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Food hypersensitivity
Introduction
- An adverse reaction to ingested antigens.
- Incidence: 1-6% of all feline dermatoses.
- Strict definition excludes food intolerance, eg diarrhea due to sudden dietary change or excessive lactose, however the term tends to encompass any abnormal reaction to a specific food.
- Cause: commonly proteins.
- Signs: skin, gastrointestinal signs; rarely, respiratory and CNS signs.
- Diagnosis: exclude differential diagnoses, elimination diets.
- Treatment: avoid foods which trigger reaction, hypoallergenic diet.
- Prognosis: good if offending food is identified and eliminated.
Presenting signs
- Pruritic dermatoses.
- Gastrointestinal signs.
- Respiratory signs.
- CNS signs.
Age predisposition
- Young adult (4-5 years).
Breed/Species predisposition
- Siamese Siamese.
Pathogenesis
Etiology
- Proteins, lipoproteins, glycoproteins, lipopolysaccharides, carbohydrates; most commonly proteins.
- Most common allergens - fish, beef and dairy products, ie common constituents of diet.
Predisposing factors
General
- Other allergies, eg flea bite hypersensitivity Flea bite hypersensitivity, atopy Skin: atopic dermatitis.
Pathophysiology
- Seen in cats that have been fed the same diet for months - years.
- Changing from one brand of commercial food to another rarely has any effect as most commercial diets contain similar ingredients.
Timecourse
- Immediate hypersensitivities: within minutes to hours.
- Delayed hypersensitivities: several hours to days.
Diagnosis
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Treatment
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Prevention
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Outcomes
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Further Reading
Publications
Refereed papers
- Recent references from PubMed and VetMedResource.
- Verlinden A, Hesta M, Millet S, Janssens G P J (2006) Food allergy in dogs and cats: a review. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr 46(3), 259-273 PubMed DOI: 10.1080/10408390591001117.
- Leistra M & Willemse T (2002) Double-blind evaluation of two commercial hypoallergenic diets in cats with adverse food reactions. J Feline Med Surg 4 (4), 185-188 PubMed.
- Hill P (1999) Diagnosing cutaneous food allergies in dogs and cats - practical considerations. In Pract 21 (6), 287-294 VetMedResource.
- Carlotti D N, Remy I & Prost C (1990) Food allergy in dogs and cats - a review and report of 43 cases. Vet Dermatol 1 (2), 55-62 VetMedResource.
- White S D & Sequoia (1989) Food hypersensitivity in cats - 14 cases (1982-1987). JAVMA 194 (5), 692-5 PubMed.
Other sources of information
- Fascetti A J, Delaney S J, Larsen J A, Villaverde C (eds) (2023) Applied Veterinary Clinical Nutrition. 2nd edn. Wiley. ISBN: 9781119375142.
- Hardy J, Gajanayake I (2022) Diagnosis and management of adverse food reactions in dogs and cats. In Practice 44 (4), 196-203 https://doi.org/10.1002/inpr.197.
- Rosser EJ (1996) Food hypersensitivity - new recommendations for diagnosis and management. In: Consultations in Feline Internal Medicine. 3rd Edition. Ed: August. W B Saunders Co, Philadelphia. pp 209-213.