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Your dog constantly scratches, licks, or gnaws at its fur and you can’t figure out why. You may be dealing with a number of problems, from changes in your dog’s coat to changes in grooming supplies.
But the whole problem may be in changing dog food. It is very important to know that whether your pet is prone to food allergies or not, it is important to maintain proper diet, care and hygiene.
Apart from other allergic reactions in dogs, their food is considered one of the main factors that owners often don’t pay attention to. That is why doctors at our clinic recommend using hypoallergenic healthy food that is made of refined protein and doesn’t contain grains. These foods include the brands Carnilove and Brit that you can find in our stores.
The wrong choice of dog food can lead to food allergic reactions. Food allergies also cause problems with the digestive system: vomiting, diarrhea, skin rashes, changes in behavior, etc. If you and your veterinarian have doubts that this may be related to food allergies, then this article of ours will definitely interest you.
Canine food allergies or food intolerance
Treating food allergies should start with one clear point: identifying and understanding the food to which your pet has an intolerance.
A true food allergy in dogs is caused by a food protein that elicits an appropriate immune response from the body. Subsequently, the cells begin to produce histamine or compounds that cause itching and other allergic phenomena. In another case, a food intolerance may not elicit an appropriate immune response. Lactose intolerance, which occurs when a dog’s body does not properly absorb the lactose in dairy products, which leads to a number of gastrointestinal problems (very often diarrhea).
So, it can be said that if your dog bites himself hard, but no other clinical signs are observed, in this case, food allergy is unlikely.
But even in this case, maintaining a feed diet, using hypoallergenic feeds from Brit or Carnilove brands, we can achieve a good result.
What causes allergies
Do you want to know what in the feed contributes to the occurrence of allergies? This material will surely interest you. Meat, dairy products, eggs and other animal proteins are considered to be more common allergy factors. But in this case, the problem is not the mentioned products, but the animal proteins included in their composition. But, of course, we should not forget that such allergic phenomena can also occur from a number of vegetables because they also contain proteins.
Genetic predisposition to allergic factors
Of course, we all know the great role of genetic predisposition, as well as the predisposition of breeds. Below we present some breeds that are prone to allergic phenomena:
- Dachshund
- Bulldogs
- Golden retriever
- German shepherd
- Pugs
- Pit bulls
- Cocker spaniels
- Shih Tzu
- Yorkshire Terrier
Clinical signs of food allergies in dogs
Sneezing, ear infections, chronic diarrhea, weakness, restlessness. The most common clinical signs of food allergies in dogs are:
- Sneezing
- Itchy paws
- Rash
- Scale, dry skin
- Skin pigmentation
- Production from eyes
- Redness of the eyes
- Hair loss
- Infectious diseases of the ear
- Fungal, bacteriological problems
As soon as the above-mentioned clinical signs appear, you should immediately bring your animal to the veterinary clinic. In this case, it is very important to perform a correct diagnosis, and then also follow the instructions prescribed by the veterinarian. The first and very important is the correct choice of feed. It should be noted that the feeds that are considered holistic (Brit, Carnilove), are prepared from refined protein and do not contain grains in their content, reducing food allergic phenomena in your animal. The famous Czech brand Brit has a special branch – Brit care, which is considered a food with low allergenic factors, as well as a special – Brit veterinary diet Hypoallergenic, which is indicated for dogs and cats with food allergies.
