Allergies in dogs. Is hydrolyzed dog food a good solution?
When a dog has an allergy, it usually causes a great deal of worry for their owner. Allergy symptoms are not always clear-cut and the road to diagnosis is often long. Be sure to read this article if you have noticed that:
- your dog is scratching
- your dog’s eyes are watering
- there is swelling of the face, throat, lips, eyelids, or earflaps
- there are visible skin abnormalities (especially on ears or paws) and/or
- your dog has diarrhea.
These symptoms could be due to a food allergy!
Allergy is a life-long disease, and this is why it is so important to determine what triggers your dog’s allergy to eliminate it from the animal’s diet or environment.
Allergies in dogs: causes
An allergy is a reaction that occurs when your pet’s body overreacts to a foreign substance called an allergen. This type of reaction affects the immune system. How long will your dog’s allergic reaction last? Allergy is a life-long disease and the primary dietary management strategy is to avoid contact with the allergen.
Food allergy is also known as an adverse reaction to food (ARF) and it most often causes digestive or skin symptoms. A food allergy affecting the skin is often called a cutaneous adverse food reaction (CARF). A food allergy affecting the digestive system can manifest itself as enteropathy which means abnormal changes within the intestine in response to specific foods (food responsive enteropathy, FRE). This type of allergy can cause, e.g., allergic gastritis.
Allergies in dogs: symptoms
The first signs of allergy appear in young dogs between 4 and 6 months of age, but they may also occur in adult or older dogs over 10 years of age. There are no predisposed breeds when it comes to allergies, however, German Shepherds, West Highland White Terriers, Boxers, Rhodesian Ridgebacks and Pugs are considered to be high-risk breeds. The major clinical symptoms are:
- severe, unseasonal itching that causes the animal to scratch, which leads to hair loss and skin damage;
- bilateral ceruminous otitis externa;
- skin lesions (e.g. erythema, alopecia), which may be complicated by bacterial or fungal infections (the location of skin lesions is not characteristic of food allergy and they may occur either all over the body or only in the facial region, abdomen or between the toes).
The most important clinical signs of food allergies affecting the digestive system are vomiting and/or diarrhea, which – sometimes – can cause disorders of digestion and absorption of nutrients, and consequently (in the absence of appropriate treatment), severe malnutrition.
Food allergies in dogs: what are the most common food allergy triggers?
Regardless of whether a food allergy causes skin or digestive problems, the key dietary management strategy is to eliminate the symptom trigger, i.e. the allergen, from the dog’s diet. Historically, the allergens identified to affect dogs included primarily beef, dairy and wheat. However, due to the widespread use of poultry meat (most specifically chicken meat) in dog food, this source of protein is now considered to be responsible for a majority of allergic reactions. It should be pointed out that allergens are mainly proteins (high-molecular-weight glycoproteins). Their resistance to high temperatures and insensitivity, e.g., to acids means that some of them are classified as so-called ‘strong allergens’ (e.g. casein). In the case of weak allergens, thermal processing reduces their capacity to cause a food allergy, and as such they are suitable for nutrition purposes.
Allergies in dogs: how to diagnose?
To diagnose a food allergy, it is necessary to use an elimination diet to remove food allergens from your dog’s daily meals. An elimination diet is a diet free of potential allergens, based on simple combinations of ingredients, such as hydrolyzed proteins and purified starch. Hydrolyzed proteins are proteins whose molecules – figuratively speaking – have been broken down into smaller ones. Hydrolysis significantly reduces the capacity of proteins to cause an allergy: most dogs allergic to a particular type of protein (e.g. those found in poultry meat) can consume the hydrolyzed proteins without problems.
Hydrolyzed protein in the form of a mixture of single amino acids, peptides or polypeptides, where 70% of the molecules have a molecular weight of less than 3,000 Da (the dalton (Da) is an atomic mass unit) does not trigger any reaction from the immune system.
