A food allergy is an excessive immune reaction to a specific protein in the diet - most often beef, dairy, chicken or wheat. It differs from an intolerance, which does not involve the immune system and shows mainly as digestive upsets. Both can look similar, so proper diagnostics - not guesswork - settles the question.
How food allergy shows itself
Contrary to what many owners expect, food allergy in pets is not only diarrhoea or vomiting. Very often the first sign is the skin: itching, recurring ear infections and repeated skin infections. If your dog or cat has problems like these all year round, food allergy is one of the suspects.
Allergy or atopy?
The symptoms of food allergy are easy to confuse with atopic dermatitis - an allergy to environmental factors such as dust mites or pollens. A useful clue is seasonality: atopy often worsens at certain times of year, while food allergy causes symptoms year-round. In some patients both occur together.
The elimination diet, step by step
The gold standard of diagnosis is an elimination diet lasting 8-12 weeks. The pet eats a food based on a novel protein it has never had before (or a hydrolysed diet) - and nothing else. If symptoms subside, a provocation trial (returning to the old food) confirms the diagnosis.
- no treats or table scraps for the whole trial,
- watch out for flavoured tablets and pastes - they can contain the allergen,
- the whole household must be consistent for the trial to work.
Living with an allergic pet
A well-managed allergic patient can live in full comfort: it takes a consistent diet, regular skin and ear care, and control of secondary infections. If you suspect an allergy in your pet, we will plan the diagnostics within our dermatology and internal medicine services at MultiVet in Lutynia near Wrocław.