Canine (domestic) Diet - Allergic Skin Conditions

[Mito]

I checked one of the packs of dog food we have and it didn’t list the phosphorus / phosphate on it or on their website (UK brand) but it did list calcium and the ingredients - lots and lots of PUFA - soy and fish oils - which I didn’t expect in a hydrolysed & hypoallergenic food. Or maybe I should have.But we had to take our little guy off of it anyway because it was the vets last attempt at a fix but she said it seems to have made him worse. Just have to see how things go on homemade meals now and vet says she is happy for us to give it a try.

The higher quality dog foods will provide a full nutritional analysis. Here is one example where they actually list the calcium to phosphorus ratio.

And they also list amounts of PUFA.

 

[Goat-e]

Was the Scottish brand Bella and Duke? We also had a bad experience with them, both our dogs got sick after switching (one them had been raw fed for 8 years and had never got sick before...) so we changed back quickly. In my experience green tripe can be very problematic, it's the go to thing everyone always recommends for switching over to raw but I think it can be too much for many dogs, better off with muscle meat and bone (bone is the best 'firming up agent' there is).

 

[Bumberlybee]

The higher quality dog foods will provide a full nutritional analysis. Here is one example where they actually list the calcium to phosphorus ratio.
View attachment 20180
And they also list amounts of PUFA.
View attachment 20181

Wow that’s a great breakdown. I’m guessing our vet gave us a fairly low quality food then!

 

[Bumberlybee]

Was the Scottish brand Bella and Duke? We also had a bad experience with them, both our dogs got sick after switching (one them had been raw fed for 8 years and had never got sick before...) so we changed back quickly. In my experience green tripe can be very problematic, it's the go to thing everyone always recommends for switching over to raw but I think it can be too much for many dogs, better off with muscle meat and bone (bone is the best 'firming up agent' there is).

It was called paleo ridge, nothing against them at all just didn’t work for our little guy sadly. Yes bone works wonders! It definitely firms things up on the odd piece of bone whenever we do that.

 

[Mito]

That’s similar to what I found - I’m not sure I understand what this means for supplemental Vitamin D - for humans or dogs? Is it fine as long as there’s no excess? The whole paragraph confuses me because I’m very ignorant on what is desirable with regards calcium / Vitamin D and how it works in the body. I’m still reading some of Peat’s stuff on this to try and figure it out. Please feel free to chime in if anyone has a super (explain it like I’m five years old) simple explanation of it all please.

If you want a detailed explanation here is a podcast that does a good job of explaining it: Mastering Nutrition 9: Balancing Calcium and Phosphorus in the Diet, and the Importance of Measuring Parathyroid Hormone (PTH) |

Peat seems to pretty consistently recommend a serum Vitamin D level around 50 ng/mL. In the podcast, Chris Masterjohn advocates measuring both PTH (parathyroid hormone) and Vitamin D at the same time and figuring out what level of Vitamin D maximally suppresses PTH.

 

[Bumberlybee]

That’s brilliant - thank you! Ooh my last (human not dog) Vitamin D test was way low then at 29ng/ml. I think I better get myself a test soon as I have type one diabetes plus, well, winter in the UK Thank you for this - much appreciated I’ll ask the vet about a dog test and see what kind of look I get

 

[LadyRae]

Does anyone have any experience supplementing their dog's food with vitamin d?

Specifically I am looking to decrease my purebred Labrador retriever's shedding. He doesn't have any allergic issues and his stools are normal and firm, but he literally rains down fur all over our house. Year round!

I think I am going to add a coconut oil based vitamin D capsule to his food a few times a week...

Many thanks!