Raw food for dogs with allergies

No one likes seeing their dog itching away, and pet parents seek many ways for relief. While allergies in dogs can be caused by numerous environmental factors, like pollen, grass, and even dust or certain chemicals found in your home, sometimes the allergies are caused by what’s in a dog’s food. Dogs can have food sensitivity or intolerance too, causing other reactions like gastrointestinal issues or vomiting. Let’s discuss how raw may be the answer to your dogs allergies or food sensitivities.

Identifying the source of the allergy or food sensitivity

The advantage of feeding raw is the amount of control you have over the exact ingredients in your dog’s diet, making it easier to identify and eliminate the ingredients that upset your dog’s stomach or cause an allergic reaction. 

Many times dogs are given prescription food to mitigate an allergy or dietary issue, and still those are full of filler ingredients that don’t have any direct benefit to your dog’s health. For example, see below picture of Hill’s Prescription Diet Derm Complete ingredient list. The first ingredient is rice? The proteins are egg “product” and “hydrolyzed” chicken “flavor”? This amount of ingredients would make it hard to determine which one is causing your dog’s reaction.

Then, see Albright’s Complete’s Beef Recipe ingredients: plain, simple ingredients, making it easy to identify what’s working (or not).

Whether your dog is reacting to a specific type of protein or perhaps the additives in dry dog food, a raw diet can quickly help pet parents identify and adjust what goes in their dog’s bowl.

Boosting their immune system

Just like humans, dogs’ immune systems are more resilient when they have the proper nutrition supporting them. You feel and function better when eating whole foods like protein, fruits and vegetables, and you probably don’t feel as great when you’re eating Cheez-Its® and frozen pizza all day. Dry dog food is chalk full of processed ingredients, so your dog’s body has to work harder to use that food for good.

Renowned, holistic vet, Dr. Karen Becker said, “Rebalancing your pet’s immune system by offering natural, biologically appropriate wholesome foods is necessary to begin the road to recovery. Nutritional variety is not only the spice of life, it’s critical for a balanced and healthy immune response — and for keeping your pet allergy-free.”

It’s not a miracle cure

From our personal experience, raw didn’t completely absolve our dog’s allergies, but it helped. Ollie’s eyes are his trouble spot. They have discharge and look slightly inflamed some days. Through some experiments with different raw variations, we figured out the problem wasn’t his food; it was probably environmental. For example, his eyes flare up more right after the grass is mowed or when pollen counts are high. We’ve learned what human allergy medicines are safe for him and use them when needed. Specifically for eyes, our vet recommended Zaditor eye drops. Claritin and Zyrtec are safe options for dogs too. Check with your vet for the correct dosage for your dog’s weight.

While Ollie has been raw fed since he was a puppy, Penny started when she was two. Prior to a raw diet, her paws would get really irritated each time spring rolled around. She would gnaw at them until they were raw. She then started her raw diet in the fall of 2019, that following spring...no itchy paws! I don’t claim the diet to be the sole reason for her relief, but I think it armed her immune system to handle the shift in weather and pollen better.

Learn more about our raw feeding journey here ->