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Dog Food AllergyA dog food allergy occurs when your dog reacts to a particular ingredient in their food.Common sense thinking would have you believe that food allergies would cause digestive symptoms such as sickness or diarrhoea. But more commonly food allergies in dogs cause symptoms in the skin, particularly year-round itchiness, head shaking, recurring ear infections, anal itching and licking their paws. When a dog eats a food they are allergic to, the immune system is stimulated. Antibodies are made which trigger a cascade of reactions that cause inflammatory substances and histamine, which causes itching, to be released into the skin. Why do dogs develop food allergies?Pets can develop food allergies at any point in their life for no apparent reason. You may have been feeding your dog on the same food for years with no problem but all of a sudden they start reacting to it. Your dog may have an allergy to the food or they may have become intolerant to a particular ingredient due to overconsumption of it. Symptoms of food intolerance tend to be different, with digestive problems such as wind, diarrhoea or constipation. What are the most common allergy causing foods?Unfortunately these are some of the most common ingredients in dog food so it’s no wonder some of them may become intolerant or allergic to their food. It’s worth mentioning here that lamb and rice foods are often marketed as suitable for sensitive stomachs and allergic dogs. However this is only because dogs didn’t commonly eat these foods, but if the pet begins to eat them everyday they can also begin to cause problems. How to test if your pet has a dog food allergyIt’s a time consuming process but an elimination diet is the only effective way to find out what your dog is reacting to. There are blood and skin prick tests but often they are expensive and inaccurate. An elimination diet is the only real way forward and you need to adhere to it strictly otherwise it won’t work properly. That’s why it’s best to try to rule out any other causes for the symptoms your dog is experiencing before you check on food allergies. These could be flea bite allergies, parasites or bacterial infection. If you believe however that food is definitely causing a reaction, an elimination diet will help you check this diagnosis and find out exactly what they are reacting to, so that you can keep it out of their diet in the future. What you need to do is take your dog off their usual food and give them food they have never eaten before. You even need to take away their bones, chews and biscuit treats. Stick to home-made food in order to clean out their systems entirely. For 12 weeks give them a combination of protein and carbohydrate at each meal, but foods they have not eaten before. For example, rabbit and potato, venison and rice. Your vet can also recommend special foods made specifically for elimination diets. This diet may not be suitable for young dogs and puppies, so it’s best to speak to your vet first. It is only suitable short-term as it may lack essential vitamins and essential fatty acids. If after the 12 weeks you see significant improvement in symptoms then you know your pet probably had a dog food allergy. Place your dog back on their normal food after the 12 weeks and if symptoms return then your dog is positive for food allergy. If you then remove the food again you can try adding different foods to try to determine which ingredients your dog is reacting to. It may be more than one. There are also special foods which you can buy which do not contain any of the common food allergens. Once you’ve got your dog on the right diet for their needs you can also combine this with treatments to relieve their symptoms, such as special shampoos, anti-histamines and if necessary cortisone treatments. If you’re able to find out exactly what’s causing the dog food allergy you should notice a change in symptoms immediately and hopefully help your dog become symptom free.
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