Food Allergies In Dogs

About 10% of skin conditions in dogs, are caused by food allergies. Food allergies can cause your dog to itch, cause sores and hotspots, and even cause your dog to pull his own hair out in tufts. If your dog is itching, some of the more common causes are fleas, inhalants, and food allergies. In this post I want to cover all three causes, and advice you on how to find out if food allergies may be the culprit.

If your dog is itching, the first thing to check for is fleas. Take a flea comb (comb that has teeth that are very close together) and comb a section of your dog's coat slowly, parting his hair to look for any signs of black specks or fleas. Go from area to area to check for any signs of fleas. Keep in mind that just one flea is capable of biting your dog up to 400 times a day. If your dog is itching, even if you don't find a flea, you might want to consider giving your dog a bath with a gentle but effective flea shampoo. However, fleas are not the only parasite that causes intense dermititis in dogs. Mites can burrow in your dogs skin causing dry crusty skin lesions, hair loss, and constant itching. This is known as mange or scabies, and if the skin is in this bad of a condition, it is best to get veterinarian assistance. If your dog has fleas or mange, it doesn't mean that they don't have a food allergy, but I would check these things first.

Dogs can also suffer from inhalant allergies, it's known as atopic dermatitis. They can be allergic to certain pollens in the air, dander, grasses, trees, dust and any airborne particle. It is similar to human inhalant allergies, while human exhibit allergy issues with respiratory symptoms, dogs show allergic reactions through their skin. For this type of allergy your veterinarian may recommend prednisone, allergy shots, or topical treatments. Prednisone can have some very serious negative side effects, allergy shots can take 6-12 months to start working (25% of the time they won't work at all), so alternative treatments may sometimes be a better option. Products like pure aloe vera, witch hazel, Colloidal oatmeal, and lime sulfur dip are helpful with itching. Now, back to food allergies...

The ingredients most commonly found in commercial dog foods, cause the highest percentage of food allergies in dogs. Some common ingredients that can cause food allergies are corn, wheat, soy, beef, fish, dairy, and chicken. To see if your dog is itching due to a food allergy, you can place him on a hypoallergenic diet. This diet should have healthy ingredients that are not commonly found in most pet foods (such as duck, elk, bison and more I'll probably think of later). How this works, is you place your dog on a hyoallergenic diet for one month, to see if this relieves the itching. If it seems to relieve the itching, you can go back to the old diet for up to two weeks, and see if the itching returns. If so, your dog probably has a food allergy to one of the ingredients in the old food.