My boys have Corn Allergies, Anyone know why?

[LokiDog]

Hello All,

My 3 Rotties have a corn allergy. Does anyone have any Theory why?

The only thing I can come up with is the topical flea medicine they were given at the vet.

My boys were all fine and healthy with no allergies. They never had flea's. They had the run of a big back yard and really no contact with dogs who had fleas.

One day when they were about 18 months old, a stray managed to get in the yard. He was with us for about a week until we found his owner. Needless to say, he HAD fleas. We gave everybody a bath, but we still had some in the house... After a good cleaning we managed to get rid of everything, no sprays or chemicals. Just a lot of washing and vacuuming.

On the next visit to the vet we asked about what to do to prevent this from happening again and he said that he would dose them... I'm sorry to say I don't remember what brand he used. But within 2 weeks they all had terrible sores on their necks, butts, armpits...

We went back to the vet and he said it was contact dermatitis, probably from some plant in the yard. Gave us antibiotics and creams. He said it would clear us as soon as we got a hard freeze.

Well, it didn't clear up, kept coming back. So we started doing research on what may be causing it. We came upon some articles describing food allergies and specifically corn allergies.

We switched to a diet without corn and everybody cleared up within a week or so. Still a few stubborn spots that lasted a month, but what a big difference right away.

I know that maybe it COULD have been something else that was in the food. But about 6 months ago they managed to get a big box of corn chips down off of the top of the fridge when we were not home. And BAM - Within 3 days the sores were back worse than ever. 2-1/2 years with no problem and 1 box of chips between 3 dogs and the situation was right back where we started.

We suspected that there must have been something other than "weeds in the yard" explanation we had gotten from that vet, so we have not been back to him since. And the new guy says he has no idea what the first outbreak was caused by as he didn't see them at the time.

So I guess my ultimate question is - Has anyone else had problems with allergies after the application of topical flea/tick medication?? The ones that come in a small tube and you put between the shoulder blades???

Any information or theories will be gladly appreciated.

[Karen]

Not to do with your question, really, but my allergy doctor said that anyone at any time can develop allergies, it is your body having an immune system reaction inappropriately. In my case, I had other allergies, but no food allergies until ten years ago, when they developed out of the blue. That it happened to all your dogs at once of course suggests something in common, are they genetically connected? Or just all Rotties who live in your house and get the same treatment?

[LokiDog]

All 3 boys from the same litter. We picked out 2 at the breeder, but when it came time to bring them home they had 1 left because the original buyer had backed out. And the hubby just could not leave him behind all alone.

I am just racking my brain on how/why this happened to all of them at the same time. I know quite a bit about food allergies, When I was 12 and had the old time scratch test I tested positive for 98 different substances. As time went on I developed a tolerance to most of them so its not bad at all now for me, but for them - it kills me whenever they are in pain or suffering.

[Karen]

Have you asked the breeder if any of the rest of the litter developed allergies?

[LokiDog]

Unfortunately I can't she's gone. The neighbors tell me car accident. I don't know anyone else who had gotten puppies from that or any other litter for that matter.
But man that would have been a GREAT idea

[MonicanHonda]

Dogs naturally develop allergies suddenly, especially to corn and grain because they aren't supposed to have it in their diet. Their bodies aren't made for it. Allergies are one of the top problems with dogs these days. So it's definitely not uncommon. I don't think a corn allergy would have anything to do with flea medicine at all... The only thing that flea meds could possibly do would be give a skin reaction and cause skin allergies maybe. It's probably just your luck that that all occurred at the same time. Or maybe they had a reaction to the flea medicine which made their immune response down slightly and now the true allergies to corn are coming through?

