I Think My Pet Has Food Allergies! What Is The Best Answer?

This is an outline of dog foods, based on expense, for some varieties said to be acceptable for dogs with food allergies.

At the cheaper end of the market Chicken Soup dog food has a higher level of fruit and vegetable in their recipe including potatoes, carrots, peas, apples, tomatoes, blueberries, cranberries and spinach.

Avoderm is manufactured from avocados to promote healthy, glowing, beautiful skin and coat. Vegetarian options are also available.

The middle of the price range contains Eagle Pack’s Holistic Select, high protein meals with extra prebiotics, probiotics and antioxidants. The chicken used in this food is all natural and the fruits and vegetables are good enough for humans. The meal used for feeding the chickens is free from vegetables and fruits and of human grade.

Blue dog food or rather Blue Buffalo dog food bases its recipes on what humans eat, with high protein, whole grains, veggies and fruit. Because of their unusual ingredients such as sweet potato and brown rice, dogs are unlikely to have encountered these foods before, and therefore less likely to be allergic. Blue Buffalo dog food comes as dry and canned varieties (although some of their products were involved in a product recall in 2007).

Similarly, Pinacle’s Canine Holistic Allergen-free Formulas for dogs contain foods that dogs don’t have much exposure to, like trout and oats. Common foodstuffs that cause allergies such as wheat, beef, and corn are not found in Nature’s Recipe dog food. Innova makes EVO which is a high protein diet with veggies and raw fruit.

You will not find by-products such as wheat, corn, artificial flavors or colors, or chemical preservatives in Life’s Abundance dog food. Key ingredients are chicken meal, fish meal, carrots, apples, spinach, celery, alfalfa meal, ground brown rice, antioxidants, live probiotics and chelated minerals.

At the top end of the market the Abady dog food company make frozen raw diets for dogs containing fewer “nasties” such as soybeans, beet pulp etc. They make dry and canned formulas with quite a hefty price tag.

IVD dog food (now Royal Canin) make breed specific recipes and special need recipes like Royal Canin Veterinary Diet Canine Hypoallergenic HP 19 which is a lactose and wheat gluten free recipe.

Remember though, these recipes may be a quick fix. If you do suspect your dog has food allergies, you would be better off analyzing which foods are causing the problem and then feeding accordingly.

Your vet can provide advice if necessary, and if your dog is displaying symptoms of food allergies, it would be wise to get him checked over.