From certain food ingredients to plants, pollen, grass and dust mites, there are a whole lot of things that can cause allergic reactions for our pets. Tim Falk finds out how you can help your dog or cat overcome their problem with allergies.
For those people who struggle with allergies, the onset of spring can be a difficult time of year as it brings on the itchy eyes, runny nose and general yuckiness of hay fever. But for some poor unfortunate dogs and cats, allergies aren’t just a problem during spring — they can cause trouble all year round.
That’s the case for two-year-old Golden Labrador Cliff, who battles with food allergies. “It took us ages to work out why Cliffy was so itchy all the time,” says his owner Alison White. “It was really driving him nuts and he was breaking out in hot spots all the time. It wasn’t until our vet switched us over to a special hypoallergenic diet that we started to get the problem under control.
Allergies can cause constant and severe itchiness in our pets, as well as recurrent skin infections. They can be irritating and painful for our four-legged friends so it’s important to get to the bottom of any potential allergies as soon as possible.
Food allergies
Lovable Lab Cliff isn’t the only dog whose stomach can get him into trouble. “Food allergy is a common skin disorder in dogs and cats that is caused by an allergic reaction to food,” says Sydney small animal vet Dr James Crowley. “About seven to 10 per cent of all allergy cases in dogs can be attributed to food allergy.”
When your dog or cat suffers from a food allergy, its immune system will have an overactive response to specific ingredients. The most common proteins that our canines and felines may be allergic to include beef, chicken, fish, egg, dairy, soy, corn, wheat and rice.
If you think your pet may suffer from a food allergy, head to your vet for advice. Unfortunately the only way to get to the bottom of the problem is to put your cat or dog on a food elimination diet, which can be time-consuming, but it’s the best way to single out the ingredient that is causing
problems for your pet.
Common culprits
The proteins that are most commonly responsible for food allergies in cats and dogs include:
- Beef
- Chicken
- Fish
- Egg
- Dairy
- Soy
- Corn
- Wheat
- Rice
Environmental allergies in our pets can be caused by:
- Dust mites
- Grasses (eg. couch, paspalum)
- Weeds (eg. dock, sorrel)
- Plants (eg. wandering Jew)
- Pollen
- Mould
- Fleas
The whole story was published in the April 2016 issue of Pets Magazine. Subscribe here!
Leave a Reply