Beginning Raw And Possible Allergies Posted For Selarah

[valentine319]

Selarah was needing some advice. So cat was on instinct kibble and did fine. He was switched around some try to get him on raw. She's had him on primal raw for 2 weeks. There seem to be issues thinking it was allergies.

Hoping some others can chime in and help.

Selarah if you can fill them in on issues you've had with food ? How long have you had him? List the food he was on and he's on now. Selarah feels overwhelmed and wonders about going back to kibble basically overwhelmed.

 

[Selarah]

Thanks valentine319

I have one post in the past, that touches on most of the issue, but I will try to consolidate everything here. (Lethargy After Eating, Intestinal Inflammation) if you want history. Sorry, this might be a long post, but I appreciate any opinions.

If you read it, I explain that this cat (stray we took in July 31, so I have no history of him) was being fed a kibble food. Went an entire month, completely normal kitty; minus the scratching, but I had no clue back then. He had a massive appetite, playful, followed us everywhere, slept with us, normal bathroom habits, used the litter; was a very comfortable kitty. We slowly gave him small portions and by the end of the week he was at full portions. We let him still come and go as he pleased. He seemed normal.


It wasn't until I made such abrupt changes, that it has become a complete mess. It's been months now, and he hasn't really been stable on anything. If you kept reading that post, I explain he looses interest in food (was trying all wet food), its obvious because its upsetting his tummy, most likely because: abrupt changes. Allergies might have a play into it too.


Since that post, it's dawned on me that he has allergies.
chicken: for sure
turkey: maybe?
fish: fairly confident
wheat/corn: used to feed frozen mice, scratched like crazy after eating one.. they eat wheat and corn?
eggs or fish oil; maybe both. I can't tell which one it is yet. I thought it was fish oil, but 2 days in a row I've omitted the egg yolk, and his scratching is less? egg yolk I am giving to help with his constipation while on raw. I also try giving him pumpkin, not sure how well that sits for him though.
all canned food: Most likey all the abrupt changes, not the food itself

I am willing to do an allergy test for him at this point, but are they accurate? Someone was recommending NutriScan vs the test the vet does. Might be in order.

I assume allergies, if they are bad enough, causes wide spread inflammation. I think I keep feeding him something he is allergic too. Could this be why he looses interest in literally everything I feed him after 1-2 weeks? Again, I think it has to do with abrubt changes/ being extra sensitive to any big change.

Right now he is eating Primal Pork. He is still scratching and loosing a lot of fur. valentine319 was able to identify this kitty as a Noregian Forest cat! Adorable. Thank-you, Valentine.

It is winter, so the shedding could be as a result of the season change. Only reason I might suspect his shedding could be due to allergies, is because at one point he was on TikiCat wild salmon, and shed a whole lot then as well, during the summer. Primal has sardine and cod liver oil. Connection?

At this point, he doesn't seem to be really thriving, but at least he is stable, because prior to this, he wasn't.

Prior to Primal, I put him on digestive care i/d the vet gave me. Well that was the worst thing ever. Lost so much fur and was lethargic, scratching, slow. It was a big change though again, from high protien wet foods to kibble and.. chicken, eggs, corn. I had to get him off fast because it was horrible, he wasnt on it long enough anyway to justify doing any transistion. I put him on LID rabbit kibble, better improvment, was only on it for 5 days, but back to playing with toys, less scratching, lounging comfortably, still kind of slow though not used to kibble probably. He was looking around for wet food at this point too though, reacted excited to any cans we opened, even though he reacts poorly to canned? lol. SO maybe he started eating the kibble less. He wasnt on it long enough to know these kinds of details. The kibble I know isn't great, so I wanted to try raw because I've heard such amazing things.

