(02-05) Food Allergy: Dogs and Cats Flashcards
Food allergy is a what hypersensitivity to an ingested allergen?
Type I, Type III or Type IV
What is the hallmark of food allergy.
Pruritus
Clinical signs in dogs and cats can be quite variable
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Food allergy and what can look exactly the same.
atopic dermatitis
Be suspicious of food allergy if an animal shows clinical signs before when?
1 year of age!
What are not good diagnostic tests for
food allergy.
Intradermal testing, RAST, ELISA or any other serologic tests
what are the only reliable methods of testing for food allergy?
Elimination diet and challenge trials
Feed a single and novel protein and carbohydrate sources, exclusively, for how long?
8-10 weeks
A decrease in pruritus of at least what is considered a positive test
50% (Diagnosis is then confirmed by feeding the animal its regular diet and seeing the pruritus
improve or recur within 14 days.)
Ideally, hwat should be provided during the trial
a home-cooked diet (The same diet used during the trial can usually be provided as maintenance diet)
Be sure to identify and treat any secondary problem such as staphylococcal pyoderma,
Malassezia dermatitis and seborrhea.
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