Pet Health Guide - Allergies

Let food be your first medicine (Hippocrates 460-377 BC)

Nutritional Wellness & Food Allergies

Did you know that food allergies account for more than half of the visits to the veterinarian. Many of these food allergy symptoms are due to a sensitivity or intolerance to some components in the diet. The old saying “you are what you eat” is never more true than for pets that are constantly itching, scratching, or biting at themselves.

It is widely accepted in the veterinary community that nutrition plays a fundamental role in the prevention and treatment of not just food allergies but also other disease processes. What can be done? Well the answer lies in treating the pet as well as the disease. This may be as simple as changing the diet and adding some key nutritional supplements.

Simply changing dog food brands, proteins or flavors does little to solve a food allergy on its own. Because diet formulations are tricky to negotiate without your pet having a food allergy, an appreciation for what goes into dog or cat food is necessary in order to decide which food may or may not be best for your pet. Even today, many diet formulations sold by unsuspecting veterinarians contain those very ingredients that cause food allergy dermatitis.

A word of caution that not all favorable outcomes are achievable with natural therapies alone. Some food allergy conditions require extensive therapeutics and ongoing veterinary oversight. Your primary care veterinarian’s prescriptions are never countermanded with our recommendations, but instead integrated to hopefully result in a successful therapeutic outcome.

Our focus here with nutritional wellness is to incorporate an “integrated” approach towards food allergies combining:

• Nutritional Therapies
• Nutraceutical Therapies

Digestive Tract Function

A healthy gastrointestinal tract (GIT) functions efficiently to facilitate the specialized mechanism of digestion and to serve as a defensive mucosal barrier. This defensive mucosal barrier absorbs needed nutrients while excluding toxins, pathogenic organisms and protein antigens that predispose animals to food allergies. In essence, the lining of the small intestine serves as a filtration mechanism with a very specialized function of allowing or rejecting certain food components from entering into the body.

Knowledge of this protective mucosal barrier; how it functions and what sequences or factors contribute to it’s dysfunction will demonstrate how dogs and cats become predisposed to food allergies.

The protective intestinal mucosal barrier is composed of 4 layers that mechanically prohibit the absorption of toxins and food antigens when healthy.

The first layer consists of a mucous material that is dependant upon the liver for production. Therefore, if the liver is challenged by disease or adverse medication, the mucosal layer will be affected.

The second layer is composed of beneficial bacteria (Lactobacillus) species that are intertwined in the first mucosal layer to prevent harmful (pathogenic) bacteria from entering into the body.

The third layer is comprised of an anatomical barrier of tissue that mechanically prevents unwanted compounds from entering into the body.

The fourth layer is composed of the immune system. Here, a protective layer that recognizes harmful elements and compounds initiates the immune system to remove these noxious substances before they have the opportunity to negatively affect the body.

Animals whose protective mucosal barrier is damaged and that exhibit food allergy symptoms are said to have a “leaky gut” syndrome. Leaky gut syndrome is the loss of the bowel’s protective mucosal barrier either in part or as a whole. Leaky gut syndrome is often caused by:

• Corticosteroids (long term use)
• NSAID’s
• Stomach Antacids, Pepcid, Tagamet
• Certain Antibiotics
• Bacterial Infections
• Immuno-suppressed or Protein Deficient Animals

These are some of the factors that cause a disruption to the barrier function of the bowel. Eventually this allows harmful food antigens and pathogens to enter into the immune system and cause the reactive symptoms and physical signs we associate with food allergies, sensitivities and intolerances.

Repairing the “Leaky Gut”

The approach used by veterinarians today to reinstate a healthy GIT that functions to remove harmful or irritating food antigens was developed by a medical team from Gig Harbor, Washington. It is referred to as the “4-R Program”.

Remove food pathogens that are commonly associated with food allergies. The formula to remember is no wheat-no corn-no soy . This includes treats, supplements and unnecessary medications because they often contain meat proteins for palatability.

Replace deficient pancreatic enzymes and digestive enzymes that are necessary to break down food materials and maintain healthy bowel function.

Repair the lining of the GIT mucosal barrier. The amino acid L-glutamine has been found to reduce harmful bacteria and allow for the repair of healthy bacteria in the GIT. Omega-3 fatty acids (marine origin) are critical to the repair of the mucosal layer damaged by poor diets, disease or stress. The initial dosage of 180 mg/ 10 lbs/day is recommended. Also, a fiber supplement, vetasyl, along with Vitamin B-5 and zinc are beneficial in repairing the mucosal layer of the GIT.

Reinoculate with high levels of probiotics. These bacteria flora are extremely important to the health of the GIT’S mucosal layer.

Nutritional Therapies

If you have a food allergy report for your pet—great. You know what is safe to feed and what needs to be eliminated. If you don’t, there are still some fundamental measures you can take to reduce and eliminate those food ingredients that predispose most dogs and cats to food allergies.

The goal of any hypoallergenic diet is to keep it simple. This means limiting diet ingredients that can potentate or perpetuates an allergic outbreak. It is important to understand that even minor deviations from a limited antigen diet can lead to a very quick reoccurrence of allergic symptoms. Therefore, snacks, treats, dietary supplements and flavored medications may contain allergens and need to be removed from the diet.

Proteins are the most common cause of food sensitivity. While some animals may be allergic to the proteins contained in certain meats, others are sensitive to the proteins contained in grains. The reason for this select response against a specific protein is not fully understood. However, highly digestible proteins are completely digested to free amino acids and smaller peptides which have less potential to elicit an allergic response.

Here are some ingredients commonly added to pet foods that should be avoided.

Wheat - The #1 cause of food allergies in dogs. Itching, scratching, redness, loss of hair are all signs of a wheat allergy. Wheat is known to contain mycotoxins which can cause weight loss, diarrhea, and liver damage. This consists of the entire kernel which may be milled into flour, bran, or wheat mill run.

Soy - The #2 cause of food allergies in dogs. Soy beans are mechanically extracted to remove oils for human consumption. This leaves behind a by-product of “nitrogen filler” which is used as a cheap source of protein in many pet foods. Remember, protein analysis in pet food labels is only a measurement of the amount of nitrogen—not the quality of the protein.

Corn - The #3 cause of food allergies in dogs. Dogs often chew their lower backs, have swollen paws, and lick their paws excessively. Corn consists of the entire kernel, ground or chopped. Corn is a good source of carbohydrates, but unfortunately, a poor source of biological value in dogs.

Feeding Plan Considerations:

• Limit the protein source to a single source (chicken, fish, venison, duck, etc).
• Limit the carbohydrate source to a single grain (brown rice, red potato, balsamic rice).
• Ensure the diet is enriched with essential antioxidants, vitamins and minerals.
• Provide only distilled or filtered water.

The recommend period of time, before seeing positive results, from feeding a hypoallergenic diets is dependant upon age, sex, activity level, environment and extent of allergic symptoms. Most pet owner report visible improvement within 3-6 weeks.

Note: We have intentionally excluded the prescription diets from our list of hypoallergenic foods because they all contain some level or form of wheat, corn or soy.

Canine Commercial Hypo-Allergenic Diets

Feline Commercial Hypo-Allergenic Diets