SUDDEN ALLERGY: what food now 😢 ?

Mrcclms

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Hello everybody,

My 2yo boy Adam is having an allergy and some sort of inflammation and after ruling out environmental causes, I suspect it's the food.

Some key data:

- he has sensitive stomach and anything that has too many fillers or ingredients besides pure protein, give him diarrhea (also oils and fish give him diarrhea)

- he has been eating for a year a mix of Buffalo Basics Limited TURKEY/POTATO can with a home cooked turkey breast (if I only give him the canned he gets soft stool...with the plain home cooked turkey breast mixed, perfect stool)


Why the allergy ?
Started 1.5 months ago with:

- head shaking
- ears scratching
- licking paws
- over grooming in terms of him licking all his fur many times a day

Besides these, he is normal. (Only some zoomies)


I ruled out flea by checking his ears daily, no black dirt or anything. And trying some rounds of Revolution. Nothing changed.

So, what now ?

I need something with:

- a different protein
- in a form of high moisture (he doesn't drink water easily) but protein dense
- no fillers, preservatives, veggies or carbs
- lightly cooked would be the BEST. I tried Darwin's raw 1 year ago and even tho he loved it and his poop was great, he started vomiting after a week


Is there any medallion of meat, with all the nutrients needed, that are frozen (easy to handle and feed and store) but lightly cooked ?

Like the DARWINS lamb medallion but cooked instead of raw ?


Or what else you guys suggest ?

Also, I prefer to not spend more than 100-125$ a month if possible

Thanks so much
 

LTS3

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Try this chart for commercial canned foods that meet your criteria:


Smalls makes a cooked homemade-type food but it's a subscription meal plan thing and can be pricey over time. There's some TCS threads about this brand:


You can try home cooked food using a premix such as EZComplete. You can get more info on home cooked diets here: Raw & Home-Cooked Cat Food
 
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Mrcclms

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A question: if he developed an allergy to turkey, does he most likely have an allergy to chicken as well being them poultry ?
 
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Mrcclms

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Try this chart for commercial canned foods that meet your criteria:


Smalls makes a cooked homemade-type food but it's a subscription meal plan thing and can be pricey over time. There's some TCS threads about this brand:


You can try home cooked food using a premix such as EZComplete. You can get more info on home cooked diets here: Raw & Home-Cooked Cat Food

Yes I have home cooked before and I use Alnutrin

The thing is

How can I find raw meat of animals that are not the chicken/turkey that we normally find in supermarkets ?
 

EmersonandEvie

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Have you had Adam evaluated by a vet? What he is experiencing could be allergies, but it may also be behavioral (anxiety, etc.). Also, since it started only a month and a half ago, something in your area/region may be in bloom that is triggering allergies. Before you switch him off of a routine that has worked for him for a while, make sure that it is a food allergy. I'm sorry you are going through this with your boy!
 
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Mrcclms

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Have you had Adam evaluated by a vet? What he is experiencing could be allergies, but it may also be behavioral (anxiety, etc.). Also, since it started only a month and a half ago, something in your area/region may be in bloom that is triggering allergies. Before you switch him off of a routine that has worked for him for a while, make sure that it is a food allergy. I'm sorry you are going through this with your boy!

Yes, it could be anxiety but that route I think
Is way more complicated to evaluate and even "fix"

So if I have to start from one direction to rule out something, I think a diet change is the first easiest step ??
 

EmersonandEvie

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Yes, it could be anxiety but that route I think
Is way more complicated to evaluate and even "fix"

So if I have to start from one direction to rule out something, I think a diet change is the first easiest step ??
I really think he needs to see a vet to start the ruling out process. They can look for signs that we, as non-veterinary professionals, won't know to look for. Think of it like this: what if it isn't a food allergy? You've said he has had a sensitive stomach before. So, if you suddenly switch his diet and it doesn't agree with him, now you're dealing with stomach issues on top of what may or may not be a food allergy. It can snowball just that easily.

