In our previous blog, Food Allergy vs Food Intolerance in Dogs and Cats: What’s the Difference? we provided some clarity on the different types of adverse food reactions in dogs and cats. Here, we discuss how diet modifications can help identify and solve your pet’s incessant itching or poorly gut.
Identifying The Problem
Despite there being many ‘allergy’ tests commercially available, these are often unreliable, yielding varying results for the same patient. Thus, the gold standard for identifying a food allergy or intolerance, is through an elimination diet. It requires patience, and consistency from owners.
Before beginning a of dietary change, improving gut barrier function is ideal to avoid worsening of symptoms. We suggest beginning on bone broth before introducing the new diet – ideally a flavour which is novel to your pet. As a natural anti-inflammatory, bone broth provides digestive support. It is packed with the amino acids glycine and proline, which are soothing and healing to the intestinal mucosa. Whilst this supports a healthy gut microbiome, it is also useful to restore optimal gut health following illness (such as diarrhoea).
Elimination Diet
An elimination diet allows you to break down your pet’s diet, to find out which protein may be causing an issue. The recommended duration for an elimination diet is approximately 10 weeks to see results. However, the length required for the elimination trial will depend on the condition which is to be managed. With gastrointestinal issues, a 2–4-week trial is usually sufficient, whereas with skin issues, it may take longer to see success, up to 8-12 weeks (1).
We suggest using completely novel proteins during an elimination diet and allowing your pet at least 4 weeks on a novel protein, to allow detoxification and reduction in histamine levels. If their clinical signs begin improving over this time, you can then opt to gradually introduce other novel proteins (every 2 weeks). The goal is to achieve variety and identify your pet’s ‘safe’ proteins. If the symptoms worsen on the novel protein, a different protein may need to be trialled.
Following a successful elimination diet, and identification of tolerated proteins, there is the option to perform a dietary rechallenge, where the suspected ‘problem’ protein can be isolated. You can start by reintroducing a protein you used to feed. An increase in itchiness will typically present within days, but can take up to 2 weeks, thus we recommend reintroducing foods at 2-week intervals. If your pet reacts, they should be placed back on the elimination diet.
There is the concern over nutritional balance when feeding fresh elimination diets, so, if possible, its best to feed a diet that is already formulated to be complete and balanced. Our Wild Range includes novel proteins, so would be a great place to start. However, if this is not possible due to many suspected problem foods, our Butcher’s Block could be offered. This is a single protein 80/10/10 diet, consisting of just meat, offal and bone. However, as it is not a complete meal, it would need to be balanced with toppers. Our Cat Range is nutritionally complete an balanced, and our chicken and turkey flavours are single protein.
Prolonged elimination to certain proteins can build tolerance, allowing it to potentially be reintroduced months down the line, with no reaction, especially if the meal format is different (e.g. processed/raw).
Tips
- It is important to remember, that it isn’t only their meals you need to watch, its everything they eat. This could include treats, chews, pills etc.
- Suggestions of novel proteins = Venison, Duck, Rabbit, Pheasant
- Look for a food where all the ingredients are stated. Avoid foods where groups are labelled rather than individual ingredients – e.g. animal derivatives/ animal fat. Here, you have no control over proteins used, which makes it almost impossible to identify the problem protein.
- Including prebiotics and probiotics during the dietary transition can support gut healing and encourage the optimum microbial balance.
What is a Hypoallergenic Diet?
Hypoallergic diets are formulated to exclude foods which are commonly responsible for allergic reactions, for example soy, dairy, corn and gluten. They will often contain limited ingredients, all of which are clearly specified. This allows owners to make a more informed decision when feeding. However, a true hypoallergenic diet does not exist, because what classes as a hypoallergenic diet will vary between animals. All food is antigenic, as it is foreign to the body, thus a diet can only be truly hypoallergenic if the animal has never been exposed to the food components (2). A hypoallergic diet should avoid use of additives, which can cause intolerance responses in dogs and cats.
Why Raw?
It is important to note that switching to raw will not be an immediate cure all, but it is an excellent place to begin.
Digestibility
Raw diets naturally have a high digestibility (~95%), which substantially reduces the potential of food antigens (proteins) binding to IgE antibodies, which decreases the threshold dose of allergens required to elicit symptoms (3). Effective digestion of proteins breaks them down into smaller peptides and individual amino acids, which are poor antigens, and less likely to elicit an immune response. On the other hand, inadequate protein digestion exposes larger molecules with antigenic properties, which are more likely to elicit an immune response (2). Food processing can have a negative impact on allergenicity and digestibility of a protein, as the structure of the protein is altered. The higher the temperature and duration of cooking, the more antigenic meat protein becomes.
Skin Support
Otitis is an inflammatory disease frequently seen in dogs, it can affect any part of the ear and is often triggered by adverse food reactions. Feeding puppies on raw, has been found to significantly reduce otitis incidence in adulthood (4), it has also been found to significantly reduce the likelihood of developing skin conditions (5). Raw diets are also advocated to avoid additives that can cause adverse reactions (6). Most reactions to additives themselves stem from food intolerances, rather than allergies (2).
Control
Finally, feeding raw food allows you much more control over what your pet is eating. There is usually a lower amount of ingredients present, and all ingredients are clearly stated.
References
- Sanderson, S. L. (2024) ‘Nutrition in Disease Management in Small Animals,’ MSD Veterinary Manual. Available at: https://www.msdvetmanual.com/management-and-nutrition/nutrition-small-animals/nutrition-in-disease-management-in-small-animals
- Verlinden, A. et al. (2006) ‘Food Allergy in Dogs and Cats: A Review,’ Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 46(3), 259-273. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/10408390591001117
- Untersmayr, E. and Jensen-Jarolim, E. (2008) ‘The role of protein digestibility and antacids on food allergy outcomes,’ The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 121(6), 1301-1308. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaci.2008.04.025
- Vuori, K. A. et al. (2023) ‘The Effect of Puppyhood and Adolescent Diet on the Incidence of Chronic Enteropathy in Dogs Later in Life,’ Scientific Reports, 13, 1830. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-27866-z
- Hemida, M.B.M. et al. (2020) ‘Puppyhood diet as a factor in the development of owner-reported allergy/atopy skin signs in adult dogs in Finland,’ Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 35, 2374-2383. Available at:
- Jackson, H. A. (2022) ‘Food allergy in dogs and cats; current perspectives in etiology, diagnosis and management,’ Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 261, 23-29. Available at: https://doi.org/10.2460/javma.22.12.0548
Lucy James, BSc (Hons) Bioveterinary Science
Looking to enhance your pet’s diet? Take a look at Cotswold RAW’s range of raw dog food and raw cat food, including raw meaty bones, dried treats, and puppy food.