Who knows their dog is allergic to a food item?

Serum tests are NOT accurate ways to determine food allergies:

Evaluation of the clinical and allergen specific serum immunoglobulin E responses to oral challenge with cornstarch, corn, soy and a soy hydrolysate diet in dogs with spontaneous food allergy Vet Dermatol. August 2003;14(4):181-7.
H A Jackson, M W Jackson, L Coblentz, B HammerbergDepartment of Clinical Sciences, Farm Animal Health and Resource Management, North Carolina State University, 4700 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh, North Carolina 27606, USA. Hilary_Jackson@ncsu.edu Abstract Fourteen dogs with known clinical hypersensitivity to soy and corn were maintained on a limited antigen duck and rice diet until cutaneous manifestations of pruritus were minimal (78 days). Sequential oral challenges with cornstarch, corn and soy were then performed. Subsequently, the dogs were fed a diet containing hydrolysed soy protein and cornstarch. Throughout the study period the dogs were examined for cutaneous manifestations of pruritus and, additionally, serum was collected for measurement of allergen-specific and total immunoglobulin (Ig)E concentrations. Intradermal testing with food antigens was performed prior to entry into the study and after 83 days. A statistically significant clinical improvement was measured between days 0 and 83. Significant pruritus was induced after oral challenge with cornstarch, corn and soy (P = 0.04, 0.002, 0.01, respectively) but not with the hydrolysed diet (P = 0.5). The positive predictive value of the skin test for soy and corn allergy was reduced after feeding a soy and corn free diet. Although increases in soy and corn-specific serum IgE concentrations were measured in individual dogs post challenge they were not statistically significant and could not be used to predict clinical hypersensitivity.

Serum tests for atopic dermatitis (inhaled allergies) don't always correlate well with intradermal testing, but nobody knows why. The dermatologist that teaches us at vet school seems to think they work well enough to use if intradermal testing isn't available...

The ACVD task force on canine atopic dermatitis (XVI): laboratory evaluation of dogs with atopic dermatitis with serum-based "allergy" tests Vet Immunol Immunopathol. September 2001;81(3-4):277-87. 41 Refs
D J DeBoer, A HillierDepartment of Medical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin, 2015 Linden Drive Madison, WI 57606, USA. deboerd@svm.vetmed.wisc.edu Abstract Serum-based in vitro "allergy tests" are commercially available to veterinarians, and are widely used in diagnostic evaluation of a canine atopic patient. Following initial clinical diagnosis, panels of allergen-specific IgE measurements may be performed in an attempt to identify to which allergens the atopic dog is hypersensitive. Methodology for these tests varies by laboratory; few critical studies have evaluated performance of these tests, and current inter-laboratory standardization and quality control measures are inadequate. Other areas where information is critically limited include the usefulness of these tests in diagnosis of food allergy, the effect of extrinsic factors such as season of the year on results, and the influence of corticosteroid treatment on test results. Allergen-specific IgE serological tests are never completely sensitive, nor completely specific. There is only partial correlation between the serum tests and intradermal testing; however, the significance of discrepant results is unknown and unstudied. Variation in test methodologies along with the absence of universal standardization and reporting procedures have created confusion, varying study results, and an inability to compare between studies performed by different investigators.

For those of you wondering about anal gland problems, yes, allergies can be a culprit. The skin around the anus is very thin and sensitive, and like the ears is a common place for dogs to show clinical signs of allergies. Controlling those allergies, be they food or atopic dermatitis, might solve the anal gland issues.

Janice,,,did your doctor say that blood testing for food was unreliable to tell what foods were allergy problems or that blood testing wasnsn't reliable to tell if they were allergic to food

  She said that blood testing was unreliable to tell which foods were allergy problems. As for what causes allergies in dogs; certain breeds and mixes of these breeds seem to be prone to environmental allergies. GSD's are, and Jessie is part GSD. Labs are, and Sassy is a Lab, and I think Bugsy is a Dane-Lab cross. Goldens are well known for having allergies. At least part of it seems to be involved with heredity.
    Except for problems related to her allergies, which are much better since immunotherapy, Jessie is a very healthy dog. She has a lot of energy, great appetite, healthy teeth and gums, and at eight doesn't show any signs of arthritis. The vet has commented more than once on her coat and muscle tone. We took her on an eight mile hike this summer and she was still leading the way at the end of the walk. Since she isn't sick in general, I don't consider her to have a poor immune system.

