Peas

[Agandl]

Thanks from me too - great article and easy to read - had been shared on our FB page before I even got back to see if you had managed to write anything

[Tinyplanets]

I had the following e mail from natures menu

'Hello
 
I can confirm that in the raw complete meals the vegetables are raw, and in the pouches/cans they are gently steamed.'


 

[Dottie]

That explains why the peas are being passed through the gut unaltered.  There was a lively response to the article on the AADF Facebook page - lots of comments and interest.

[chrishordley]

Good article, there are a lot of scare stories about and glad you have balanced it a bit. I have heard that peanut allergy in children might be due to mum's exposure to peanut oil in other products. I guess the occasional raw mangetout in my salad is OK. I can't imagine many dogs actually eating raw peas, I use to prefer the pods as a child.

[George]

Thank you indeed David, another excellent article.

If you ever happen upon any information about the prevalence of pea allergy or intolerance, perhaps you could let us know. We've already had one post on here asking for help in finding a food for a dog who had tested positive for a pea allergy, in addition to the mention by Pegasus of others upthread, so it would be very interesting to know how common or uncommon it is.

[David]

If you ever happen upon any information about the prevalence of pea allergy or intolerance, perhaps you could let us know. We've already had one post on here asking for help in finding a food for a dog who had tested positive for a pea allergy, in addition to the mention by Pegasus of others upthread, so it would be very interesting to know how common or uncommon it is.

If I ever come across any reliable figures, I will certainly post them here. The problem with allergy tests is that they are notoriously unreliable presenting high levels of both false positive and false negative results. In a veterinary conference I attended some years back, they estimated that some of the most commonly used allergy tests were at best 25% accurate. Since then I have taken all allergy test results with a pinch of salt and, unless as an absolute last resort, never recommend allergy tests to dog owners.

The only real way to test for an allergy or intolerance is to feed a food without the suspected problem ingredient and see if the symptoms clear up. Much more reliable and much cheaper than tests, which is probably why your vet won't suggest it.

[Pegasus]

If you ever happen upon any information about the prevalence of pea allergy or intolerance, perhaps you could let us know. We've already had one post on here asking for help in finding a food for a dog who had tested positive for a pea allergy, in addition to the mention by Pegasus of others upthread, so it would be very interesting to know how common or uncommon it is.

If I ever come across any reliable figures, I will certainly post them here. The problem with allergy tests is that they are notoriously unreliable presenting high levels of both false positive and false negative results. In a veterinary conference I attended some years back, they estimated that some of the most commonly used allergy tests were at best 25% accurate. Since then I have taken all allergy test results with a pinch of salt and, unless as an absolute last resort, never recommend allergy tests to dog owners.

The only real way to test for an allergy or intolerance is to feed a food without the suspected problem ingredient and see if the symptoms clear up. Much more reliable and much cheaper than tests, which is probably why your vet won't suggest it.

Agree with the exclusion diet to find out which ingredients may cause allergies, but what would the symptoms of an allergy to peas be?  Fortunately most of the 'premium' (26% meat) food do not contain peas but if a dog show allergies to rice based food then I would recommend a grain free - the majority of which contain peas. The dog we had that tested positive for pea allergy also tested positive for wheat, rice, lamb, poultry and eggs and without the knowledge of the pea allergy. we would have recommended a grain free dog food, which probably would have contained peas.
I have asked many food company reps whether they had known cases of pea allergies in dogs and no one replied in the positive.

[George]

So that's another thing to add to my little list of the ways vets con money out of us then. Thank you David, that's useful to know.

On the exclusion principle, and having tried six different highly rated foods, it looks as though the Little Cav probably has an allergy or intolerance to peas and maize, given that one or the other was an ingredient in all the foods he had before Nutriment and all gave him problems while Nutriment contains neither. I've been through all the ingredients of each of the foods again and nothing else fits that bill.

I suppose I would have to try him on each again to be certain, but frankly I'd rather just avoid them.

[George]

...what would the symptoms of an allergy to peas be?

FWIW, the Little Cav had loose stools/intermittent diarrhoea, runny eyes and gunky ears. All common with allergies and intolerances, I believe.

[Pegasus]

hmmm... this is why it would make it hard to pick up on a pea allergy quickly if the symptoms were the same as wheat etc intolerance. I've just had a quick look at the more common premium foods and most don't use peas unless it is a grain free.