[LokiDog]

Maybe, I don't know. That's why I'm asking for opinions and theories. I may never know the answer, but I just would like to know all I can about the situation.
I don't think the medicine itself caused the allergy to corn per say. But I would like to know if anyone else has had a similar experience with their pets after using it.
It could just be a timing issue like you have suggested, I just think that all 3 at the exact same time is not a coincidence. I can't do anything about what has already happened, they and I have come to an accommodation to the condition (barring any more corn chip parties). And eventually I will be faced with the decision of whether or not to use that type of treatment on any future pets.
My dogs are not "dogs", they are family. As I'm sure that goes for almost everybody who use this forum. So, I am looking for the best way to care for them.
I appreciate the suggestion, it does help in the overall understanding of the problem.

[Bonny]

I am currently looking to change over to a different dog food for my dogs. This late summer & early fall I used the stuff you were talking about on my dogs & one of them received the dose twice. Both dogs were fine after the treatment but the itching didn't stop & there were sores where they itched there skin with their claws. They were being treated for ticks, lice, & mites because the veterinary didn't know either at the time what was causing it?

What I understand the ground corn is a filler they put into the dog food. I live on a farm & this fall the dogs would grab a cob of corn out of the field & chew on it. Corn is a vegetable just like peas, beans, carrots, etc. All the supplements they put into the dog food makes me wonder too? Are they allergic to the supplements?

Humans & animals can all recact differently to their environment & what is in it. Today with all the chemicals in the air, water, & food it makes you wonder? I can understand where your dogs are family & I hope you find out what is causing their skin problem.

[LokiDog]

I just don't know the cause or reason, and I may never know. But if you are looking for some information on corn free dog food, I started a thread the other day and got so much good information that I am still wading through it all. If you want some help in deciding on what food to switch to, the info there might be a good place to start. It's under the dog health threads under dog food questions again...

Hope you find out the cause of your allergies/reactions. But I do suggest that you try getting them off the corn for a while and see if it helps

[Karen]

What I understand the ground corn is a filler they put into the dog food. I live on a farm & this fall the dogs would grab a cob of corn out of the field & chew on it. Corn is a vegetable just like peas, beans, carrots, etc. All the supplements they put into the dog food makes me wonder too? Are they allergic to the supplements?

Humans & animals can all recact differently to their environment & what is in it. Today with all the chemicals in the air, water, & food it makes you wonder? I can understand where your dogs are family & I hope you find out what is causing their skin problem.

Trust me, one can be allergic to the actual vegetable - I am not allergic to corn, but of the ones you happened to mention, I am allergic to beans, peas and carrots! Doesn't matter how organic they are, I am just allergic to them. Our St. Bernard used to love munching corn cobs, thankful she didn't have any allergies!

[Catlady711]

Animals, or people for that matter, can develop allergies at any time. Either a critter, or person, is born with the allergy, or they will develop it after a peroiod of exposure to the substance.

For example I used to be able to walk barefoot, in shorts, through poison ivy, not wash my legs and never get a rash. Now I can pick up a rash from a clients dog if it's been around the plant.

It's possible that because of the fleas it can cause some problems. I highly doubt the flea meds, of any type, could cause a corn allergy. Flea bites can cause an allergy all their own called flea dermatitis, which would look identical to a contact dermatitis, just with a different cause.

It's possible that your dogs got a few flea bites that caused that reaction (it can take just one bite from a flea to cause this reaction in a sensitive animal). From there, their systems were just hypersensitive to other things that their bodies had been fighting off up until that point. The other scenario is it was just flea dermatitis and you happen to change the food at the same time their bodies were recovering from the flea bites, thus it would seem that corn was the problem not fleas. I can't prove either theory and I'm no dermatalogist, but either would be a likely scenario.

A true food allergy trial goes like this. Change food to one without the most likely ingredient causing the problem, but change nothing else with the food, treats, environment, laundry etc. Each trial goes on for 2-3 months. Once the suspected ingredient is narrowed down, a true test is to re-introduce that ingredient to the diet. If a reaction re-occurs then in fact is it a true food allergy, if not then there is a different ingredient, or something else causing the problem. Although most clients decline that last part, prefering to just use the new diet food as long as things are working.

