04/06/2020
Canine atopic dermatitis (CAD) is a common skin disorder defined as a hereditary predisposition to develop pruritic inflammatory skin disease.
In layman terms, The Itchy Dog that can't stop scratching or chewing on itself or overgrooming.
This is by far one of the most common condition that dog owners face and almost nothing seems to help.
What if our dogs are raw fed right from the start? Is there a chance we will no longer face the problem of The Itchy Dog?
Fresh from our amazing friends at DogRisk: new study reveals dogs fed a non processed meat based diet are less likely to suffer from atopic dermatitis and eating an ultra processed carbohydrate based diet is a risk factor. Finally a study that reflects our clinical experience and one of the reasons why so many people switch their dogs to a raw food diet:
From the abstract:
Dogs eating a non processed meat based diets during the prenatal and early postnatal periods had a significant negative association with the incidence of canine atopic dermatitis in adult dogs (age above 1 year). Oppositely, an ultra processed carbohydrate based diet was associated with a significantly higher risk for canine atopic dermatitis incidence.
Other variables that were associated with a significantly lower risk for CAD were:
Maternal deworming during pregnancy
Sunlight exposure during early postnatal period
Normal body condition score during the early postnatal period
The puppy being born within the same family that it would stay in
Spending time on a dirt or grass surface from 2 to 6 months.
Also, the genetic factors regarding maternal history of CAD, allergy-prone breeds and more than 50% white-colored coat all showed a significant positive association with CAD incidence in agreement with previous findings.
Although no causality can be established, feeding non precessed meat base diets early in life seemed to be protective against atopic dermatitis, while ultra processed carbohydrate based diets could be considered a risk factor.
Full article here: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0225675&type=printable