Food Allergies

[Elizabeth]

Does anyone know of specific food allergies present in the boerboel breed? In October Nala started loosing her voice, her bark became very hoarse. I immediately took her to the Vet, who suggested that he sedates her and look into her throat, to rule out any growths in her throat or on the vocal chords. To my relief, no growths were detected, but he said the vocal chords are very inflamed.  He prescribed an antibiotic for 10 days, in this period her bark got better, but not the normal deep loud Nala bark.

I contacted the vet again who suggested that it might be an allergy and prescribed cortozone tablets to see if that brings her bark back to normal.  The cortozone helped tremendously, but only for the period that she is on it.  Now her bark sometimes comes out normal and sometimes it is just a little whisper.  She is not an excessive barker, hence when she barks I want her to have her voice.

She still eats as usual, but I have noticed she prefers pellets that are wet - which I can understand as her throat must be hurting.  I spoke to the vet again yesterday and he says it sounds more and more like an allergy and he prescribed another series of cortozone, but a lighter dose.

I bought allergy specific dog food yesterday - manufacturer is Hills, in hope that it might be something as simple as her dog food, in order for me to change it.  My concern is that it is an ingredient in the dogfood that she is allergic to.

The Vet also stated maybe I should come to terms that it is an old dog and that old dogs sometimes lose their bark, I am not convinced that it is age. Any advise/experience will be appreciated. 

[Mrs David/Bonnie]

Hi Elizabeth, hope Nala comes right quickly. How stressful for you. Like Marco n Lisa, mine are on a raw diet when I am not traveling. The vet is amazed at their wonderful condition. I have tried a combination diet, pellets x breakfast n raw x dinner but it messed up their digestion so now they are on either or. Raw bones are supposed to contain the enzymes that allow for digestion but my boys jaws are so strong they sometimes break up the densest bones that do not get digested. They love their bones so we are trying biggest cut meaty neck bones and raw poultry w bones.Hope you find out what Nala is allergic to. Good luck

[Elizabeth]

Hello Everyone, thank you so much for everyone's replies. 

Nala is doing better lately, she loves the Hills in the morning ( I am now looking for an alternative to Hills), I think she is a bit to old to switch to raw, as she did not want to eat it.  What she does love is cooked chicken, she would bully me out of the Kitchen to try and get to the container in which I keep it :)  So what I currently do is to give her the dry food in the morning, covered with a bit of water and in the evening she gets a nice bowel of cooked chicken ( no spices/salt added).  Her bark has improved significantly, and she is starting to sound like her old self again.

Unfortunately the Cancer has not been ruled out yet - our vet is on leave at the moment, so will take her to her ASAP when she is back.  I only trust her with Nala, I have taken her to another vet, and it was horrible, she was not at ease, very stressed and something which she is never - aggresive.  She wanted to bite him - and she is not a biter, she would rather lick you to death than bite you.

I really appreciate everyone's help - it is SO informative!  Marco, it is really something great that you have started.

[Lisa Tiro]

I'm glad to hear she is doing better. She was probably scared of the strange guy trying to touch her everywhere. No surprise that she tried to protect herself. Best of luck when the regular vet gets back. 

This is a great resource I totally agree!

~Lisa