Instructions
Watch your pet for signs of distress. For dogs, this may include holding its head cocked to one side, scratching at its ears, biting at its skin, or whimpering when its ears are touched. Inspect your pet for an ear infection or a skin rash. Small pustules will appear on the skin and the pet will bite, lick or scratch at the tiny pustules. Cats will exhibit behaviors excessive licking and biting at its feet, scratching about the head and neck, and swelling of the lips. Many times, the cat will scratch itself until it bleeds, causing massive sores that are alarming to see and difficult to treat.
Inspect the animal's coat for signs of alopecia, or balding. Hair loss is common in animals with food allergies. Cats will scratch and lick the area of inflammation until the area is almost or fully devoid of fur. Dogs will do likewise. It could be a food allergy or a flea or other type of allergy, such as an environmental allergy -- a reaction to chemicals used on your lawn, weeds or grasses, or insects other than fleas.
Remove foods one at a time from your dog's or cat's diet to see if symptoms improve. Foods that are known to be high in allergens are beef, wheat, soy, corn and certain preservatives, advises the K9Web site. The process of elimination begins with putting your companion animal on a commercially prepared hypoallergenic food (see Resources). It will take time and persistence to make a determination as to what is causing ear infections and skin inflammation so don't rush the process.
How to Tell if Your Pet Has a Food Allergy
If you have a dog with long, floppy ears, you have probably dealt with an ear infection at one time or another. Long, floppy ears make a hospitable place for yeast, or Candida, to grow in your dog's ears because they cover the outer ear. This causes the ear to become a dark, warm and moist place. Felines, too, experience food allergies, but instead of ear infections, they get dermatitis symptoms on their lips, feet and neck areas. It's difficult to understand the correlation, but it's possible that the food your companion animal is eating could be causing the yeast or skin problems. There are some telltale signs of a food allergy that you can watch to help your pet be more comfortable.