Does your furry friend have a food allergy? Find out signs you can look for and how you can treat it.

What is a food allergy?

Most people know someone who is allergic to certain foods, such as strawberries or nuts.

“Food allergy is one of the five most common allergies or hypersensitivities known to affect dogs.”

Food allergy is one of the five most common allergies or hypersensitivities known to affect dogs. In a pet with an allergy, the immune system overreacts and produces antibodies to substances that it would normally tolerate. This excessive response is termed an allergic or hypersensitivity reaction.

Many dogs will occasionally “react” to something they ate. This represents a food intolerance, or a sensitivity to a particular type of food, causing a mild gastrointestinal upset, rather than a true allergic reaction. In an allergic reaction to a food, antibodies are produced against some part of the food, usually a protein or complex carbohydrate. Since antibody production is required for an allergy to develop, food allergies usually manifest after prolonged exposure to one brand, type or form of food.

See more information about food allergies in dogs here »

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