allergic reaction to chicken - dry food rec

[metropical]

at first I thought it was to egg in Alnutrin mix. I have an eggless sample now to try.
But in the meantime, I was feeding Owen Daves turkey wet which he liked, didn't cause any reaction and seems pretty good.

Decided to add a little dry to his diet to tighten him up a bit after his stools were loose.
I went with BBW chicken. And added Daves Chicken wet.
The vet had also given me 30 days of flagly in case he was experiencing IBS.

The stools are still formed, but the neck irritation has returned. Which makes me think that the allergic reaction may be the chicken, not the egg.
So I'm looking for a dry rec that is chicken and grain free. Anyone have any recs?

 

[lisahe]

I don't have any dry food recommendations but since Owen has had lots of dietary changes in recent weeks, if you're not already doing so, I'd highly suggest keeping a food and incident log to try to connect causes and effects. Both of his new foods have ingredients that can cause trouble for some cats. Some (potato, tapioca, agar-agar, fish) are banned for one or both of our cats because they're either proven or suspected triggers for vomiting and/or gas. Sometimes an ingredient will be okay in small amounts but a problem in large amounts; I suspect one of our cats can eat small quantities of egg but nothing beyond what's in Alnutrin and another of her foods. I tend to cut ingredients even if the cause-and-effect link is tenuous. I also often cut more than one ingredient at a time. Tha'ts not very scientific for figuring out causes and effects but I'd rather get rid of the problem(s) quickly!

In our experience -- which may not be at all helpful for yours! -- what works best is to feed the simplest foods possible, with as few vegetable ingredients and thickeners as possible. In your case (and again, this approach might not be helpful for anyone else!), I'd probably do what might seem like the most radical thing: since turkey seems to work for Owen, I'd try the eggless Alnutrin with some turkey! Either that or (if it's even possible) go back to the last food(s) Owen was eating before he started having so many reactions. Of course I realize either or both of those approaches could fail for our cats or yours. But what we're always facing is lots of trial and error; incremental changes are best.

The food/incident log has sometimes made me feel confident about changes, especially in the case of agar-agar, which was quickly removed from the menu after both cats started vomiting. (This is a feat: one of our cats is not much of a barfer.) What's interesting -- and not unique to our cats -- is that it took some time, several months, before either cat started consistently barfing after eating foods with agar-agar. I know I started feeding them more foods with the stuff so their increase in exposure to it was probably their tipping point.

One other thing we've really begun to notice -- in part because I've been watching holistic vet presentations about diet, digestion, and stress -- is that there are lots more incidents, particularly vomiting, when the cats are stressed by weather, noise, their humans' stress, and heaven knows what else. Edwina, our serial barfer, who has signs of IBD has been taking an herbal/probiotic blend that helps a lot: there's an important gut-brain connection that probiotics can help heal and the anti-inflammatory herbs help her stomach feel better.

I didn't mean to write so much, sorry! I hope you're able to figure out -- fairly quickly -- what will get Owen back on track.

 

[metropical]

probably will make the next alnutrin batch with turkey. Certainly suspicious of chicken at this point.
I have been giving Fera Probiotics for a while as well.
Thanks for the input.