It's May and allergy season is in full effect for you and your pet. Many people do not realize that your dog and cat can get allergies at any time during their lives. By paying attention to your pet's ears, eyes, and itching habits you can pick up on the potential early signs of allergies. Although not every dog or cat has them, many people mistake allergies for other health issues. If your dog suffers from chronic ear infections or licking their paws, hot spots, eye tearing, you may want to think about allergies and how they can disrupt your dog's health.

There are two types of allergies your pet can have, environmental allergies or food allergies.

Environmental allergies are harder to control and can be from outdoor or indoor allergens. Environmental seasonal allergies can be determined if the pet is itching, has hot spots or is licking mostly during the spring, summer, fall. It is common that once winter hits the signs stop. These allergies can be relieved by feeding a grain free diet and you can speak to your vet about options if the itching is excessive. Fortunately, there are now some great herbal supplements that help alleviate these allergies.

Food allergies are most common due to an overexposure of the same ingredients. It can take years of eating the same food to develop a food allergy. The three most common food allergens to dogs and cats are Corn, Wheat and Soy. Why? Because most of the large commercial pet food companies use it as a filler to keep costs down. These are not only over-used ingredients and can cause allergies, but they are a poor source of protein and are taxing on the dog or cat's body. High carbohydrate diets are not biologically appropriate for a dog or cat and can cause long term health issues in some. It is very common that food allergies are caused by feeding a pet the same diet for long periods of time or never changing the diet. So what can we do to help or prevent allergies? Rotate the diet and avoid grains. We are adding fuel to the fire when we feed a grain based diet for an animal that is especially prone to or has allergies. Dogs or cats that have allergies can also have an overgrowth of yeast build up on the skin. This causes itchy paws, hot spots, smelly ears, etc. Grains feed yeast and can cause the skin to have an alkaline PH. Your pet should naturally have a more acidic PH skin. This will help ward off the yeast. By providing a grain free diet, you can help it go in that direction. It is the grains in the food that is more than likely what your pet is allergic too. We have seen great results just by eliminating the grains in the diet.

When you rotate your pets diet you are helping them to avoid allergies and build a better immune system.
If your pet's food allergies are caused by an overexposure of the same thing in food, than by rotating the diet you help to avoid them. Many people think they should never change their pet's food. We were all told that at one point in time, but the truth is that rotating has more benefits than harm. It is recommended to change the diet at least 2 to 3 times a year, some do more depending on their pet. Remember when introducing new food, mix in some of the old food for a couple of weeks to make the transition easier on them. When it comes to deciding to change to a grain free diet because you think your dog or cat may have allergies we recommend that you choose a unique protein source too. If your dog is used to having only chicken then chose rabbit or duck.

When you add a new protein and change to a grain free diet you will usually get a better result with an allergy pet.
Try incorporating a raw diet whenever possible to help balance the immune system and provide a more biologically appropriate diet. Talk to a vet if you think your pet may have allergies, but try changing the food and you may be able to correct the issue before it gets worse or even starts. The warmer weather should be a fun time with long walks with your dog and playtime outside. Don't let allergies take the fun out of the sun!