Diseases of pets >>>> Food allergies in cats and dogs
Food allergies in cats and dogs.
Food allergies are not uncommon in cats and dogs, given that preservatives, colorants, thickeners and other extraneous ingredients can be added to animal foods to improve the appearance and consistency of animal food.
Like humans, a cat or dog, a hamster or a bird may have a genetic predisposition to allergies. In this case, the animal can consume food for a long time, but not experience any troubles. But at one point, the immune system will react to allergy triggers.
Signs of food allergies in cats and dogs:
- itching and scratching,
- hair loss,
- ear itching,
- inflammatory signs on the skin under the pet's fur and on the mucous membranes of the mouth, auricle,
- anal itching,
- upset stool (diarrhea),
- bloated belly (flatulence),
- vomit,
- cramps or breathing problems are sometimes possible.
How to treat food allergies in cats and dogs? If the allergic reaction has taken on life-threatening manifestations, then the animal is given a desensitizing agent (antihistamine, antiallergic).
In case of food allergy, which proceeds without a threat to life, the dog's diet is changed, thus trying to identify the allergenic component of the food. Considering that almost any familiar type of meat, dairy products, eggs, vegetables and fruits, wheat can act as an allergen, they are looking for substitutes for more exotic food that the animal has never tried. Provided that a change in diet leads to the subsidence and disappearance of allergy symptoms, they spend several weeks eating new products, then they switch back to their usual diet, but they already control its composition and monitor whether the allergic reaction will appear again.
In this way, it is revealed which foods or feeds are causing food allergies.
If the search for exotic meat, fish and other food components is difficult, and the composition of the feed is known approximately, then the way out can be to cook food for the pet yourself, taking into account potentially possible allergenic foods and removing them from the diet. Homemade food has great advantages over store-bought food, as it is prepared without chemical additives.
Sometimes a raw food diet is practiced, but for an allergic reaction, in principle, it does not matter whether the allergen is prepared (heat-treated) or consumed raw.
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