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Wheat allergies in dogs & cats

Your furry best friend gets wheat allergies too.

Dogs and cats react to food allergies by generally suffering with skin and coat problems. Itchy, red, flaky skin, and a dull coat are common symptoms of food allergies, but it's not like your four-legged friend can tell you directly if a particular food is causing them a problems.

You, as a responsible pet owner, need to be aware of any changes to your pets health, and if in any doubt whatsoever take your furry housemate to a vet for formal diagnosis and treatment. Food allergies are treatable once your pet has been tested and found the food causing the problem.

So what symptoms should you be looking for to check if your dog, cat, or other furry friend has a wheat allergy:

  • Itchy skin
  • Shaking of the head
  • Ear inflammation
  • Licking front paws
  • Rubbing face on carpet
  • Vomiting
  • Diarrhoea
  • Gas
  • Sneezing
  • Asthma like symptoms
  • Anal itching
  • Behavioural changes
  • Seizures

Many pet owners never suspect that a wheat allergy could be the cause of their pets health problems, usually because the pet has been fed the same food all its life and the symptoms have only recently appeared. But dogs and cats are no different from humans in the respect that food allergies can develop over a period of time. Not every human suffering with a food allergy was born with it, and the same goes for our four-legged friends too.

Of course it's not just wheat that our pets can become allergic to, some of the other most common foods resulting in animal food allergies are corn, soya, preservatives, beef, pork, chicken, milk, eggs, fish.

What's the first step in diagnosing if your pet has a wheat allergy? Talk to your vet. They might suggest switching to a brand of pet food labelled 'hypo-allergenic' initially. Or they might put your pet on an exclusion diet to determine if food is the cause, and it's just as boring as the exclusion diets that humans have to go on.

IMPORTANT: BEFORE COMMENCING AN EXCLUSION DIET FOR YOUR PET YOU SHOULD GET YOUR VETS APPROVAL AND AN APPROVED SAFE DIET FROM THEM.

Following a wheat free diet is a tough health choice to make for humans, but for your four-legged friend, with your help, it should provide them with a more comfortable quality of life; especially with the medically approved pet foods for different health issues now available.

It's also something that you should never embark on alone without guidance, so always speak to your vet about your suspicions, and definitely before you put your pet on any form of exclusion diet.

IMPORTANT: The information on this page is not to be taken as medical advice for pets or humans. Please ensure that you discuss your pet health issues with a licensed veterinarian before undertaking any changes to their diet.