The Allergies Among Us
Food Allergies in Kids and Dogs
We adopted a rescue dog a few months ago. Since that time, he has been plagued with just about every allergy known to man or beast. We tried the oatmeal baths, the organic food and cut out all of his treats and things he's enjoyed. In the end, he still has allergic reactions and quite possibly might even be allergic to grass because he loves to roll in it and often returns indoors scratching and itching. For the record, he does not have fleas or ticks thankfully.
We finally paid for the very expensive allergy testing and determined that it ruled out thyroid issues and further determined it was most likely a food allergy. With so many dog foods on the market these days that incorporate human food, we had to eliminate just about everything and strictly feed him the holistic stuff. It will take 3-4 weeks to determine if it is working. I'm not 100% convinced that it's a food allergy but willing to comply temporarily if it results in a positive outcome even though I still have reservations.
Just this morning, I read with interest an article on MSN that stated that about 1 in every 12 children may have a food allergy. You can read the full article here.
One parent asked, "what has changed in our environment and our lifestyles that is causing this?" and I believe that is a question worth addressing. When I was a kid, we never heard of our dogs or our children having allergic reactions to food. It wasn't something that was discussed or even thought to be the root of the problem.
I pose the same question, "What has changed?"
I never recall a single dog or child in all of my years that suffered with food allergies until I became an adult. In fact, most of the dogs that I lived with growing up had little or no health problems and lived long and full lives. It is amazing to me that we suddenly have an entire population of dogs and children that are suffering with food allergies. It seems that everywhere I turn, someone is allergic to something.
From peanuts to shellfish allergic reactions can be deadly. Now with the latest discovery that 1 in 12 children have food allergies are making me reconsider my little dog's dilemma. Perhaps it is a food allergy after all.
Time will tell.
Sources:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110620/hl_nm/us_food_allergies
http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/dogs-and-food-alergy-or-allergies
Published by Michele Starkey
Optimist who enjoys writing, laughing and spreading good news. If I have but one life to live, I hope to make mine memorable. My epitaph will read: she lived, she loved, she left. View profile
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54 Comments
Post a Commentthere was an article about this in the New Yorker recently. Allergies and babies. So intersting that you wrote this.
Calvin - cute name!
Our dog Duke also has allergies. This was a great article...
I'm like you. I don't remember all these allergies in kids and dogs. Maybe everyone, even dogs, are living (trying to live) too clean, too safe.
Michele, I wanted to let you know that I prefer not to comment with the new Facebook comment boxes, but I still read all your articles. The Amish sexting thing was shocking!
I don't much care for the "vet approved" foods some common in today's marketplace. In the old days, our pets seldom got sick on what they ate. When they did, it was an abcess from a cat fight, or something like that.
I was allergic to over 40 different foods as a child. I would get serious asthma attacks if I ate any of these items. Time and desensitization injections eventually made it so that I am now allergic to only 3 foods now. A very well written and informative article. Thanks!
Brewer's yeast contained in some foods, might be the bad guy or ringworm in the grass or other plant life.
Sorry about your poor little dog being allergic. I agree - when younger, very few people or pets had allergies. It definitely has something to do with additives put into our foods. Personally, I'm allergic to anything that has MSG - including food in buffet restaurants and salad bars. My dog is allergic to most pet foods except those with lamb.
Sorry to hear about the allergies. But you are right, no talk about food allergies in dogs or kids when I was young either.