what do you feed a dog with food allergies
How to Tell if Your Dog Has Food Allergies
Food allergies in dogs can be tricky to identify. The symptoms arent what many pet parents expect, and there are a lot of myths out there about food allergies in dogs. True food allergies are not that common in dogs, for one.
Heres how you can figure out if your dog has food allergies and what you can do about them.
Reasons to Suspect Dog Food Allergies
When people think about pet food allergies, they often jump to gastrointestinal issues. However, food allergies in dogs may or may not come with an upset stomach.
The most common symptoms of food allergies in dogs actually show up as reactions in their skin.
Skin and Ear Problems in Dogs With Food Allergies
Skin problems are common in dogs with food allergies. At first glance, this seems kind of odd, but it makes more sense when you think about how people react to food allergies.
Dogs with unchecked food allergies may also have trouble with their ears.
Some of the most common health issues associated with legitimate dog food allergies are:
Similar symptoms may be caused by environmental allergies to triggers like pollen, mold, and house mites, but these, at least to start with, are often seasonal.
For this reason, its important to track whether your dogs symptoms ebb and flow with the changing of the seasons.
When Do Dog Food Allergies Develop?
Its important to remember that food allergies can develop at any time. A food your dog has consumed for years with no troubles may suddenly cause an allergic reaction, or symptoms may develop soon after you change your dogs diet.
How Are Dog Food Allergies Diagnosed?
Diagnosing food allergies in dogs isnt always a straightforward process. Its not like theres a simple test that can instantly tell what your dog is allergic to or, if indeed, he has food allergies at all.
You have to start at the beginning, with the help of your veterinarian, to know for sure whether your dogs skin or ear issues are caused by food allergies.
Rule Out Other Health Issues
Your veterinarian will take a full history on your pet and do a general exam.
Next, they will likely run tests to rule out conditions with similar symptoms like mange, ringworm, yeast infections, bacterial infections, flea infestations, and environmental allergies.
Ruling out those conditions comes first because true food allergies are relatively uncommon.
If there is no other apparent cause for your dogs symptoms, your veterinarian may begin to suspect that food allergies are behind your dogs itchy skin or ear infections.
Even if your vet finds a reason for your dogs skin problems, they may still suspect that an adverse food reaction is at least partially responsible since, for example, yeast infections can develop as a result of food allergies.
Once a diagnosis of food allergies seems to be a reasonable possibility, your vet will recommend a food trial.
Starting a Food Trial
Starting your dog on a food trial means your pet will eat a prescription diet and absolutely nothing else for a couple of months to see if symptoms resolve.
If they do, some veterinarians will suggest going back to the dogs old diet to see if symptoms return to ensure that the dog is truly allergic to one or more ingredients in their regular diet.
Evaluating a Food Trial: Food Allergies vs. Food Intolerance
Seeing results from the food trial are not a guarantee that your pet has food allergies. In some cases, you may find out that your dog has a food intolerance.
Food Allergies
Food allergies occur when the immune system responds inappropriately to something (usually a protein) found in the diet.
Instead of treating this perfectly innocuous substance as it should, the immune system treats it as a threatan invader of sorts.
Food Intolerance
A food intolerance is different from an allergy in that the symptoms are not caused by an immune reaction.
In dogs, food intolerances typically cause tummy troubles; they may vomit or have diarrhea, be seriously gassy, or have a poor appetite.
Treating Food Allergies in Dogs
The only effective way to treat a food allergy in dogs is to change their diet.
While grain-free foods are often touted as good for food allergies, science tells us that protein sources are more likely to be the culprit. According to a study published in 2016, the top three most common causes of food allergies in dogs are beef, dairy, and chicken.
Diets for Dog Food Allergies
Here are a couple of different approaches to treating food allergies in dogs.
Novel Proteins
This approach involves feeding proteins that your dog has likely never been exposed to in an effort to avoid an allergic reaction. Rabbit, venison, and other novel ingredients are used in place of more common protein sources. Allergy-friendly foods must be completely free of your dogs triggers.
Hydrolyzed Proteins
Rather than changing which proteins are used, hydrolyzed protein prescription diets break proteins down so that the immune system no longer recognizes them as a threat.
Treating Itchy Skin and Ear Issues Caused by Food Allergies
The only way to treat a food allergy is to remove the offending food from the dogs diet, but there are options for temporarily treating the symptoms caused by food allergies.
Oral and topical medications are sometimes prescribed to help minimize itching. Any secondary problems, like skin or ear infections, will also have to be addressed.
If youre concerned about any symptoms your dog is experiencing, or youre simply wondering whether the food youre offering is the best choice for your pet, speak with your veterinarian.
By: Jennifer Coates, DVM
Featured Image: iStock.com/monkeybusinessimages
Food allergies in dogs
Treatment
If the food trial confirms that your dog has a food allergy, your vet might recommend feeding your dog their new diet for life, as long as its a complete food that contains all the necessary nutrients. Your dog shouldnt have any other food or treats at all. Keep all human food and other pet food safely out of reach.
Once your dog is settled without symptoms on their special diet, you can try adding ingredients back into their food (one at a time) to try and find out what they are allergic to. If your dog doesnt show any symptoms, this is a safe food. Alternatively, if your dogs symptoms come back after eating a certain food, its likely they are allergic to it. This will help you select a dog food that only contains safe foods. If you want to do this you should follow your vets advice.
