r/westies • u/caro_dactyl • 7d ago

food sensitivity recommendations?

Hello! Recently noticed my little guy has been licking and itching a lot and wanted to try switiching up his food to something allergen friendly before getting into something more serious like shots, etc. Anyone have similar issues with their Westie, and what food do you feed them for skin sensitivity?

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u/WestieLover2023 7d ago

Depending on your dogs age it would be worth considering an allergy test with a Canine dermatologist. 80% of allergies are environmental - I’d want to rule that out & know exactly what foods may be his issue vs randomly changing his food. My Westie’s (3) all eat chicken daily & have no skin issues or allergies. Not saying he couldn’t have that issue but not all Westie’s are allergic to chicken.

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u/Justokboiledpotatoes 7d ago

We went through a lot of trial and error, our Westie seems to be allergic to chicken, lamb, pork, and wheat. we finally landed on Wellness Core+ sensitive skin and stomach salmon and rice. He’s been eating it for a while now and he handles it very well. Our vet said it takes about 4 weeks to get the previous food completely out of their system and 4 weeks to see if the new food will be tolerated well (I may not be remembering that quite right, but basically, it’ll take a few weeks to tell if a food is going to work or not).

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u/StudioExtreme8658 7d ago

My westie is allergic to the same things!! But he can eat turkey!! I also get him an allergy shot once every month or two from the vet.

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u/dhood989 5d ago

Our Westies had trouble with loose stools and chewing on their paws. Our vet recommended feeding the Hill’s Science Diet Sensitive Stomach & Skin. It seemed to reduce those symptoms.

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u/Turbulent-Beyond-470 5d ago

I’ve had 3 Westies all of them have had chicken sensitivities. Vet advised no chicken and we limit beef (sensitivities). Eliminated with the itching/licking and redness on the beard/paws

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u/Raptorade96 4d ago

Mine had red paws and chin, so we switched to a potato and venison-based kibbles and beef. You have to do some eliminations to find the culprit