She said that blood testing was unreliable to tell which foods were allergy problems.

Oh,, thats good. I was trying to figure why one specialist would have such a different opinion then another. But basically, Ollies vet did say that if he were to blood test positive for a food allergy, then he would go for skin testing to see which foods...but she felt that since there are very few dogs that do have allergies to food, she suggested an easier and less expensive blood test.
 
I'm not sure that I think that because a dog is not generally sick that it means that their immune system is not compromised though.




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Randy Wysong DVM writes: "Allergy is a breakdown in the immune system as a result of years of improper feeding and care.
 
And an interesting comment from the Great Dane Lady:
 Research shows food allergies are actually very rare in dogs/cats, but skin problems are far too common and due to poor quality, grain based diets, nutritional deficiencies, over use of antibiotics, lack of dietary enzymes & beneficial bacteria in a diet.
I have found the vast majority of skin problems and reoccurring ear infections are actually caused by by Malazzeia or candida yeast overgrowth in the body. In the past 5 years we have worked with over 20,000+ cases of systemic yeast in pets - yes you read that right.
She is saying that if we treat our allergic pets for yeast, that we might find their allergies are gone.

Uh.... the reason the great dane lady sees a lot of yeast in allergic dogs.... is because they are one of the top 4 things that make dogs itch. Mallasezia yeast is to dogs what installing fiberglass insulation is to people.

You treat the yeast, and the itching stops, so people THINK they've gotten rid of the allergies. But its not the allergies that make the dogs itch. Its the allergies that down regulate the immune system and allow the yeast to become overgrown and then the dogs itch.

Does that make sense??

It sounds like your "great dane lady" has done a lot of reading but doesn't quite understand how all the pieces fit together.

Serum tests for atopic dermatitis (inhaled allergies) don't always correlate well with intradermal testing, but nobody knows why. The dermatologist that teaches us at vet school seems to think they work well enough to use if intradermal testing isn't available...

 
   [linkhttp://www.hillary.net/school/dermatology/derm.lec.11.09.98]http://www.hillary.net/school/dermatology/derm.lec.11.09.98[/link]
 
   " currently, we get a lot of false
negatives during the off season. when testing how much IgE is in the
blood, if the allergen has not been around for 6 mos, the level of Ab
will be low in the serum - but it stays high in the skin (and pulmonary
tissues). "
  
 

Its the allergies that down regulate the immune system and allow the yeast to become overgrown and then the dogs itch.

 
  Allergies change the pH of a dog's skin, making it a friendlier environment for yeast and bacteria to grow.

ORIGINAL: jessies_mom

Serum tests for atopic dermatitis (inhaled allergies) don't always correlate well with intradermal testing, but nobody knows why. The dermatologist that teaches us at vet school seems to think they work well enough to use if intradermal testing isn't available...

  [linkhttp://www.hillary.net/school/dermatology/derm.lec.11.09.98]http://www.hillary.net/school/dermatology/derm.lec.11.09.98[/link]

  " currently, we get a lot of false
negatives during the off season. when testing how much IgE is in the
blood, if the allergen has not been around for 6 mos, the level of Ab
will be low in the serum - but it stays high in the skin (and pulmonary
tissues). "
 

That may be true... but the studies were done with known allergic dogs, and tested at the same time. A good study would take that sort of thing into account. I didn't actually read the entire paper though, so there's no way of knowing. The dermatologists also recommend that even intradermal testing be done immediately after the allergy season, so that would indicate that the IgE levels in the skin also decrease over time. This actually makes sense when you consider that IgE has a half life of 2 days in the serum, and several weeks when bound to mast cells.

