Puppyhood diet as a factor in the development of owner‐reported allergy/atopy skin signs in adult dogs in Finland

Abstract

Background The increased prevalence of atopic dermatitis (AD) in dogs necessitates research in its disease etiology. Objectives To explore the association between puppyhood dietary exposures and prevalence of owner‐reported allergy/atopy skin signs (AASS) after the age of 1 year. Animals Four thousand and twenty‐two dogs were eligible, 1158 cases, and 2864 controls. Methods This cross‐sectional hypothesis‐driven observational study was extracted from the DogRisk food frequency questionnaire. Forty‐six food items and the ratio of 4 major diet types were tested for their association with AASS incidence later in life. Potential puppyhood dietary risk factors for AASS incidence were specified using binary multivariable logistic regression. The model was adjusted for age and sex. Results Eating raw tripe (odds ratio, 95% confidence intervals OR, 95% CI = 0.36, 0.16‐0.79; P = .01), raw organ meats (OR, 95% CI = 0.23, 0.08‐0.67; P = .007), human meal leftovers, and fish oil supplements as well as eating more that 20% of the diet as raw and/or <80% of the diet as dry, in general, were associated with significantly lower AASS incidence in adulthood. In contrast, dogs fed fruits (OR, 95% CI = 2.01, 1.31‐3.07; P = .001), mixed‐oil supplements, dried animal parts, and dogs that drank from puddles showed significantly higher AASS incidence in adulthood. Conclusions and Clinical Importance Puppyhood exposure to raw animal‐based foods might have a protective influence on AASS incidence in adulthood, while puppyhood exposure to mixed oils, heat processed foods and sugary fruits might be a potential risk factor of AASS incidence later. The study suggests a causal relationship but does not prove it.

Assessing the association between supplemented puppyhood dietary fat sources and owner-reported epilepsy in adulthood, among Finnish companion dogs

“…Feeding with fish oil during puppyhood also showed a significant protective association in the unadjusted analysis. In a previous study looking for dietary risk factors of allergy/atopy skin signs during puppyhood we found that fish oil was significantly associated with a lower incidence of allergy/atopy skin signs when given once per year while giving the fish oil supplement frequently or several times per week was associated significantly with a high risk of allergy/atopy skin signs in dogs ( 57 ). We will now put our results into a wider perspective of nutritional fats and epilepsy.…”

Early life programming by diet can play a role in risk reduction of otitis in dogs

“…The FFQ included different categories of questions regarding the dogs' disease diagnoses and life-long exposures, including nutrition of the dog and its dam, environmental indoor and outdoor exposures, history of maternal diseases, breed, sex, age, coat color, etc. More information on the FFQ has been presented in prior research (19)(20)(21)(22)24). The FFQ was approved by the ethical board of Viikki campus, University of Helsinki (29.4.2016).…”

“…From the latter we only analyzed two extreme groups; the dogs that had either been eating over 80% of UPCD or over 20% of NPMD in their diets. These percentages were chosen based on previous research (21). Additionally, we examined two ratio scales to evaluate the prevalence of otitis among the study sample when consuming different ratios (0%, 1-25%, 26-50%, 51-75%, 76-100%) of the two, NPMD and UPCD, feeding patterns.…”

“…Previously we investigated the importance of early life nutritional and environmental exposures in several studies. We have looked at time periods starting from prenatal life till one and a half years old and analyzed the risk of canine atopic dermatitis and inflammatory bowel disease/canine chronic enteropathy in dogs (19)(20)(21)(22). Thus, identification and elimination of the most primary causes of otitis such as allergies, canine atopic dermatitis, and other primary etiologies early in life, through early life programming of the individual's immune system, are possible and highly practical preventive approaches for reducing the risk of otitis incidence in dogs.…”

Enhanced high hydrostatic pressure lethality in acidulated raw pet food formulations was pathogen species and strain dependent

“…These type of diets are perceived as more nutritious and natural as the components are not heated and mantain the thermosensitive components, which are associated with a series of potential benefits including improved behaviour, shinier coat, better palatability and prevention of disorders affecting body systems (Davies et al, 2019;Freeman et al, 2013). In this respect, for instance, a recent observational study found significantly lower allergy/atopy skin signs after the age of 1 year in dogs eating more than 20% of diet as raw (Hemida et al, 2021).…”