Over the past few years it has become increasingly common to see pet parents carrying out elimination diets on their own with little to no support in place from professionals, leading to dangerous elimination diets that heavily restrict protein and variety risking nutrient deficiencies. This blog will explain more about elimination diets.
What is an Elimination Diet?
This is a diet that is designed to strip back your dog’s diet to the absolute basics, allow the gut to repair if its leaky, and to soothe if its irritated. After this, an elimination diet works to slowly introduce new proteins, watching for reactions of any kind.
It is a very long, very slow process (approximately 2-3 months!) that is designed to identify causes of your dog’s symptoms whilst promoting gut health. They usually begin with a strict diet using a protein your dog has never had, known as a novel protein, or at a push one that you know they are ok with.
During an elimination diet process, other foods such as fruits, vegetables and treats are heavily restricted (often not to be used at all) so its very important that this is only done as a last resort with a Professional guiding you)
Are Elimination Diets Safe?
Due to the length of time an elimination diet takes, this can of course be detrimental to your dog’s health if it is not done correctly, after all it is such an unvaried diet it can very easily lead to nutritional deficiencies.
Another issue to understand is that often we jump to a protein being a cause of symptoms.
when in fact it could be any of a long line of things:
Pain
illness
stress
pollen
dust
household cleaners
external factors
any food ingredient or treat ingredient
and so much more!
So doing an elimination diet, without working with a professional to rule out other factors, can result in a highly restricted diet for months, with no results and a lot of frustration for you and your dog.
Who can give elimination diet advice?
As a group if you wish to attempt an elimination diet, we will always stress the importance of working alongside a holistic/ pro raw vet however there are others out there that do give advice on elimination diets.
Suppliers / Retailers
Online Nutritionists
Holistic Vet or Pro-Raw Vet
It is important that you choose wisely on who you take advice from when it comes to elimination diets as not all suppliers / retailers or online nutritionists are equal. Always check credentials as well as experience before handing over your money to any online nutritionists.
A good retailer will:
want to see your dog wherever possible so they can assess them face to face
have a long standing reputation within the business
assess more than just diet through an in depth conversation
A good online nutritionist will:
ask for a vet consent form to be completed before even beginning their assessment
have details of their OFQUAL regulated qualifications and / or degree in Animal or Canine Nutrition qualifications available to clients as well as be able to demonstrate continual learning (CPD).
have full business insurance including Professional Indemnity Insurance
be well respected with raw pet food suppliers as well as in the raw feeding community
Canine Nutrition is an unregulated role, so anyone can call themselves a Nutritionist. It is therefore important to do your homework and ensure they really are trained & qualified to be giving you help and support with your dog. Having no regulatory body means knowledge can vary greatly.
A good general advice online group will:
Recommend you work with a holistic vet or online nutritionist wherever possible
IF they have an elimination diet that can be followed it will include a pre-diet check list to rule out none protein causes, a clause stating that it may not "fix" the issues you are facing if proteins are not the cause, and should be of a fixed term using single species protein sources
To find a pro-raw or holistic vet, please use the useful links in our menu bar
Great independent nutritionists
Caroline from Canine Holistic Science Academy: canineholisticscienceacademy.com
Louise from Barnaby’s Happy Healthy Pets: barnabyspets.co.uk
Katie from The Pet Diet: thepetdiet.co.uk
Olivia from Batch Cook With Bailey (raw and cooked diet consults): olivia@batchcookwithbailey.co.uk
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