Feed allergy in dog

 

How to reliably recognize a food allergy in your dog and what can trigger allergic reactions, you will learn here.

If the skin itches and the belly hurts, a food allergy may be to blame. It is important that you, as the owner, know the difference between an intolerance and an actual allergy. What can trigger an allergy and how to find out if your dog is suffering from one, read here.

The typical symptoms

From a purely external point of view, both food allergy in dogs and intolerance to certain foods are noticeable through the same symptoms. These include:

Vomiting
Diarrhea
Flatulence
Itching
Scaly and inflamed skin
Hair loss
The difference, however, is that in a food allergy, the immune system is involved - in an intolerance, it is not.

Feed allergy vs. intolerance

Even the smallest amounts of the allergenic (allergy-causing) food component usually cause severe reactions in a feed allergy. It also does not matter in what form the allergen is ingested: cooked, raw, served as a flavor carrier or as a component of a medication, the dog's body reacts to it.

In addition: In the case of a food allergy, the dog reacts permanently to this food component. If the dog always eats the same food, but only shows symptoms irregularly, it is probably not a food allergy.

In the case of an intolerance to food, on the other hand, the dog's body reacts particularly sensitively to certain ingredients, such as lactose or gluten. The dog may also lack important digestive enzymes, so that the digestion of these ingredients does not function properly. The symptoms usually become more severe the more the dog consumes of the ingredient.

Triggers of a food allergy

Whether in dry or wet food or even in treats, the following ingredients are most commonly found in conventional feeds and are thus consumed the most. Therefore, they also top the list of the most common triggers for food allergies in dogs:

Chicken
Beef
Grain
Rice
"So, since many dogs have contact with one of these feeds, the percentage of allergy sufferers among them is also naturally higher than for other ingredients. In the U.S., for example, the number of soy allergy sufferers is particularly high because more soy is used in feed there than here," explains nutrition expert Dr. Julia Fritz.

An allergic reaction to feed is always due to the animal or vegetable proteins (proteins). If the dog reacts to fat, sugar or coal hydrates, it concerns rather an incompatibility. Likewise, the often demonized additives and preservatives are rather unlikely as triggers.

Risk for a food allergy

In a healthy dog, the risk of a food allergy is very low. This is because the intestinal barrier ensures that only food components that have been completely digested into their individual components enter the organism. However, if the intestinal mucosa is damaged and inflamed, this natural barrier does not function. Too large molecules then penetrate the organism. The immune system evaluates them as hostile and fights them.

A study by the University of Munich also shows that there is an increased risk of developing a food allergy in certain dog breeds.

Dog breeds at increased risk for food allergy:

Golden Retriever
West Highland White Terrier
German Shepherd
White Swiss Shepherd
Boxer
However, a dog's age and sex do not play a role as a risk factor.

Suspicion of food allergy - what to do?

If your dog shows the symptoms described above, it is first necessary to clarify what the causes are. A food allergy is not always behind it. This is how you can proceed:

Check the causes: Does your dog have fleas, mites or worms? These parasites cause the same symptoms as a food allergy. Be sure to have this clarified by a veterinarian.
Keep a food diary: record there daily what your dog eats, what medications he gets, and whether and what symptoms he shows. This can provide your veterinarian with important additional information.
Determine the correct allergen with an elimination diet: An elimination diet can determine which component of a food triggers the allergy. You can find help from a specialist veterinarian in animal nutrition.

In the elimination diet (exclusion diet), only one protein component and one carbohydrate source are fed, which the dog has never eaten. Therefore, the dog is probably not allergic to them yet. If the symptoms improve on the elimination diet, you can assume that the dog has indeed developed a food allergy.
As an alternative to the elimination diet, blood tests can also help diagnose a food allergy in the dog. This involves examining the antibodies formed to various feedstuffs. The hit rate to find out the allergenic ingredients is very high. In contrast, the statement about which ingredients are suitable for the dog is rather unreliable.