Common food allergens in cats and dogs

Food allergies account for 10% to 25% of cases of allergic dermatitis in animals,¹ so what are the most common food allergens for cats and dogs? In an interview with dvm360 at the Fetch Coastal Conference in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Julia E. Miller, DVM, DACVD, shared that chicken is the most common food allergen in both cats and dogs. She also discussed novel proteins, and common allergens in kittens, as well as some less common allergens.

At the conference, Miller also presented a 2-part lecture on canine allergies, specifically cutaneous adverse food reactions.¹ During her session, Miller lectured on diagnosing patients with allergies, diet trials, and which allergy tests to avoid.¹

Below is a transcript of the video

Julia E. Miller, DVM, DACVD: For our dogs and cats, the most common food allergen, chicken is the number 1 food allergy that we see, but beef is slowly starting to eclipse chicken. We think about the common things, right? The common food allergens are the things that are commonly in dog food. So, beef and chicken are definitely up there.

When we talk about kitties, fish starts to kind of get in there a little bit…. Rarely [do] you see things like wheat and soy be on there, but that's much lower down on the list—like wheat, soy, pork, things like that, way lower. But far and away, sort of chicken and beef are the number 1 things.

And another thing to remember when we talk about novel proteins, because when we talk about diet trials, sometimes we switch them to a novel protein or a new protein, remember that chicken is in my hands, the same as duck, is the same as turkey. If it's feathered, it's dead to me. So that's not a novel protein. And then I think another important thing to remember is that there actually may be some cross reactivity with beef and venison, so I actually don't consider venison a novel protein anymore, either.

Reference

1. Littrell A. Cutaneous adverse food reactions. dvm360. October 14, 2024. Accessed October 21, 2024. https://www.dvm360.com/view/cutaneous-adverse-food-reactions