How Do Allergies Work?

Yanaka · Dec 23, 2017

My kitten has an allergic reaction to who-knows-what. His lower lip is swollen, and his chin seems itchy. The vet wants me to try Hill’s z/d, but I feed them grain-free and was switching from Nutro to Rawz.

It’s my understanding that he could be reacting to stuff that has been in his system for three weeks, so there’s kind of a retro-reaction.

If I start the z/d, will he improve right away? I will be gone for a week, will he be alright eating the same food? How do I do this?

abyeb · Dec 23, 2017

It might take a while for the allergen to clear out of his system. I’m not quite sure exactly how long, though. Just don’t be worried if it’s not immediate. Hopefully he should start improving soon!

LTS3 · Dec 23, 2017

The Z/D wouldn't start helping right away. You'll still need to wait a few weeks for any allergens to clear out of your cat, assuming it is an allergy / sensitivity to something in food. Common food allergens are proteins, grains, fillers, and gums. You can give a commerical limited ingredient diet a try instead of the junky expensive Z/D. RAWZ doesn't have any LID foods but you could give the beef or turkey ones a try since chicken is often an allergen.

Here are some LID brands:

Blue Buffalo Basics
Merrick Limited Ingredients
Koha Limited Ingredient
Nature's Variety Instinct
Natural Balance LID

Yanaka · Dec 23, 2017

What are LID’s? I forgot to say that all foods I give him (my both cats) are wer foods.

Do you think it could be the Rawz I started two/three weeks ago, then?

Neo_23 · Dec 23, 2017

LID means limited ingredient diet. It means that the food only contains one protein and a limited amount of fillers. Actually, all of Rawz foods are limited ingredient because they all contain only one protein and few other ingredients. They just aren't marketed as LID.

If you've been feeding chicken and turkey the culprit may very well be poultry. I know that Rawz is also one of the only foods that uses fenugreek seeds; your kitty may be allergic to it. You could try the prescription food the vet recommended, or you can try a novel protein. Rawz has beef and salmon, or you can check out brands like Ziwipeak or Koha (Koha also has fenugreek seeds) that have things like lamb, rabbit, kangaroo. Just look at the ingredients and make sure it is simple. The food itself doesn't have to be labelled as LID to be limited.

Yanaka · Dec 23, 2017

So if I wanted to see if the chicken was the issue, I’d have to feed turkey exclusively for 3/4 weeks?

Yanaka · Dec 23, 2017

Neo_23 said:
LID means limited ingredient diet. It means that the food only contains one protein and a limited amount of fillers. Actually, all of Rawz foods are limited ingredient because they all contain only one protein and few other ingredients. They just aren't marketed as LID.

If you've been feeding chicken and turkey the culprit may very well be poultry. I know that Rawz is also one of the only foods that uses fenugreek seeds; your kitty may be allergic to it. You could try the prescription food the vet recommended, or you can try a novel protein. Rawz has beef and salmon, or you can check out brands like Ziwipeak or Koha (Koha also has fenugreek seeds) that have things like lamb, rabbit, kangaroo. Just look at the ingredients and make sure it is simple. The food itself doesn't have to be labelled as LID to be limited.

That’s what I was thinking, too. Rawz is so simple! They really don’t like beef. I’ll have to try things around with a timeline of a month for each food, then?

Do you think he will be ok for another week on poultry while I’m gone?

Neo_23 · Dec 23, 2017

You can try the turkey, but if the allergy is to poultry in general then you will probably have to avoid poultry all together. Figuring out allergies is somewhat of a trial and error game. I would just leave him on the food that he has done best on for the week that you are gone, and have someone who knows about his issues and is reliable keep a close eye on him. Provide them with the contact information for your vet.

Sometimes it's not a bad idea to use a prescription diet until his symptoms clear up and then slowly transition him to a LID food.

Yanaka · Dec 23, 2017

He was having really great stools, less black and more solid with just Rawz. I’m so sad. I’m worried the z/d will give him bad poop again, but his chin looks sad...

carebare · Dec 24, 2017

My cat had an awful case of miliary dermatitis. What I did was switch his diet, gave him flea medications, stopped the metradonizole, and gave it several weeks. Meanwhile, he got a steroid shot because he was scratching like mad and going crazy. I also trimmed his nails and got a cone collar. He is finally looking and acting better after about 8 weeks, but his allergic reaction was severe (I suspect chicken and possibly seafood). He was on limited ingredient rabbit and lamb diet, but I recently added venison out of desperation...he is so picky.

Hi diahrrea seems to be more quicker indicator of allergy. It is hard to tell the latency associated with his dermatitis and eye boogers.

LTS3 · Dec 24, 2017

You can try novel proteins as well, such as rabbit and vension and kangaroo. Your favorite brands of "novel protein" canned cat food

Proteins aren't the only cause of food sensitivites. You just have to eliminate ingredients slowly one by one to see what the culprit is.

Yanaka · Dec 25, 2017

Thanks, all! I’m not home for Xmas, and they’re on chicken. Nutro and Rawz, because I didn’t get enough of the latter before leaving. I tried Turkey and they were both having bad poop. So the sitter is monitoring his chin while I’m gone...

Tobermory · Jan 3, 2018

I had a kitty many years ago (lost her at age 19.5 in 2003) whose lower lip would swell up periodically. I’d take her to the vet who would give her a steroid shot. The swelling would go down but the problem would come back. My husband started calling her The Lip. The vet said it was an eosinophilic granuloma, commonly called rodent ulcer. I found the cause completely by accident. She was allergic to milk. She always loved milk, and I’d give her about a teaspoonful a day. That’s all. But I had tried everything else over the years without success. I stopped giving her milk and she was never The Lip again! Allergies are so hard to figure out.

Yanaka · Jan 4, 2018

Interesting!

I think it's something in Nutro. He is doing much better, although his chin is a little crummy now. But I've given them a teaspoon of Nutro twice since they were fed Rawz exclusively, and his lip swelled up almost instantly. They also both get soften stools when they're not exclusively on Rawz.

I might have found the primary culprit, so let's see how it goes just on Rawz.

Yanaka · Jan 12, 2018

I know I’m just talking to myself, but I am introducing them to Tiki Cat (my local pet store is the best), and not only they love it (it’s raw-like shreds, it’s awesome), but their breath had gone from ew to not bad at all! I don’t know if it’s a coincidence, and I don’t know why they smelled like that in the first place (teething?), but it’s really great. Just if someone is considering that brand. They also have 6-oz cans. Yay!

Neo_23 · Jan 12, 2018

Yanaka said:
I know I’m just talking to myself, but I am introducing them to Tiki Cat (my local pet store is the best), and not only they love it (it’s raw-like shreds, it’s awesome), but their breath had gone from ew to not bad at all! I don’t know if it’s a coincidence, and I don’t know why they smelled like that in the first place (teething?), but it’s really great. Just if someone is considering that brand. They also have 6-oz cans. Yay!

Glad it's working out for you, but keep in mind that those 6 oz cans are probably very low in kcal.

Yanaka · Jan 12, 2018

Neo_23 said:
Glad it's working out for you, but keep in mind that those 6 oz cans are probably very low in kcal.

Thanks for pointing that out, I didn't check the calories. I add it to their usual portion of Rawz, so they're still being fed enough, I think. I'll keep that in mind

How Do Allergies Work?

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