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Just like people, pets can have food allergies. For dogs the most common food allergens are beef, wheat, pork, corn, chicken, dairy products, and eggs. A less common but recognized food allergen is rice. Notice that all of these items are the most common ingredients in pet foods…
What are the signs of food allergy?
The most common sign of food allergy is year-round itching. Dogs with food allergies often rub their face/ears, lick their feet, and often "scoot" on their bum. The itch can be everywhere (generalized.) Ear and skin infections are common. Some food allergy pets have just recurrent skin infections (pyoderma) or just ear problems. Cats often have intense scratching and crusting on the head and neck, and they may lick the hair off their belly.
The signs of food allergy usually develop by 3 years of age. Some pets develop food allergies as young as 4-6 months of age. Food allergies start after eating the offending food allergen for some time, not because a pet's diet has recently been changed.
How are food allergies diagnosed?
A period of diet restriction or a food trial is necessary and the ONLY way to determine if a pet has food allergies. There are blood tests available for food allergies, but there can be false positive and false negative results on these tests. Until these tests are improved, the only way to know if a pet has food allergy is the hard way: diet restriction.
What's involved in diet restriction?
We use several types of restricted diets. The first type is a home cooked diet consisting of a protein and carbohydrate source the pet has not eaten. The next type is a commercial prescription diet that contains a protein and carbohydrate source the pet has not eaten, such as Royal Canin (IVD) or Natural Balance duck and potato, or Eukanuba's fish and potato. The other type contains hydrolyzed ingredients: the protein is enzymatically broken into smaller blocks of amino acids as the food is made. In theory, the protein size is too small to be recognized by the immune system and therefore cannot trigger the allergy. Examples of this type of diet are Hill's z/d ultra and Purina's HA. Sometimes we recommend home-cooking, the best food trial.
The MOST IMPORTANT (and most difficult) part of a food trial is restricting what your pet eats to this food ONLY. This means all other treats, snacks, supplements, rawhide, pig ears, flavored chews, greenies, bones and even flavored medications such as Rimadyl and heartworm preventive MUST be stopped during the food trial (unflavored versions of those two medications are available.) Even one small bite of cheese, bread, pizza crust, sandwich meat, etc., can trigger the allergy and negate the food trial. It is also necessary to treat any infections the pet has when we start the food trial; infection itself makes the skin itchy! If infection keeps the itch going, we could falsely assume diet restriction did not help.
How long does it take to see results from diet restriction?
Some pets improve in 2-3 weeks; some take 2-3 months. Therefore, we recommend a minimum of 8 weeks on the restricted diet.
If my pet has food allergies, do I have to feed this special diet for the rest of their life?
Food allergies are a life-long condition, so pets have to avoid eating the things they are allergic to forever. However, we try to find a food they can tolerate that is less expensive than the prescribed foods and available in pet stores.
Food allergy testimonials
Dr. Ashley knows of 2 dogs adopted to new homes because of chronic skin problems. In both cases, the original owners did a food trial but failed to restrict other treats. The dogs did not improve and the pets' owners were very frustrated, to the point of considering euthanasia. After the dogs went to a different home where feeding treats was discontinued as instructed, both dogs improved dramatically and are happy and healthy on special diets.
Moral: diet restriction is hard, but "tough love" can lead to a much better quality of life for our pets.
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