Today, we continue with the food allergies and intolerance in Cats from the previous post, http://careforpetsandanimals.blogspot.com/2011/11/how-to-know-food-allergies-and.html.
Food Trials and Elimination Diets
A food trial consists of feeding a cat a novel food source of protein and carbohydrate for 12 weeks. A novel food source would be a protein and carbohydrate that the animal had never eaten before. Examples would include duck and potato, or venison and potato. There are a number of such commercial diets available on the market.
In addition, there are specialized diets that have the proteins and carbohydrates broken down into such small molecular sizes that they no longer would trigger an allergic response. These are termed 'limited antigen' or 'hydrolyzed protein' diets. Homemade diets are often used, as the ingredients can be carefully restricted. Regardless of the diet used, it must be the only thing the animal eats for 12 weeks. This means no treats, no flavored medications; absolutely nothing but the special food and water. In addition, the cat should not be allowed to roam, which may result in him having access to food or garbage.
Visit the all pet supplies shop to get more information on food allergies and treatment guides for your pets today.
Veterinarians used to recommend that a pet only needed to be placed on a special diet for 3 weeks but new studies show that in dogs, only 26% of those with food allergies responded by day 21. However, the vast majority of the animals responded by 12 weeks. The same may be true in cats, therefore, it is very important to keep the cat on the diet for the entire 12 weeks.
If the cat shows a marked reduction or elimination of the symptoms, then the animal is placed back on the original food. This is called 'provocative testing' and is essential to confirm the diagnosis. If the symptoms return after going back on the original diet, the diagnosis of a food allergy is confirmed. If there has been no change in symptoms but a food allergy is still strongly suspected, then another food trial using a different novel food source could be tried.
Blood Testing
There is no evidence that blood tests are accurate for the diagnosis of food allergies. Veterinary dermatologists insist that there is no merit in these tests whatsoever in the diagnosis of food allergies. The only way to accurately diagnose food allergies is with a food trial as detailed above. While the intradermal skin testing is excellent for diagnosing atopy (inhalant allergies) it is ineffective for food allergies. While specialized blood tests can be used to help in the diagnosis of atopy, they have no benefit in diagnosing food allergies. In our review of all the current books and articles on veterinary dermatology and allergies, we could not find a single dermatologist that endorsed anything other than the food trial as an effective diagnostic aid. If you want to diagnose and treat food allergies you must do a food trial.
Treatment
The treatment for food allergies is avoidance. Once the offending ingredients have been identified through a food trial, then they are eliminated from the diet. Short-term relief may be gained with fatty acids, antihistamines, and steroids, but elimination of the products from the diet is the only long-term solution. The owner of the animal has two choices. They can choose to feed the animal a special commercially prepared diet or a homemade diet.
Visit the all pet supplies shop to get more information on food allergies and treatment guides for your pets today.
If the owner chooses to feed the homemade diet, then they can periodically challenge the pet with new ingredients and determine which ingredients are causing the food allergy. For example, if the animal's symptoms subsided on a diet of rabbit and potatoes, then the owner could add chicken to the diet for two weeks. If the animal showed no symptoms, then they could then add beef for two weeks. If the animal began to show symptoms, then it could be assumed that beef was one of the things the pet was allergic to. The beef could be withdrawn and after the symptoms cleared up, a different ingredient could be added and so on, until all of the offending ingredients were identified. A diet could then be formulated that was free of the offending food sources.
If homemade diets are used, it is essential that they be balanced, with correct amount of ingredients, vitamins, and minerals. Homemade diets for such long term use should be developed by a veterinary nutritionist.
Be aware that some pets with food allergies may develop allergies to new foods if they are fed those foods long enough. If you see signs of food allergies returning, consult your veterinarian. (Courtesy - Veterinary Services Department, Drs. Foster & Smith, Inc.)
Armed with this information, I hope you will now visit this pet store to get the right food for your cats and other pets at home.
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