Allergy to Raw Chicken?

Dogs react differently after switching to raw, some will go through a detox period and that can include signs of allergies. Bear in mind, when you switch to raw from kibble, you're completely changing your dogs diet - you're removing sugar, starch, carbs and others from their diet. It's a big change for the dog.

That's not to say it's not allergies, it could be the chicken, just not enough time has passed to truly know. There are 2 ways to find out - either an allergy test (quick and $$$) or single source protein trial, a protein that your dog hasn't had fed before - and only feed that protein for a month or two. You could also try a vet recommended allergy med for a few days to see if there's any effect.

Maybe give your dog a soothing bath, and follow up with rinse water with coconut oil, see if it makes a difference.

Have you been giving her anything else? Treats, people foods? She could be allergic to chicken, it does happen. But there is chicken in all kinds of things, sometimes it's hidden in 'flavorings'. What I would do, is cut out everything but the raw food. No treats, nothing but the raw chicken and feed that for about a week. You need to give time to see if it is the chicken or not. Also sometimes even a food you've been feeding will change something in the recipe and all of a sudden you have an issue.

Vegas had bad ear problems that didn't go away until switching him to raw food. It's been a while, but it did take some time for the itching to go away completely. Even now if he is giving too much junk he gets itchy ears. In his case I think it is some type of carbs but I'm not 100% sure which.

I'm really sorry if I'm not making sense, I have a pounding migraine. It's affecting my ability to concentrate.

annageckos said:

Have you been giving her anything else? Treats, people foods?

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Good point, feed nothing else. If you're looking for something as a "treat", give a chicken foot or a frozen piece of meat to chew on...

An allergy reaction can happen anytime from immediately to 4 hours post exposure. So yes it could already be showing, additional exposures may cause an additive effect.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_I_hypersensitivity

Whoops, thought that sounded off. Delayed reactions can take 24-48 hrs to occur.

Hello everyone,

I haven't been giving her anything at all else. No treats, nothing. She hasn't itched like this before and it's her legs, bum, etc and it can't be anal glands as she had them expressed a few days ago.

It could be the chicken. Does she have other allergies? Like pollen or something like that, I know pollen leaves have been bad around here. Luckily they don't bother me or my guys. You could try switching to turkey or pork or whatever you like and see if the itching lessens or goes away.

Also if you do switch it can take some time for the symptoms to ease, sometimes months if severe.

Ok. Maybe I will try to give her turkey as she has already tried it and seemed to be fine.

It's too bad because I just bought several packages of chicken leg quarters lol. Oh well! Whatever is best for my Bella girl!

KerriAnn said:

Hello everyone,

I was just wondering if anyone can help me identify if this is a sensitivity or allergy?

I have been feeding my dog raw chicken leg quarters for about 3-4 days. The reason for going on a raw diet was because my dog was getting ear infections and I think she has an allergy. Have tried lots of kibble to no avail.

Anyways, she has been on raw chicken and I know chicken is a food that is often an allergy for dogs but understand raw can be different that chicken in kibble.

I think my dog may be allergic to chicken though for sure because she's been eating raw for 3-4 days and is scratching profusely (way more than before).

If she is allergic to chicken.. Would this show up in itchy skin so soon? After 3-4 days?

Thanks in advance!
Kerri

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3-4 days isn't long enough to know if it is the chicken. Kibble is so full of artificial junk and fillers, it can take some time to get all of that out of the system. Even though they CAN be allergic to chicken, it's not likely that they are in raw form. The itching and allergy symptoms more often than not come from one of the other unnecessary ingredients in kibble, rather than the protein itself. If the protein does have anything to do with it, being in cooked form is usually the culprit. Go ahead with the chicken for now, and when you move on to the next protein (turkey) just feed turkey only and see how it goes. At this point it's probably a detox thing going on. Give it some time to get the junk worked out of the body.

Hello naturalfeddogs,

She was never itchy like this before eating the raw chicken for 4 days which is why I was thinking that maybe it was a reaction to raw.

She never itched like this (so profusely) on any of the kibble I have ever given her. She did have anal gland problems and ear infections but never itching quite like this. She actually never usually itched too often before this. Last night she was scratching her ears, and biting at her bum and legs. I felt bad for her she was scratching so much. She stopped though after a little while.

Earlier tonight I gave her a turkey wing and drumstick and she hasn't been bothered at all. So at this point I don't know what to do

If the itching stopped with turkey, then continue with it and just stop chicken and see what happens.

Allergies won't heal up that fast.

Could just be that you are changing diets...

My Jack Russell has a severe chicken allergy and will react if eats raw chicken, chicken fat, even turkey. She will start scratching about half an hour to 2 hours after eating. It is definitely possible for your dog to be allergic to raw chicken, I would try a different protein.

terriermommy said:

My Jack Russell has a severe chicken allergy and will react if eats raw chicken, chicken fat, even turkey. She will start scratching about half an hour to 2 hours after eating. It is definitely possible for your dog to be allergic to raw chicken, I would try a different protein.

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The OP has just switched from kibble about 4 days ago. Not enough time to know if it is the chicken or not. So may toxins are kibble that remain in the body for some time after stopping eating it. How long depends on the amount of time the kibble fed for the toxins to build up, regardless of the protein fed.

If she is scratching that much on just chicken, I would switch to turkey and see if the itching stops over the course of 3-4 weeks. I know dogs can be allergic to proteins in kibble and be fine on raw, but my past boy was allergic to both raw chicken and beef, just the same as he was allergic to kibble with chicken and beef.

If it has just been four days, I would say a detox is happening and agree with @naturalfeddogs to continue with the chicken, but switching to turkey is also a good thing to do.

If you do switch to turkey and the itching stops I'd still try chicken again in the future. Well after she is switched over and doing well. I always like to test things like this a few times before saying that is it. Also once her body heals itself she may be fine with chicken.

@annageckos,

You make a great point about after Bella's body heals itself after switching off of junky kibble, then she may be able to handle chicken.

I think @naturalfeddogs is also right about staying on turkey for a few weeks to see how it goes. I think after turkey for 3-4 weeks, I will reintroduce chicken to see if there are any symptoms of allergy.