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It’s a Real Problem When Man's Best Friend Has a Dog Food Allergy |
 When you have a dog or several dogs living in your home, what do you feed them? Dog food of course. That was not a hard answer. The description is right there on the label - Dog Food! But have you ever wondered what was in dog food? Sure, there are dog enthusiasts who know every aspect of what they give to their dogs. But for many families, a dog is just an animal there to play with sometimes and you are happy to just find a brand of dog food that the animal will eat and that keeps him or her healthy. Most of us also try to get by on the cheapest dog food we can get away with. After all, its just a dog.
Dog food allergies are the third most common kind of allergy a dog can get. So when your family pet develops a dog food allergy, that can be a real problem. It is a mistake to assume for certain that if your pooch has a dog food allergy, simply changing brands will fix the problem. For one thing, when a dog food allergy begins to make your pet sick, there are a number of things that might be causing the allergy. If you look at the ingredients panel on the can or bag of dog food you give to your animal, the number of food products that go into dog food sometimes makes a long list.
We know from the research that has been done on food allergies in humans that an allergy is probably a reaction to a specific food. The food you give to your pet may contain varying percentages of eggs, beef, lamb, chicken and various vegetable products and fillers. The dog food allergy that you are witnessing could be to any one of those food groups. Just changing brands will not cure a dog food allergy except if you know specifically is the trigger of the dog food allergy symptoms and you make it a point to buy dog food that you feel 100% certain does not have that food type in it.
In addition to a diversity of ingredients in the foods we buy for dogs, many times those foods do not give your pet the vitamins he or she needs to live a healthy life. Many veterinarians have discovered the symptoms of a dog food allergy are actually the evidence of a vitamin deficiency in the dog. By giving the animal vitamin supplements with his dog food, often "dog food allergy" symptoms clear up. Of course that means your pet never did have a dog food allergy. So that is an option worth exploring because if you can correct the problem that looks like a dog food allergy, so much the better.
There are various symptoms of a dog food allergy to look for so you can take action of correct the problem. Your dog may develop a rash or have problems breathing because of his dog food allergy. Or the problem may surface as swelling of the tongue or throat or in the form of digestive problems like diarrhea, throwing up or intestinal cramping. If you have to take your dog to the veterinarian because of these health problems, its smart to take the food you give to him or her so the vet can research if a dog food allergy is the problem.
Along with the potential that one of the ingredients in the food you feed your animal are causing a dog food diet, it is important to keep in mind that sometimes dog food is not manufactured with the same quality controls that is used in making food for people. Sometimes the ingredients in dog food is comprised of the discards from slaughter houses or inexpensive and poor quality foods from overseas. Filler is often used in such high qualities that the nutrition foods you want for your pet is only a very small percentage of what is in his food.
If the food you give your dog includes meat by-products, you must understand that the dog food allergy problem may be caused by parts of cows, pigs or chickens that cannot be used in human foods. As distasteful as that may sound, it is a fact and it could be a factor in figuring out what is causing your pet's dog food allergy.
Your veterinarian can help determine what ingredients are causing that dog food allergy through blood tests. However, these are not 100% accurate and they are expensive. Many people simply put their dog on a restrictive diet and eliminate various ingredients that they find in dog food until the dog food allergy clears up. Then by slowly and systematically adding back each ingredient, eventually the culprit that is the real problem will be identified.
Then you can plan your dog's diet accordingly so the dog food diet is no longer a problem. That is a tedious and involved process. But in the end if it means a healthier and happier pet who happily plays with you and your family and loves family life like he used to, it is worth it to find out what is causing that dog food allergy and then correct the problem once and for all.
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