Advice on Food Trials

[JHart]

Hello!

I just joined this forum and am looking for advice concerning good sources of novel proteins I can use to start food trials.

I have five rescue kitties: Chloe and her daughter Bandit; Miss Bon Bon and her son Gizmo and daughter Panda. We rescued Bon Bon in 2011; she gave birth to eight kittens shortly thereafter. We found homes for all but two (Gizmo and Panda). Miss Bon Bon nearly died from severe diarrhea and vomiting during her early days with us. Numerous tests and procedures were performed to no avail until I tried changing her to a gluten-free diet. She cleared up almost overnight, and she and the others have been eating corn and wheat-free ever since.

They currently eat a variety of dry and moist foods including Blue Buffalo Wilderness Dry, Solid Gold Winged Tiger Dry, Blue Buffalo Rocky Mountain Beef, Soulistic Good Karma chicken, Weruva Funk in the Trunk chicken and tuna, Applaws two-ingredient chicken, various other Applaws varieties, Tiki Cat Succulent Chicken, and Ziwi Peak Beef. I also use Stella and Chewey's freeze-dried raw duck, rabbit, and salmon as meal toppers.

A couple of years ago, I noticed that Bon Bon, Gizmo, and Panda were over grooming. Chloe and Bandit were not. The situation has worsened over time, and so far only Depo Medrol injections have done anything to give them relief. I do not feel comfortable exposing them to steroids long-term, and my vet strongly recommends a hypoallergenic prescription diet. Unfortunately, the only ones I can find online have grains as a primary ingredient, making them unsuitable for Miss Bon Bon. The vets I have consulted over the past few years all dismiss my grain sensitivity concerns ... but I don't want to risk using grains again.

I changed from clay-based litter to Eco-cat wood litter over the summer to see if that would help. It has greatly reduced the dust (and my own allergies), but has had no effect on Miss Bon Bon, Gizmo, and Panda.

I suspect they have developed sensitivity to beef and/or chicken as these are the primary meats in their diet. Several of the Applaws varieties contain rice which concerns me as well, but I have tried eliminating those foods over a few-month period and noticed no change. Several of their wet foods and all of their dry foods contain potato and/or pea starches which could also be a problem.

Does anyone have experience with grain-free brands that provide novel proteins? I have done online research but have only managed to confuse myself. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

James, on behalf of three very itchy kitties

 

[LTS3]

Rawz is usually suggested: Minimally Processed Natural Cat Food Archives | RAWZ Any protein that isn't what your cats are sensitive to are fine.

Hounds and Gatos: Fresh & Natural Cat Food - Hound & Gatos

Koha: Shop all Cat

 

[JHart]

Thank you, LTS3. I have not checked those brands yet.

 

[lisahe]

Several of their wet foods and all of their dry foods contain potato and/or pea starches which could also be a problem.

Personally (based on our experiences), I'd suggest cutting these ingredients before cutting a protein. Then I'd cut fish. Then beef. Unless there's strong evidence that chicken is the problem, I'd keep it for now since it's so ubiquitous. FWIW, my approach has been to cut thickeners and other nonessential ingredients first. Thus far that's helped with our cats so potato, agar-agar, and mussels (plus all legumes and carby veg) are out. I think you're doing the right thing to stay away from grains, particularly given what you've already found! This list means we feed mostly raw and homemade food, where there are essentially no superfluous ingredients.

Also, on overgrooming, we use a transdermal antihistamine cream for one of our cats. It's easy to administer but a bit expensive, though worth it for her since she also uses an inhaler for asthma.

Good luck!

 

[JHart]

Lisahe

Thank you for sharing. I joined this forum because there is so much contradictory information out there ... even from experts in nutrition ... that I decided listening to real experiences would be the best path forward.

The transdermal antihistamine sounds intriguing. What is the medication name?

James

 

[lisahe]

Thank you for sharing. I joined this forum because there is so much contradictory information out there ... even from experts in nutrition ... that I decided listening to real experiences would be the best path forward.

The transdermal antihistamine sounds intriguing. What is the medication name?

The easy thing first! The medicine is chlorpheniramine. The vet initially prescribed it for Ireland when she'd licked a bare spot on her hip; she also sneezed occasionally, though that didn't seem to be much of a problem. She took it for about six months. I tapered her off it a couple weeks ago (we didn't know if she still needed it or not for the licking... she's always been an anxious cat so we weren't even certain she'd been licking because she itched) but then she started coughing and since she has asthma we put her right back on the cream. I rub it in her ear twice day. It has a mild sedating effect that I think is helpful for her since she's anxious. (It's the same active ingredient as in Chlor-Trimeton, which I used to take for allergies... but only at night because it put me to sleep!)

As for the food, yes, it's very difficult to know what advice to follow. I think the best thing is to pick an approach and then stick to it. And to keep a journal that tracks when symptoms occur and what meals the cats eat. We've had the best results with the simplest recipes: fewer ingredients means fewer potential irritants! The biggest difficulty is that there are so many ingredients that can cause problems. It took me months to figure out that Edwina was vomiting from one of the supplements (EZ Complete) I used to make food: it's a great supplement, the cats liked it, but she vomited a few hours after eating it several times a week. As soon as I took EZ out of her menu, she stopped the vomiting. By process of elimination, it had to have been the mussels that were bothering her. The mussels were in one or two other foods that caused problems in both cats: agar-agar was clearly the only problem ingredient for Ireland. As you know, it's all the harder when two cats are having difficulties.

Anyway, James, just ask if you have questions. A lot of us have dealt with our cats' food issues.