Recognize and help an intolerance in your dog
Hamburg. A food intolerance or allergy in a dog or cat can pose a major challenge for some pet owners. The global animal welfare foundation FOUR PAWS explains how intolerances can manifest themselves and what should be done.
“A food allergy can develop over a long period of time and then appear suddenly. A dog or cat can often tolerate the food for a long time without developing symptoms. The immune system only later shows a delayed overreaction through itching, rashes and skin inflammation, but also through recurring inflammation in the external ear canal or on the paws or through loss of fur. In dogs, intolerable food can also be caused by gastrointestinal symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea, etc Show bloating. Cats show symptoms such as excessive grooming, increased scratching or licking – often so intense that real wounds appear on the skin. Since most symptoms can also be a side effect of other diseases, if you are in doubt you should always go to a veterinary practice. Sabrina Karl, qualified biologist and pet expert at FOUR PAWS.
Allergy or intolerance?
There is a key difference between allergies and intolerances: In the case of an allergy, the immune system reacts by forming antibodies. If there is an intolerance, the immune system is not activated. Here the body lacks certain enzymes to digest food. An example of this is lactose intolerance in cats. The most common allergy triggers in dogs include beef and lamb, poultry, grains and dairy products. In addition to beef and chicken, fish can also trigger an allergic reaction in cats.
Recognize what your animal cannot tolerate
In order to be able to help the dog or cat with an intolerance, it is important to first determine the trigger of the allergy. “A proven method is the exclusion diet. To do this, you should feed your animal only based on an animal protein source – for example only horse or lamb, without grains and dairy products – over a period of several weeks. You may be able to choose food that also contains carbohydrate additives such as sweet potatoes or parsnips. Feed the dog or cat strictly this food for at least six to eight weeks in order to eliminate all potential allergy triggers. The symptoms should subside after a short time. After the period is over, you can then gradually add a different protein source in order to find the allergy-triggering substances,” explains Dr. Sabrina Karl.
Snacking on strangers is taboo
“It is important to remain consistent with an exclusion diet. This means that snacking on other treats is absolutely taboo. Please do the exclusion diet with veterinary supervision at best. As soon as the allergy-causing substance in the food has been identified, the pet should no longer receive this food in the future,” says the expert.
Protect against discomfort and stress
“Get further advice from your veterinary practice or from animal nutrition specialists about hypoallergenic food or a home-made, individually tailored diet. In addition, the symptoms of a possible intolerance can be identified and alleviated quickly and quickly. However, the most important treatment for an allergy is to determine and eliminate the cause of the food allergy in order to save the animal permanent discomfort and stress,” says the FOUR PAWS pet expert.