2 Four Year Old Cats Develop sudden allergy? Help?

[goforsunshine]

Hello all!

I am new to this forum and I am wondering if any of have any suggestions/thought about my current situation. I have two adult cats that are 4yrs of age Spencer and Ghost.

Spencer in the past 3 months has started to lick his tummy frequently, and it got so bad a month or so ago that he was creating red sores. I took him to the vet and they gave him prednisone and it cleared up after a few weeks. He started licking again and it came back and my vet recommend a hyper allergenic food diet  (SUPER EXPENSIVE) to see if that is what could cause it?

My other cat ghost started coughing (sounded like coughing a hair ball/but never had a hair ball) about a month ago and it consistenly became more frequent (almost sounded like he couldn't breathe) so I took him to the vet. They said he had some type of irritation/bronchitus in his lungs and he was tested for heart worms and the anti-bioties and it came back negative. They said to keep an eye on it and it might be some type of reaction he is having from an allergy.

To make a story short, the vet said to keep an eye on both and give them a hypo-allergenic food. The food I am purchasing is Royal Canin Limited Ingredient Diet and it is breaking the bank! I spent $800 alone at that vet visit

I have been feeding my cats Wellness Wet Cat food (all flavors, usually chicken or beef) for 4 years.

Any suggestions on what limited ingredient food to give them or any similiar experiences?

I am going broke here!

 

[betsygee]

I haven't had this kind of issue with my cats.  Here's a thread by another member that may give you some ideas on feeding: 

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/327373/starting-cat-on-an-elimination-diet-due-to-suspected-food-allergy

Good luck and let us know how your kitties are doing.

 

[Kieka]

I am in a similar situation (although one of mine is vomiting not itching). When it comes to eliminating foods it is a very slow process. The easiest way is to find a food with a completely different protein and binder agent. Do a slow transition to a new food if it is dry (wet just change) and give it a few weeks. If it helps wonderful. If it doesn't then a new food.

The other way is to go very basic food with limited ingredients and see if it helps. Then you can try branching out for more foods to see what else doesn't cause a reaction.

In my case we eliminated chicken and shrimp. So far we are at 2 weeks of no vomiting. During my research into options I realized cranberries are bad and the current food has that so switching again... yay.

We are going to Petcurean Go! Sensitivity from Natures Variety Instinct Limited. But there was one called Feline Caviar that looked good too. Those are dry foods. For wet food it is fairly easy to find one with a novel protein. Merrick Backcountry is working out for us right now. Wureva is another with good ingredients and different proteins. If you go to Chewy they have an option to filter for limited ingredients. A lot of those will be good options of foods to try for allergies.

 

[c-attila]

You can test for allergies, and then treat them to desensitize them to what's causing the allergic reaction. Attila was also having some issues with bronchitis and congestion so we tested him for both food and environmental allergies, and he turned out to have an allergy to dust mites.

https://www.heska.com/allercept/allercept-testing.aspx

 

[goforsunshine]

Thank you guys for your input! I did some research on food and Merrick did come up in my search and that is also what we feed my puppy!

I wonder why my vet didn't offer for us to do an allergy tests that sounds like a good idea also!
Thank y'all!!!

 

[Freedom]

You can purchase a limited ingredient diet WITHOUT going the prescription route. 

My Tommy recently developed asthma.  He is taking a low dose of prednisolone daily.  I changed over my litter from Tidy Cats - lots of dust! - to Arm & Hammer Clump and Seal.  My vet recommended this litter. I am amazed at the difference in the dust.  Almost nonexistent.

At about the same time, I finally got my Emma in for diagnosis, it seems she has IBD, and needs a limited ingredient diet.  My vet suggested using one with a different protein source, as chicken is the most common protein allergen for our pets.  At her suggestion, I went with the Natural Balance Limited Ingredient line.  The kibble is Green Pea and Duck.  The canned is Green Pea and Venison.  This has helped Emma dramatically.

I noticed all the cats were more interested in Emma's food than the other stuff, so I decided to switch over completely.  I still have a few cans left of what I had been using, and I open one about every 3rd day.  One the day I use the canned food I am phasing out, Tommy has asthma attacks even though he is on his medicine.  I do not change his medication; once I revert to the limited ingredient alternate protein for all the dishes, he is asthma free.  So there is something in the food which is triggering his asthma - based on my observations.  I went 5 days without using up the 'old' food, and Tommy was fine, no coughing at all.

I find the limited ingredient food at a good price online at chewy.com, free shipping and it arrives in 2 days.  Their pricing seems to be the same as on Amazon, but with a faster shipping (I do not have Amazon Prime.)   To the door delivery is great, especially as I am waiting on a hip replacement just now.  I am also getting the litter from them, it goes on sale and I buy a month's supply (with 7 cats and 9 boxes, that is a lot of litter I go through!).

One thing I love about my vet is that she is knowledgeable and tries off prescription solutions when appropriate.  In the case of these 2 cats, so far they are responding well.  Yes, I am paying more than non-limited ingredient, but it is nothing like the price of prescription foods. 

