Question:
I am trying to determine whether my small-breed dog has a food or environmental allergy. Can you tell me how soon after eating an offending food a dog would exhibit symptoms? He has hot spots caused by itching. He does not have any digestive or bowel problems. He is on a home-cooked diet in which I use a variety of proteins. The carbs I give him have no gluten. The only treats he gets are bison-meat chunks with no added ingredients. There is no corn or wheat in his diet.
S.G., St. Paul, MN May 03, 2009
Answer:
From your list of various animal-protein types (lamb, salmon, egg, chicken liver, etc.), vegetables and low- or zero-gluten grains, you are on the right track when it comes to finding which foods that may be triggering allergic reactions in your dog. You have taken the first step -- knowing the ingredients and sources. Next, you must feed a combination of only one animal-protein source, one type of grain and one type of vegetable for five to seven days to see if your dog has an adverse reaction. Then switch to another combination, adopting a "rotation diet," giving the dog different food-ingredient combinations every few days. Be sure to check if any of the supplements (multivitamins, multiminerals and essential fatty acids) that you are hopefully including (as per my basic recipe on my Web site, www.twobitdog.com/DrFox) are not causing any adverse reactions. You do this by giving none for a week, then adding to the diet.
A daily supplement of probiotics or plain organic yogurt that contains live, beneficial bacteria can help many dogs and cats with allergies. Probiotics can also help with chronic ear problems, digestive upsets, urinary-tract infections and allergies.
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