Do dog allergies cause ear infections?

When Vance was about a year old, he started getting really bad dog ear infections. Even though I cleaned his ears once a week just like the vet told me to, he still seemed to get an infection once a quarter or so. It was awful (and expensive!). I worried that he was in pain or that his hearing would be damaged, and I *hated* putting the medicine into his ears as he’d whimper in that heart-wrenching way where you know they’re in pain but they’re trying to be stoic.

And besides, the medicine didn’t seem to work very well at all as the dog ear infections were lasting longer each time.

So I did a bunch of research online and took what I found to our vet. I asked her if it was possible that dog food allergies were causing the ear infections. She said Nope–that dog allergies are *not* related to ear infections and moreover the dog food couldn’t cause allergies at all.

I’m a pretty holistically-minded gal–a bit of a skeptic about some natural remedies and medicines, but on balance I believe that our bodies are a great big complicated machine in which NOTHING doesn’t affect everything else, at least to some minor degree, so to me it was a no brainer: of course the dog food allergies could exacerbate any sensitivities he might have and of course that could make his ear infections worse (or at least keep his body from being able to heal them properly).

Fortunately, I found some new research on vets and how often they discount diet in diagnosing problems, and so I took in what I’d uncovered (about the dog food-dog allergy-ear infection connection) and let my vet look it over. And then we talked diet and she conceeded that the science in the articles I’d found seemed reasonable and that it did make sense to try a new food for Vance.

And I spent the next two years researching and trying new healthy dog food. First, he went from Iams to Nutro Max and he did pretty well on the Nutro dog food. But then there was the dog food recall and while the specific food he ate wasn’t on the list, I decided it was time to switch brands again. First stop was Flint River dog food which he didn’t like, plus he still had his dog allergies including itchy paws immediately after eating and ear infections, and, let’s face it, that stuff is expensive! (I don’t mind paying extra for top quality dog food that keeps my dog healthy, but it doesn’t make sense to me to pay more for dog food that he was allergic to.)

And that’s when I found Canidae dog food. The thing about Canidae food is that, aside from being impossible to pronounce ;-), it’s almost perfect. It’s a great price (by far the cheapest of the “premium” dog foods) and costs us about $5/week.

It comes in several formulas but not several *hundred* formulas like so many other foods these days so it’s easy to pick one type and stick with it (Vance loves the lamb, but they’re all right around the same price). Vance all but refuses to eat the chicken (he eats it, but only after leaving it in his bowl all day waiting for me to dress it up for him), though, so try out the small bags before you commit yourself to a 40 pounder. It typically tops nutrition lists of dog foods right alongside Flint River, and Blue Buffalo, but it’s a fraction of the cost.

Vance’s coat has never been shinier, he’s got the energy of a two-year-old (he’s almost six), his teeth are healthy, and he gobbles the stuff down.

In addition to the tricky pronunciation, the other drawback of feeding Candiae is that it can be hard to find. I get it online because when I was single I *hated* hauling big bags of dog food out of the store, so even though I have a big strong hubby (hi hon ;-)) to carry them for me now, it’s become second nature to just order online every two months. The closest place that sells it locally is almost 40 minutes away, so it’s nice to be able to just click and check out instead of fighting traffic, standing on line, and carrying the heavy bags to the car. (Now if only we’d get a grocery delivery service around here!)

And the ear infections and dog allergies? Gone. Completely ever since we started feeding Vance Canidae dog food. So, it seems that it was definitely a case of dog allergies either caused or exacerbated by dog food leading to the infections.

What’s been your experience with dog allergies? Have they affected your life with your dog at all?

Allergy Air Filters for Homes with Pets

I have severe allergies. Like, really, really bad. So, we have several allergy air filters throughout the house. I’ve found they’ve made a dramatic difference in reducing my allergy symptoms and I’d love to share my three favorites here with you.

Basically, there are two main considerations you’ll need to know about when choosing your allergy air filter: the size of the room and the noise level you can tolerate. Everything else is pretty much just bells and whistles. If you have a small room (8×10 or smaller), there’s no reason not to just get something quiet, but if you have a larger room, the noisier allergy air filters are a little less expensive, so you can save some money if  you can tolerate more noise.

So, here are my three favorites:

For larger rooms, this allergy air filter is fantastic. It’s highly reviewed, a great price, and is easy to take care of. Alas, it’s also really noisy, so it’s probably not the right choice for bedrooms.

For larger rooms where silence is golden, this model is a really wonderful choice. It’s low maintenance and is practically inaudible so it’s great for bedrooms of any size (up to 225 square feet).

For a room up to 80 square feet, this one is quiet and tiny so that you aren’t giving up a lot of space for your allergy air filter.

What do you do about rooms that are bigger than the recommended size for an allergy air filter? It depends how serious your allergies are and how much time your pet spends in that room. In our house, we have a giant den/sunroom space (almost 600 square feet), and that’s where we hang out most of the time with the dog. So, we have two allergy air filters (one on each end of the room) in there for maximum filtering abilities. If it were a room we didn’t use much, I’d probably put one in the middle of the space (where there’s a sofa table and outlet).

So, what do you think? Would an allergy air filter be helpful at your place to pull all that animal dander out of the air?

Next giveaway… What shall it be?

Again, thank you so much for making the first Good-Dog-Health.com giveaway such a success! The winner has been announced. We had over 40 entries, and I loved learning more about each of your dogs. I’m already plotting our next giveaway because the first was so much fun. (So, keep checking back so you can enter that one, too!)

Now, I need your help. What would you absolutely love to win? Since this is a baby blog, the next giveaway prize will probably be in a similar price category to the Omega Tricky Treat ball, but you can certainly feel free to dream big ;-). It should be dog-related (obviously). Would you like to see something that’s dog-training related? Or maybe yummy dog treats? We have so many favorites around here and I’d love to give away something that Vance adores so your dog can try it too.

So, share your thoughts here in the comments, or feel free to email them to me. I can’t wait to hear what kinds of doggie-giveaway prizes you’d like to win!