We have five dogs that are allergic to chicken, all bitches. For most of them, chicken is highly coveted. I’m not sure if it’s the forbidden fruit factor, or just that whatever the other guy is getting is always better than what you’re getting. Whatever it is, if they get an opportunity, they will snatch up chicken like it’s, well, chicken.
Poody came up allergic to chicken when she was about two years old. Interestingly, her primary symptom was a snotty nose. No chicken, no boogers. About two years after removing the chicken from her diet, I challenged her with it, and her head exploded with hives. Poody eats turkey, she doesn’t tolerate beef fat very well, and cannot eat raw meat at all, it causes bleeding in her small intestine, resulting in ‘blood poop.’ Blood poop is not poop with blood on or in it, it is a poop mostly composed of partially digested blood. Not one of my favorite things to find in the yard. Poody was not involved in the Incident I’m about to describe, because she is smart enough to keep her old and mostly blind little blue butt in the house while the big dogs are running around like crazed idiots eating.
Anya became allergic to chicken when she was about two years old (seeing a pattern here?) She mostly just scratched the skin off her neck. She was our fourth bitch to be allergic to chicken, and the third Afghan, and I was really not happy that she stopped scratching on the removal of chicken from her diet. Well, I was happy that she wasn’t itchy, but not pleased with the implications. Anya is currently sequestered in the Bitch House, and was not involved the Incident.
Freya is allergic to both chicken and turkey. She first started showing signs of allergy when she was (you guessed it) between two and three years old. Freya had more classic allergy symptoms: itchy eyes and muzzle, which she rubbed on every nearby object, making both eyes and muzzle puffy and raw. I replaced her chicken with turkey, and the itching ceased after a couple of days. Two weeks later, she started scratching her ears, however, which became very red and hot, so I switched her to beef. No more itching.
Sheepsie was the second chicken allergy, after Poody. She rubbed her eyes raw, starting when she was about (say it with me, now) two years old. Sheepsie is also allergic to turkey, which I initially switched her to. After two weeks of no improvement, I replaced turkey with beef, and ta-da! No more itching.
Sweetums is our youngest allergy victim, now three years old. She also manifested her symptoms earlier, at about a year and a half old. She is also unique in that she didn’t itch, or perhaps we simply removed chicken from her diet before she got to the itchy stage. I first noticed that her face would get slightly puffy and very warm after a chicken meal. Since the dogs get chicken every other day, I was able to watch her go through a couple cycles of post chicken puffy face to be sure. I skipped the turkey and put her directly on beef. No more puffy hot face.
We alternate Meat Days and Mush Days. Yesterday was a Meat Day. The chicken dogs are fed first, while the beef (and Poody’s turkey) for the Beef Bitches is cooking. Brett divides the chicken into servings, removing skin and chopping up pieces for certain dogs, then arranges the chicken parts in large, flat plastic bins with lids. The lids are necessary, for obvious reasons. Meals for the Wees are kept in a open bin set up high on a crate, out of reach. Or so we thought.
Our dogs eat in crates. The first wave was crated and eating when the Incident occurred. I walked out the door of the dog room into the yard, and Domina dashed past me, retching. Now, the Urka Urka sound is pretty much guaranteed to bring dogs running. No self-respecting dog in our house is going to pass up a free meal. Partially digested and covered with dirt and little rocks is even better! Urka Urka on a chicken day means, of course, that the first dogs to show up were Beef Bitches Sheepsie, Freya, and Sweetums. “Yay! Chicken for us, if we’re quick!” I knew that I had not crated Domina to be fed, so I yelled to Brett:
Me: Domina is yakking!
Brett: I haven’t fed her yet!
At this point, Domina hacks up a huge wad of foam. If you feed your dogs chicken parts, and they have yakked right after eating, you will be familiar with this substance. It is white, viscous, and sticks to everything. Do not get it on your hands or any cloths or implements you intend to keep, or you will have to sandblast them to get it off. Boiling might also work.
Despite a quick attempt to block her, Freya lunged in and snatched up the (very large) mouthful of chicken foam and gleefully ran off, chased by Sweetums. Sheepsie stuck around, waiting for the emergence of the real prize: a piece of chicken.
Me: She just yakked up a big glob of foam! Are you sure you didn’t feed her?
Brett: I haven’t fed her yet!
Another couple of Urkas, and Domina brings up a chicken leg, swallowed whole, stolen by jumping up on onto a tiny space left on the chicken container table, and snatching it out of the bin of Wee food. I was really hoping for good jumpers when I bred the Wee litter. I am seriously reconsidering that now.
I made sure that Sheepsie did not get the chicken leg, although I made Brett pick it up, as he had a disposable vinyl Raw Chicken Handling Glove on. Sheepsie gave me a very dirty look for spoiling her chicken opportunity.
Freya and Sweetums reappeared, both of them with chicken foam on their faces. We have had no obvious allergic reactions today. See, when you eliminate the allergen, the body will eventually stop producing antibodies to it; technically, an allergy can go away, and the food can be reintroduced. I don’t do this, however. I figure once an allergen has been eliminated and symptoms subside, why tempt fate by reintroducing the problem food? Plus, you can never tell how long it will take for antibody production to cease; antibodies can persist for years. Subsequent reactions, when they occur, like Poody’s exploding hive head, can often be worse than the initial response. (This is, btw, how children ‘outgrow’ common childhood allergies; in fact, there is literature showing that children with, say, a milk allergy, will ‘outgrow’ it more quickly if milk is completely eliminated from the diet. This makes sense considering what we know about antibody production.)
This was not the first sneak some chicken incident for the Beef Bitches, and it won’t be the last. I have, with the years, finally lost the grab the Benadryl reflex, after the last couple of incidents produced no allergy symptoms. You’d think the Beef Bitches would understand how good they have it: beef is delicious, it smells good, it’s more nutrient dense than chicken, and it’s exclusive to just a few select dogs. But no, covet thy neighbors chicken (or chicken yak) will always be the order of the Meat Day for the Beef Bitches.
