Red dye a troublemaker?
I didn't want to highjack Colliehauler's post about Bud having a seizure, but Rockhillmanor posted that red dye could be a trigger for seizures....
I never feed dog food with colorant, simply because if it gets barfed up on the carpet, it's easier to clean... but we discovered that red food dye made our Cattle Dog miserably itchy. I'm talking out-of-control scratching, rolling, rubbing on furniture, etc. Can dogs get hives? That's how he would act - and it was a fairly rapid reaction, too. The first time, he reacted for about 24 hours.... I even took him to the Vet, who couldn't find anything specific, but said to give him some Benadryl and watch him.
It was several days later, that Ed was eating red licorice and tossed a piece to the dogs, and within minutes, Jack started scratching again.... that we made the connection. Ed had been sharing licorice with the dogs the first time, too (smack forehead). More Benadryl and severe talk to Hubby about feeding **** to the dogs.... stopped the reaction and it never happened again....LOL! Jack was clearly allergic to red food dye (and Cattle Dogs are pretty bulletproof dogs, as a rule).
But when I think of all the dog foods who like to dye their product red so it looks like "meat" (or use other food colorings to simulate "vegetables")... it makes me wonder how many dogs are suffering from allergies to these additives?
I never feed dog food with colorant, simply because if it gets barfed up on the carpet, it's easier to clean... but we discovered that red food dye made our Cattle Dog miserably itchy. I'm talking out-of-control scratching, rolling, rubbing on furniture, etc. Can dogs get hives? That's how he would act - and it was a fairly rapid reaction, too. The first time, he reacted for about 24 hours.... I even took him to the Vet, who couldn't find anything specific, but said to give him some Benadryl and watch him.
It was several days later, that Ed was eating red licorice and tossed a piece to the dogs, and within minutes, Jack started scratching again.... that we made the connection. Ed had been sharing licorice with the dogs the first time, too (smack forehead). More Benadryl and severe talk to Hubby about feeding **** to the dogs.... stopped the reaction and it never happened again....LOL! Jack was clearly allergic to red food dye (and Cattle Dogs are pretty bulletproof dogs, as a rule).
But when I think of all the dog foods who like to dye their product red so it looks like "meat" (or use other food colorings to simulate "vegetables")... it makes me wonder how many dogs are suffering from allergies to these additives?
