When a pet shows symptoms of allergic reactions, it can be very difficult to pinpoint the exact ingredient or food item that’s causing the problem. Also, it’s not always sure if the symptoms are due to food allergies, a skin infection, food intolerance, or environmental allergens. This is where the elimination diet comes in. An elimination diet is a perfect way to not only diagnose the pets food allergies but also treat them long term:

1. What is the elimination diet?
Animal protein is a major cause of allergies in pets. Some common proteins and carbohydrates in pet food include chicken, soy, beef, and corn. It is safe to assume that one of these ingredients might be the cause of your pets food allergies. Therefore, a different kind of protein is introduced in their diet. These are novel proteins that are rarely used to make pet food, like kangaroo, rabbit, duck, or sometimes even alligator.

2. How it works
The elimination diet replaces the regular protein with this new novel protein to check whether the symptoms of allergies in your pets are disappearing. If so, then it is confirmed that your pet has a food allergy. To get to know the actual cause of the allergy, you can re-introduce the pets to the originally used proteins one by one. If you see the resurgence of any symptoms after you have fed them that particular protein, it is evident that your pet is allergic to that ingredient.

3. Are novel proteins available over the counter?
There are over the counter versions of novel protein food for pets suffering from food allergies. However, these over the counter versions may not list out all the ingredients that go into making them. Some over the counter novel protein foods contain beef flavorings or additives that jeopardize the whole elimination diet. It is best if you ask your vet for a therapeutic novel protein diet.

4. How long to administer the elimination diet?
It takes anywhere from eight to 12 weeks for the elimination diet to take effect. The symptoms of your pets food allergies will reduce significantly by six weeks if they continue to take nothing but the novel or hydrolyzed protein diet and water.

5. What to do after the food allergies in pets are under control?
After eight to 12 weeks all symptoms of your pets food allergies should get under control. Next, you can either choose one of the two options.

• Continue the same diet
  You can choose to feed your pet the same novel protein food. Since it isn’t allowed for the pets to have snacks or treats during the test period, you would do well to get some treats with the same ingredients as the main food.
• Choose a different but more compatible diet

Alternatively, you can choose to re-introduce all the proteins again to pinpoint the exact ingredient that causes food allergies in pets. The process of identifying the allergen takes a bit longer and requires patience on the side of the pet parent. Once you find out which ingredient is causing harm, it is simply a matter of picking out pet food which doesn’t contain the particular ingredient. With the availability of a wide range of pet food, it shouldn’t be a challenge.