ORIGINAL: jessies_mom

Its the allergies that down regulate the immune system and allow the yeast to become overgrown and then the dogs itch.

Allergies change the pH of a dog's skin, making it a friendlier environment for yeast and bacteria to grow.

Really?? Where did you read that?

Really?? Where did you read that?

  It's what my vet told me; he graduated from the same university that my veterinary dermatologist teaches at so he may have learned it from her. By the way, she ( the dermatologist) does the blood test and the skin test. If a dog  scores around 2000 or higher on the Heska test, she doesn't include the antigen in the skin test to prevent a systemic allergic reaction; in Jessie's case that happened for some of the antigens. She also includes some antigens in the skin test that aren't included in the blood test.

You treat the yeast, and the itching stops, so people THINK they've gotten rid of the allergies. But its not the allergies that make the dogs itch. Its the allergies that down regulate the immune system and allow the yeast to become overgrown and then the dogs itch.

Does that make sense??

.

,,,,,,,,,,or is it that other factors cause the immune system to be be down (such as over vaccination,, over medication of antibiotics etc etc) and allow yeast overgrowth?

It sounds like your "great dane lady" has done a lot of reading but doesn't quite understand how all the pieces fit together

MY Great Dane Lady is not a doctor, but she is also not just a "regular joe" having conversation about allergies as we all are. A little profile on her:[align=left]
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[/color]Linda Arndt, Professor Emeritus from a large Midwest University, is affectionately known to most people as "The Great Dane Lady". She has spent the past 34 years as a professional breeder and devoted her efforts to research, feed trials, writing and lecturing on nutritionally caused bone diseases, and the effects of high calorie diets on the growth of large and giant breeds. Linda has lectured nationally and published numerous articles on growth, systemic yeast and general nutrition, and how it relates to wellness and longevity for all pets. She has published in purebred magazines here and overseas, as well as in the DaneWorld Magazine, The Great Dane Reporter, Whole

ORIGINAL: dyan

You treat the yeast, and the itching stops, so people THINK they've gotten rid of the allergies. But its not the allergies that make the dogs itch. Its the allergies that down regulate the immune system and allow the yeast to become overgrown and then the dogs itch.

Does that make sense??

.

,,,,,,,,,,or is it that other factors cause the immune system to be be down (such as over vaccination,, over medication of antibiotics etc etc) and allow yeast overgrowth?

It sounds like your "great dane lady" has done a lot of reading but doesn't quite understand how all the pieces fit together

MY Great Dane Lady is not a doctor, but she is also not just a "regular joe" having conversation about allergies as we all are. A little profile on her:[align=left]
[color="#000000"]
[/color]Linda Arndt, Professor Emeritus from a large Midwest University, is affectionately known to most people as "The Great Dane Lady". She has spent the past 34 years as a professional breeder and devoted her efforts to research, feed trials, writing and lecturing on nutritionally caused bone diseases, and the effects of high calorie diets on the growth of large and giant breeds. Linda has lectured nationally and published numerous articles on growth, systemic yeast and general nutrition, and how it relates to wellness and longevity for all pets. She has published in purebred magazines here and overseas, as well as in the DaneWorld Magazine, The Great Dane Reporter, Whole

All that is nice, but many people publish things that are either true or not true, and without any credentials to back up what she says, it is mostly her opinion as far as I am concerned. That was the first thing I noticed when I went to her web site, by the way. 

All that is nice, but many people publish things that are either true or not true, and without any credentials to back up what she says, it is mostly her opinion as far as I am concerned. That was the first thing I noticed when I went to her web site, by the way. 

