Dog Allergies Research Paper

Words: 591
Pages: 3

There are a couple of things to look for when trying to decide if your dog's allergies are caused by food, or something else. 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
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Removing the recently introduced new food should take care of this problem. Adding only one new food at a time over a period of many weeks will help define which foods your dog can tolerate. If your dog's allergies suddenly start even though no new foods have been introduced, then it may become more difficult to find the cause of the allergy.

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 fed a chicken based dog food, then you can try another protein based kibble. Many foods for dogs with allergies are completely grain free, because grains are a known allergy causing ingredient for many