Feeding our ever hungry dogs is a challenge that most of us face all the time. From buying their favourite brand of dog food to conjuring up home cooked food for them, we are often placed on a dilemma simply because there are so many choices. From popular brands to different recipes, most of these dog foods can tantalize your dog’s taste buds. But there is a slight caveat here.
What happens if my dog has allergies?
For most dog owners, you might be one of the fortunate few that the dog eats through everything that you gave them and escape unscathed. But for the rest of us, it is highly likely that your dog might start to show signs of allergic reaction after the dog consumed some food types. Without a proper food allergy test, it can be tough to predict what type of food is your dog allergic to. It can be chicken, fish, or even some particular ingredient that was used when making the dog food itself.
If the wrong type of food has been given to your dog, it may cause the dog to have soft stool, inflammation of the glands, ear or skin infections as well as the causing the dog to vomit its guts out. Note that the allergic attack is not a spontaneous one. Rather, it will take time for the body to react to the particular food type over a sustained period of time as the antibodies will need time to develop as a reaction to the protein or complex carbohydrate. The keyword here is “sustained period of time”, hence the occasional stomach upset might not be attributed to an allergic reaction from the consumption of food.
Can you test food allergies?
If you visit the local vet, they will often tell you that you can get the dog tested for food allergies by using saliva or blood test while quoting you a high price for those tests. While it is true that these test can help to surface up food that your dog might be allergic too, the results are often either not comprehensive enough or some food allergens are not being surfaced up. The best way to test for food allergies is by using a food trial.
Before you assume that a food trial is to place all types of food out for the dog to consume, the reality is far from that. Rather, it is a process that involves the elimination of possible food allergens by first feeding the dog with either a diet with a novel protein or a hydrolysed protein. Both of these involves masking or feeding the dog with a protein that is foreign to it. Once the dog is on the diet, you can expect all allergies to go away.
After about 8 weeks on this diet, you can slowly switch over to the dog’s regular food. When you do so, monitor the dog over the next 3 – 5 days and watch for the dog’s reaction towards the food. A food allergy is confirmed when the dog starts to itch and have a skin reaction. If this is the case, you should switch back to the food trial diet and repeat the process till the regular food that you give to the dog does not trigger any reaction. Note that during the food trial, you should not be giving your dog any other treats or supplements as this will cause the food trial to be rendered inconclusive since you cannot correctly determine which is the parameter that is causing the allergic reaction in the dog.
What food to give to dogs that are allergic to certain types of food
If after the food trial, and you realize that your dog is allergic to certain types of proteins, that does not mean that you should start to give your dog food that is tasteless or non-nutritious. Rather, you should start to consider giving your dog what food that is void of allergens, and these category of food is known as a Hypoallergenic dog food.
Wait, what is a hypoallergenic dog food?
If you have come across the term hypoallergenic dog breeds, you will know that those dog breeds are incapable of causing allergic reactions in humans. Likewise, a hypoallergenic dog food is one that is void of allergens, hence making it the best form of dog food for all dogs. One of the main reasons why these dog food is termed as hypoallergenic dog food because it contains a limited amount of ingredients that are known to cause allergic reactions in dogs, and most of the time the meat component is venison as opposed to fish, chicken, or sometimes even beef. Not to worry though, as the replacement meat types are packed with high quality minerals and nutrients that you dog will need.
How do I know if my dog needs hypoallergenic dog food?
There are several tell-tale signs that you should start to provide hypoallergenic dog food to your dog.
- Their regular dog food is causing their skin to itch
- You notice that your dogs are starting to scratch more often on their ears
- You know that your dog has existing food allergies and intolerance
- Your dog is starting to bite and lick on their paw more often than usual.
The above are just some of the obvious tell tale signs that you got to be mindful of. Of course, the main purpose of the hypoallergenic dog food is really just to counter allergens or counter the possibility of your dog suffering from an allergic reaction. Have you encountered dogs that have smelly skin (but no fault to them) due to the insistent scratching of their itchy skin?
Also, another reason why you should give your dog a hypoallergenic dog food is that most of these are natural diets and the ingredients are not artificial at all. Hence, these dog food is completely avoiding all possible sources of allergens! Indeed, most of these hypoallergenic dog food is completely safe yet packing a whole lot of nutrients in them.