Pet Food and Pet Sensitivities and Allergies

Pet Food and Pet Sensitivities:

As a reflection of the trend among humans that is approximated at 45% of the population, an estimated 10% of pets suffer from food intolerances. However, unlike popular belief, food intolerance is usually linked with the food that is commonly eaten. In most cases, pets tend to be allergic to beef and wheat as well as other common allergens like milk, soya, pork, maize, fish, and chicken. Food sensitivities can be described as the term that is used to broadly explain the different physiological reactions with certain foods or compound with a series of foods. On the other hand, food allergies are sensitivities originating from the reaction of a body's immune system to certain proteins in a food. Generally, an actual food allergy causes a response from the immune system that has significant negative impacts on various organs in the body.

For pet-owners, identifying dietary intolerance in the pet is usually a difficult process since recurring signs are often passed off as minor diseases like diarrhea, eczema, lethargy, and dermatitis ("Pet Food Intolerance and Allergy," 2008). These common signs are difficult to attribute to diet alone since they are likely to be caused by various other disease processes. Therefore, the diagnosis and treatment of food intolerance takes a long period and can be a costly initiative for pet-owners.

Food allergies account for approximately 10% of allergies seen in many pets such as dogs. As the third common cause following flea bite allergies and atopy, food allergies basically contribute to 20% of the itching and scratching in pets. Since they have the potential of affecting many pets, especially dogs and cats, many pets with these allergies tend to exhibit symptoms of contact allergies or concurrent inhalant. In addition to affecting both the male and female pets, food allergies can occur between five months and 12 years of age. The main difference between food allergies and food intolerance is that true allergies exhibit characteristic symptoms of skin and itching problems.

According to the findings of various studies, the major causes of food allergies are some ingredients that are likely to contribute to the illness than others. The most common cause of food allergies in pets like dogs include wheat, chicken, beef, corn, soy, fish, and dairy products ("Food Allergies and Food Intolerance," n.d.). Notably, the major cause of food allergies in pets are the most common ingredients in pet foods. While many proteins are similar in form, some of them are slightly more antigenic than others. Therefore, the possibility of allergic reactions is usually associated with the amount of exposure to these proteins. Food allergens are nearly completely between medium-size and large proteins that are partially resistant to digestion and heat and are not broken the gastrointestinal tract.

While the extent with which food allergies occur is largely unknown because of the lack of knowledge about the number of pets with food allergies, veterinary literature has often cited several numbers. According to veterinary dermatologists, severe food reactions account for approximately 6% of all skin diseases whereas food is the cause of nearly 20% of allergic reactions in pets.