Need suggestions for best food for coton de tulear with allergies

by Suzan Rango
(Mesquite NV USA)

I feed my Coton de Tulear proplan chicken & rice since she was a puppy. I was told this is one of the better foods for dogs. I am trying to narrow it down to what she might be allergic too. She was always licking herself everywhere took her to the vet and was given meds hoping this would help but it hasn't.

I am trying to monitor her. I never realized that when she goes to the bathroom in the morning the stool is normal but later at night stool is soft and she goes 3times a day I never thought anything was wrong but I decided to bring a sample of the morning and night stool for testing and they found no parasites but there was increased clostridial numbers. With a history and signs of colitis. The vet gave me medicine called metronidazole which is an antibodent.

I went online to try and educate myself on this to see what causes this, there were alot of different things I read it could be food I am giving her thats causing allergic reaction. I want to find a natural food I was thinking I should try organic food but not sure.

I just want to get my dog healthy and comfortable so if any of you coton de tulear owners know anything about the best dog food or if your dog had increased clostridial numbers what did you do for treatment? Thanks in advance for anyone's help I know some of you answered my last email on another situation and all your comments were helpful so I am hoping you all can help me again with suggestions. Thanks Suzan Rango

Comments for Need suggestions for best food for coton de tulear with allergies

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Apr 19, 2012
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Best food for coton de tulear
by: Suzan Mesquite NV

I also had the exact issue with my coton I fed her Proplan Chicken &rice since she was a pup then switch to proplan chicken and rice for adult dogs. My cotton always licked everywhere constantly especially her butt & kept scooting. And her stool was always soft. She had her anal gland expressed when I took her to the vet and also gave a stool sample for testing and everything was fine. The vet said we might need to narrow it down it could be the food he gave me some information on what type of foods I might want to try I also went online and found so many different brands it was confusing I finally decided to go with the dry food Natural Balance Limited Ingridients (Grain Free) Sweet Potato & Chicken and they also have the biscuits too. I thought with grain free and limited ingridients would help. This food can be used from puppyhood into adulthood not like other brands which have for only pups and adults. My cotton liked this food and it agreed with her she was hardly licking and biting her feet and her stool wasn't soft. I have 2 coton's both are 3yrs old and they both eat the same food. The one thing I found with both my dogs is my first dog cotton poops more then she did but my other coton Roxy doesn't. I guess each dogs digestive system is different. I hope this suggestion helps and good luck with your puppy.
Suzan Mesquite NV

Oct 27, 2011
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Best dog foods
by: Jill

Check out www.consumersearch.com/dog-food! I read this and was able to choose a new healthier dog food for my cotons. I was concerned about Innova since Procter and Gamble bought them and their other products are not at the top of the list for dog nutrition.

Sep 30, 2011
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allergies
by: Vicky from Az

I was just cleaning out my favorites & came across some web sites u might find useful.

www.thepoop.com (this has 100's of recipes for treats & kibble that you can make)

www.risingwoods.org/OURFAMILY/THEDOGS/knowntoxicfoodsfordogs.htm

I hope this might help with trial & error. Luck

Sep 28, 2011
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allergies
by: Vicky from Az

About 20 yrs. ago I had a silky who had hip dysplasia also known as leggs calve disease. At that time the vet gave me copies out of a medical book what was known of it. They at that time were not sure wheather it was hereditary.

Afraid wheather to breed I wrote to the magazine Dog World & Dog Fancy. They sent me what they had on it. Two yrs. later I received a large envelope from Dog World with updated info where I would of thought they had forgotten about me.

Possibly they have might have some info that might help u in your search as to where to start in the search for future foods to try & solutions.

Luc's owners had wonderful input also. Just in case anyone wonders I had Samantha & Donavan fixed & enjoyed 13 yrs w/one & 15 yrs w/Samantha. Wonderful yrs.

Now I am a proud owner of a 3.5 yr old Coton whom I have dreamed about for 20 + yrs when then were hard to find. I have been more than blessed. Good luck.

Sep 28, 2011
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dog allergies
by: Anonymous

Suzan, I don't know anything about clostridial numbers, but unfortunately I know way too much about allergies because my dog Luc has been dealing with them for years. There's no easy solutions and you have to be somewhat of a detective to find help.

If your Coton is only allergic to food, then you have to start out feeding a protein that she's never had before (rabbit, venison, soy, etc) and give ONLY that food for about 3 months. Then you slowly start adding other proteins back in (one at a time)to see if those are the foods causing the allergens. You have to be pretty strict with this or you're never going to get to the bottom of it.

If your Coton also has environmental allergies, it's a little harder to prevent symptoms since you can't eliminate most allergens like grass, dust, or pollen, but there are things you can do to help. Here are some suggestions to help deal with the allergy symptoms.

Every dog is different, so what works for one dog may not work for another. What works best for my dog is to give weekly baths (cool water) and daily low dose antihistamines (Zyrtec or benadryl) and when he has severe reactions - the vet has to prescribe steroid-type medicine. I have to balance out the danger in giving him too much of this kind of medicine with the danger of having him get infections from all the scratching and biting. Fortunately, the severe flareups are getting fewer and further apart.

Hopefully, you only have to deal with the food allergies and can get to the bottom of which food is the culprit. Good Luck and keep us posted.

Gale

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