Food Allergies in Dogs and How to Deal with Them
Humans develop allergies and that’s nothing out of ordinary. At first, we don’t know why it happens but we immediately know when it happens. We feel bad and we say it out loud. But what about dogs? Dogs can develop allergies too. But they can’t talk to you about it. Let’s see what the symptoms are and what’s causing these awful allergies. Surely, you’d want to help your best friend?
The symptoms
First of all, we need to emphasize that you have to take your dog to the vet for regular check-ups. Health professionals will be the first to notice small details about your dog that can signal that something’s not right. However, there are things that you can notice yourself. If your pooch experiences something of the following, it’s probably suffering from a certain food allergy:
- Itching
- Obsessive licking
- Vomiting
- Poor coat quality
- Chronic ear inflammation
- Chronic gas
- Chronic diarrhea
While most pet-owners immediately turn to over-the-counter medications to ease allergy symptoms in dogs, there are other options to consider that may not have the side effects associated with these medicines. For example, consider cbd for dog allergies that can be infused into their food or applied topically to soothe skin inflammation, itching, and rashes. CBD may also help reduce your dog’s anxiety associated with said symptoms. Now, we can move on to the causes of the allergic reaction.
The allergens
- Dairy products
People can be lactose intolerant which means that they cannot eat anything that’s dairy. And just like us, some dogs can also be lactose intolerant. This is more of an intolerance than an allergy but the result is equally bad. Due to this intolerance, your pooch experiences vomiting, diarrhea and gas issues. You should know that it’s really important to distinguish allergy from intolerance. Your dog can be allergic but it can also be intolerant. Bottom line is that lactose intolerance usually results in digestion problems but even if you notice symptoms such as redness or itchiness, visit the vet!
- Grain
Constant feeding of a certain food can lead to intolerance and allergies. Grain is something that you’ll find in the majority of dog food products. So don’t be surprised if your dog becomes allergic to grain. Hair loss, dry skin and itchiness are signals that your pooch is probably suffering from grain allergy. The obvious solution to this problem is to prepare your pooch’s food yourself but that can be quite a difficult task. It’s also hard to find grain-free dog food but fortunately, there are certain products like the natural grain-free Ivory Coat dog food that are there to save the day. Just make sure that your dog is actually allergic to grain because you don’t want to mix up the cause of the allergy. The process can be long but you have to know what to do to help your dog.
- Eggs
Eggs are extremely rich in protein and Rocky Balboa made sure we learned that. Thus, your dog can easily become allergic to those proteins found in eggs or, to be precise, in the egg yolk. Fortunately, eliminating eggs from your pooch’s diet is quite easy. Check the labels on the dog food to make sure that your best friend is not in danger. Egg allergy usually manifests itself in the appearances of bald patches.
- Beef
Just like those proteins in eggs, proteins in beef can also wreak havoc allergy-wise. Feed your dog one food type for a long period of time and it could develop a certain intolerance or allergy to it. Most of the dog foods contain beef in one form or another, so it’s easy for your pooch to become allergic to it. Mix up the types of meat you feed your doggy with. Feed your dog a different kind of meat every day. You don’t have to eliminate beef completely but add pork and chicken to its diet and rotate the meats as much as possible.
- Chicken and lamb
Again, chicken is a type of meat so the exact same applies here as it did for beef. Numerous dog foods are made from beef or chicken so more and more dog owners turn to lamb. Lamb is regarded as a safe option for all dogs with meat allergies. But again, rotation is of the utmost importance. Your pooch can become allergic to lamb meat too if you don’t throw in something else in its bowl every now and then. The best precaution is the rotation of meats.
- Soy
Feeding soy to dogs is not so good but it’s common. Soy can be the cause of health issues that are more severe than those that stem from allergies. Yes, we are talking about reproductive and growth problems and liver and thyroid diseases. Soy is unfortunately among the top three genetically modified crops nowadays so avoid feeding it to your pooch. That would be the best solution to the issue.
Take good care of your dog because your dog is doing exactly that for you every day of its life.