problem and help you little man        

[Rebeccask]

Thanks @bizzylizzy - Yes, I have thought about raw. I don't know much about it so I would have to spend some time looking into this as an option. Interesting to know that Giardia thrives on carbohydrates and that you've had success with feeding raw.

@Mudmagnets Thank you for the recommendations and sharing your story. I am due to speak to his vet tomorrow about next steps. Anxiously waiting for the allergy test results!!