If
you knew the ingredients in commercial dog food you wouldn’t feed it to a
dog, let alone your best friend.
West
Highland White Terriers are known for having food allergies. I know
most of the Westies on the block (it’s a big block) and most of them have
some kind of stomach problem or skin allergies. I have two West Highland
White Terriers. Spooky and Elle. Elle is one year old, strong and
naturally healthy but Spooky has had problems since he was a small puppy.
With vomiting, diarrhea and blood in his stools I visited different vets
every few months.

Food Allergies?
After
$1200.00 dollars in examination, x-rays and drugs, they all told me that it
was probably a food allergy because they couldn’t find anything wrong in
the blood work or examination. They sent me home with a special diet of
“Duck and potatoes”, “Venison and potatoes” and finally “Salmon
and potatoes”. Nothing worked so they switched me to a hypoallergenic dog
food at an exorbitant price. Still my Spooky-boy would loose his appetite,
refuse to eat and vomit bile.
I
was frantic so I finally went to see a vet in San Mateo who told me Spooky
had Colitis along with food allergies. We kept him on the anti-allergy
formula but added bran to his diet. He improved and started eating
more, gained weight and looked happier. Westies with food allergies
like these are all too common. We hope we can give you some hints on
how to keep your Westie or any other dog with food allergies in tip top
form.
I
did more research on commercial dog food and was startled to learn just what
is in most all of the popular dog foods sold in markets and pet shops.
If
you think your dog is suffering from food allergies, please read the article
on the ingredients in commercial dog food. It may surprise you that
there is so much junk in dog food. Most of our family pets are just
that, family. We wouldn’t feed unhealthy food to one of our family.
So why do we buy into this multimillion dollar industry that produces
extruded, rancid grease incrusted meat by-products for our best friends?
Did
you know that most of hypoallergenic dog food that you buy from
Veterinarians cannot be bought anywhere else but at the vet’s? Did you
also know that veterinarians mark up the dog food 40% to 50? Of course they
are going to encourage us to buy it when such an easy profit can be made.
Do I still buy that dog food for Spooky? Yep. What choice do I
have? Well I do have a choice. It takes time and energy but I supplement the
vet dog food with wholesome food I cook at home.
Hopefully
the questions about commercial dog food I raise here on this site will cause
you a moment to pause and decide if commercial dog food is what you really
want to feed your dog.
Let
me also say that if you have a sick dog the first thing you must do is visit
the vet and find out what is wrong. It could be something so serious
that a change in diet will not help. Be safe and sure and have your
dog checked fi