An alternative to hydrolyzed dog food is a protein source that is new to a particular dog, e.g. insect protein, horsemeat or other sources of protein that so far have not been used in the dog’s daily diet. An elimination diet should be followed for a period of 4 to 8 weeks. If the clinical symptoms do not completely resolve within this period, the diet should be used for 10-12 weeks. If the existing skin or digestive problems disappear after this period of time, this confirms that the dog has a food allergy.
However, to identify the triggering allergen, it should be reintroduced into the dog’s diet during the so-called provocation period. During this period, possible trigger foods are re-introduced, one at a time, for a period of 7 to 14 days. If there is a reaction to a specific food, it can be classified as ‘trigger food’ that should be eliminated for good from the dog’s diet.
Allergies in dogs: home remedies
Many dog owners, in order to protect their dog from allergens, decide to make their dog’s meals on their own while avoiding undesired ingredients. Unfortunately, it is difficult to provide a well-balanced home-made diet, and usually it is… unbalanced.
This is extremely important with puppies and young dogs. Home-made elimination diets usually do not contain the right amount of vitamins, minerals and fatty acids. This can slow down the dog’s growth rate and – if the diet contains insufficient calcium quantities and excessive phosphorus supply, which is unfortunately a common scenario with home-made meals – to skeletal problems.
This is why hypoallergenic foods, which provide all the necessary nutrients for the dog, or home-made food recipes developed by canine and feline nutritionists, have now become increasingly popular.
How to treat an allergy in a dog?
Commercially available hydrolyzed formulas provide a complete diet that can be used in the long run. Whatever long-term diet you decide to use, your dog should regularly receive follow-up blood tests and you should strictly adhere to your veterinarian’s recommendations. This is because every diet is considered to be therapeutic food and it should not be started, modified or stopped without first consulting your veterinarian.
Sometimes it is possible to switch your dog from a hydrolyzed diet to a non-hydrolyzed single-protein diet, i.e. a diet based on a single source of animal protein. If you decide to opt for this solution, you need to carry out a provocation test and identify trigger allergens and allergen-free foods. After the diet switch, it is recommended using diets based on atypical proteins, e.g. insect protein.
What is ideal hypoallergenic dog food?
When looking for the right hydrolyzed diet for your dog, always follow your veterinarian’s recommendations. However, among the products available on the market, it is worth choosing a diet that will add to the effectiveness of your dog’s treatment for food allergies and intolerances:
- hydrolyzed animal protein – low molecular weight protein (70% with a molecular weight of less than 2,000 Da, max. 6,000 Da) helps to reduce the risk of adverse reactions;
- single protein formula – a single source of protein helps to avoid the risk of nutrient intolerance;
- absence of vegetable protein – potato and sweet potato starch, highly purified of protein, as a single source of carbohydrates;
- high content of Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids – an optimal amount of unsaturated fatty acids supports skin function in digs with dermatoses and excessive hair loss;
- simple and clear composition – a short list of ingredients of the highest quality minimizes the risk of adverse reactions to the diet ingredients.
VET EXPERT’s Hypoallergenic Ultra is a ready-made diet formula that can used both for an elimination diet or a complete long-term diet for dogs with food allergies and other types of allergic skin diseases, such as atopic dermatitis, allergic flea dermatitis or other pruritic dermatoses. The use of Hypoallergenic Ultra significantly reduces the exposure to food allergens while improving the comfort for the dog and the dog’s owner.
VETEXPERT 4T Tierärztliche Diät – Hypoallergenic Ultra
Diätfutter für ausgewachsene Hunde bei Nahrungsmittelunverträglichkeiten oder -allergien sowie bei dermatologischen Erkrankungen.
Ein ausgewogenes Diätfutter für ausgewachsene Hunde, empfohlen als wirksames Diagnosemittel bei Verdacht auf eine Unverträglichkeit gegenüber Inhaltsstoffen und Nährstoffen oder eine Nahrungsmittelallergie. Auch zur Unterstützung der Hautfunktion bei Dermatosen und übermäßigem Haarausfall empfiehlt sich die Hypoallergene Ultra-Diät. Hypoallergenic Ultra enthält hydrolysiertes Fischprotein mit niedrigem Molekulargewicht, was das Risiko einer Nebenwirkung verringert.
