An elimination diet can be especially helpful when your dog has already been exposed to m…

Hello! I suspect that my dog, Trille, has developed an allergy, and I’d like to try an elimination diet to find the cause. I’d much prefer to prepare the diet myself using fresh ingredients, rather than using a hydrolysed or hypoallergenic dry food. The challenge is that Trille has had a very varied diet since she was a puppy. She has eaten dry food, raw food, freeze-dried food and treats containing many different protein sources. I’m therefore unsure whether there are any proteins she hasn’t actually been exposed to. As I understand it, an elimination diet should involve using a single protein source that the dog has never eaten before. What should one do when there doesn’t seem to be such an option? Is it still possible to carry out a homemade elimination diet, or would a hydrolysed veterinary diet be the best solution in such a situation? Are there any other alternatives or recommendations you would consider? I’d really appreciate any advice and insights.

I’ve identified kangaroo as a novel protein source, but I need a complete recipe so I know Trille is getting everything she needs.
Hi Wenche 🙂 Apologies for the late reply here on the forum. We’re a bit short-staffed at the moment as Ayla is on maternity leave. Regarding your question about elimination diets, I’d recommend reading this article if you haven’t already: {{ARTICLE:the-detective-work-guide-solving-your-dogs-food-allergies:GUIDE: Elimination diet}} It’s entirely possible to follow a homemade elimination diet even if your dog has been exposed to many different protein sources before. Trille may have intolerances to several different nutrients in addition to proteins, such as fats and carbohydrates in their food. I would recommend you have a look at the elimination diets we offer. Before you consider hydrolysed food, it may be worth trying a homemade diet first. Hydrolysed food is often a last resort and ca…
Hi Wenche! I see it’s been a while since you wrote – how is Trille getting on now? Have you tried an elimination diet, and if so, how has it gone? ☘️ Thanks for the lovely photo of Trille 🤩🐶
We’ve been trying the elimination diet with pollock for about two months. We’re not sure how much it’s helping; she’s still biting her hind legs and parts of her face. It’s been difficult to ensure she doesn’t ingest any traces of anything else when we go for walks. We’re unsure what to do next.
What is your availability going forward? Should we look for another alternative, or are you able to help us further? Or perhaps you could recommend someone with expertise in homemade diets ☺️
I have somewhat limited capacity for individual follow-up at the moment, but there will be more recipes and further guidance on elimination diets in the future, so I’d be happy to try and help you further here. As Trille is still biting her paws and scratching her face after about two months on cod and sweet potato, I’d first like to make sure we’re not overlooking other causes of the itching. The fact that she may have ingested other things whilst out and about also makes it a bit difficult to assess the results of the elimination diet with any certainty. For an elimination diet to give us the best possible answer, we should ideally use a single protein source that she hasn’t eaten before, and be as consistent as possible throughout the entire period. Some dogs also need up to 12 weeks b…
Hi ☺️ I’m in the same situation with my 7-year-old female Boxer at the moment – please do let me know if you find anything that works! I’ve decided to follow the vet’s recommendations regarding hydrolysed dry food for now, but if I see that this is the solution, I hope to find a better diet for her in the long term. I’d have preferred to avoid dry food altogether, but after months of stress and illness, I just had to take the ‘easiest’ step straight away 😅
Hi Signe! ☺️ Sometimes hydrolysed food can definitely be a good place to start, simply to stabilise your dog and get their system back on track. And after months of illness and stress, I can well understand why you chose the simplest solution right now ❤️ What I’ve had success with in the past is waiting until the dog is stable and then carefully introducing a single protein source that the dog hasn’t eaten much of before. I usually start with a very small amount of fresh/raw meat and see how the dog responds. If that goes well, you gradually increase the amount whilst slowly reducing the dry food. The idea isn’t necessarily to start a classic elimination diet, but to give the body plenty of time to get used to fresh food and raw meat. For some dogs, this transition needs to be quite grad…
Hello again and thank you for your reply!! ❤️🙏 Trille has been having problems with both her paws and her ears. The paw problems have mainly been on her hind paws, whilst her front paws have been affected only very slightly. She has had redness and irritation between her toes and has been licking and biting her paws. This has persisted over time and has recurred after treatment. The vet described moderate redness between the toes on all her paws, most pronounced on the hind paws and also on the undersides of the hind paws. Her ears were also very problematic before treatment and before we started the Seidi diet. She has had two bouts of ear infection and has been treated with antibiotics and Otodine. On examination, cocci bacteria were found in both ears, and she has previously also had…