Elimination diet

An elimination diet is a diagnostic approach in which the animal is fed a single novel or hydrolysed protein for several weeks, then foods are reintroduced to identify the trigger, and it is carried out under veterinary supervision (veterinary literature). It is the most reliable way to confirm a [food allergy versus food intolerance](/glossary/food-allergy-vs-food-intolerance), because skin and blood tests are unreliable for diagnosing food reactions in dogs and cats. The diet relies on either a genuinely novel protein the animal has never eaten, such as [horse](/glossary/horse), [rabbit](/glossary/rabbit), [kangaroo](/glossary/kangaroo) or [venison](/glossary/venison-deer), or a [protein hydrolysate](/glossary/protein-hydrolysate) whose fragments are too small to provoke a reaction. The discipline is exacting and easy to undermine: during the trial, often eight to twelve weeks, no other treats, flavoured medications or table scraps may be given, and attention to [cross-contamination](/glossary/cross-contamination) matters for sensitive animals. A [single-protein](/glossary/single-protein) recipe with a clean ingredient list supports the process. The marker: an elimination diet is a structured trial, not a casual food swap, and its success depends on strict adherence and reintroduction under veterinary guidance, which is why diet-hopping without a plan rarely identifies the culprit, as the [Petipedia glossary](/glossary) emphasises.

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