Best Treats For Dogs With Allergies

Allergies are increasing in canines, and food allergies are the third most common culprit. If your canine companion has food allergies, you may have a difficult time creating a treat that is nutritious, tasty, and eclectic. In this article, we will suggest you some best treats for dogs with allergies.

Before choosing best treats for your allergic dog, you should check whether your dog suffering from Food Allergy or Food Intolerance. These are considered two different issues. A food allergy occurs when immune system of a dog mistakenly identifies a particular food ingredient as harmful and then creates some defensive antibodies to fight the invading enemy (in this case food).

On the other hand, food intolerance is a digestive problem rather than an immune response. It can occur when the digestive system of dog is unable to digest a specific food ingredient. For instance, lactose intolerance is a common condition of food intolerance in which dogs are unable to break down lactose (a sugar found in milk).

Usually, hypoallergenic dog foods are made with:

• Limited ingredients
• Novel ingredients
• Hypoallergenic recipes

Limited ingredients– Hypoallergenic dog foods contain limited ingredients because they do contain fewer components. Further, limited ingredients can make the dog food easier to pin down the suspected allergen to which your dog might be allergic. If a food contains only 3 or 4 ingredients, you can fairly easily conduct food trials with your pooch, but if food has 20 or more ingredients, it will be quite difficult or almost impossible to identify the allergen. Several high-quality limited-ingredient foods are available in the market. You can check your local independent pet store for the widest variety of limited ingredient foods.

Novel ingredients- Novel ingredients in dog food contain components, which you dog might not have been previously exposed to. Therefore, your dog is less likely to be sensitive to these novel ingredients. Generally, these dog foods contain relatively obscure ingredients such as pheasant, buffalo, kangaroo or millet.

Hypoallergenic recipes– Hypoallergenic recipes avoid the use of ingredients most likely to provoke an allergic reaction. These recipes may include beef, dairy, chicken, lamb, fish, corn, wheat, soy and yeast. Surprisingly, dogs are not naturally allergic to many of these food items. Therefore, these ingredients are most commonly used in dog food recipes.

Commercial dog foods, even optimum-quality dog foods, must have some added preservatives to remain stable on the shelf. If you cannot find a commercial dog food that alleviates your pooch’s food allergy, you can consider a home-cooked or raw diet. It may take more time to prepare, but it may actually be less expensive than the high-quality canned or kibble food.