I think I have been accidently underfeeding him too much as well. He was 11.3 pounds while on kibble and now he is down to 10.6 pounds in only 3 weeks on raw. However, he was only 9 lbs when we first got him. I have been feeding him 4-5 1/4c Primal Pronto. He doesn't like it anymore and prefers the Nuggets now. I have been feeding him 4. 1, 4x a day, plus pork liver treats/egg yolks. Perhaps I will offer him 2 for 2 of his meals, and hope he eats a little extra. To get him eating the primal raw, I started out slow with smaller less portions. So he has been lower calories for awhile. Especially before all this, he wasn't eating much either. I had to hand feed him through a bad episode of some sort, vet said most likely a horrible fever.

Everytime he stops eating something, I have to try to get him to eat anything, so I start slow and build him up again onto a new food he will eat. If I go too fast, it upsets him too much and he wont eat the new thing either. Doing this every 3 weeks has been the trend for months now.

He no longer comes to our feeding spot in the kitchen, even if I call him or shake a treat bag. I hunt him down and offer his food to wherever he is in the house. He has this habit of looking at the bowl for 1 min, shows disinterest while I hold my breath praying he eats it, then finally digs in. He eats all his food. The poor cat doesnt have a routine anymore, and I don't think is enjoying the raw like I thought he would, I really do think he is allergic to either the fish oil or the yolks I am feeding him to keep his bowels moving. He goes off to sleep after he eats. He always perks right back after 2-5 hours usually, but then I have to feed him again to get his calories up, so it happens all over again. I can't tell if he feels gross, or if he is depressed because it is winter now(I know that is a big factor too it explains some of this attitude). He was/is an outdoor cat.

It is also hard to watch his bathroom habits. Long story (Stray Refuses To Use Litter) Short story: he wont use the litter anymore. Even in the winter, he wants to go outside to pee and poo. Makes it really hard to do these changes and watch his bowel movements, especially on raw. I've caught him being constipated a couple times straining, he has even come home trying to poop in all three boxes. At one point it was stuck half way out his anus, luckily got it out. How do I know what changes I need to make for him, especailly on raw if I can't monitor his output? I tried locking him up, but then he was showing signs of stress related UTI symptoms of squatting several times in the litter unsucessfully, leaving to cry at the door. He also holds his bladder over 24 hours. Once he went literally 34ish hours before he peed. He is fine now, if I let him outside. He will still occasionally randomly use the litter in doors to pee oddly, but I need to give him the option to go outside, or else the stress escalates. (I use Feliway spray and diffuser)

At this point I am wondering, since he seemingly handled kibble so well, can't he live a decent life on kibble? I just want him to feel comfortable and settle his allergies, get him comfortable, not worry about his bathroom habits, since I can't monitor him. Maybe try again and do it properly and not so quickly in the dead of winter. How do transition from raw feeding back to kibble, to basically start all over again? It seems super backwards, I know. Is it even the right thing to do? He can't seem to handle being fed kibble and raw together though. I can't be 100% certain that kibble is the answer either. He seemed more playful on it? Or does anyone have recommendations of another commercial raw brand I could try. I was thinking Stella & Chewy, I dont see any fish oils in their stuff. I tried the dehydrated rabbit with various toppers, totally hates it. Maybe frozen version? Primal pork is 7% bone, he can't handle bone heavy food without being constipated. Maybe he has adjusted now though, I don't even know.

My biggest concern right now is constipation. I stopped the yolk because I think he is allergic, pumpkin seems to make him feel gross, what can I do to help him with constipation other than egg or pumpkin? I suppose hairball gel?


If you've made it this far, you deserve an award.

I tend to react to his every bad moment. I try not to, but it is apparent things are still not right. What should I do? He needs to get stable. If this carries on much longer, I might leave him in the vets hands. I know they will tell me to take him off raw, they are not raw supporters. They told me to feed him Rayne rabbit food and ordered it in for me. I bought it, but haven't used it. *the carbs are outrageous on that one (44%), so I found Instincts rabbit kibble, which is significantly less (28%) I live in the country, they are the only vet here. Sebastain does not travel well.

