Dogs can acquire allergies to numerous items in their environment, including their diet, just like people can. Choosing the best dry food for dogs is always an important part of pet care, but in case of an allergy, the diet should be revised. In this post, specialists at Superior Care recommend the best dog diets for dogs who have food intolerances or allergies.
It might be stressful for both of you if your dog has allergies. Like people, dogs can experience allergic responses to a variety of things, including food allergens as well as outdoor allergens like pollen or grass. It might be challenging to determine which chemicals your dog is allergic to at first. To identify the cause of your dog’s allergies, your veterinarian can advise you to run a few tests.
If it turns out that your dog’s symptoms are being brought on by a food allergy, the best course of therapy is to remove the offending foods from your meal plan.
Allergy symptoms in dogs
Spotting an allergy can be tricky as the symptoms are much alike those that other conditions exhibit:
- skin rashes and itching;
- sneezing or coughing;
- different issues with the gastrointestinal tract.
Only a veterinarian can give you a proper diagnosis and issue a treatment plan.
Feeding a dog with an allergy
There are essentially two solutions to changing the diet for a dog with an allergy. You can either choose food with limited ingredients or opt for hypoallergenic food.
Diets with fewer ingredients make it simpler to identify the particular item that your dog is allergic to. When you identify the allergy, you can offer your dog a diet with fewer components. You can select a limited-ingredient meal suited to your dog’s particular requirements among the large variety of flavors available.
A dog’s antibodies typically do not identify the special protein sources used in hypoallergenic dog foods as antigens, therefore, they won’t trigger a reaction. Proteins that have been hydrolyzed into amino acids are a common ingredient in hypoallergenic diets, making the original allergen almost non-visible to the immune
system of your dog. Proteins that could be included in hypoallergenic food are derived from white fish, salmon, herring, lamb, and insects.
Your veterinarian might need to prescribe hypoallergenic food as some products are not available without a vet prescription.
Before you discover a meal that works for your dog, it could be necessary to experiment since there are many food options available. Before making any significant dietary modifications for your dog, it is usually advisable to consult your veterinarian.
