Allergies

[Kirsten]

I know for certain that part of Cole's problem is seasonal allergies.  He gets watery eyes year round but they are decidedly worse in the summer.  I give him benedryl for that.

I have been advised by some, including one vet, that there is also likely a dietary component.

This is why I'm trying him with TOTW which is grain-free.

The big lunk has been eating TOTW for one day now.  I cheated and am mixing it half and half with his regular food instead of a quarter because I've gotten away with doing changes that way in the past.  So he's running on 50% TOTW.

He didn't get his benedryl this morning (neither did I).  I'm feeling okay in the air conditioning, but he's often still symptomatic even when I'm comfortable.  Though I do think air conditioning helps him as well.

So now my question.  His eyes are tearing less.  They do tear more some days and less others.  I know that.  But is it possible to actually see an improvement this quickly just by reducing, rather than completely removing, the source allergen?

The guy at the pet store suggested mixing the TOTW 50/50 with Salmon ProPlan (which I can get for free) as a compromise to bring down the cost while still reducing the allergens.  The problem with that is that he absolutely hates the salmon formula and lost 10 pounds on it the last time I fed it to him.  But I didn't feed it mixed.  And the girls do fine on it.  So next time I order, I'm going to get a bag of Salmon and give it a try, then have the girls eat it if he still hates it even mixed with something gamier.  The dude just isn't a fish man.

If Cole shows good improvement on straight TOTW and nothing else, I'll find a way to buy it for him.  There's no question on that.  But it will mean fewer or no treats for anyone and less toilet paper for me.

[k1maplewd]

Most dogs it will take 4-8 weeks, most dogs tend to err on 8 weeks for a food allergen to be completely out of their system.  I happen to be really lucky and have a dog (Niche) who works a bit faster and most times in 2 weeks off an allergen food he will be back to his regular state.  So while it is possible for dogs to improve faster than 4-8wks, I would not say that 24 or even 48hrs would be possible as food is still in their digestive tract and therefore not even completely out of their system remotely.

As to half and half, I think yes you could potentially see an improvement, but I doubt all the way gone.  For example I currently can get away with feeding Niche 1 kibble meal (Pinnacle duck and potato) per day as long as the other meal is a raw meal with no allergy foods in it for him.  If I feed more than 1 kibble meal he is a total mess, with 1 kibble meal he is ok, not perfect, but he can be tolerable to live in his own skin.  Currently this is how I feed him and what I manage to afford to feed him so that is what we do.

[Spectrum]

I wouldn't expect such a fast improvement, but hey, anything's possible lol.

He may do better when it's mixed 50/50 than when you feed straight Pro Plan. The way Doc explains allergies is that a dog can handle a certain allergen load, and then after that any additional allergens push them over the edge into being symptomatic. If mixing 50/50 puts Cole under that threshold, then it'll probably work. Also reducing allergens, even if it's still not under said threshold, should improve symptoms at least a little bit, though they won't be gone.

[BlindMag]

Somewhat unrelated; watery eyes and eye function loss, can be uncomfortable; you may want to flush his eyes once or twice per day with either saline eyewash solution or something else your vet approves.