Did You Know That Dogs Can Also Be Gluten Intolerant?

Nowadays we can see gluten-free products everywhere. Any food business has a wide variety of such products.  Celiac disease, in fact, is a disease that affects many people. Unfortunately, this disorder can also affect our pets. 

To learn more about this pathology, how to treat it and how to understand if your dog is gluten intolerant, we have decided to talk about it in this article.

What is gluten intolerance?

Gluten is a protein found in various foods, such as wheat, oats, barley and others.  Any of these grains, as well as other foods, contain gluten, albeit in small quantities.

Having said that, you need to know that some organisms cannot tolerate and digest this protein. This condition results in an intolerance which can cause more serious problems.

But be careful, we must not confuse intolerance with allergy. An allergy is a reaction of the body to an element not tolerated by the organism, while gluten intolerance is a disease which, as “prohibited” foods are taken, damages the walls of the intestine. It could also cause worse damage to both the digestive system and other organs.

Any dog ​​can have this intolerance, although it usually depends on genetic factors. There are, in fact, breeds more likely to suffer from it, such as the Irish Setter or the Samoyed.

How to know if your dog is gluten intolerant

It might seem strange to determine, but we give you the tools you need to make this task easier.

Here are some of the symptoms that a dog with gluten intolerance can have:

• Vomiting and diarrhea. As we have already said, gluten damages the dog’s digestive system, so the body’s first reaction will be to eliminate it through vomiting and diarrhea. These episodes will always show up a few minutes after eating and will be constant. It means that you should not think that your dog has food intolerances if he has occasionally vomited or had diarrhea.

• Itching. A reaction to gluten intolerance can be dry skin and anal irritation. If your dog licks more than normal, especially his rear, or if he crawls on the ground and scratches more than he usually does, there is no question: he is intolerant to gluten.

• Respiratory difficulties. Gluten can also compromise the airways causing inflammation, itching and sneezing, as it irritates the throat and nasal passages.

• Convulsions.  If you have neglected the other signs for some time, it is possible that your dog may have seizures at some point. In this case, he needs immediate veterinary intervention, because there is no time to waste.

To be sure that the changes in behavior and in the dog’s body are really a consequence of an intolerance to gluten, the animal must be taken to the vet. He will perform the necessary urine, blood and stool tests, as well as an abdominal x-ray and a pancreatic insufficiency test.

What do i do if my dog ​​is celiac?

And what happens if after observing your dog and carrying out the necessary tests, it turns out to be intolerant to gluten? This is by no means a difficult condition to deal with.

Nowadays, with so many advances,  there is food suitable for gluten intolerant dogs.  You can find it in almost all pet stores and veterinary products, in fact all the main brands such as Affinity, Pedigree and others have gluten-free feed lines.

If you also feed your dog raw food, remember that it must not contain flour or any other component that contains gluten. You can also find cans of gluten-free dog food, which you can use as a substitute for the raw diet and thus ensure that the animal does not receive this substance in any way.

Although it is possible that the news has taken you by surprise, because perhaps you did not know that dogs can also be affected by this intolerance, do not worry. The world moves forward quickly and not always with negative consequences. This is the case with some previously unknown diseases, such as celiac disease, which are nowadays considered more than normal.

This favors the possibility of finding products suitable for the case, both for people and for dogs with gluten intolerance. A further victory for science and for brands that launch innovative but necessary products on the market.