You said that you have used Alnutrin before with I'm assuming turkey breast. You can gently cook/brown the turkey before adding the Alnutrin. Before he sees the vet, you could keep him on a diet of just the Alnutrin + turkey, since you know it hasn't given him any issues in the past. I wouldn't try any other meat sources (chicken, pork, etc.) until he has been evaluated.
 

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Yes I have home cooked before and I use Alnutrin

The thing is

How can I find raw meat of animals that are not the chicken/turkey that we normally find in supermarkets ?

Try a butcher shop or ethnic supermarket.

Hare-Today.com is a place to get raw meat for pet food use, if you're in the US. A raw food co-op or group is another option: DogAware.com: Raw Dog Food Co-ops and Local Groups
 
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Mrcclms

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Yes he has had turkey with no issues for a long time but allergies develop over time

I totally respect and appreciate your advice but I'm a owner who spend literally hours every day learning and getting data, I don't wanna be the Vet of my cat but at the same time I believe that as owners we know them better than any 30min rushed visit at a vet


In my experience, for issues like these that can have different causes and there are no effective tests for, vets are not of big help

You only stress the cat



He is not an anxious cat, he purrs many many times a day. He lives in the safest environment with all the comforts and toys and beds. I'm like his "slave" lol

Flea, I have done rounds of Revolution and the shaking/itching/licking didn't stop at all




I give him a very good diet but I always felt that it was too repetitive over and over and I really suspect it's an allergy to it


Plus, my cat was born in Ukraine and from the breeder I knew that these cats were fed a raw RED MEAT diet

They are Siberians and they eat pretty wild stuff

I think that maybe poultry maybe it's not their thing ?!
 
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Mrcclms

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Try a butcher shop or ethnic supermarket.

Hare-Today.com is a place to get raw meat for pet food use, if you're in the US. A raw food co-op or group is another option: DogAware.com: Raw Dog Food Co-ops and Local Groups

I just found a big raw meat company here in miami

Rawfeedingmiami.com


Ill just have to make sure that their "grinds" are fresh and not previous frozen cause Im planning to buy them, cook them, add alnutrin and freeze them
 

EmersonandEvie

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Maybe poultry is not his thing? You could try an alternate red meat, like beef or venison. I don't feed a homecooked diet (I dabbled in raw for a while, but that was long ago), so I'm ignorant in that aspect. Hopefully those that feed a homecooked diet will chime in!


I just found a big raw meat company here in miami

Rawfeedingmiami.com


Ill just have to make sure that their "grinds" are fresh and not previous frozen cause Im planning to buy them, cook them, add alnutrin and freeze them
Make sure the grinds DO NOT include bone! Bone splinters when cooked. It needs to be just muscle meat grinds. Other than that, that sounds like an excellent plan! You're lucky to live close by a raw feeding company. You will probably even be able to go talk to them in person and/or pick up your order, which saves shipping costs!
 
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Mrcclms

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These the options I have found:

- SMALLS.com : their beef solution in a pate' form - price is higher around $120/m but I'm fine with it - only CONCERN is: will it give my Adam a softer stool than poultry ? (It has some veggies = more fiber)





- RAWFEEDINGMIAMI : they have many raw rabbit/beef grinds - concern is: can I slightly cook them before feeding ? Is the bone content too high (in the past my cat vomited when having high bone content raw) ?






- INSTINCTS rabbit raw medallions : I don't like that they have rabbit + pork + Fish + fruits in it. I'm afraid he will have diarrhea. My cat ate salmon from my trash twice and he had very bad diarrhea.




- BUTCHER + HOMECOOKED : last resort would be some beef ground meat + Alnutrin and maybe a bit of pumpkin just to add a bit of fiber, homecooked by me

I say beef cause I don't think I can find rabbit ground meat from butchers or any other novelty protein
 

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A thought: are you absolutely sure the problem isn't the potato or the carrageenan in the food? Carrageenan and potato cause problems for a significant number of cats. (One of ours can't eat potato.) Given that Adam has fewer stool problems when the canned food is "diluted" by fresh turkey, my first guess would be that there's something in the food causing his symptoms. Of course it can take quite a few variations on a diet to conclusively determine what's causing problems but that would be my first hypothesis.

