DERMATOLOGY
muzzle for the duration of the walk, but this is not
acceptable to all owners.
Owners should return the dog for a follow up appointment four weeks into the diet trial. During
this visit, any questions regarding the diet trial can
be addressed and the regression of concurrent
infections can be accessed. It is good to weigh
the dog before and during the diet trial. Although
the diets that are designed for elimination diet trials are nutritionally complete, occasionally a rapid
gain or loss of weight can be seen.7
•
Reasons for this are that dogs often have been
eating the same diet for years without any problem, the dog does not show any gastrointestinal
problems, the pruritus is not related to feeding
time, they are feeding a good quality, premium
diet, they have switched between commercial diets and the pruritus persists.1
It is a good idea to provide a hand out with all the
necessary information as well as the “rules” of the
elimination diet trial because it can be challenging
for pet owners to carry out a successful elimination diet trial.
Owner compliance is usually better when commercial diets are chosen.
1. Disallow all treats, table scraps, rawhide treats, flavored medications and toothpaste, any medication or food supplements in gelatin capsules (may
contain cattle or swine protein),
2. if there are small children in the household to prevent them from spilling food or feeding the dog
from the table
3. Prevent access to cat dishes and cat litter boxes
4. Prevent the patient from licking the dishes in the
dish washing machine and from eating from other pet’s food bowls.11
5. If there are other animals in the household, it is
better if they all eat the elimination diet and no
one receives any treats.
6. The other option is strict separate feeding and to
wash all dishes well after feeding times.
“Legal” treats can be prepared for the dog once
the protein and carbohydrate sources have been
decided on. Tinned food can be dried into rusks
in the oven. Sometimes dogs will refuse initially
to eat the elimination diet. Usually, if the owner is
prepared to persevere, the dog will become hungry after a day or 2 and start to eat the diet.
Warming up the food or adding salt may sometimes help. Some dogs are “vacuum cleaners” and
may scoop up anything during their daily walk.
The best way to prevent this is by putting on a
Selecting the appropriate elimination diet
A proper elimination diet should consist of a novel
protein and carbohydrate source, which the affected patient has not eaten previously. One of
the most important features of an elimination diet
is selecting a diet that the dog will eat willingly for
the entire trial period.1 There are three categories
of elimination diets: home cooked novel protein
diets, commercial novel protein diets and hydrolysed protein diets. Each of these has its advantages and disadvantages.
Home cooked novel protein diets
Where an owner is willing to prepare a single protein source, single carbohydrate source diet for
several weeks, home cooked diets are an option.
• Freshly prepared food is free of food additives.
• Protein sources that are acceptable include
rabbit, venison, lamb, goat, squid, ostrich,
crocodile, duck and some fish (trout).1
• If potatoes and white rice were the previous
carbohydrate sources, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, pumpkin or tapioca may be used.1
• The protein : carbohydrate ratio should be 1
part meat : 2-3 parts carbohydrate and about
400 gram per 5 kg body weight should be
fed per day.1,11
• It is important to select a protein and a carbohydrate source that is readily available, especially for the duration of the elimination diet
trial.
• Home cooked diets may be unbalanced but
since these diets are generally fed for 6 to
8 weeks only, no deficiencies have been reported.7
• Home cooked diets should not be used at all
in growing dogs for more than four weeks
without being nutritionally balanced by an
experienced animal nutritionist. Skeletal or
organ pathology can result from a poorly balanced diet in these dogs.4
• A balanced recipe formulated by an animal
nutritionist should be used for owners who
choose to home cook long term for the patient.16
• Tap water should also be substituted with
bottled water.1
Issue 06 | DECEMBER 2015 | 27