NO, CHICKEN DOES NOT CAUSE ALLERGIES TO CATS AND DOGS!

Chicken meat is a widely used meat in our pet foods because of its easy availability in the market. In fact, many foods if they do not contain only chicken, however often have a percentage of it.

Food intolerances and allergies in our animals nowadays are quite present, but it is wrong to blame chicken meat a priori, simply because it is an opinion that has no scientific basis and comes from common thinking.

THE BENEFITS OF CHICKEN MEAT

In fact, chicken is an excellent food, mainly because of its composition, which guarantees:

  • High protein intake. Chicken meat protein is a noble protein with an excellent amino acid pool because it contains all the essential amino acids in satisfactory amounts.
  • Low fat content. This feature that can be exploited in various physiological situations such as, for example, overweight dogs; or pathological situations such as pancreatitis, cholecystitis/biliary congestion, gastro enteropathic

So-called “offal” also has positive peculiarities. For example, liver (livers) has many vitamins (especially A, B group and D) and minerals (such as zinc and selenium). Stomachs (so-called giblets), on the other hand, possess high protein content and high biological quality.

BEWARE OF LEFTOVERS AND RAW MEAT

When we give a commercial food to our friend we know that it is strictly controlled. While if we decide to give our furry friend some chicken at home, there are some things we need to know:

  • Raw chicken meat may have a high microbial load, and cooking is always recommended.
  • De-bone the meat as the chicken bones could be dangerous if ingested. Splinters could create damage along the course from the mouth to the esophagus to the gastrointestinal tract.
  • Chicken skin, unlike meat, is very high in fat and therefore should be avoided in some pathological situations.

SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE

But what does science tell us about chicken meat? Various studies on food intolerances and allergies do not put chicken among the top causes. For example, in Mueller’s study*, chicken was involved in only 15% of the sample after beef and dairy, while cat was involved in as much as 5% of the sample… So, let’s believe less in rumors is more in science!

Dr Simone Falci
Veterinary physician with expertise in nutrition

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
*Mueller et al. in 2016