Elimination Diet Dog Cat

V wrestles with dogs cats and emotions in the drama of life in a small animal vet clinic.

Elimination diet dog cat.

When providing an elimination diet the preference goes to a self prepared diet. In the case of a food allergy within a few weeks on the new diet your cat rsquo s symptoms will disappear. An elimination diet is used to test for food allergies. Things to keep in mind keep in mind that sometimes itchy skin and other problems can be related to the environment and are not in fact directly related to diet at all.

And a cat with a food allergy looks just like one with environmental allergies and might in fact have both. Two years ago my then 7 year old cat apollo strolled by plopped on the floor and revealed that he had big patches of fur missing on his thighs. Shawn messonnier s the allergy solution for. Your veterinarian can help you choose foods that are not eaten currently by your cat.

A food allergy is an overreaction of your cat s immune system to one or more ingredients in the food. Ingredients may cause food allergy. This article explains what food allergies are and how elimination diets work. Often an elimination diet will involve changing what your cat eats to bland food made at home or a hypoallergenic commercial product.

The symptoms of food allergy are identical to the symptoms of other allergies housedust mold pollen flea bites other insect bites etc dogs with bacterial skin infections fungal infections mange mites and a long list of other problems also can have the same symptoms as a dog that has food allergy. Food allergy diagnosis by feeding an elimination diet for dogs. The elimination diet is often difficult for pet owners to perform on their dogs but without following these very strict guidelines it will be impossible to determine what the dog is reacting to. Currently the only way to diagnose a food allergy is using an elimination diet trial.

Donald strombeck s home prepared dog and cat diets. The healthful alternative dr. An elimination diet also makes it possible to assess which dietary component causes the adverse reaction and can help to keep your cat free of symptoms. When preparing the diet yourself you know exactly what you are feeding your cat.

Ensuring the dog has no access to the cat s food or the litter box or any offending ingredients outside is also important. Tried and true elimination diet plans that are easy to follow can be found in dr. Today she shares her experiences with pet food allergies and explains what an elimination diet is. Martin goldstein s the nature of animal healing dr.

Some dogs are intolerant of ingredients like eggs alfalfa and flaxseed so these may be best left until later in the elimination diet period.