Since your dogs are all related, they all were exposed to the fleas, they may all have the same allergy and the same thing may have set them all off at the same time. This is when it's a bummer that dogs can't talk.

There are allergy tests that can be done on dogs, the accuracy isn't perfect, but gives a ballpark idea of possible causes. I do believe they have to be off all medication for allergies first before being tested, don't remember the time span on that though.

Hope that was of some help to you.

[kokopup]

i spent a small fortune on dermatologist bills and had scratch and blood test that revealed allergies to dust and mites but i don't believe there were any foods found or maybe the test were not that comprehensive. On my own, after studying allergies online, I decided to eliminate corn. It turned out corn was my Koko's problem all long. I did go back to a food with corn and sure enough the allergies returned. I now feed Koko NUTRO NATURAL CHOICE Chicken rice and oatmeal, that is also good for her sensitive stomach. I tried a number of different limited ingredient dry foods that were either not good for her stomach or she just refused to eat them. I believe the more expensive the food the less she liked it. She would not eat any brand of food that had lamb, venison, or salmon as the meat protein. I'm just glad that Petco takes back food that your pet will not eat.

Koko was on frontline since she was about 5 months old but was at least 2 before she developed allergies to corn. I also think that she first had Dermatitis on her belly caused by possibly scratching fleas. It was shortly after that that her back started scaling and having sores. This was not because of fleas. The Vet said that skin allergies can be caused by what
the dog breathes. It turned out it was what she ate. We still have dust and I'm sure there are mites in the dust. Koko is fine now on a corn free diet.

[Bea]

Allergies are caused in three ways, inhaling, ingesting or by contact. But what brings them out is a low immunsystem! And Vitamin C and minerals and also Brewers Yeast Vit B for skin, missing in diet, plus antioxidants, feed more fresh meat/bones, green leafy vegetables, yolks, and lots of fruit.
Start by giving them Silver colloid, an ancient natural anti-biotic available in health stores. It also strengthens immune system.

But do remember to check their yard for contact dermatitis. Are there any poisonous plants? Do they lye on concrete with petrol? Does your wife use a lot of disinfectants? Air sprays, Washing detergents, toilet cleaners, all are toxic to dogs! Their nose is so much finer tuned then ours.
And 99% of all dermatitis is caused by fleas! So if you have fleas you need Frontline, it kills life fleas. You also need to spray your car, your carpets, their lying place outside, anywhere your dogs are, with simple fly spray, again in one week, and again one week later. So three times, one week interval. Other places you can hose down. Inside tiles or lino would be good to have one of those floor steamers, the heat kills eggs in grout etc. I use one called the shark, fantastic machine. Carpet you need fly spray again. Wash everything else like bedding, yours too, LOL.
You can also wash your dog with Malaseb by Dermacare. Make sure you leave it on for 10 Minutes! On the biggest sores put some liquid antiseptic solution like Betadine, but don't let them lick it off while wet!

After all that you should all feel so much better, LOL.

[kokopup]

I treat Koko with frontline but I also spray the house and yard with Precor. Precor breaks the egg cycle so eggs that are laid do not mature.

quote by Bea

Start by giving them Silver colloid, an ancient natural anti-biotic
available in health stores. It also strengthens immune system.

I guess since Koko is a pretty brown color I do.t have to worry about her turning blue, which can happen with Silver. The term blue blood came about because royalty ate off of silver and over time enough leached into the food to give their skin a blue color.

There was a guy on a TV special that took so much Colloidal Silver he had turned blue.

[Bea]

If the silver colloid is not properly prepared/mixed that is what can happen. People used to make it themselves, but not right and they turned silver. But these days with machinery, there is fat chance of that happening, my dear! I have been using it for years and not turned silver, haha. But it works well, without killing the good flora or bacteria!