One of my girls has an itchy bottom problem. My vet has diagnosed mild allergy and suggested an elimination diet for 6 - 8 weeks. She is not scratching anywhere else but her bottom is driving her mad and she looks like a baboon from the rear as her golden hair has become stained brown. lol. Poor girl. We have gone down the anal glands road but they have very little in them when we check. Wormed regularly too. I even asked the vet to check just inside her anus for any lumps as she is worse just before she has a pooh but nothing out of the ordinary. Pooh is lovely by the way.
I was recommended Wafcol salmon and potato. Also noticed Wainwrights do a similar product. Obvious difference in price but I will  get the one which is most suitable. Does anyone have experience of using Wainwrights as an exclusion diet or do I need to go for Wafcol? Price is a real issue for me but I do want to get this right for her sake.
Treats are another problem. Vet says just give the salmon and potato kibble, but its times like when I am going out I usually give the girls a dental stick or something to chew on for a while. Obviously cant give those as they tend to be wheat based. Is there anything else I can give them? Thinking about fruit? Maybe pear or apple. Would these be a suitable or do I have to stick rigidly to the diet. Would be grateful for any advice.

for treats you could  give her fish 4 dogs instead of a dental stick not sure about the food i have heard good reports about wafcol , i would check the analysis of both foods and if they are very similar go for the cheaper one  but i am sure there will be somone along who can advise you

thank-you Newfinook, yes I was wondering about fish!! I imagine the top brands like Burns and Fish 4 dogs will be 100% fish and no additives!

>Treats are another problem. Vet says just give the salmon and potato kibble, but its times like when I am going out I usually give the girls a dental stick or something to chew on for a while.

I'm not sure about the specifics fo the elimination diet as I've never had to do one but regarding treats:  can you just give the kibble in a different form?  When my pup was little and went through a chew phase I fed one of his kibble meals in a Kong.  Stand it on it's end or put a bit of tape over it to prevent fall out and then fill with kibble. Add a bit of warm water and leave it to swell.  Once it's sufficiently expanded you can either feed it as it is or freeze it before feeding to make it last longer.  Dont' forget to remove the tape!

Another option is to make the kibble into a porridge form and put it in a mould, freeze, and feed in any shape you want to.

I'm sure you'll find some fruit and veg would be fine but I'd be inclined to be absolutely rigid for 6-8 weeks to be sure.  You don't want to have to do the diet again if you don't have to :)

Good luck - I hope you find the problem

Oh what a good idea Dogs a Babe- the kong thing. Never thought of doing that to the kibble. That would be great. Something different that will last a little while. Brill, thank-you.
No, I dont want to have to repeat this if at all possible as I really have to treat the other girls the same to avoid accidents like the odd kibble being missed and the allergic girl getting that. thank-you

If you are doing an elimination diet, I am suprised your vet has recommended using a complete food.  When I did it for my bitch, we used only two ingredients to start with over a 12 week period. ie Pork and potato, then introduced another protein etc etc watching for any signs of allergy.
Your dog may well be allergic to something in complete food? It may be wise to have a food allergy test done (york test) for ease.
Good luck.

> It may be wise to have a food allergy test done (york test) for ease.
>

Well have been wondering about giving the complete food. Would be interested to learn more about the "York test". Is this done through the vet? Any idea of cost please?

My girl has recently been down this route.  She had the allergy test done by the vet, it cost about £280 with VAT (I think, definitely over £200 anyway).  It came back that she couldn't have chicken, beef or rice.  Wainright's was recommended to me by several people, and if I had gone for a potato based food, I would have tried it first. 

Hope you can get her sorted soon :-)

ETA I'm not certain this was a 'York' allergy test, but similar I guess.

Thank-you CVL, will ring my insurance company and see if I am covered.

Morethan paid out for ours, hopefully you will be covered too!!

Am with Morethan too so fingers crossed!!!

I've had the York test done on one of mine and yes it was over £200 although it was 2 years ago.  It was also covered by my insurance

I've been down the whole allergy route and I suspect that most vets try other options before recommending the test although an elimination diet seems quite an extreme start as it can take months to hit the problem food/s.  Also you may find that although a dog shows problems with a kibble protein source the raw version may be ok...

Just a thought - is this a new problem?  I only ask as this is the time of year for allergies in general and it might not be the food.  If you have been feeding the same food for some time and not experienced these issues before it may be worth investigating.  Could your dog be ingesting more grass than usual?

> is this a new problem?

Not totally, she did have some irritation to her bottom over winter but it has got progressivly worse over the last couple of months. That is why I am thinking more food than an outside source. It is a problem isnt it, getting to the "bottom" of these allergies. Its a new thing for me. Her mum has never had any problems and her dad was fine too. She is such a happy girl and I just wish I could sort it out for her. I was surprised really that people were recommending a test for allergies, as have read that they are not that accurate, in people, anyway. Is it that they work better in dogs for some reason?

My GSD bitch started to itch and after having the allergy tests done, she came back as being allergic to house dust mites, her coat was 'wrong' and she didnt gleam like she should.  We treated her for her allergy with various treatments but changed her food to raw & natural and that made a huge difference to her condition. I would suggest the allergy test as they are accurate.  I have heard that this is not so much the case for humans but dont know how true that is.

Right, then it is different for dogs. that is definitely the way to go then. Thank-you for your advice.