Food allergies in dogs are relatively rare, only about 10% of all allergies in dogs. Although rare, food allergies in dogs can make your dog feel very bad if the allergen is not recognized and removed from his diet. Food allergies can be difficult to identify and treat, so you will need to work with your veterinarian to feed your dog a diet that will keep him healthy and food allergy free.
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Part 1 of 4: Learning About Food Allergies
Step 1. Learn what causes food allergies in dogs
A food allergy in dogs is an immune response to a specific substance – usually a protein. Foods that commonly provoke allergies in dogs include beef, chicken, wheat, and dairy products.
- The immune response always has a genetic basis, but receiving antibiotics early in life is also believed to make dogs more susceptible to food allergies. The dog's gut is an important immune organ, and antibiotics can negatively affect gut immune function.
- Remember that food allergies don't appear overnight. Even if you think allergies appeared suddenly, chances are they have built up over time and become visible in the dog's life later in life.
- Most dogs have allergies to more than one type of food.
- Food allergies can appear at any age and at any gender.
- Research has never proven that dog breeds are particularly susceptible to food allergies.
- Mites can sometimes be found on the grain of dry food for low-quality dogs. Mites can breed when dry food is stored for a long time. In addition, mites, when ingested with food, can cause allergic reactions in dogs.
Step 2. Recognize the clinical symptoms of food allergies
The most common clinical symptom of food allergy is itching that lasts for a long time, no matter the season. The itching can be flattened, but is usually centered on the feet, face (snout and chin), armpits, or ears. Sometimes, food allergies can lead to itchy patches around the dog's anus.
- Other skin problems, such as skin infections and hyperpigmentation, can result from a dog licking and/or biting the itchy area.
- Indigestion and chronic ear infections are common symptoms of food allergies.
- Breathing problems are usually not related to food allergies.
Step 3. Learn the difference between a food allergy and a food intolerance
It is important not to be mistaken about what causes allergies in dogs and what their bodies cannot tolerate. Remember that a food allergy is an immune response and causes an allergic reaction (eg itching). Food intolerance is a reaction that does not involve the immune system.
An example of a food intolerance is food poisoning – it can cause indigestion, but is not an allergic reaction
Part 2 of 4: Taking the Dog to the Vet
Step 1. Provide a detailed record of the dog's diet to the veterinarian
Food allergies can be difficult to diagnose because the clinical symptoms are similar to those of other skin diseases and allergies. Diagnosing a food allergy involves eliminating food ingredients from a dog's diet. Therefore, veterinarians need to know the history of the dog's diet in order to develop an 'elimination diet' that excludes potential food allergens that the dog has previously eaten.
It will also help to let your vet know when you first noticed your dog's clinical symptoms and how severe the itching was
Step 2. Perform a physical examination
The vet will perform a total physical exam to examine the skin and assess the dog's overall health. Be aware that even if your dog's physical appearance closely resembles the typical appearance of a food allergy, your veterinarian may perform additional tests to rule out other possible skin conditions.
Step 3. Perform a diagnostic skin examination
Apart from removing the 'doing' ingredients from the diet, food allergies are also diagnosed by excluding other skin diseases. To do this, your veterinarian may perform various skin tests, such as skin peeling and skin cytology (examining skin cells). Blood tests are generally not recommended for diagnosing food allergies.
Part 3 of 4: Giving Dogs an Elimination Diet
Step 1. Set up an elimination diet with your veterinarian
Experimenting food with an elimination diet is the best way to diagnose a food allergy. There is no one-size-fits-all elimination diet, so you will need to ask your veterinarian to come up with a diet that eliminates potential food allergens while still meeting your dog's nutritional needs. The detailed diet records you provide will be very helpful in designing an elimination diet for your dog.
- An elimination diet should contain one source of protein that has never been introduced to your dog ('new' protein) and one source of carbohydrates (e.g. starch, rice). Examples of new proteins include duck, salmon, and kangaroo.
- Feeding your dog a home elimination diet will ensure that you know exactly what your dog is eating. However, home-based diets are very labor intensive and may still not meet a dog's nutritional needs if made without consulting a veterinarian or animal nutritionist.
- Commercial diets are nutritionally balanced and can save time and effort. Your vet can recommend a hypoallergenic commercial diet that will work for your dog. Keep in mind that not all commercial hypoallergenic diets have been tested on dogs with food allergies, so you can't guarantee that your dog won't have an allergic reaction to this diet.
