Food Allergy Question

[heathea]

I have a question about what happens if a dog has a serious food allergy that goes undetected for a long time. Here is some back story (this is about my friends dog): Little girl had some allergies to some outdoor blooming plants, she was given allergy medicine and for a few years it all went okay. Then she started getting really really sick. Her bloodwork showed red cell counts were horribly off and she was having seizures. She has been treated with steriods for almost a year. recently she stopped eating and vomited and had very runny diarreah, she is currently in the doggie hospital and she was eating some of the vets food and was on iv fluids. So, in effect without the dog food she was eating for 3 days. Her bloodwork is now completely normal and she seems to be getting better. I told my friend I think it was the food. I wanted to see what you all thought.
Talk to you soon.
Heather.

[Summer Magic]

Three days isn't a long time to make a good determination. Also is it possible she could have eaten something at home that she shouldn't have? Like house plants or gotten into some cleaning products?

[Grace Erick]

Heather, I'm sorry to hear about your dog having all these problems, and I'm sure it's very stressful on you.

All I can say is that with people, they can have multiple symtoms with multiple reasons for them, so all of your dog's problems may not be just from the food or from the food at all. You may have to look at each problem individually.

Diahrrea can be from food or it can be from something else. Some dogs can go regular then all of a sudden have a soft stool while still eating the same food.

All I know about food allergies is that they seem to show up fairly quickly and so she may not be allergic to the food. Did the ingredients of the food change? Sometimes companies change the ingredients.

Like Summer said, your dog may have gotten into or eaten something that you did not see, but then again, I can't see it lowering your dog's red blood count. That could be the reason for vomiting, but not the other problems.

I know I wasn't of any real help, but I'm trying dismiss what the problem may not be from as opposed to what it is from. So I can see the diahrrea and vomiting from something your dog ate, but maybe not the other symptoms.

Before you pick up your dog, have a list of questions ready to ask the vet. It's hard to nail them down again to answer questions once the dog goes home without bringing the dog in again.

Ask why a dog's red blood count may go down?

Ask if the dog may have seizures due to hereditary problems or what else it could be from and what to do if it happens again? I've seen with chihuahuas who have seizures, there are things to do when it happens. I think you have to make the room dark and quiet and there may be more to it, so ask.

Vets don't necessarily have the best foods, so they may not be giving her great food and that's not why she is improving. They may have her on foods without grain. Dogs can have allergies to grain mostly, but sometimes certain kinds of protein too like beef or chicken.

Ask what they fed her?

Then ask their overall opinion of your dog's situation and how she may have ended up this way?

Please keep everyone here informed as to how your dog is doing and why these things happened to her. Good luck!!!!

[heathea]

This actually isn't my dog, it is my friends. The vet thinks her red cell count problem has magically gone away and it was the steroids that have given her an ulcer which caused the sickness. I will keep you informed as to how she is doing. She is a good old dog.
Take care,
Heather

[Grace Erick]

Your friend can do some research and to an internet search for steriods. All meds have side effects. I took steriods for my asthma and it make me angry, which is a side effect of the medicine, plus bloating.