Some dogs with a food allergy will also have allergies to things in the environment, this may cause atopic dermatitis (allergic skin disease). In this case, they might improve a bit on a special diet but they may need other treatments as well to help keep their skin symptoms controlled.
The Best Foods for Dogs With Allergies
Humans arent the only ones with allergiesour dogs can get them, too. Canine allergies can lead to numerous skin conditions that can be frustrating to manage. These allergies can be due to environmental causes or from the food our dogs eat.
Key Takeaways
- Dogs can be allergic to foods like beef, chicken, lamb, wheat, soy, eggs, corn, and nuts.
- Allergy tests for dogs are not reliable.
- The only proven way to tell what your dog is allergic to is to change their protein source or perform an elimination diet trial.
The most common symptoms of dog food allergies include:
Redness of the skin of the inner ears
Itchiness of the ears (chronic scratching of the ears or shaking of the head)
Ear hematomas
Chronic thickening of the ears
Chronic ear infections
Redness and itchiness of the feet or in between toes (foot chewing)
Chronic pododermatitis
Patchy hair loss along the neck and trunk
Chronic skin infections (with bacteria or yeast) that never seem to clear up
Skin issues are the most common dog food allergy symptoms. These are mostly seen as an allergic reaction to the proteins absorbed in food.
The reaction leads to the release of immune cells, which can cause weakening of the bonds between the skin cells, resulting in a weakening of the skin barrier. This change in the skin barrier leads to redness and itchiness, and it makes the skin more susceptible to infection with normal bacteria and yeast.
The most affected areas are the ears, paws, around the eyes, and sometimes the trunk (torso) and limbs.
What Are Common Dog Food Allergens?
The most common proteins dogs are allergic to are beef, chicken, lamb, and wheat. Other less common causes of dog food allergies include soy, eggs, corn, and nuts.
Dogs cannot be tested for food allergies like people can, as the available testing is unreliable. The only proven way to tell what your dog is allergic to is to change their protein source or perform an elimination diet trial.
During an elimination diet trial, you eliminate all proteins your dog has been exposed to for two to three months. This gives the body enough time to completely eliminate the old protein sources and heal from the chronic allergy stimulation.
How To Help a Dog With Food Allergies
An elimination diet trial withhydrolyzed foodis the best way to treat and diagnose a dog food allergy. Its easiest to start with a prescription diet, such asHills z/dorRoyal Canin Hydrolyzed Protein. Theseveterinary dietshave proteins that are too small to be recognized by the immune system.
An elimination diet trial takes approximately two to three months to complete. This time is necessary for the old proteins to leave the dogs system. Additionally, the dog must be on the diet long enough to see a difference from the previous food.
The most common mistake pet parents make is not waiting long enough before calling it quits on the diet trial. Changing what your dog is eating for just a week or two will not give you complete results, so taking the proper amount of time to test food and treats is crucial.
Another common mistake: feed a dog anything other than the elimination diet. During a diet trial, pets cannot have any table scraps or treats (unless the elimination diet has a compatible treat option).
Changing what your dog is eating for just a week or two will not give you complete results, so taking the proper amount of time to test food and treats is crucial.
If the symptoms do not resolve after two or three months on the hydrolyzed elimination diet trial, your dog most likely has some type of environmental allergen. Or something else is causing the problem, such as an autoimmune condition.
If you get a good response from the trial, try to feed your dog a new protein source, such as venison, fish, or kangaroo. If they are going to react to these proteins, you should notice a mild reaction starting within two weeks. If their allergy symptoms return, stop the new protein source and go back to the hydrolyzed food.
Try adding one protein at a time every two to four weeks. If your dog reacts, stop and keep things steady for another two weeks before trying a different protein.
Contact your veterinarian before starting any diet trial to get a prescription for a hydrolyzed diet. Its also important to see your veterinarian to make sure your pet doesnt have any concurrent infections, which can be common because of the disturbed skin barrier caused by the allergic reaction. Infections can look the same as dog food allergy symptoms, so you must make sure to clear all infections during the food elimination trial.
During the trial, remember:
Make sure the prescription treats and food are all that you are feeding your pet. You cant feed human food or regular pet treats with a food trial, as it can introduce the allergens youre trying to eliminate.
Alwaysintroduce a dog to a new diet slowlyto avoid stomach upset or diarrhea.
The Best Dog Food for Allergies
Hydrolyzed Dog Foods
Hydrolyzed foods are the best dog food for allergies because the proteins are broken down into pieces that are so small the body cant recognize them. Some of these foods include:
Novel Protein Foods
Novel protein diets include proteins that your dog has not been introduced to before, such as duck, fish, venison, and kangaroo. Some examples of novel protein diets are:
Foods for Puppies With Allergies
While its rare for puppies to have food allergies, there are some documented cases in pups as young as 6 months old. If you think your puppy may have a food allergy, lamb and rice formulas, such asPurina Puppy Lamb & Rice Formula, would be a good place to start for a novel protein.
If allergies are severe and your vet recommends a hydrolyzed diet, Royal Canin Hydrolyzed Protein does come in a puppy formulation.
WRITTEN BY
Robyn Gallucci, DVMVeterinarian
Dr. Gallucci started her career in veterinary medicine as a kennel assistant in high school and began training as a technician in college....
