Recommended Food For Dog With Allergies

by M. King
(Ft. Worth, TX, USA )

Reader Question: What Is The Best Dog Food For A Canine That Has Allergies?

What is the best food to feed a dog that has had many mast cell tumors removed due to allergies? Now it seems the food that I make for him is causing him to have bladder problems. If I treat one, I irritate the other, it seems.

Veterinarian Answers Reader Question Regarding A Recommended Canine Diet

Hi,

Recommending a “best” food for a particular patient is difficult without having the results of a thorough history (e.g., I’d need to know exactly what type of bladder problems your dog is having) and recent physical exam. I can make some general points, however.

If your dog has been diagnosed with a food allergy, you obviously need to avoid the ingredients to which he is allergic. If his allergies are all environmental in origin (e.g., to pollen), no such ingredient restrictions are necessary.

Diets that are relatively high in protein and fat and low in carbohydrates tend to be best for dogs that have cancer, and supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids is also beneficial. Anecdotally, some owners have had good results feeding their pets home prepared diets, but with your dog’s potentially conflicting health concerns, you would certainly want input from a veterinary nutritionist before proceeding in this direction. The website BalanceIt.com and Petdiets.com are easy ways for owners to acquire recipes designed by a veterinary nutritionist that take into account their pet’s specific needs. Certainly involve your veterinarian in the process so that all the relevant information gets passed along.

Good luck,

Jennifer Coates, DVM