How To Choose The Right Hypoallergenic Dog Food
Check With Vet
Always consult your vet when considering switching diet for your dog, and if they believe your mutt is prone to allergies, they should be able to steer you in the right direction.
Choose Single and Novel Protein Sources
Dogs are most commonly allergic to certain types of meat, so try and avoid products which mix several in one recipe. Choosing novel proteins that dogs aren’t often exposed too will also limit chances of a reaction.
Hydrolysed Protein Diet
Free from lean sources of meat, this form of kibble uses broken down molecules of carbs and proteins to avoid immunogenic detection by immune system cells, thus, not triggering any allergic reactions.
Free From Artificial Ingredients
Nasty junk like fillers and preservatives are often found in standard dog foods, and it may well be these that are making your canine poorly.
Common Dietary Allergens For Dogs: What To Avoid
Believe it or not, the most common allergens and food intolerances for pups are usually certain types of meat and fish! But as protein is so important in doggy diets, it can often be hard to avoid meat sources in food, as well as identify which meat might actually be causing the issue.
The most common allergy-inducing meats are:
- Beef
- Chicken
- Lamb
- Fish
- Pork
Common allergens that are not meat-based are usually:
- Corn
- Wheat
- Soy
- Yeast
- Dairy
Avoiding all these ingredients can cause a mighty headache, so if you’re unsure what it is your dog is allergic too, don’t waste your time reading through every brand’s ingredients list.
Instead, choose hypoallergenic foods described as having hydrolysed ingredients. These won’t feature a meat source or natural ingredients, and instead, focus on being as least allergen-inducing as possible.
Types of Hypoallergenic Dog Food
Limited Ingredient Formulas/ Standard Hypoallergenic Food
Truthfully, these sorts of hypoallergenic food aren’t allergen-free for every pup.
e.g. As the most common allergens in dogs occur from meat products, a canine who is sensitive to chicken is technically not going to thrive on a ‘hypoallergenic’ chicken dish.
However these recipes do limit their overall ingredients, and so it’s easier to spot something your dog is sensitive too if it’s included.
These sorts of foods tend to focus more on removing things like dairy, wheat, soy and other less common allergens.
Novel Protein
These recipes take the idea that the most common allergens are meat-based and so use a protein source which is rare or unusual, and so therefore unlikely to have a negative effect on your mutt.
These are often things like venison, rabbit, duck and turkey.
They will then be paired with one single source of carbohydrate, keeping the ingredient list small and limiting the chance of a reaction.
Hydrolysed Protein
These are the best foods to use for when trying to actually determine whether your dog is suffering from food allergies, as they aim to limit all reactions. Hydrolyzed protein diets break protein and carbohydrate molecules down into smaller sizes that are easily digested and so avoid immunogenic detection by immune system cells.
