10 week puppy poorly after chicken

[jaicobain]

Cockapoo. He’s been on a Pets At Home wet food brand with some dry biscuits on top, absolutely fine. He’s a big healthy wonderful puppy (strongest of the litter) and no isses or worries at all so far.

I worked yesterday and DH had the day off. Around pup’s lunchtime DH noticed we were out of wet food so ripped up some M and S cooked chicken slices and fed them to the puppy with some biscuits rather than just nipping out to get puppy food.

When I got home, my puppy wasn’t the same. Head shaking, scratching ears and sceeaming, suddenly being very clingy. He usually sleeps no problem in crate but did not settle last until he came on to my bed. This morning he is still scratching, and now he’s got scabs in his ear, and has been sick.

I know he needs to be checked, just waiting for vets to open at 9am to ring them. I’m convinced it’s the chicken but DH thinks I’m being ridiculous?

It could well be the chicken, I'm on a lot of cockapoo groups on Facebook and a chicken allergy isn't uncommon, hope he feels better soon x

There is also salt in the chicken slices, there shouldn’t be much but salt can cause vomiting.

In a way I hope it is the chicken because then it’s easily eliminated. Cooked sandwich chicken as well so full of salt and all sorts. Feel awful for my poor boy.

Has just had a solid poo which is a relief.

My Golden Retriever is allergic to chicken. We discovered it when he was about 15 weeks old by process of elimination. He has single source protein kibble now - anything but chicken!

His treats are all chicken based but he’s been fine on them. But obviously MandS sandwich chicken isn’t meant for dogs so it’ll be full of salt and additives. Could still be a chicken allergy as well that was triggered by fresh chicken rather than dried out chicken in the treats.

My chihuahua kept getting upset tummy so took him to the vets. Vet told us chicken is known to upset dogs tummy’s.

I always thought chicken was good and setting for them, he explained this is not the case at all - was a revelation to me!

My shih tzu who I had donkeys years ago used to get chronic yeast infections in his ears, chewed feet constantly. Looking back I’m certain it was chicken but I genuinely didn’t know the risks of allergies. I just thought chicken = meat = good for dogs.

my current boy has turkey dog dinners and is fine on them.

i wodner if the allergy comes from the crap they put in mass produced chicken now?

I will ask vet to trim his nails so he can’t hurt himself scratching ear

I’d bet my house it’s the chicken but deffo vet anyway to see what they can do for his poorly ears.

Spaniels breeds are well known to be poorly after chicken. It's a known allergen. Causes them huge problems, especially with their ears. A grain and chicken free diet is recommended. Ours only eats fish.

You could give him a piriton. Look online to see dose.

He was on grain-free which was bought by accident, then I got the normal food. I may just go back to the grain-free, and get rid of all his chicken treats.

Thank you, that’s really helpful. Is the vet likely to give him piriton?

Who recommends a grain free diet??
certainly not anyone with any veterinary or nutritional expertise

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jvim.16606

fish based diets can cause thiamin deficiencies (unless supplemented/complete)

the OP is much better seeking qualified advice and getting to the bottom of her pup’s reaction than self-medicating using an unlicensed product with a dose Googled from the internet 🙄

our spaniel can't have chicken like that. Weirdly he can have pet food type chicken but not cooked human chicken of any sort! Always turns his tummy. Solid poo is a good sign, he's probably on the mend already!

@jaicobain this is terrible advice

many antihistamines sold for humans contain decongestants and/or additives that can be fatal in dogs.

this Facebook page is useful for evidence-based information on a range of issues including diet
www.facebook.com/veterinaryvoicesuk/

Oh crap sorry, I assumed that poster meant a vet piriton. I won’t give him anything.

I bet is the additives in human-consumption chicken that are the problem then

Chicken is a very common allergy, but it's also important to remember that the chicken in dry dog food isn't exactly the same as chicken we eat due to the process of turning it into long-lasting dry kibble.

So your dog may be absolutely fine on chicken treats and chicken-based foods, but intolerant to fresh chicken.

I would also say at ten weeks he's still incredibly young and it could be that a switch away from his normal food was too much for him, or that he wolfed the chicken down too fast and gave himself indigestion!

I remember when our chihuahua was about 18 months I ran out of dog food so gave him cooked chicken for tea.

Later that night he wasn’t well at all so drove him an hour away to out of hours vet. Ended up costing me £200, that vet didn’t mention chicken was a problem, we just thought he had overeaten. Wasn’t until a few months ago a different vet explained it all.

chlorpheniramine is the ingredient in piriton which is actually safe for your dog and is prescribed by vets.

That is an extreme reaction for a chicken allergy and in a very short space of time.

Scabs in ears appearing overnight, for example.

I'd see a vet first and foremost. Those ears need checking in case there isn't something else going on.

I would stop giving him chicken. It is a very common allergy for dogs.
But I would switch him back to a grain free diet. Grain is not good for dogs despite what a previous poster has suggested 🙄

Furandfeathers it is a complete fish based dog food ours is fed on. We've had spaniels before our current cross and they've all had dreadful ear and skin problems with chicken based food.

Vet is confident it’s not the chicken based on the extremeness of the reaction. He noted red paws, ears and eyes. He thinks its fleas and mites, he had flea treatment the day before he came to us but we are in a high fox traffic area. Vet did end up finding a flea too.

I will say, don’t just guess about your pets! I was 100% sure it was the chicken but I got it royally wrong. Vets exist for a reason, fleas hadn’t occured to me as no contact with other dogs.