 
So what is wrong with her writing her studies and findings on her website?  She works closely with veterinarians and is a canine nutritionist. She has very good credentials and doesn't claim to be anything that she is not. She explains UP FRONT what her website is all about, honestly.  She has been a Great Dane Bible to many of us Great Dane owners, but her work goes far beyond Great Danes. This link tells a lot about her credentials.
[linkhttp://www.greatdanelady.com/articles/nutritional_lecture_and_seminar_information_for_dog_clubs.htm]http://www.greatdanelady.com/articles/nutritional_lecture_and_seminar_information_for_dog_clubs.htm[/link]

ORIGINAL: dyan

All that is nice, but many people publish things that are either true or not true, and without any credentials to back up what she says, it is mostly her opinion as far as I am concerned. That was the first thing I noticed when I went to her web site, by the way. 

So what is wrong with her writing her studies and findings on her website?  She works closely with veterinarians and is a canine nutritionist. She has very good credentials and doesn't claim to be anything that she is not. She explains UP FRONT what her website is all about, honestly.  She has been a Great Dane Bible to many of us Great Dane owners, but her work goes far beyond Great Danes. This link tells a lot about her credentials.
[linkhttp://www.greatdanelady.com/articles/nutritional_lecture_and_seminar_information_for_dog_clubs.htm]http://www.greatdanelady.com/articles/nutritional_lecture_and_seminar_information_for_dog_clubs.htm[/link]

Because if her studies were truly all that great, they'd be published in peer reviewed Journals, not a website where anyone can post anything they want. When she starts publishing in JAVMA, maybe I'll start believing everything she writes, especially when it doesn't agree with my veterinary education. Until then, I, and everyone else, should take what she writes with a grain of salt. The fact that she works closely with veterinarians and nutritionists makes her information somewhat better, but its still secondhand information as far as I'm concerned. She does have decent information, don't get me wrong, its much better than most of what I see posted on the internet, but her website should never be the end-all, be-all of canine nutrition.

ORIGINAL: jessies_mom

Really?? Where did you read that?

It's what my vet told me; he graduated from the same university that my veterinary dermatologist teaches at so he may have learned it from her. By the way, she ( the dermatologist) does the blood test and the skin test. If a dog  scores around 2000 or higher on the Heska test, she doesn't include the antigen in the skin test to prevent a systemic allergic reaction; in Jessie's case that happened for some of the antigens. She also includes some antigens in the skin test that aren't included in the blood test.

Ok. My dermatology notes read: "atopic patients have been shown to have a cellular defect that allows increased adherence of bacteria to keratinocytes... resulting in increased bacterial infections of the skin. The same defect may allow increased colonization by yeast." and "yeast also appear to express receptors to ligand on keratinocytes (possibly more in atopic animals) which facilitates adhesion, and thus infection"

So thats why I was under the impression that increased numbers of yeast are more of a lack of defenses problem than a simple pH problem... I'm sure dermatologists have different theories just like different nutritionists...

Either way, dogs with allergies are certainly much more susceptible to yeast infections than dogs without allergies. Dogs with allergies itch a little, dogs with yeast itch A LOT. Dogs with yeast are much more likely to have owners that address and attempt to solve the problem. Once the underlying allergy problem is controlled, the yeast infection subsides, and the itching subsides once the yeast are no longer present.

ORIGINAL: sooner

And how do you know?

There are so many people here who say their dogs are allergic to various things, so I'm wondering - have you had your dogs tested? How do you know that it is an allergy instead of a sensitivity? From what I've read true food allergies are rare, and even rarer in young dogs, but that doesn't seem to be the case with the majority of our dogs.

Personally I know that Boomer had several serious skin infections before he was a year old, but he hasn't had one since I cut chicken and sunflower oil out of his diet. I could say he's allergic to one or the other of those items, but he hasn't been tested and it would be unusual for him to be allergic that young. So maybe he's just sensitive?

 
I think most dogs are sensitive to the different types of foods and they don't have a true allergy to the food. I have a dog who is sensitive to grains. I feed her a grain free food and her issues stopped. The only why to truely find out what is causing the problems is to do a elimanation diet. If the problems continue than you would need to test for a enviromental allergy. I think intra dermal testing is the best method. I think your dog is sensitive to the Chicken or sunflower oil. I am glad Boomers infections have stopped. Those really make the dogs miserable.