Personally, I would most suggest making food with Alnutrin. Our cats really love Alnutrin and the food is very good, just meat and necessary nutrients. It's relatively easy to make, despite having to add liver. (I've almost used up my stockpile of frozen chicken liver, though, and am excited to move on to freeze-dried!) I add a little pumpkin to our food, too, along with egg yolk and a little fish oil.
 
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Mrcclms

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Yes, that's a thought I had. Maybe it's some ingredient in the Buffalo Basics Can that is triggering this reaction.

Now that I think of this, maybe the first try/step would be to simply avoid the canned and give him only the homecooked turkey for 2 weeks and see if the symptoms subside

If they do, it's the potato/carrageenan. If they don't, it's the poultry protein itself.


Good idea
 

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Yes, that's a thought I had. Maybe it's some ingredient in the Buffalo Basics Can that is triggering this reaction.

Now that I think of this, maybe the first try/step would be to simply avoid the canned and give him only the homecooked turkey for 2 weeks and see if the symptoms subside

If they do, it's the potato/carrageenan. If they don't, it's the poultry protein itself.

Good idea
I always like to try the simplest solution first! Though sometimes I don't and then kick myself for taking so long to work through failed options, only to realize that my first suspicion (which seemed too simple and/or too ridiculous) turns out to be the solution. That's what happened last summer when one of our cats was vomiting. Things improved some after taking agar-agar out of her diet but she still wasn't back to normal. She was vomiting a few hours after feeding food made with EZ Complete so I wondered about the green-lipped mussels in the supplement. But (for some reason!) I thought that no, it couldn't be that. I went through all sorts of other ingredients before finally taking her off EZ Complete. Which turned out to be the solution -- she's been fine ever since. Although I can't be 100% sure the mussels were the problem, by process of elimination, I think they have to be.

Alnutrin will send a free sample packet -- it's enough to make food from a pound of meat. Twelve little packets of supplement with egg shell calcium costs somewhere in the $15-20 range. They ship very quickly.

Good luck!
 

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How did you rule out environmental causes? That head scratching, self-grooming more than usual, licking paws happen to my cat every summer although her food isn't different. I am not sure of the reason either BUT, quite a few allergies get worse in the summer for everyone. Even dust mite allergy gets worse with increased humidity -- I have dust mite allergy myself and can confirm.

Also mosquitos could cause so much itching. Takes one flea bite to trigger symptoms if he's too sensitive to fleas. (I know you said you applied Revolution but have you checked the environment? Does he go out or is there an animal in the house who does?)

Of course it's very possible it's the food and I think your idea "maybe the first try/step would be to simply avoid the canned and give him only the homecooked turkey" would help. Assuming you don't mean only homecooked turkey? They don't get all the nutrition they need just from one piece of meat.
 
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Mrcclms

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How did you rule out environmental causes? That head scratching, self-grooming more than usual, licking paws happen to my cat every summer although her food isn't different. I am not sure of the reason either BUT, quite a few allergies get worse in the summer for everyone. Even dust mite allergy gets worse with increased humidity -- I have dust mite allergy myself and can confirm.

Also mosquitos could cause so much itching. Takes one flea bite to trigger symptoms if he's too sensitive to fleas. (I know you said you applied Revolution but have you checked the environment? Does he go out or is there an animal in the house who does?)

Of course it's very possible it's the food and I think your idea "maybe the first try/step would be to simply avoid the canned and give him only the homecooked turkey" would help. Assuming you don't mean only homecooked turkey? They don't get all the nutrition they need just from one piece of meat.

I live in a high rise condo, I have a balcony but he never goes out. I vacuum every day.

Well, it could be. I thought of dry air and I placed an humidifier



About the food, of course I'm gonna add liver and Alnutrin.
 
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