Allergies-Food or Environmental

The Healthy Bark

Today we will look at the differences between a food and an environmental allergy. Both can cause similar reaction however with a little detective work you can figure out which is the culprit. Each of these can seem like you will never get them under control, but it is possible as long as you stay on top of them.

First off I recommend you keep a log of what is going on. This will help in narrowing down which is the cause of this imbalance in your pet.

Food allergies may seem mild at first but as time goes in they can get so bad that you feel overwhelmed. With food allergies you need to look at the core of the problem...yes the food they were eating at the onset of it all.

If your pet was eating a poor quality diet this causes a lot of stress on the body, if you go back to thinking about the gut needing probiotics, real food, and a supported immune system than this all makes sense with the diet starting the chain of events.

Pets develop food allergies or sensitivities from the food not going through the digestive tract properly. The stress on the lower part of the tract from poor digestion starts the breakdown. When pets have loose stool or diarrhea constantly, this breaks down the lining in the intestinal tract. When this happens the food is no longer being filter before entering the body. This causes the body to think it is being attacked and sends out signals to combat the intruders. Over time the body can no longer fight against the intruders and decides it is allergic to them. When this happens you start seeing the allergic reactions we all think about. For people it is usually hives, in pets it can be a few things. Ears are usually the first sign of the allergy. Normally you will see it in one ear, left untreated, or continually fed the same diet, you will start to see it spread. Back to the chain reaction of ear to ear to body. By now your pet has been put on a prescription diet of questionable ingredients. Pets nor people were meant to eat food like stuff. Our bodies are meant to eat real food! One thing I am always telling people is rotate your pets food every three months, this can help stop food allergies by giving different ingredients to their pets. Yes I know you have heard do not change your pets diet, who do you think came up with this idea? Could it be the pet food companies? Pets like people are meant to eat a variety of foods not just one thing. Feeding a raw diet or homemade diet can give your pet a great rotation of foods.

Environmental allergies can be from anything they come in contact with on a daily basis. Yes that is a brood statement. This is where keeping a log of what is triggering these reactions comes in very handy. When you think of environmental allergies you think seasonal, which for some pets it can be, while others are allergic to the daily things.

So where do you start, the home is the first place. Did you change something in the house?

• A new cleaner? 
• New furniture or flooring?
•  Have the pest control people sprayed inside the house? 
• Changed your laundry soap?

Did something new happen outside?

• New sod or plants?
• Lawn treatment?
• Pest control?

Did they go to the Vets?

• Vaccines?
• New Medications?
• Flea or tick products?
• A shot that is time released? 

All of the above can be triggers to the onset to an environmental allergy. You really do have to play detective when it comes to this type of allergy, as no one thing is the answer as each pet is different. Once you narrow it down you than need to change that part of the pets environment. Most the time if you evaluate the above list you will see which is the cause.

Pets live their life below our knees, which makes everything that triggers an allergy at floor level if it is from the environment.  Keeping the floors vacuumed, swept, and mopped can help those pets that have these issues. Boosting the immune system is vital to helping them get through a specific time of year if they are having seasonal allergies.

If their allergy is triggered by over vaccination (which a lot of health problems are) or pest treatment, than you need to find alternatives such as natural ways of dealing with pest without chemicals, and learning about titer testing for a vaccine schedule.

Next week I will go in more detail on allergies and ways you can make their bodies stronger through a more natural way of living. There are numerous alternatives to dealing with the issues I brought up in this post.

**The picture is of one of the meals I would make my dogs-Poached eggs, red quinoa, chicken livers, crushed egg shells, broccoli. coconut oil, sardine oil, canine complete and spirulina. This was their Sunday morning meal.