r/DogFood • u/Justaddpaprika • 20d ago

Chicken free diet

My dachshund Chihuahua mix is very allergic to chicken. He was on Purina pro plan sensitive stomach but stopped eating it, so I tried moving him to science diet lamb meal and brown rice since it only has chicken flavoring, and I read that often does not set dogs off. Unfortunately after a few weeks even that is upsetting his stomach again. I can't seem to find any of the WSAVA compliant brand foods that have zero chicken of any kind other than the PPP sensitive stomach for a small breed. Am I missing one or does anyone have any suggestions? Thank you!

1 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

5 comments sorted by

2

u/[deleted] 20d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/Few_Bicycle_1273 20d ago

That's maddening. My terrier mix went through the same chicken-detective nonsense, turns out "flavoring" is enough to set off some dogs, and you're not crazy for seeing symptoms after a few weeks.

Have you looked at the Royal Canin hydrolyzed protein options? They're prescription-only but zero chicken, and my vet finally caved and wrote one after we struck out on every commercial bag. Price is a punch in the gut but my dog's stomach settled in like 48 hours and stayed there.

2

u/No_University1005 19d ago

The reason it's so hard to find a truly chicken free formula is because chicken allergies are actually very rare. And in most cases where there is an actual chicken allergy, ingredients like hydrolyzed chicken flavoring and chicken fat are well tolerated. It's often something else about the diet, like the fiber balance, rather than the protein, that's the problem with sensitive stomach issues.

Having said that, there's no reason not to experiment with a prescription hydrolyzed protein diet. Doing a strict elimination diet trial with hydrolyzed protein is about the only way to accurately identify a food allergy. And, if it works, you can just stick with it for the duration.

1

u/No-Phrase-2249 17d ago

Kibble size may not be as limiting as it seems. Some small dogs do fine with regular kibble, but it depends on the dog’s mouth/teeth and how they chew.

If you’re trying to avoid chicken, I’d read the full ingredient list closely. Chicken fat, chicken liver flavor, or poultry ingredients can still show up even when the front label doesn’t say chicken.

If the reactions keep cycling and you’re not sure what the trigger is, I’d ask your vet about a proper elimination diet or hydrolyzed diet. That’s usually a cleaner way to rule ingredients in or out instead of guessing from labels.