my 10 month old bitch has allergis she has really sore ears which she itch ,s alot the vet said it was a food allergi she now on hills precription diet z/d but doesnt really seem to be working she has ear cleaning stuff which we use everyday twice ,her ears feel really thick and always gung coming out when cleaning stuff used i was just wondering if anyone eles dog has this and what have they tried shes a old english sheepdog

Our dog is forever scratching his ears and making sores on them or bald patches.  He doesn't seem to have any infection in them though. Have you tried thornit ear powder, some people swear by it.  I am going to try our dog on MSM tablets when I can get some and I have been giving him a vitamin C tablet in his food everyday.  I gave him allergy tablets once or twice a day to stop him from scratching them as much and when he is really bad the vet prescribes steroids (prednisolone tablets)   It can be food related.  Our dog is on Naturediet and loves it :-)   Don't know whether Hills is good or bad really but isn't it one that vets seem to advertise more than others? 

its a prescription food i can only get it of my vet i was just wondering if anyone eles had been through this

Hi, My 2 year old  has ear allergies . She was tested at the vet about six months ago and I was recommended a potato and salmon dry food for her, but she would not eat it .She has been on nature diet sensitive gold for a while now and if she isn't given any other scraps she is much better, but I notice her itching when she eats these.
She also has canaural ear drops which help on these occassions she runs and hides when she sees the bottle.
I tried thornit but it didn't work for Kira.
Ros.

I'd try her on Burns and change your vet!!!

she was on burns ,it was a dog allergie specialest  we seen i just dont know what eles to do to try to help her

How long was she on burns for?  I always wait at least a month when changing food to see any improvement or decline.

she was on a couple of months i think we have only had her a few weeks ,she seen a  specilest who recommed z/d hills

I would try burns then if you only know by hearsay, the vets do push hills an awful lot more than i think they should.

Try emailing Burns they are exceptionally helpful. Or try a second opinion as what suits one dog doesn't suit all.

Good luck.

Hi bobsmum,

It could be that your OES is allergic to an ingredient that is also in the Hills z/d.  Unfortunately vets think there's a prescription diet for just about everything but unless the allergen has been identified there's no way of knowing whether or not you're still feeding it :(   It could be rice for example that your dog is not tolerating.

Did your vet or specialist go through an exclusion trial diet with you initially?  This is where for eg. you change away from the food you were initially using to one which contains no gluten, dairy, wheat, corn.   Alternatively it could be the meat source in a diet that does not agree with your dog - for example you feed a lamb and rice based diet but your dog cannot tolerate lamb yet would have been OK on the chicken and rice version.  Perhaps your dog can't tolerate any meat but would thrive on say a fish based diet - often dogs do well on a fish & potato diet rather than one which is based on a protein and grains.  There are plenty of diet alternatives that are better and cheaper than *prescription* ones ;)

Just a few random thoughts.  regards Teri :)

I agree with Teri, the z/d diets et al contain the same ingredients as any of the normal food, however they go through a process which prevents the proteins acting as allergens, hence the expense.

You would probably be a lot better off in the long run if you had your dog allergy tested via Yorktest where the offending items will  be identified and therefore you  can choose a diet that contains none of them.  It costs about £200 but your insurance should cover it and it will shorten the time that your dog suffers and at around £50 a bag probably be cheaper than the Hills diet and pay for itself

hi thanks for your advice i ve just found report  that came with her of specalist in dermatology says direct smear of ear exudate showed moderate numbers of yeast with a few coccoid bacteria and occasional neutrophils mainly intact  ,it says since food allergy can be associated with atopy feed hillz/d it also says to much hair growth in ears ,am going to ask for her to be looked at again am going vets on monday we have had her on this food for 4 weeks and she is still scratching her ears like mad

i think cos she came to us with this report am going to ask the vet if we can start again and re test her