Dog With a Beef Allergy

Constant itching and scratching can indicate an allergy to beef.

Beef allergies among dogs is on the rise, namely because so many commercial pet foods and treats include it. If your dog chews its paws constantly, a food allergy is usually to blame. Schedule an exam and ask for an allergy test to pinpoint the source of the problem. If your dog tests positive for a beef allergy, eliminating beef and beef by-products will help enormously.

Symptoms

When a beef allergy occurs, dogs will bite, lick and chew their paws and other parts of the body. If the allergy is severe, dogs can break out in hives, a situation that calls for an immediate trip to the vet.

Protein Substitute

Once you've eliminated beef from its diet, find other sources of protein that won't trigger an allergic reaction. Holistic vets typically choose lamb as the substitute protein as long as the dog isn't allergic to lamb.

Read Labels Carefully

Many pet food and treat manufacturers hide beef byproducts in their products by posting a generic label on the treat or food ingredients, such as "meat byproduct," "animal fat," and so forth. Owners need to educate themselves about all the ways a beef product can be listed. Even if the feed label states it's lamb or chicken doesn't mean that it's beef free: the fats, including beef tallow and lards, contained in the feed will trigger an allergic reaction in dogs allergic to beef.

Raw Meaty Bones

If you're a proponent of raw feeding or an ancestral diet, which includes raw meaty bones, veterinarians recommend using turkey necks, large chicken pieces, lamb or mutton hunks (expensive), or buffalo bones. Powdered bones cannot substitute the nutritional value of whole raw bones, primarily for the calcium.

Secondary Skin Infection

Changing your dog's diet helps your dog live more comfortably, as the chronic scratching decreases as you eliminate beef from the diet. You might not see immediate improvement; it takes about six to eight weeks to see major changes in the dog's coat and behavior. Constant scratching can lead to yeast infections like malassezia on the skin surface, further compromising the dog's health.

References

• Dr. Clark: Foods
• 2ndChance: Why is My Dog or Cat Itching & Scratching?