Food Allergies are when the immune system overreacts to a food, usually a protein in the diet. This can cause a variety of symptoms that are associated with inflammation in the body. The clinical signs can be inflammation of the skin, intestines, eyes and/or respiratory system. Your pet could show one or more of any of these symptoms. An allergy food trial means eliminating anything that could trigger a reaction so we will often recommend an allergy food. Allergy foods are usually separated into two categories: Hydrolyzed protein or Novel protein. Hydrolyzed proteins are essentially proteins that are broken down so that while the body gets all the nutrients, but it doesn’t recognize it as an allergy trigger. Examples are Hill’s Z/D, Royal Canin Hypoallergenic or Purina HA Novel proteins are ones that the pet would usually not be exposed to so has not developed an allergy to such as Fish or venison or even kangaroo to name a few. Examples are Hill’s D/d, Royal Canin PD and Rayne Nutrition foods While allergy foods may also have different ingredients such as immune system boosters and skin and coat supplements avoiding the allergy triggers is the main purpose of the foods. Reach out to one of our staff if you would like any more information about allergies in dogs and cats.