Everything is a blur, I don't know what else to add here. Uh, okay thanks! hehe

 

[Selarah]

I’m actually not sure if raw is such a good idea if he has an angry digestive system?

daftcat75 has helped me a lot through this. If you have anything to mention about this situation lol, I welcome it.

 

[daftcat75]

Raw is easier to digest as it includes its own digestive enzymes. If he has angry digestion, raw would reduce the pancreatic load.

I would recommend another vet visit. If his digestion has been angry for this long, test for add-on stress to the pancreas. Test for pancreatitis and B-12 status. If he comes back otherwise healthy, make friends with your butcher and begin the elimination diet you told me about. But if you suspect multiple allergies, I think you'll save money in the long-term getting allergy tested first. I wouldn't want the elimination diet dragging on and on past what's healthy because the first protein didn't clear up the symptoms.

 

[valentine319]

It seems you're overloaded. Do a vet visit then Whatever you do stick with it 3 months. I think mixing food might be a little to overwhelming for you right now. I understand you're worried but I don't think there's been enough time to really tell any allergies.

I would also like to say maybe since kitty goes outside they might be getting other food or snacks outside.

 

[Wile]

I think that valentine319 's advice is right on the money. Diagnosing allergies is something that happens over a couple of weeks, not by tracking every little reaction after every meal. If you constantly have to switch foods every day you will wind up going crazy and might make things worse for your cat as constant food switches can upset a sensitive GI tract. The good news is that it looks to me like you have most of a solution figured out: rabbit.

I'm going through the same thing as you right now - testing for food triggers. My cat also seems to do well on rabbit. What I have decided is to find a hypoallergenic supplement that I can use for home cooked food, and a hypoallergenic commercial food that I can fall back on if needed.

I do feed the Rayne rabbit kibble and canned food that your vet recommended. I mostly feed it because my cat scratched on the Instinct LID rabbit kibble and canned food (I'm pretty sure he has a pea intolerance). The advantage of Rayne over Instinct is that it is created in a controlled facility where the machines are washed down between batches so there isn't any chance for cross-contamination, which is great for food trials.

For the home cooked stuff I use a human grade hypoallergenic supplement that my vet recommended. If you ask your vet they might be able to recommend a hypoallergenic supplement and rabbit-based recipe to you. If your vet can't help you I would look into hiring a nutritionist to help design a balanced hypoallergenic raw diet for your cat.

Good luck!

 

[Wile]

I think that valentine319 's advice is right on the money. Diagnosing allergies is something that happens over a couple of weeks, not by tracking every little reaction after every meal. If you constantly have to switch foods every day you will wind up going crazy and might make things worse for your cat as constant food switches can upset a sensitive GI tract. The good news is that it looks to me like you have most of a solution figured out: rabbit.

I'm going through the same thing as you right now - testing for food triggers. My cat also seems to do well on rabbit. What I have decided is to find a hypoallergenic supplement that I can use for home cooked food, and a hypoallergenic commercial food that I can fall back on if needed.

I do feed the Rayne rabbit kibble and canned food that your vet recommended. I mostly feed it because my cat scratched on the Instinct LID rabbit kibble and canned food (I'm pretty sure he has a pea intolerance). The advantage of Rayne over Instinct is that it is created in a controlled facility where the machines are washed down between batches so there isn't any chance for cross-contamination, which is great for food trials.

For the home cooked stuff I use a human grade hypoallergenic supplement that my vet recommended. If you ask your vet they might be able to recommend a hypoallergenic supplement and rabbit-based recipe to you. If your vet can't help you I would look into hiring a nutritionist to help design a balanced hypoallergenic raw diet for your cat.

Good luck!

I just noticed that you are also in Canada. As an FYI, the hypoallergenic supplement that I mention above, which is only available in Canada, is called Hilary's blend. You may not be interested in it because it is for cooked recipes, not raw. I have had a lot of luck with it so far. If you are interested you can buy the supplement through your vet along with a cookbook.