Dogs, much like their human owners, can have allergies to foods or inhalants. Dust mites, pollen and mold can cause dog allergies, but so can fleas or types of shampoo. An allergic reaction in dogs results in itching, skin irritation, severe dandruff, biting at hot spots and chronic ear infections. Treatment would depend on the type of allergy, and human antihistamines, such as Benadryl, can be given to dogs for temporary relief.
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Elimination Diet Trial
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Dogs are not born with food allergies, but can develop sensitivity to ingredients in dog food such as beef, pork, chicken, milk, whey, eggs, fish, corn, soy, wheat and preservative. Elimination diet trial is removing food that the dog was eating when the reaction occurred, and feeding it foods that the dog has not tasted before. The process can take weeks of feeding new foods and watching for reactions. If there is a positive for a food allergy, the pet owner would need to purchase commercial dry dog food without this ingredient for future feeding.
Homemade Diet Food
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Lamb, rabbit, kangaroo, whitefish, duck, venison rice, potato can be cooked and mixed together for a homemade diet food to be fed during the elimination trial. One part meat should be mixed with two parts of starch. No other food should be given, including dry dog food, snacks, dog biscuits or table scraps. Steroids and allergy medication should not be given during the trial, because the medication will hide allergy symptoms and reactions.
Intradermal Skin Testing
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Intradermal testing is required if the suspected allergen is not food-related. The allergy skin test is similar to human allergen testing, where substances are injected under the skin, and reactions are monitored. A veterinarian would shave a patch of dog's hair and inject a variety of allergen substances. During this period of testing the dog should not be on other treatments for weeks or months. When a positive reaction is noted a treatment is developed, where periodically the dog is injected with a low level of the allergen in an attempt to reduce slowly the pet's sensitivity to the allergen.
Serum-Based Tests
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Allergy detecting blood tests are becoming more popular, but can lead to several false positives. An allergy blood test works by measuring a specific immune substance, IgE, in the blood. A positive occurs when the IgE is significantly elevated in relation to a suspected allergic substance. A combination of blood work and intradermal testing is a good way to rule out false positives.
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