Best Food for Dogs with Allergies

Perusing your local pet food store for the best food for dogs with allergies? Our South Charlotte vets explain how to know whether your dog could have a food allergy and which food might work best for them. 

What are food allergies?

To learn what the best dog food for dogs with allergies is, we should first understand food allergies and how they can impact your pup.

Though allergies, intolerances and hypersensitivities may cause similar issues, they can be challenging to tell apart without a vet’s help.

Dog owners may only learn that their furry companion is allergic to a particular food after they’ve started exhibiting symptoms due to being exposed to an allergen.

While hypersensitivities and allergies both involve an immunologic reaction to food, immune symptoms and intolerances aren’t connected.

Depending on the severity of the allergy and the person, people may experience serious or fatal allergic reactions. But in dogs, these food allergies most often appear as an itch. If your dog has a food allergy, he or she may experience other unpleasant symptoms, such as:

• Chronic ear infections
• Vomiting
• Red or inflamed skin
• Itchiness that causes your dog to scratch or bite their paws, ears or skin
• Diarrhea
• Gassiness
• Skin scabs or rashes

Though any number of ingredients can cause food allergies in dogs, some of the more well-known ones are beef, dairy, chicken, eggs and wheat.

If a physical exam at your veterinarian’s office leads to a diagnosis of a food allergy, you do have some options - in the form of special foods developed especially for dogs with allergies.

The Best Dog Foods for Dogs with Allergies

Overall: Taste of the Wild Grain-Free Premium Dry Dog Food Pacific Stream Adult - Salmon

The fish oil in this recipe should calm Fido’s skin and stomach while the omega fatty acids help keep his fur shiny and smooth. The smoked salmon is a delicious addition to satisfy his cravings. Bonus: This recipe is egg-free.

Other meals in Wellness’s Simple line include lamb, duck and salmon-based recipes.

Grain-Free: Brothers Complete Advanced Allergy Lamb Meal and Egg

Featuring dried whole eggs, lamb and turkey meals, peas and cassava root, this limited ingredient grain-free recipe will satisfy cravings of adults and puppies at all stages, while keeping their diet balanced.

Vegetarian: Purina Pro Plan Hydrolyzed Veterinary Diet

Purina Pro Plan’s Hydrolyzed diet’s hypoallergenic formula will please dogs with sensitivities, as its single carbohydrate source and soy (the hydrolyzed protein) breaks down into smaller components to aid digestion. You can only get this food with a prescription, so ask your vet if a hydrolyzed protein is right for your dog.

Do you think your dog may have a food allergy? Our South Charlotte veterinarians have experience in diagnosing and treating food allergies in pets. Contact us at Sharon Lakes Animal Hospital to book an appointment today.