Blue Buffalo Dog Food and Allergies

If your dog has food allergies, it can be really difficult to find a good brand of dog food. Symptoms of allergies include chronic ear infections, licking of the paws or rubbing the nose after eating, hot spots, excessive itchiness, and red eyes. (Of course, all of these can also be symptoms of other, more serious health conditions, so always talk with your vet when you notice symptoms like these.)

Previously, we fed our allergic dog Canidae and he liked it very much. We liked that it was known as a high-quality dog food and the price was still affordable. Sadly, they changed the formula. Fortunately, Vance’s only problems were an upset tummy (other dogs have gotten much sicker), but we were disappointed to have to begin the dog food quest again.

Choosing a new dog food is such a headache–there are so many brands on the market (and not every pet food shop carries every brand), and then within each brand there’s an excessive number of varieties. It’s enough to make me feed the dog nothing but rice and beans! (Don’t worry, I wouldn’t really. But it *is* frustrating.)

So, this last time, we tried a number of premium foods including California Naturals, Flint River, and Evo. He had allergic reactions to all of them (and we fed each for a month, just to be sure it was the new food and not residual allergies).

I was starting to feel very frustrated, and our vet had no specific suggestions (other than to keep trying new foods until we found the right one). Enter Blue Buffalo. Vance is now on his third bag of dog food (he’s 80lbs and the bags typically last about 5-6 weeks, though he’s been eating a bit more lately because it’s been so cold). He loves the stuff and gobbles it down with a vigor he doesn’t usually have for his morning meal. Alone, that wouldn’t be enough–just because I love ice cream doesn’t mean it’s good for me.

But, the ingredients list of Blue Buffalo is really solid, and we did extra research online and with our vet to find out if it would meet all of his nutritional needs.

And, best of all, no allergic reaction to the dog food! His ear infections have cleared up, he’s not itchy, and he doesn’t spend 20 minutes licking his front paws after eating.

We’re feeding the Adult Lamb and are very happy with it so far–Vance’s coat looks great, thick and healthy and shiny, and he’s got plenty of energy. If you’d like to support this site when you pick yours up (and get a discount, to boot), use the link in the sidebar to purchase from our favorite dog food supplier Pet Food Direct.

What do you feed your dog? And have you had any trouble with allergies?

Dog health allergies and dog food-an update

I’ve mentioned before that we were feeding Vance Canidae dog food because it was high quality and one of the less expensive premium foods. Unfortunately, they changed the formula about 6 months or so ago and the new formula exacerbated the dog allergies (itchy skin, especially) that Vance suffers from.

It was a difficult decision to decide to switch to a new food because we’d been really happy with the way that Canidae alleviated ear infections related to dog food allergies that Vance had been suffering from.

So, what are we feeding him now? And how’s he doing on it? We tried California Naturals, but that had something in it that still bothered him as he kept rubbing his face on things which made his eyes red and irritated.

Now we’re trying him on Evo which is really, really expensive, so I don’t want to recommend it until he’s been eating it for a while longer.

If you suspect your dog’s food is exacerbating allergies, talk to your vet about your other options. I like foods with as few ingredients as possible, but there’s not a lot of evidence that that’s necessarily healthier–lots of healthy ingredients would be healthier than a handful of bad-for-you stuff–so go with your vet’s recommendations, and your own instincts on this one.

I’ll post an update when Vance has been eating the Evo for a while longer–I’m hopeful so far and though I’d definitely prefer something cheaper, am willing to spend more to keep him healthy.

**Just a heads-up–Evo, Canidae, and all the rest have never heard of me and certainly didn’t sponsor this post. These opinions are my own. I know online it can be hard to tell the paid reviews from the genuine ones and want to reassure you that this is 100% about our experience and not swayed or influenced by any monetary benefit. If you do buy dog food using the link in the sidebar (which also gets you a nice discount), we may receive a small referral percentage. They’re the lovely folks we get dog food from, and I’m happy to recommend them, the affiliate commissions make a nice bonus for me.**

Dog food holistic: Is it worth the money?

You might be wondering about dog food holistic and whether or not its worth the money. Ever since Vance developed more allergies to his dog food, I’ve been searching for the perfect diet for him. It’s not always been easy.

But, recently, I’ve been exploring pre-packaged alternatives to the BARF diet and I’ve discovered that there are a lot of new foods that have recently come on the market that promise many big benefits. For instance, Canidae has a new grain-free line and many other dog food companies are following suit. From my research so far, I’m finding the big concern with any premium food is the protein levels–if you have a puppy, particularly a large breed puppy, it’s important that your dog food not have too much protein. Aside from that, though, it looks like the only other serious consideration is price.

That’s because these premium dog foods are very, very expensive, especially if you have a large dog. Of the premium, holistic foods, Canidae is definitely the best price I’ve found (especially through PetFoodDirect–see their link in the right-hand sidebar for their latest special offers). Because it’s done wonders for Vance’s dog allergies, I highly recommend it.

What’s your dog food brand of choice? And do you think feeding a holistic food is important?