Pets can be allergic to certain ingredients in their food. With companies trying to keep costs down and substituting cheaper ingredients the probability that an allergy could be triggered for your dog or cat has probably increased.

Sometimes a food allergy can come from something besides their commercial pet food. There was a case where a dog was suffering from low energy, a chronic cough, and a yellow discharge from his nose. The holistic vet took the dog off commercial food and switched him to a natural dog food diet. The idea being to give the dog food it had never had before to make the allergy go away. The new diet worked but the dog was still having some problems. It turns out the owner was giving the dog its daily medication in a piece of cheese and the dog was allergic to cheese. Once the cheese was eliminated from the dogs diet, all the allergy symptoms disappeared.

Dogs and cats most common sign of an allergic reaction is itching and scratching. Any ingredient may cause allergies, with beef and soy protein causing the largest percentage of allergic reactions and treating allergies may take as long as two months. To help with the itching and scratching consider using a natural dog food or natural cat food product to reduce itching. Vets also recommend boosting your dog or cat’s immune system to help their bodies resist triggering an allergy. There are herbal remedies available for dog and cats to strengthen their immune system. Common ingredients are dandelion, yellow dock, burdock and goldenseal

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