One of the most common allergies a dog might experience is an allergy to food you feed him. Even if the dog has never shown a single sign of a food allergy in their life, they can develop one at any time. It may not even be your fault. Some dogs simply have a genetic predisposition to getting allergies. There are a few reasons why dogs are so prone to getting food allergies however. We feed them the same food every day, this wouldn’t happen in the wild, and the food is made out of things dogs are commonly allergic to.
The ingredients in dry dog food that dogs are allergic to often are meats and grains. Beef is a very common ingredient in their food, and is also one of the main things a dog might be allergic to. Other things you need to watch out for are dairy products, eggs, corn, pork, and fish. If you have reason to believe your dog may be suffering from a dog food allergy then you need to pay careful attention to the ingredients in the foods you feed them. You then need to find a food that doesn’t contain any of these common ingredients and it must be something the dog has never had before. Hypoallergenic foods are probably the best.
A food allergy can cause many different symptoms. They can vary depending on the specific dog and what food that dog is allergic to. Diagnosing a food allergy can also be very complicated. Allergies such as inhalant allergies also have very similar symptoms. Both allergies commonly cause skin irritation. This will cause your dog to scratch, bite, and lick compulsively at certain areas of the body. Body parts that are usually bothered the legs, stomach, tail and ears. A inhalant allergy is usually seasonal unlike a dog food allergy. It doesn’t have to be seasonal though. If you keep a plant in the house that your dog is allergic to it can cause the allergy to last all year.
A food intolerance, which is very different from an allergy, can also look very similar. A intolerance to a certain food differs from an allergy because it never activates the bodies inflammatory responses. The body will usually just try and get it out of the body. This means it will usually cause the dog to have loose stool and may cause vomiting.