Was sind die Hauptvorteile der Hypoallergenic Ultra-Diät?
- Hydrolysiertes Fischmonoprotein (Hering)
- Hochrein proteinhaltige Kartoffelstärke
- Hohe Konzentration an Omega-3- und Omega-6-Säuren
- Kein pflanzliches Protein in der Zusammensetzung
- Einfache und lesbare Komposition
VETEXPERT Hypoallergenic ULTRA Hund ist ein Diätfuttermittel (Eliminationsdiät) für Hunde zur Behandlung allergisch bedingter Haut- oder Darmprobleme.
Hypoallergenic ULTRA ist eine ausgewogene und nährstoffreiche Rezeptur, die speziell dazu entwickelt wurde, ausgewachsenen Hunden mit Nährstoffintoleranzen, Futtermittelunverträglichkeiten und empfindlicher Haut zu helfen.
Dieses Alleinfuttermittel ist geeignet für ausgewachsene und ältere Hunde. Die enthaltenen Mengen sämtlicher essenzieller Nährstoffe decken den täglichen Bedarf.
Eigenschaften:
-
- Hydrolysiertes tierisches Protein
- Das Futter enthält ausgewählte und auf eine einzige Quelle beschränkte hydrolysierte Fischproteine, wodurch das Vorhandensein anderer Proteinallergene im Futter vermieden wird, die bei Tieren unerwünschte Reaktionen auf das Futter hervorrufen könnten.
- Hochreine Stärke als Kohlenhydratquelle
- Kartoffel- und Süßkartoffelstärke als einzige Quelle hochverdaulicher Kohlenhydrate verringert das Risiko einer unerwünschten Reaktion auf Protein pflanzlichen Ursprungs.
- Omega-3 & 6-Fettsäuren
- Der hohe Gehalt an Omega-3-Säuren trägt zum Schutz der Haut bei und lindert durch seine entzündungshemmenden Eigenschaften bestehende Hautläsionen.
- Der hohe Gehalt an Omega-6-Säuren unterstützt die Funktion der Haut, verbessert die Qualität des Fells und verhindert durch die Stärkung seiner Schutzbarriere das Eindringen von Umweltallergenen in den Körper.
- Einfache und lesbare Komposition
- Eine kurze Liste von Inhaltsstoffen höchster Qualität minimiert das Risiko einer unerwünschten Reaktion auf einen Nahrungsbestandteil.
Indikationen:
Wann sollte Hypoallergenic ULTRA gefüttert werden ?
- Futtermittelunverträglichkeiten mit dermatologischen und/oder gastrointestinalen Symptomen
- Diagnose (Eliminationsdiät) und Management
- Canine Atopische Dermatitis (CAD) in Kombination mit einer Futtermittelunverträglichkeit
- Chronischer Durchfall
- Entzündliche Darmerkrankung (IBD)
- Exokrine Pankreasinsuffizienz (EPI)
- Bakterielle Überwucherung des Dünndarms (SIBO)
Kontraindikationen
Wann sollte Hypoallergenic ULTRA nicht gefüttert werden ?
- Bauchspeicheldrüsenentzündung (Pankreatitis)
- Trächtigkeit
- Säugezeit
Behandlungsdauer:
Bei Verdacht auf eine Futtermittelallergie oder -intoleranz sollte die Ernährung Ihres Hundes sofort auf ein Diätfutter für Allergiker umgestellt werden.
Zur Diagnosestellung wird Hypoallergenic ULTRA 6–10 Wochen lang als Eliminationsdiät gefüttert.
Hunde mit Futtermittelallergien oder -unverträglichkeiten sollten lebenslang VETEXPERT Hypoallergenic ULTRA bekommen.
Wie Wirkt Hypoallergenic ULTRA?
Hypoallergenic ULTRA von VETEXPERT ist frei von Inhaltsstoffen, die häufig zu Futtermittelallergien oder Futtermittelunverträglichkeiten führen. Zusätzlich enthält es entzündungslindernde sowie die Haut- und Darmgesundheit fördernde Substanzen.