Myth #1: Poodles can\u2019t be allergic to foods that didn\u2019t previously give them problems.<\/strong><\/p>\nAu contraire.<\/p>\n
Indeed, one of the most surprising things about poodle food allergies is that do NOT typically occur in response to a new food item.\u00a0 Instead, food allergies develop over time. And that means that your poodle is likely to develop an allergy, sensitivity or intolerance to an ingredient he\u2019s been eating for a long time (sometimes years).<\/p>\n
I mention this because many folks say, \u201cmy poodle couldn\u2019t be allergic to wheat \u2013 he\u2019s been eating it for years!\u201d\u00a0 However, it\u2019s this repeated exposure over a long period of time that helps the food allergy develop (that and your poodle has a genetic predisposition to develop allergies).<\/p>\n
So that means that some of the ingredients that are most common in dog food tend to be food allergy culprits.\u00a0 These items include beef, chicken, eggs, soy, wheat, corn and other protein sources, grains and preservatives.<\/p>\n
For example, Eddie the mini poodle apparently has a chicken intolerance or allergy.\u00a0 He\u2019s been eating a chicken and rice formula dog food.\u00a0 A quick look at his treats reveals most of them have at least some chicken in them (even if they aren\u2019t chicken flavor). And sometimes I\u2019d put boiled chicken breast on top of his food.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s overexposure.\u00a0 You add that to a predisposition for food allergies, and you end up with a poodle who can no longer eat chicken.<\/p>\n
So the point is this: Chances are, if your poodle has a food allergy, she\u2019s probably allergic to something that she\u2019s been eating for weeks, months or even years.<\/p>\n
Myth #2: High-quality (expensive) dog food prevents poodle food allergies.<\/strong><\/p>\nI absolutely recommend that you feed your dog high quality food such as California Natural, Innova Evo, Wellness, Orijen, Taste of the Wild or another high quality dog food.<\/p>\n
Most of these foods eliminate preservatives (especially the scary ones that many cause cancer) as well other fillers and items that aren\u2019t that great for your dog.\u00a0 And that\u2019s a good thing.<\/p>\n
However, these high quality dog foods do NOT prevent allergies.\u00a0 If you\u2019re feeding your poodle a high quality lamb and rice formula and your dog has a predisposition to get food allergies, then he may eventually start showing allergy symptoms in response to the lamb (and possibly other ingredients in the food).<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the point: It\u2019s not the quality of the food that causes or prevents allergies, it\u2019s the INGREDIENTS in the food.\u00a0 If your poodle is allergic to chicken, then he\u2019ll be allergic to it no matter what the source \u2013 whether from a poor quality grocery store brand or a from a high quality dog food\u2026 or even from home cooked chicken.<\/p>\n
So, I recommend you feed your dog high quality foods. But don\u2019t kid yourself into thinking they\u2019ll prevent allergies.<\/p>\n
\n- TIP: You can rotate foods every few months to help limit exposure.\u00a0 That way your dog will be exposed to a variety of protein sources.\u00a0 Be sure to read the labels, though, since some foods dump a bunch of protein sources into one bag.\u00a0 You want to limit the sources so that you can rotate them.\u00a0 For example, maybe you\u2019ll do lamb and rice for a couple months.\u00a0 Then maybe you\u2019ll switch to a salmon formula.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Myth #3: Hypoallergenic diets alleviate allergy symptoms.<\/strong><\/p>\nMaybe.\u00a0 But sometimes \u201chypoallergenic\u201d is just a marketing term.<\/p>\n
You see, some hypoallergenic dog food is really just a limited ingredient dog food, such as duck and potatoes or rabbit and sweet potatoes.\u00a0 The maker is assuming that your poodle hasn\u2019t been exposed to these foods before, and thus the food won\u2019t create an allergic reaction.<\/p>\n
If that\u2019s true, then your poodle likely will do well on the foods.\u00a0 Indeed, if you\u2019re still trying to track down exactly what your poodle is allergic to, then a limited ingredient dog food might help with a diagnosis.<\/p>\n
However, you need to read labels.\u00a0 If your dog is allergic to rice and a \u201chypoallergenic\u201d food includes rice, then your poodle is going to be allergic to the food.<\/p>\n
NOTE: Possibly the only exception are the \u201canti allergen\u201d formulas put out as prescription diets (such as Hill\u2019s Science Diet Z\/D).\u00a0 Here the proteins are broken down in such a way that your poodle\u2019s body won\u2019t recognize them as an allergen and thus won\u2019t react.\u00a0 However, IMO these are low-quality foods.\u00a0 As such, use them as a tool or a transition step, but don\u2019t let your poodle eat these for the long term.<\/p>\n
—<\/p>\n
That\u2019s it for this time.\u00a0 Next time we\u2019ll continue to talk about reasons why your poodle is vomiting.<\/p>\n
By the way \u2013 if you happened to stumble on this post because your poodle is vomiting as you read this, call your vet.\u00a0 The call is free \u2013 and your vet can tell you whether you should come in ASAP or whether you can simply observe your poodle for a day or two.<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you\u2019ve been following along in this vomiting series, then you\u2019ve been reading about the different reasons your poodle may be vomiting, from ulcers to food allergies to dietary indiscretions to pancreatitis to Addison\u2019s disease…(and many more).\u00a0 We\u2019ll continue talking about these causes over the next few posts \u2013 but for now, I want to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5],"tags":[35,34,30,33],"class_list":["post-33","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poodle_health","category-poodle_nutrition","tag-dog-food-insensitivity","tag-poodle-food-allergies","tag-poodle-food-intolerance","tag-vomiting-poodle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/clubpoodle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/clubpoodle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/clubpoodle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/clubpoodle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/clubpoodle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/clubpoodle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35,"href":"http:\/\/clubpoodle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33\/revisions\/35"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/clubpoodle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/clubpoodle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/clubpoodle.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}