- Some commercial diets have something called hydrolyzed protein. Hydrolyzed protein is broken down into its component amino acids, making it less likely to cause allergic reactions and easier to digest.
Step 2. Go on an elimination diet for 8 to 12 weeks
It usually takes at least 8 weeks for all food products to be eliminated from the dog's digestive system. For this reason, an elimination diet needs to be given for at least as long as needed to ensure that all of the dog's original diet is cleared from the digestive system.
- Once the original diet has left the digestive system, the new diet will have the opportunity to demonstrate whether it is effective in relieving the symptoms of a dog food allergy.
- An elimination diet should be given until the allergy symptoms in the dog disappear. Many dogs will become symptom-free within four to six weeks of taking an elimination diet, but some dogs may take significantly longer to react.
Step 3. Do not feed the dog anything other than an elimination diet
Any food other than the elimination diet is strictly prohibited during the food experiment. Do not give snacks, food, or flavored drugs. If needed, you may need to ask your veterinarian for a non-flavored medication during a food experiment.
- These foods can contain 'doing' (allergy-causing) ingredients. Don't jeopardize the results of a food experiment by giving your dog food that has never been eaten before.
- A dog's heartworm prevention monthly intake may be flavorful.
- Chewing toys and supplements were also not permitted during the food experiment.
Step 4. Keep a diary
Keeping a record of the dog's daily eating habits during the food experiment will give the veterinarian a good idea of how the dog's elimination diet is progressing. If you accidentally fed some of your dog's food earlier, you need to record it in your diary.
- Along with recording what you eat, you should also record observations of clinical symptoms. Ideally, you should see clinical symptoms diminish as the elimination diet progresses.
- It is possible that the dog does not react to the elimination diet. This could be due to the fact that his new diet contains ingredients that cause dog allergies. If so, you and your veterinarian need to go back to scratch and design another diet for your dog to try.
Part 4 of 4: Challenging the Dog with His Original Diet
Step 1. Feed the dog its natural diet
At this stage when diagnosing a potential food allergy, the dog's original diet becomes a 'challenge' diet. If your dog shows an allergic reaction to its original diet after eight to twelve weeks of not eating it, this will confirm the diagnosis of a food allergy.
Allergic reactions will appear within an hour to 14 days on the original diet
Step 2. Give the elimination diet again
Even though food allergies are now confirmed, veterinarians still need to identify the specific 'doer' food ingredient. To do so, you will need to feed the elimination diet again until the clinical symptoms of food allergy disappear. Once the symptoms have disappeared, you will introduce the potential allergens into your dog's elimination diet – one at a time – until clinical symptoms reappear.
- You can add chicken back by including chicken slices in an elimination diet. You can also sprinkle oats in dog food.
- Add each ingredient individually for up to two weeks. Foodstuffs that bring back clinical symptoms are foodstuffs that cause allergies.
Step 3. Remove allergens from your dog's diet
The only way to avoid food allergies in dogs is to feed them a diet that does not contain the food ingredients identified as allergens. Working with your veterinarian to keep your dog on a hypoallergenic diet will help.
- Fortunately, dogs are less likely to develop allergies to new foodstuffs as they get older.
- Prescription hypoallergenic diets are usually better than over-the-counter hypoallergenic diets, but they are also more expensive.
Tips
- Although food allergy is an immune response, anti-inflammatory drugs such as steroids have never been shown to be effective in treating food allergies.
- If there are other family members in your household, make sure everyone follows the rules of the food experiment and the refusal diet.
- The quality of a dog's food does not make it more or less prone to suffer from food allergies. Remember that your dog is allergic to the ingredients, not the quality of the food.
- To prevent mites from breeding in dry dog food, buy food in small quantities, transfer it to a good quality freezer bag, and place it in the freezer. Take one plastic freezer at a time and transfer the food to an air-free container to thaw it before giving it to the dog.
- The dog's clinical symptoms may need to be mentioned when diagnosing his food allergy. For example, your vet may recommend an antibiotic ointment if the irritated skin area has become infected. Dogs may also need medication to treat indigestion.
Warning
- Dogs may have skin allergies beyond food allergies, which can make diagnosing a food allergy difficult.
- Diagnosing food allergies is often a waste of time and money, frustrating dog owners.
- If your dog's symptoms get worse or don't change after a few weeks on a hypoallergenic diet, talk to your vet. Your dog may need a different diet or medical attention.
