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Critically Appraised Topics on Adverse Food Reactions

Some of what is taught in veterinary dermatology is handed down from one practitioner to the other without critical appraisal of its scientific value. Bad tips and habits are picked up and are never corrected. Royal Canin, founded in 1968, has remained at the cutting edge of veterinary science. They are strongly committed to fueling evidence-based medicine and improving effectiveness in veterinary practice. With the objective of reviewing existing knowledge and dogmas on adverse food reactions in dogs and cats, the available scientific evidence has been reviewed to produce a series of critically appraised topics (CAT), which will hopefully debunk some of the veterinary dermatology misconceptions surrounding food allergies. The article processing charges for papers in this series were funded by Royal Canin. Royal Canin had no involvement in the production of these papers. All articles in this series have undergone the journal’s standard peer-review process.

  1. At this time, elimination diets followed by oral food challenges (OFCs) represent the “gold standard” for diagnosing skin-manifesting food allergies (FA) in dogs and cats. Regrettably, there is no clear consen...

    Authors: Thierry Olivry and Ralf S. Mueller
    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2020 16:158
  2. Dogs with year-round atopic dermatitis are often sensitized to Dermatophagoides house dust mites (HDM). Storage mites (SM) are known to grow on cereal-rich foods. Tyrophagus SM can exacerbate clinical signs of al...

    Authors: Thierry Olivry and Ralf S. Mueller
    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2019 15:385
  3. Many reports describe the cutaneous signs of adverse food reactions (AFR) in the dog and cat. However, various non-cutaneous clinical signs are less well described. Our objective was to systematically evaluate...

    Authors: Ralf S. Mueller and Thierry Olivry
    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2018 14:341
  4. Elimination dietary trials for the diagnosis of adverse food reactions (food allergies) in dogs and cats are often conducted with commercial pet foods while relying on their label to select tho...

    Authors: Thierry Olivry and Ralf S. Mueller
    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2018 14:24
  5. The gold standard to diagnose adverse food reactions (AFRs) in the dog and cat is currently an elimination diet with subsequent provocation trials. However, those trials are inconvenient and client compliance ...

    Authors: Ralf S. Mueller and Thierry Olivry
    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2017 13:275
  6. The prevalence of cutaneous adverse food reactions (CAFRs) in dogs and cats is not precisely known. This imprecision is likely due to the various populations that had been studied. Our objectives were to syste...

    Authors: Thierry Olivry and Ralf S. Mueller
    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2017 13:51
  7. To diagnose cutaneous adverse food reactions (CAFRs) in dogs and cats, dietary restriction-provocation trials are performed. Knowing the most common offending food allergens for these species would help determ...

    Authors: Ralf S. Mueller, Thierry Olivry and Pascal Prélaud
    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2016 12:9
  8. Restrictive (i.e. elimination)-provocation dietary trials remain the standard of care to diagnose cutaneous adverse food reactions (CAFRs) in dogs and cats. There is currently no consensus on the duration of e...

    Authors: Thierry Olivry, Ralf S. Mueller and Pascal Prélaud
    Citation: BMC Veterinary Research 2015 11:225