Recurrence of symptoms of a sensitive stomach

Hi Ayla, I’m writing to you regarding my dog, Lando (Medium Poodle). He previously suffered from irregular stools, ear infections and follicular conjunctivitis (eye problems). We have now been following the “Elimination Diet – Sei” (Pollock) for 12 weeks. It has worked very well, and Lando has shown a significant improvement in all his symptoms over a prolonged period, which we have been very pleased about. We tried introducing elk protein (20g), but unfortunately Lando reacted with diarrhoea straight away. As a result, we went back to the sei diet, which has been working well. Unfortunately, over the last few weeks we have seen a recurrence of several of his symptoms: His ear problems have returned. He has developed a wet infection on his paws. The redness in his eyes has increased again, even though it had previously subsided significantly on the diet. His stools have also become more variable, with periods of normal, ‘moose-like’ stools and some diarrhoea. Lando’s vet now suspects he has a very sensitive stomach and has suggested putting him on a hydrolysed dry food. However, I would like to continue with the home-cooked food, as I believe this is the best approach for Lando. I was wondering if you have any thoughts on why the symptoms might have flared up again after such a long period of improvement on the elimination diet? Do you have any recommendations on what we can do next with the diet to stabilise Lando and get these recurring problems under control? I look forwa…

• I forgot to mention mucus in the stools as well.
• A quick update… We’ve tried removing the wheat germ oil from his diet; this helped his gut a little. About 10 days ago, we added Saccharomyces boulardii, and Lando’s gut and stools looked much better again after that. Yesterday, I decided to add 1/3 of the dose of wheat germ oil. Today, his stools were completely mushy. So I think – and hope – that we’ve identified one of the culprits.