Abstract
There has been a need for an improvement of the elimination diet used for the diagnosis of adverse food reaction (AFR) in dogs. Recently, a novel elimination diet composed of a mixture of amino acids and potatoes was developed. We evaluated the efficacy of the elimination diet for the diagnosis of AFR in dogs. Twenty dogs that were suspected to have allergic dermatitis were enrolled in a 2-month food elimination trial using the diet. Before and after the trial, the clinical symptoms were evaluated based on the change in the canine atopic dermatitis extent and severity index (CADESI), pruritus score, and medication score. Of the 20 dogs, 15 completed the food elimination trial. The remaining 5 dogs were suspended because of diet unpalatability, skin disease progression, or diarrhea. On the basis of the evaluation of the clinical scores, we observed that the clinical symptoms improved in 11 of the 15 dogs that had completed the food elimination trial. Provocative challenge was performed in 10 of the 11 dogs that had showed improvement in their clinical symptoms. Of the 10 dogs, 7 were diagnosed as having AFR against food ingredients such as pork, beef, chicken, and wheat because their skin symptoms reappeared after the intake of these ingredients. The results of the food elimination trial and the provocative challenge indicated the usefulness of the novel elimination diet for the diagnosis of AFR.
