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The term food hypersensitivity refers to all the clinical manifestations of allergy to ingested allergens (immunological mechanisms), and intolerance (non-immunological mechanisms). Few studies of the immunopathogenesis of feline food allergy have been conducted so most immunological data are extrapolated from the human field. The list of incriminated foods varies according to local feeding habits in countries where the animals live. In cats, the most common food allergens are beef, lamb, milk, fish, tinned food and dried food. Food hypersensitivity often manifests in cats as a pruritic dermatosis of the face and neck, miliary dermatitis, self-induced alopecia and generalised scaling or symmetrical alopecia. In addition to the other clinical presentations, all the entities of the eosinophilic granuloma complex should be considered. The incidence of gastrointestinal involvement is underestimated. Most cases of recurrent lymphoplasmacytic colitis seem to be related to food hypersensitivity. In practice, establishing a definitive diagnosis can be difficult and requires a rigorous approach. An elimination diet of one or more foodstuffs, never previously eaten by the cat, should be fedover six to ten weeks, period considered optimal by most dermatologists.
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