When you imagine your ideal dog, do you have a particular breed in mind? While some folks prefer to find a mixed breed that has a dash of this and a splash of that, others have a very clear affinity for a favorite breed.
With the AKC referring to them as “charming, graceful, and sassy” it is no surprise that many people only have eyes for Chihuahuas.
NomNom, the fresh food partner of iHeartDogs, researched Chihuahuas in terms of common conditions found in Chihuahuas that can be related to food. This information can help you make food choices for your Chihuahua that lead to a longer, healthier life!
Susceptibility to Allergies
Chihuahuas are a breed that is highly prone to skin allergies, the causes of which can vary from environmental, external, or food allergens.
Common Conditions in Chihuahuas
Two conditions that are common in Chihuahuas are yeast infections and sebaceous adenitis. Yeast infections occur when the naturally occurring yeast populations that reside on all of us get overpopulated. That leading to itching, strange smells, and irritated skin. Sebaceous adenitis is a disease in which the body’s immune system attacks skin glands, causing permanent damage.
Chihuahuas are also very sensitive to food allergies and intolerances. When chihuahuas experience food allergies symptoms can include chronic ear infections, vomiting, diarrhea, red, inflamed, and flaky skin, hair loss, and a dull, dry coat.
Common Allergy Locations
With Chihuahuas, allergy symptoms such as,
- red
- flaky
- inflamed skin tends to show up on their legs
- paws
- the hind end
- and within the folds of skin around their neck and armpits.
Sometimes allergies can manifest as scaling and crusting of the skin on the head, chest, legs, neck, and eyes.
Food Ingredients that Fight Allergies
If your Chihuahua is suffering from allergies, you will notice an insatiable need to bite or chew on the affected parts of the body. This sometimes leads to further damage of the skin, which in turn gets greater attention from the irritated dog.
Skin allergies can become a terrible cycle as dogs attempt to soothe themselves with licking or chewing but end up causing more harm than good.
Thankfully, there are specific ingredients that you can include in your dog’s diet to help reduce inflammation and reduce allergic reaction symptoms.
Chronic Itching and Skin Infection: vitamin E, vitamin B, zinc, fish oil, probiotics
Dull Coat or Scaling: EPA, DHA, zinc
Dandruff or Crusty Skin: zinc, vitamin A
Optimal Diet for Chihuahuas
Chihuahuas are highly sensitive when it comes to food. They are known to be fussy about what they eat, how much they consume, and how food is served to them.
Chihuahuas’ are very low tolerance for chemicals commonly found in commercial pet foods like food coloring and preservatives. They also have a need to eat the proper mix of protein, healthy fats, and carbohydrates.
Due to all of these reasons, Chihuahuas thrive when eating a fresh food diet.
If planned and portioned correctly, fresh food will include essential fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals and that will keep your Chihuahua’s coat and skin healthy.
A strong immune system supports fewer flare-ups. Limited, whole ingredients found in fresh food for dogs lower your Chihuahua’s exposure to food allergens in his diet so symptoms can be entirely eliminated over time.
About NomNom
Your Chihuahua would benefit from the perfectly portioned fresh food recipes that NomNomNow creates. They are made with human-grade ingredients and are chock full of the purity and quality your Chihuahua needs to stay healthy and allergy-free.
On top of that, every serving of their food includes the NomNom Nutrient Mix, which is an extra burst of vitamins and minerals that give your Chihuahua the balanced nutrition needed to maintain skin and coat health.
