Can a dog be allergic to chicken?
Yes, and it is the protein dogs react to most often in the UK. It is not that chicken is bad. It is that chicken turns up in almost every food on the shelf, so most dogs have eaten it every day of their lives, and enough exposure is what tends to bring a reaction on. Whether your dog is one of them is a question for your vet rather than for us.
If my dog is allergic to chicken, is turkey OK?
Often, but not always, and this is the one most people get caught by. Turkey is a genuinely different protein and plenty of chicken-sensitive dogs do fine on it. It is still poultry though, so it is not a clean break from birds. If you are doing a proper elimination and want to rule poultry out entirely, turkey is the wrong choice and duck or rabbit is the right one.
So what is the best swap from chicken?
Duck is the one we suggest most often on the stall. It is a properly different protein, most dogs take to it straight away, and there is enough range in it to cover chews and training. If duck has already been tried, rabbit is the one almost no dog has eaten before.
Is chicken fat or chicken meal still chicken?
Yes, and it is worth reading labels for both. Chicken fat, chicken meal, poultry meal and poultry digest all come from the bird. Nothing on this page contains any of them, because nothing on this page contains anything except the meat named on the packet.
How long before I know if taking chicken out has helped?
Longer than most people expect, and the treats have to come out at the same time as the food. That is the bit that catches people. One chicken training treat in week three restarts the clock. Your vet will give you a timeframe, and our job is simply to make sure the treats are not the thing spoiling the answer.
Which of these have no poultry in them at all?
Plenty. Beef, pork, rabbit, venison, kangaroo, ostrich, camel, buffalo and fish are all here and none of them are birds. If you want the shortest route to a protein your dog has almost certainly never met, look at rabbit, kangaroo or ostrich.
