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Commercial Hypoallergenic Diets for Food Hypersensitivity
Canine food hypersensitivity (“food allergy”) is common in dogs and is characterized by itchiness that is not associated with a specific season, reddened skin, secondary pyoderma (skin infection), chronic ear infections, and occasionally gastrointestinal signs. Food allergy testing is not recommended as the results are unreliable. Ruling out another type of hypersensitivity is the first step of action. If no other cause is found, food allergy is the likely culprit and a hypoallergenic food trial is recommended in order to assess your dog’s response to a protein and carbohydrate-restricted diet. The most common food allergens in dogs are beef, dairy, chicken, eggs, soy, corn and wheat. When placed on a food trial, the following conditions MUST be met in order to have an effective trial: - A 10-12 week minimum trial with only one source of protein and once source of carbohydrate
- No treats other than the hypoallergenic diet
- Switch from flavored heartworm prevention to unflavored heartworm prevention, topical heartworm prevention or injectable heartworm prevention
- Nutritional supplements are to be avoided
- Chewable treats are to be avoided
Symptoms should improve within 10-12 weeks of starting the challenge and should recur within hours to days of reintroducing the old diet. There are a number of commercially available hypoallergenic diets on the market today. The following is a list of available diets: Hill’s Prescription Diet Canine d/d Lamb and Rice (canned) Hill’s Prescription Diet Canine d/d Whitefish and Rice (canned) Hill’s Prescription Diet Canine d/d Rice and Salmon (dry) Hill’s Prescription Diet Canine d/d Rice and Duck (dry) Hill’s Prescription Diet Canine d/d Rice and Egg (dry) Hill’s Prescription Diet Canine z/d (dry) Hill’s Prescription Diet Canine z/d Ultra (dry) Eukanuba Veterinary Diets Response FP Formula (canned and dry) Eukanuba Response KO Kangaroo and Oatmeal (dry) IVD Limited Ingredient Lamb and Potato (canned and dry) IVD Limited Ingredient Venison and Potato (canned and dry) IVD Limited Ingredient Rabbit and Potato (canned and dry) IVD Limited Ingredient Duck and Potato (canned and dry) IVD Limited Ingredient Whitefish and Potato (canned) Nature’s Recipe Easy-to-Digest Lamb, Lamb Meal, Rice and Barley Formula (canned and dry) Nature’s Recipe Allergy Vegetarian Formula (canned and dry) Nature’s Recipe Allergy Venison Meal and Rice Formula (canned) Sensible Choice with Lamb and Rice (dry) Sensible Choice Lamb Meal and Rice Puppy (dry) Purina CNM HA-Formula (dry) Purina CNM LA-Formula (dry) Waltham Veterinary Diet Selected Protein with Lamb and Rice (canned) Waltham Veterinary Diet Selected Protein with Rice and Catfish (dry) Natural Choice Lamb and Rice Formula (canned and dry) Natural Choice Lite Lamb and Rice Formula (canned and dry) Natural Choice Puppy, Lamb and Rice Formula (canned) HOMECOOKING is another way to do a food trial. You can choose from the following ingredients: PROTEINS: pork roast, lamb, fish, rabbit, venison, eggs, cottage cheese, tofu, pinto beans CARBOHYDRATES: potatoes, brown rice, millet, barley, oatmeal HOME-COOKED TEST DIET RECIPE: 1 cup cooked/baked PROTEIN 2 cups cooked CARBOHYDRATE 1 cup chopped VEGETABLES (no corn) fresh or frozen2 tsp. Canola oil(+/- 2 tsp. Dicalcium phosphate or bone meal and a nonflavored multi-vitamin if the diet is used for maintenance)
IMPORTANT: Choose ONE type of protein, carbohydrate and vegetable for the entire duration of the diet trial and make sure that it was NOT on the ingredient list of the old food! Mix the above ingredients together. You can make a large amount and refrigerate or freeze it. Feed the daily amount indicated on the chart below. You can divide the total amount into two daily feedings. Switch over to the new diet slowly and gradually include more of the new food each day (for 5-7 days) until you dog is eating only the new diet. Body Weight (lbs) Multiply recipe by 5 1/4 10 1/2 25 1 40 1 1/2 60 2 NOTE: This is a GUIDELINE for maintaining a dog's normal weight-the amount may be adjusted as needed.
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