Dog health allergies and dog food-an update

I’ve mentioned before that we were feeding Vance Canidae dog food because it was high quality and one of the less expensive premium foods. Unfortunately, they changed the formula about 6 months or so ago and the new formula exacerbated the dog allergies (itchy skin, especially) that Vance suffers from.

It was a difficult decision to decide to switch to a new food because we’d been really happy with the way that Canidae alleviated ear infections related to dog food allergies that Vance had been suffering from.

So, what are we feeding him now? And how’s he doing on it? We tried California Naturals, but that had something in it that still bothered him as he kept rubbing his face on things which made his eyes red and irritated.

Now we’re trying him on Evo which is really, really expensive, so I don’t want to recommend it until he’s been eating it for a while longer.

If you suspect your dog’s food is exacerbating allergies, talk to your vet about your other options. I like foods with as few ingredients as possible, but there’s not a lot of evidence that that’s necessarily healthier–lots of healthy ingredients would be healthier than a handful of bad-for-you stuff–so go with your vet’s recommendations, and your own instincts on this one.

I’ll post an update when Vance has been eating the Evo for a while longer–I’m hopeful so far and though I’d definitely prefer something cheaper, am willing to spend more to keep him healthy.

**Just a heads-up–Evo, Canidae, and all the rest have never heard of me and certainly didn’t sponsor this post. These opinions are my own. I know online it can be hard to tell the paid reviews from the genuine ones and want to reassure you that this is 100% about our experience and not swayed or influenced by any monetary benefit. If you do buy dog food using the link in the sidebar (which also gets you a nice discount), we may receive a small referral percentage. They’re the lovely folks we get dog food from, and I’m happy to recommend them, the affiliate commissions make a nice bonus for me.**

Dog food holistic: Is it worth the money?

You might be wondering about dog food holistic and whether or not its worth the money. Ever since Vance developed more allergies to his dog food, I’ve been searching for the perfect diet for him. It’s not always been easy.

But, recently, I’ve been exploring pre-packaged alternatives to the BARF diet and I’ve discovered that there are a lot of new foods that have recently come on the market that promise many big benefits. For instance, Canidae has a new grain-free line and many other dog food companies are following suit. From my research so far, I’m finding the big concern with any premium food is the protein levels–if you have a puppy, particularly a large breed puppy, it’s important that your dog food not have too much protein. Aside from that, though, it looks like the only other serious consideration is price.

That’s because these premium dog foods are very, very expensive, especially if you have a large dog. Of the premium, holistic foods, Canidae is definitely the best price I’ve found (especially through PetFoodDirect–see their link in the right-hand sidebar for their latest special offers). Because it’s done wonders for Vance’s dog allergies, I highly recommend it.

What’s your dog food brand of choice? And do you think feeding a holistic food is important?

Allergy Air Filters for Homes with Pets

I have severe allergies. Like, really, really bad. So, we have several allergy air filters throughout the house. I’ve found they’ve made a dramatic difference in reducing my allergy symptoms and I’d love to share my three favorites here with you.

Basically, there are two main considerations you’ll need to know about when choosing your allergy air filter: the size of the room and the noise level you can tolerate. Everything else is pretty much just bells and whistles. If you have a small room (8×10 or smaller), there’s no reason not to just get something quiet, but if you have a larger room, the noisier allergy air filters are a little less expensive, so you can save some money if  you can tolerate more noise.

So, here are my three favorites:

For larger rooms, this allergy air filter is fantastic. It’s highly reviewed, a great price, and is easy to take care of. Alas, it’s also really noisy, so it’s probably not the right choice for bedrooms.

For larger rooms where silence is golden, this model is a really wonderful choice. It’s low maintenance and is practically inaudible so it’s great for bedrooms of any size (up to 225 square feet).

For a room up to 80 square feet, this one is quiet and tiny so that you aren’t giving up a lot of space for your allergy air filter.

What do you do about rooms that are bigger than the recommended size for an allergy air filter? It depends how serious your allergies are and how much time your pet spends in that room. In our house, we have a giant den/sunroom space (almost 600 square feet), and that’s where we hang out most of the time with the dog. So, we have two allergy air filters (one on each end of the room) in there for maximum filtering abilities. If it were a room we didn’t use much, I’d probably put one in the middle of the space (where there’s a sofa table and outlet).

So, what do you think? Would an allergy air filter be helpful at your place to pull all that animal dander out of the air?