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How to Reduce Dog Food Allergies

By Jane Dinunzio

Republish: EasyPublish™
Published: 16Sep2009
Word count: 514
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Dog food allergies manifest themselves in several different ways.

Dogs that are intolerant to certain foods may have physical problems such as diarrhea, vomiting, gassiness, or bloating of the stomach.

Food allergies are caused by an immune system reacting inappropriately to the present food that is being ingested. This is when we try to find the offending food to decrease or eliminate the problem.

Dogs also suffer other symptoms due to actual allergies rather than intolerance. The dog food allergies can include such afflictions as itchy skin, which is a common problem.

This itchiness is usually noticed on the dog's sides, tail, butt, paws, face and ears. The incessant itching, scratching and licking is sometimes as irritating to us as it must by for your dog.

The itching, scratching and licking can cause sores and "hot spots" and lead to infections, so eliminating the allergy is of the utmost importance.

An obvious food allergy will show up soon after switching or changing your dog's food. This is then usually easy to fix by removing the new food from the diet. Adding only one new food at a time over a period of many weeks will help define which foods your dog can tolerate.

The difficulty of finding a cause for dog food allergies becomes more challenging when the allergy starts after your dog has been on the same food for years, and no new food changes have been recently introduced.

This is the immune system reacting to a sudden sensitivity to the allergen, and is harder to figure out what has caused this problem. In this case you will have to start from scratch to try and eliminate this dog food allergy. First you will have to completely stop the usual food altogether.

This is a drastic measure, and we have all read to introduce new foods slowly, but in this case you have to start your dog on a new food suddenly, rather that gradually.

Put your dog on a diet consisting of foods to which he has never previously eaten.

If you have always feed a lamb based protein source kibble, then try a chicken based kibble. Many foods for dogs with allergies are completely grain free, because grains are a known allergy causing ingredient for many dogs.

It may take a few weeks for the allergies to start to settle down on the new diet. This new diet should consist of the bare minimum of ingredients.

The fewer the better.

There are many excellent high quality, chemical free, grain free dog foods available which have just the very basic ingredients necessary for optimum health.

Always consult a vet if the symptoms are sudden and severe.

There are also many other types of allergies that are not food related, such as infestation of parasites and fleas, environmental or even seasonal allergies.

These should be eliminated as the cause of your dog's problems and are treated differently than dog food allergies.

It is not always a quick process, but if you can relieve your dog of discomfort, it is worth time spent investigating.

By checking out the ingredient lists and analysis of these special foods, you can make an informed decision. I had a dog with allergies and after years of trying different treatments, including expensive treatments at the vet, I found and reviewed the foods here as being the best premium foods to reduce dog food allergies.

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