Food trials for allergies and sensitivities

The food trial is a diagnostic test, just like a blood test or skin scraping. The difference between a food trial and other tests is that it is carried out over a longer period of time, and in your own home. You, the owner, are responsible for making sure that the test is carried out properly so that the results are as useful as possible.

In a nutshell, we will put your pet on a new diet, which must be strictly adhered to for a period of 10-12 weeks. During the trial he is to get NO other food. More about this later

We are doing this food trial because there is a possibility that your pet has a food allergy or food intolerance. The goal of the food trial is to "clean up" his system and get rid of all of the effects of previously fed diets, giving us a clean start with a food to which he should not be reactive. Ultimately we hope that this also clears up the dermatitis and itching or the gastrointestinal signs.

The food selected for a food trial may be novel ingredients or truly hypoallergenic foods. There are prescription "limited antigen" diets that have unusual protein sources, and only one type. They may also have single carbohydrate sources. Examples of this might be fish and potato, or venison, or a vegetarian food. These diets are only useful if the animal has never had those ingredients before. Obviously feeding a fish and potato diet to a pet that has had fish in the diet for many years doesn't make a lot of sense.

There are several prescription diets that are theoretically truly hypoallergenic. These diets are made from proteins that have been broken down (hydrolyzed) into small segments that the body cannot recognize as being allergens. The base protein is usually chicken or soy, but because the protein is hydrolyzed they should be hypoallergenic even to pets with chicken or soy allergies.

The choice of diet depends on your pet's previous diet history, including maintenance diet, snacks, chews, and people food. In some animals, especially dogs who are fed table scraps, it is easiest to go right to a hypoallergenic food rather than trying to determine which obscure ingredient might be safe to feed.

Cats might do better on a home-cooked trial with controlled ingredients. They are more finicky eaters than dogs, in general, and are much easier to prepare for simply because they don't eat as much. Another option for cats is jarred baby food. If a commercial hypoallergenic diet is fed, keep in mind that most cats do better on the canned formulations than dry. We don't know why this is, but it is a phenomenon noted by many veterinary dermatologists. A vegetarian diet is not a good idea for cats; they are obligate carnivores and will develop serious nutritional deficiencies if they do not get meat.

The important thing in an elimination food trial is to do it once, do it right so that there is no question as to whether it was helpful, and then to return to an appropriate commercial diet. This commercial diet may or may not be what yourpet was eating before we started the food trial.

In order to maximize the information that the food trial gives us, and to make all of the effort worthwhile, you will need to follow a few simple rules.

1. Introduce the diet gradually over a 7 day period to avoid an abrupt food change that might cause diarrhea.

2. Mix in the new diet