Finally, one more story:  a few years ago, one of my dogs, Sugar, started licking, her hair was thinning, she was developing sores.  It took 5 months and many vets visits.  I happened to post about what was happening online, and a FB friend in California (I am in Mass.) asked if I was using Tide laundry detergent.  Well yes, I grew up with Mum using it, and that is what I use.  Then I realized that Sugar's issue began when I bought my new High Efficiency front loading washing machine.  I had switched over to Tide HE!  WOW!  So I switched to a "free" detergent and there was improvement.  I ended up laundering EVERYTHING because now I knew this was a contact allergy.  I did all the beds (my dogs are up on our beds) down to and including the mattress covers, and up through the quilts, comforters, pillows.  I did all the pet beds.  I did all our clothes, underwear on up, and as this happened in Autumn, a transition season,  I did both Summer and Winter clothes.  I did about 60 loads of laundry in one week.  And it worked!  Sugar stopped licking, her skin healed, her hair grew back in.  So it pays to think about what may have changed in your routine at about the time the licking started.

Perhaps my experience will give you some ideas of things to try.  Let us know!

 

[goforsunshine]

Thanks

You can purchase a limited ingredient diet WITHOUT going the prescription route. 

My Tommy recently developed asthma.  He is taking a low dose of prednisolone daily.  I changed over my litter from Tidy Cats - lots of dust! - to Arm & Hammer Clump and Seal.  My vet recommended this litter. I am amazed at the difference in the dust.  Almost nonexistent.

At about the same time, I finally got my Emma in for diagnosis, it seems she has IBD, and needs a limited ingredient diet.  My vet suggested using one with a different protein source, as chicken is the most common protein allergen for our pets.  At her suggestion, I went with the Natural Balance Limited Ingredient line.  The kibble is Green Pea and Duck.  The canned is Green Pea and Venison.  This has helped Emma dramatically.

I noticed all the cats were more interested in Emma's food than the other stuff, so I decided to switch over completely.  I still have a few cans left of what I had been using, and I open one about every 3rd day.  One the day I use the canned food I am phasing out, Tommy has asthma attacks even though he is on his medicine.  I do not change his medication; once I revert to the limited ingredient alternate protein for all the dishes, he is asthma free.  So there is something in the food which is triggering his asthma - based on my observations.  I went 5 days without using up the 'old' food, and Tommy was fine, no coughing at all.

I find the limited ingredient food at a good price online at chewy.com, free shipping and it arrives in 2 days.  Their pricing seems to be the same as on Amazon, but with a faster shipping (I do not have Amazon Prime.)   To the door delivery is great, especially as I am waiting on a hip replacement just now.  I am also getting the litter from them, it goes on sale and I buy a month's supply (with 7 cats and 9 boxes, that is a lot of litter I go through!).

One thing I love about my vet is that she is knowledgeable and tries off prescription solutions when appropriate.  In the case of these 2 cats, so far they are responding well.  Yes, I am paying more than non-limited ingredient, but it is nothing like the price of prescription foods. 

Finally, one more story:  a few years ago, one of my dogs, Sugar, started licking, her hair was thinning, she was developing sores.  It took 5 months and many vets visits.  I happened to post about what was happening online, and a FB friend in California (I am in Mass.) asked if I was using Tide laundry detergent.  Well yes, I grew up with Mum using it, and that is what I use.  Then I realized that Sugar's issue began when I bought my new High Efficiency front loading washing machine.  I had switched over to Tide HE!  WOW!  So I switched to a "free" detergent and there was improvement.  I ended up laundering EVERYTHING because now I knew this was a contact allergy.  I did all the beds (my dogs are up on our beds) down to and including the mattress covers, and up through the quilts, comforters, pillows.  I did all the pet beds.  I did all our clothes, underwear on up, and as this happened in Autumn, a transition season,  I did both Summer and Winter clothes.  I did about 60 loads of laundry in one week.  And it worked!  Sugar stopped licking, her skin healed, her hair grew back in.  So it pays to think about what may have changed in your routine at about the time the licking started.

Perhaps my experience will give you some ideas of things to try.  Let us know!

Thanks! The litter suggestion is great! We have been using the same litter for 4yrs, but I would assume eventually that could irritate my Ghosty. I should probably update this thread! I am a research kinda gal- I posted this thread in the middle of my reasearch to see what others though and I have thoroughly researched limited ingredients foods (sorted through ingredients, prices, etc) and I narrowed it down to some that will be cheapest than the rx canned food, but still only 2-3 ingredients total! I will let you all know what I find. I went through all of the canned wellness cat food I feed them and highlighted the ingredients that were the same and circled the ones that were different.

 

[goforsunshine]

Also I forgot to add my cats don't search really at all and I am 100% positive they do not have fleas (as some cats have flea allergies and it is common). It was only Spencer licking his belly and Ghost wheezing every few days. Since they have been on RX food I have not seen one lick for Spencer, hair basically has grown back and Ghost has not cough/wheezed once. So I am sure it was probably a veggie/fruit or starch that was irritating them. Thank you all so much for the helpful tips and articles to read! Very informative!!!