Now what do I feed? Identifying food hypersensitivity in dogs and cats

摘要

Food hypersensitivity, food intolerance and other adverse reactions to food (ARF) cause a myriad of effects on several different systems of the body, with the integument and digestive systems being most commonly affected. This two-part article seriesprovides insight into how ARF affects the skin in dogs and cats and how to definitely diagnose and manage patients with food allergies. Because food hypersensitivity can be the manifestation of a type I, III or IV hypersensitivity reaction, the onset ofclinical signs can range from minutes to days after ingestion of the offending allergen. In people, the allergen usually has a molecular weight above 12,000 daltons, although this has not been confirmed in domestic animals, where the offending allergen maybe smaller.