# Eureka! Beef allergy?



## KrystalLeigh (Aug 17, 2011)

Sorry in advance for the long post and thank you to anyone who sticks it out to read it all.  Some of you may know that Odie has been periodically having symptoms which have worried us and I've posted about these before. The one symptom, coughing after she barks (which is rare), we pretty much have figured out as collapsed trachea. We could do x-rays to confirm but I'm almost 100% sure that's what it is.

However, the other symptoms (stretching out back legs, staying in "praying" pose, something that seems like acid reflux) have remained a mystery and I've been considering going ahead with seeing a specialist in Vancouver to do an endoscope, which is what her vet suggested could be a next step. Her symptoms are classic abdominal pain indicators. The reason I didn't do it right away is because I'm very wary of anesthetic with her and the endoscope isn't guaranteed to give us any indication of what's going on. She's only been under once before for her spay and she was so sick after. I don't want to put her through that again unless it's absolutely necessary. 

Anyway, for quite some time she was symptom free so I wasn't as worried about it and was hoping maybe it was something temporary. However, she has been doing the prayer pose and stretching again and I've been trying to pay close attention to what happens, how long, etc. 

She had pretty bad diarrhea this morning and she didn't have anything to eat that was out of the ordinary. I was just thinking, "what changes could have caused this and the other symptoms?" because she was fine for so long, when I realized that she's had some food switches recently. These are the changes that have happened since last year in chronological order:

1. Acana Ranchlands kibble (beef, bison & lamb), Weruva chicken canned food, Ziwipeak lamb, raw chicken. - _Having symptoms occasionally_
2. Acana kibble in rotation of Ranchlands, Wild Prairie (chicken, turkey & walleye) and Grasslands (lamb, duck & walleye), Weruva chicken canned food, Primal turkey, raw chicken. - _No noticeable symptoms_
3. Acana kibble in rotation of Ranchlands, Wild Prairie and Grasslands, Weruva chicken canned food, Primal beef, raw chicken. - _Having symptoms frequently_ <-- the switch to Primal beef just happened recently when we ran out of the turkey

Having realized this, I'm questioning if she could have a beef allergy. This is probably a stupid question, but would a beef allergy cause abdominal pain? Could the addition of two other Acana kibbles and the Primal turkey have reduced the symptoms and now they're back because we're feeding Primal beef everyday and she might be getting it for breakfast the same day that she has Ranchlands kibble? She really is a bird girl, she will gobble up anything with a beak but is more hesitant to eat other protein sources. I'm wondering if it would be worth removing beef from her diet to see if the symptoms go away again. I might be looking too much into this, but I would LOVE if it was just allergies that was causing this and not something more serious. What do you think?


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## susan davis (Mar 25, 2011)

Hey, that is great and wonderfull! I think that it is a good possibility that you have just diagnosed your dog with a beef allergy. I would go back to anything with a 'beak'!!! I wonder if lamb, or pork would set him off? I'd get him back to himself, and then try them in small amounts?


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## teetee (Aug 25, 2011)

Krystal, I don't have anything to add on the allergy, but I would like to ask you how long does she do the prayer pose? Miya does it routinely, but it looks like it's just a part of her "after nap" stretching routine. Just has me curious.


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## elaina (Jul 1, 2008)

yes, I would eliminate that Primal beef, if you think that is causing her symptoms and then observe for awhile . 

I have bought the Primal beef for Minnie but she gets itchy when she eats it and does the best on Ziwipeak venison or venison and fish

Minnie also does that prayer pose, but it is a stretching thing with her.


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## KrystalLeigh (Aug 17, 2011)

teetee said:


> Krystal, I don't have anything to add on the allergy, but I would like to ask you how long does she do the prayer pose? Miya does it routinely, but it looks like it's just a part of her "after nap" stretching routine. Just has me curious.


Tiff, you can definitely tell that it's more than stretching with Odie. She will either do it quickly and keep repeating it (prayer pose stretch, stretching out legs) or she will stay like that for longer than she would for a stretch. I can also tell that she's uncomfortable as she holds her body in a weird way. She just looks sad when it happens. Repeating prayer pose is a sign of pancreatitis, but she had full blood work done and there was no sign of it.



elaina said:


> yes, I would eliminate that Primal beef, if you think that is causing her symptoms and then observe for awhile .
> 
> I have bought the Primal beef for Minnie but she gets itchy when she eats it and does the best on Ziwipeak venison or venison and fish
> 
> Minnie also does that prayer pose, but it is a stretching thing with her.


Thanks Elaine! I think that's what I'll do. She didn't get her Primal for breakfast this morning and I had to coerce her into eating some canned food by putting some purebites treats mixed in so she won't get an upset tummy this morning. Haha. No Acana Ranchlands for her today either. Going to order the duck primal and some smaller bags of the other types and see how it goes. The vet also thought that she could have something like IBS since when she does the behaviours she sometimes looks back at her bum, but I'm thinking that if that's the case, maybe the beef is what's exasperating it.


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## Huly (Mar 5, 2012)

I would say beef allergy! So beef and bison should be out for her. Huly will eat Salmon and it can take up to 48 hours before he pukes but it always happens. After his allergy report we found he is allergic to all seafood. 

Now the other thing is that we have learned is they can have an allergy to cooked beef and not raw or raw beef and not cooked in Odie's case as cooking changes the protein. Huly can have a little raw seafood (tried shrimp and a whitefish) and had no reaction. Cooked though within 48 hours he is sick. So also factor that in.

Also this shows why she always goes for poultry over beef.


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## asthehind (Jul 5, 2013)

I've heard beef is a more common allergen. As someone with allergies myself, I find that different positions do make a difference to how much pain I'm in if I'm having a reaction so Odie may be having the same thing!


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## CHITheresa (Apr 30, 2011)

Amberleah lou lou allergic to chicken.


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