Pet Food Allergies? Check Out What's In The Bag

Just like humans, dogs can have allergies to certain types of food. It may be an intolerance to individual ingredients such as wheat or corn, or a general complaint which is provoked my many types of food, such as colitis.

A dog experiencing dog food allergies may exhibit any of the following: Vomiting bile or blood, poor appetite, diarrhea and blood in the stools, itching, dry coat and skin, chronic or recurrent ear infections, hair loss, excessive scratching, hot spots, skin infections, increased bowel movements and any other abnormal behavior.

Should you suspect that your dog is allergic to a certain food, you need to do some testing to make sure that it is indeed food which is causing the problem, as other medical complaints can also cause similar symptoms, like parasites, skin infections or any other.

It might be necessary to use a home made dog food, so you can control the ingredients, and the balance of proteins and carbohydrates.

The matter is further complicated because there are many additives in dog food, and it may be one of these which is causing the allergy rather than a certain kind of meat or grain.

The most common allergy-causing foodstuffs in dogs are beef, dairy products, chicken, wheat, chicken eggs, corn, and soy. "What?", I can hear you say, "These are the most common ingredients in dog foods!"

Correct, and there is a correlation here. Just as many humans are lactose intolerant, over-exposure to these foodstuffs may be what has caused the problem.

Rice and lamb are common among many of the new recipes which have been formulated to be non-traditional dog feeds; hence dogs do not build up intolerance during this period.

These may not actually be the solution to treating an intolerance though, as many of these brands contain soy, egg etc., so check the ingredients.

Now that there are more dogs now than ever before with food allergies, the market is full of hypoallergenic dog foods to meet those needs of those dogs. The usefulness of these standards is limited by the unique constitution of each pet, but does provide some structure.

Be prepared to compare dog food brands extensively, since one thing to consider is that many "healthy" dog foods may still cause allergies in your dog if they contain that trigger ingredient. Even human grade dog food might still be causing your dog stomach problems.

Like with people, an intolerance to wheat or dairy contained in dog food, regardless of quality, can cause the end result. Another signal that your dog may have an allergy is bad reaction on the skin.

Article Source: http://www.articlegoldmine.com

Author Rebecca Foxton can help you give your pet brilliant health with Fortiflora. For an excellent source of nutrition tips for people with dogs and cats, visit her dog food articles on Dog Buffs.

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