If you recently witnessed some abnormality with your pet and wondered if the allergic reactions result from food, read on to find out more. Dogs are prone to allergic reactions, especially food containing chicken or those rich in proteins.
Chicken is a common ingredient in most dog foods, so it is appropriate to suspect an allergic reaction when your dog develops allergy-like symptoms. When your pet experiences this, it is advisable to check their diet to establish what could be causing the allergy.
Causes of Chicken Allergies in Dogs
You might be wondering, how can my dog be allergic to chicken, yet it has been feeding on chicken for quite a while now?
Dogs can develop this reaction over time when their bodies start identifying chicken as something dangerous to their system and thus resulting in an adverse reaction. It is prudent to keep monitoring how your dog reacts to chicken meals from time to time to mitigate any reactions before they become severe.
The allergic reactions can be detrimental if the dog continues to feed on chicken food, which worsens with time if not identified and remedied early. Dogs can be genetically susceptible to being allergic to chicken, but others develop intolerance to it along the way.
Symptoms of Chicken Allergies
For your dog to be intolerant to chicken, you must have exposed your pet to chicken food more than once. Continuous feeding with offending food contributes to resistance build-up, and the result can be easy to identify from how the dogs react. Please watch out for the following symptoms to ascertain that your dog is indeed allergic to chicken.
Vomiting or Diarrhea
Since chicken food upsets the dog’s body and digestive system, it is common to witness your dog vomiting or experiencing diarrhea when it consumes chicken. Gastrointestinal problems are a sign that your dog does not respond positively to the food.
Itching and Scratching
Consumption of unwanted food or hostile chicken food by your dog is likely to compel the body to resist. Such resistance can be seen by excessive scratching, which can lead to bleeding and loss of hair. The dog will consistently scratch its skin because of itchiness that causes a lot of discomforts.
Unfortunately, chicken allergy in dogs is becoming more common. Therefore, when you start witnessing a lot of scratching from your dog around the ears, feet, face, or back, it is very likely to be an allergic reaction to chicken.
Ear Inflammation
Excessive scratching can lead to swelling of the dog’s ears and subsequently some redness and even minimal bleeding. This is another important symptom to look out for when you suspect your dog is allergic to chicken.
Skin Injuries
Skin injuries result from scratching; when your dog irritates its skin consistently, it eventually injures it. Skin injuries can be expressed in either bleeding, shading off hair, and any infections that may arise due to skin exposure to pathogens.
How to Respond
It is normal to panic when your pet is not doing well, especially with an allergic reaction. Calling your vet is the most prudent thing to do at this point. It is vital to consult with your vet on what might cause your dog’s allergic reaction. If the vet establishes or suspects chicken as the cause after a thorough analysis of your dog’s food, appropriate measures will be taken to solve the problem.
Suspending chicken food from your dog’s meal is the first step to addressing the issue. In the case that your dog’s health improves and the allergic reactions stop, then you would have found a culprit causing your dog’s allergies.
It is necessary to reintroduce chicken food again at this point; if the reactions reoccur, then taking your dog off chicken food indefinitely will be the appropriate remedy. Subsequently, feeding your dog vet recommended food or homemade meals will be ideal at this point to safeguard its wellbeing long-term.
