We recommend
feeding hypoallergenic diets to any pet that has a skin condition caused by an allergy.
Your pet is first
fed a hypoallergenic diet, which is a prescription diet available only through a veterinarian, until symptoms disappear.
Exclusively
feeding a hypoallergenic diet lifelong is highly successful in treating food allergic skin disease in many cats.
Ruling out a food allergy usually requires
feeding a hypoallergenic diet (prescription / therapeutic diet) for a couple of months to see if the symptoms improve.
The best and most accurate method of diagnosing food allergy is to
feed a hypoallergenic diet for eight to twelve weeks as a food trial called an «elimination trial».
An allergic pet should also be
fed a hypoallergenic diet.
Whether you choose to feed prescription veterinary diet or home prepared, you should
feed the hypoallergenic diet exclusively for 8 weeks.
Not exact matches
For instance, the allergy tests available are not terribly good at determining food allergies, and therefore instead of identifying a specific food and avoiding it, we instead recommend
feeding a prescription
hypoallergenic diet on a strict trial basis (
feed this and nothing else), while gauging to see how your pet responds.
You may be asked to stop
feeding your dog her normal food and give her several different specially - formulated
hypoallergenic diets to see if the itching abates while she's eating one of them.
If they do,
feeding your pooch a nutritionally complete
hypoallergenic diet might be the best choice for his skin.
Starting with an elimination
diet, you must
feed your dog only
hypoallergenic dog food for 12 weeks.
Dietary Protein Adverse reactions to dietary staples are common in cats and dogs with chronic gastrointestinal disease, and can often be successfully managed by
feeding selected - protein diets.8 - 11 Because antigenic determinants on proteins are incriminated as the precipitating factor in many cases of IBD, it is usually recommended to
feed an elimination
diet that is generally free of additives and preservatives, and contains a single, novel protein source that is highly digestible, or a
hypoallergenic formula.12 There are no protein sources that are inherently
hypoallergenic.
The theoretical benefit for utilizing highly digestible «
hypoallergenic»
diets for patients with colitis includes reducing the digestive challenge to the large intestine and minimizing the likelihood of dietary antigens actually reaching the colon, thus lessening the likelihood of an immunological reaction.21 Several studies in the veterinary literature suggest that some patients may benefit from
diets providing novel, highly digestible protein sources.9 - 11 One prospective study reported a resolution in clinical signs associated with idiopathic chronic colitis in 13 dogs
fed rice and cottage cheese.
Most pet owners who
feed their dogs a
hypoallergenic diet claim that the skin and any digestive products quickly and significantly improve.
Either put the pet on a 60 - day trial of limited food ingredients it has not eaten before or
feed it a
diet that has been processed or manufactured to be
hypoallergenic.
If your dog is prone to developing skin problems as a result of an allergic reaction then you should consider
feeding him or her a
hypoallergenic diet (there are many dog food products being manufactured that are specifically made for dogs prone to skin allergies).
The best way to diagnose this problem is to place the pet on a 60 — 90 day
hypoallergenic trial
diet and
feed no treats.
Checking for specific underlying allergies will include
feeding your pet a
hypoallergenic (prescription or therapeutic
diet) to rule out a food allergy.
Today there are a number of commercially available, palatable,
hypoallergenic diets that can be
fed for the rest of your dog's life.
If you
feed your pets a limited - ingredient or
hypoallergenic diet, make sure their treats don't contain the ingredient you're avoiding.
Dogs having itchy dog skin due to food allergies may be
fed with
hypoallergenic diet along with care in selection of food.
Approach a raw
hypoallergenic diet in the same manner by
feeding a single novel protein source and a single novel carbohydrate source.
Any pills that you need to give your dog can be hidden in a small meatball formed from the canned
hypoallergenic diet or novel protein
diet that you are
feeding your dog.