Some patients will improve during a food trial with
a prescription hypoallergenic diet.
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.
In cases where food ingredients are the cause of discomfort, try
a prescription hypoallergenic diet, suggests WebMD.
Prescription hypoallergenic diets are best but there are few over-the-counter ones that help some animals like Natural Balance Green Pea & Salmon.
Not exact matches
You may also consider
hypoallergenic prescription diets available at any veterinary clinic.
Your pet is first fed a
hypoallergenic diet, which is a
prescription diet available only through a veterinarian, until symptoms disappear.
Weekly, bi-monthly or monthly medicated baths, using daily ear washes,
Hypoallergenic prescription diet food and treats, medications (Apoquel, Atopica, antibiotics, antifungals, allergy immunotherapy, etc), routine lab work and exams are necessary to keep your pet in their best health to avoid flare ups and addressing any skin issues before they become worse.
Results of a
hypoallergenic diet survey of veterinarians in North America with a nutritional evaluation of homemade
diet prescriptions.
We recommend a
hypoallergenic diet such as
Prescription Diet ® Canine d / d ® for those pets with possible allergic ear disease.
Prescription dog foods are
diets that have been tailored for your dog's needs and normally contain the above
hypoallergenic ingredients.
Once the trial period is over, your vet is likely to put your dog on a
hypoallergenic maintenance
diet such as Hill's
Prescription d / d
diet, Iams Skin and Coat Response KO, Iams Skin and Coat Response FP, Nestle Purina's Limited Antigen formula and Royal Canin
Diets.
If your veterinarian suspects food allergies, he or she may recommend a food trial with a
prescription hypoallergenic novel protein
diet or hydrolyzed
diet.
There is no harm in offering your pet a
diet that one leading manufacturer offers as a «brain food» (
Prescription Diet Canine b / d) or a
hypoallergenic diet (CNM's HA or Hill's z / d).
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.
Checking for specific underlying allergies will include feeding your pet a
hypoallergenic (
prescription or therapeutic
diet) to rule out a food allergy.
Whether you choose to feed
prescription veterinary
diet or home prepared, you should feed the
hypoallergenic diet exclusively for 8 weeks.
Another option is to select a
prescription hypoallergenic hydrolyzed
diet.
In the case of
hypoallergenic diets for pets with food allergies,
prescription diet companies take special precautions to avoid contamination of these
hypoallergenic diets with common proteins that could evoke allergic responses, using separate facilities or equipment than used for their other foods.
This is why as veterinarians, we often reach for the
prescription diets whether
hypoallergenic or a limited ingredient
diet, as they tend to have higher standards and cleaning practices to guarantee their
diets are free from other protein contaminants.
The easiest way for most owners to put a dog on a
hypoallergenic diet is to purchase a
prescription hydrolyzed canine
diet such as Hills ZD or Purina HA from your vet [23, 68].