MY "BARF" DOG HAS RASH - Is it detox?

[Elena Ruj]

My dog has had skin problems since he was little, but we handled that with better diet (it was still cooked, but not processed, except for the pasta). He was fine.

He also has skin cancer, but it's not developing. In hopes to get rid of the cancer I started feeding him BARF. A month later he has such bad rash, that with the crust of the skin he is also loosing hair. His skin is very itchy and I can see he is suffering.

I've been to the veterinarian and she said, that this outbreak is not related to the cancer, but to food allergy. Now....How can that be? Is it detox? Do dogs go also thru detox and how bad can it get?

We believed that he was allergic to the chicken so we stopped BARF (cause he is already allergic to beef and we were told that you can’t feed to much pork to the dogs) started cooking again, but the condition is not improving.

My main question is ... Is it detox? Should I put him back on BARF and persist?

Please, if anyone has any experience on this subject, let me know how it went and how long was the detox?

[Soka]

When you say you feed a BARF diet, do you feed him a pre-made commercial raw diet or do you make everything at home? I've noticed that commercial raw diets contain plant ingredients. He could be allergic to one of those ingredients. When I feed raw meals (I'm switching at the moment), I feed strictly meat. I haven't started simulating pre-digested plant matter yet but it will be a small part of his diet.

I would look at his diet and start taking out anything you suspect he's allergic to one by one and see if you can find the culprit. It could also be an environmental allergen.

[Stina]

Can you remind me what BARF stands for?

[Elena Ruj]

Stina BARF stands for Bones And Raw Food

Soka I fed him only raw meat, bones and some raw nuts and dried fruits (once a week). So what do you think, could it be detox?

I also found some data on this page http://www.njboxers.com/faqs.htm#detox and I'm just going through it, maybe I'll find something usefull.

[Stina]

Your dog is blessed to have such a sweet human! There's a really good book on holistic pet care by a veternarian named....Pitcairn. Maybe you can track it down.

[rawstrength]

If your dog is allergic to beef and chicken, you could still feed lamb, rabbit, pork, turkey, peasant, quail, and fish.

[Yana]

^^exactly!! nuts, sadly, are a bad idea. Taken from Yorkie Talk, but goes for all dogs (confirmed on other websites) "Macadamia nuts are another concern, along with most other kinds of nuts. Their high phosphorus content is said to possibly lead to bladder stones. Dogs develop a tremor of the skeletal muscles, and weakness or paralysis of the hindquarters. Affected dogs are often unable to rise and are distressed, usually panting. Some affected dogs have swollen limbs and show pain when the limbs are manipulated."

[christinajade]

it is an allergic reaction to something. Dogs actually get hives just like humans when they are allergic. Even a very low grade dog food isn't has bad as what humans eat if they are eating a bunch of processed crap and cooked bad foods. We detox because humans eat the worst crap than any other living thing out there. Anyway..I guess a whole other topic! ;) BTW, benadryl works and it is also what the vets will prescribe.

[margoss]

some diluted ACV on the skin may help feel better, coconut oil messaged into his skin may help too. 1C water with 1TBL ACV..I prefer Bragg's, you could put it in a bottle with a top like hair color-squeeze it down the spine then rub in. the odor will disappear when dry.

[Chickadee]

If your dog is allergic to beef and chicken, you could still feed lamb, rabbit, pork, turkey, peasant, quail, and fish.

Do you have to send to England for those?

Sorry, I couldn't resist...and laughter is very healing!

[sprouts2go]

I thought BARF stood for Biologically Appropriate Raw Food

[christinajade]

Its not detox. My friend's dog is also allergic to beef but also chicken. She ended up having to feed lamb and some other meat but I don't remember. I would search around for some vets that advocates raw feeding and knows something about it so that they could suggest something for your dog with his or her condition.

What kind of nuts and what type of dried fruits did you feed him?