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Canine Food AllergiesCanine food allergies result when a dog develops allergic reactions to one or more ingredients in his food.
Symptoms of Canine Food Allergies
Similar to other types of allergies, the primary symptom of canine food allergies is itchy skin,
resulting in incessant scratching and licking. You may also observe the following additional symptoms:
Common Food AllergensIt has been found that certain ingredients in common dog foods are more likely to cause canine food allergies than others. These common food allergens are:
Elimination Diets - Identifying the Food Culprits
As you can see from the long list of possible food allergens, it is not easy to find out which food ingredient(s) exactly is a dog allergic to. However, it can be done
through the process of elimination - it does take a lot of time and patience though.
Here is how it works:
If your dog has food allergies, try feeding her a novel food source consisting of 1 part protein and 4-5 parts carbohydrate for 12 weeks. It is important that a novel
food source (i.e. food that the dog has never eaten before) be used. It could be turkey and rice, or lamb and millet, and so on.
During these 12 weeks, the dog cannot eat anything except the two novel food items. No treats! No table scraps! Just the special food and clean distilled water.
If your dog's allergy symptoms improve after 12 weeks, put her back on her original food (the one that you suspect is causing her the allergy). If the symptoms return after
going back on the original diet, it means that:
Treatment for Canine Food AllergiesOnce the food ingredients that are causing your dog allergies have been identified, the treatment is rather simple. The bottom line is of course to exclude the food ingredients that are causing allergic reactions in your dog. You can do so by either cooking home-made dog food for your dog, or you can get a high quality, natural, commercial hypoallergenic dog food. If you choose to cook for your dog, be sure to use natural, and preferably, organic ingredients. According to Dr. Pitcairn, raw meat does not cause the same allergic reaction that cooked meat does, so a raw diet is preferred. Some dog parents have also observed that dogs prone to food allergies can tolerate organic meat much better than the usual supermarket sources. As well, once in a while, you may want to introduce a new food source to find out if it causes allergic reactions in your dog. Say your dog is doing fine with a diet of turkey and millet for a while. Then you may want to add chicken to her diet for two weeks. If your dog starts to develop allergy symptoms, then you can assume that chicken is one food source that your dog is allergic to. You can then take away the chicken from the diet, wait for the dog's symptoms to clear up, and introduce a different food source such as beef, and so on. By gradually and slowly introducing food sources (one at a time) to your dog's diet, you can eventually make up a list of foods that are safe to be fed to your dog. Finally, if you choose to feed your dog homemade hypoallergenic diets, make sure that they are well-balanced, and enriched with vitamins, minerals, and other natural supplements. TopExcellent Hypoallergenic Dog FoodsPreparing homemade hypoallergenic dog food can be time-consuming. It may also be rather difficult to be a hundred percent sure that the diet is well-balanced. If that is your concern, consider getting a high-quality, commercial hypoallergenic dog food, such as one of these:
For information on how to treat dog allergies and how use natural remedies to alleviate allergy symptoms, please visit our pages on How to Treat Dog Allergies and Natural Allergy Relief. Other Related Topics Common Dog Allergies Natural Diets for Dogs Natural Organic Dog Food How to Read a Dog Food Label Raw Diet for Dogs References Pitcairn and Pitcairn, Dr. Pitcairn's Complete Guide to Natural Health for Dogs and Cats (Rodale, 2005). A.D. Shojai, New Choices in Natural Healing for Dogs and Cats (Rodale Press, Inc., 1999). PetEducation.com. TOP OF Canine Food Allergies |
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