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My former feral DC has had some sort of allergy issue since I took him in several years ago. He’s about ~12-13 years old.
He has some minor allergy issues. His skin is red and has periods of being VERY red and hot to the touch. He scratches and causes tiny sores around his face, ears and neck - usually 2-3 small scabs at any given time, but no more. He also has mild chin acne (he has only ever eaten from ceramic or stainless steel bowls), looks like black heads.
The initial vet I took him to about this also suspected food allergies, but she wanted to focus on his dental health first at the time. We never revisited it and I do not see that vet anymore due to a bad experience with another cat.
Our current vet continues to insist it is flea allergy dermatitis, but I do not agree at all and have no idea why she thinks that. The area he develops irritation in has always been isolated to the head area, and it is consistent year round. We are also diligent about flea control since our home is a revolving door of fosters and ferals and I work at a wildlife rescue.
So i’ve taken to testing potential food allergies on my own for now, while saving for an environmental allergy test for him.
Problem with the food trial is, I can’t find a truly novel protein for DC - he’s had pork, alligator, buffalo, kangaroo, quail, duck, rabbit, venison. boar, lamb, guineafowl. He’s not had these often by any means, but he’s had each at least twice before in the last several years.
I have found some foods with Brushtail which he has not had, but I either can’t find much information on the brands, they are not single protein, or are not limited ingredient (lots of fruits, veggies, starches, etc), and I can’t figure out how to even source a couple of them anyway.
I just did a semi-food trial with Evanger’s rabbit and quail as a potential starting point until I had more time to research. (I did it for 16 weeks because I suspect my boyfriend did not quite grasp the concept of “this is the only thing he can eat” at first and may have slipped him some treats).
I think he improved, but it’s hard to tell... he currently has no new sores, and one scab that appears to be healing, which is better overall. However, I did see his skin get super red just a few days ago, so I’m not sure how to interpret his results - or where to go from here.
Is there any hope that this food trial might have worked even though it wasn’t truly “novel”?
Do I try one of the hydrolyzed prescription formulas (not thrilled about the ingredients, but short term it should be okay)?
Do I start the reintroduction process of the most common proteins he usually eats?
Is there another novel, single protein food I didn’t list that anyone knows of?
He has some minor allergy issues. His skin is red and has periods of being VERY red and hot to the touch. He scratches and causes tiny sores around his face, ears and neck - usually 2-3 small scabs at any given time, but no more. He also has mild chin acne (he has only ever eaten from ceramic or stainless steel bowls), looks like black heads.
The initial vet I took him to about this also suspected food allergies, but she wanted to focus on his dental health first at the time. We never revisited it and I do not see that vet anymore due to a bad experience with another cat.
Our current vet continues to insist it is flea allergy dermatitis, but I do not agree at all and have no idea why she thinks that. The area he develops irritation in has always been isolated to the head area, and it is consistent year round. We are also diligent about flea control since our home is a revolving door of fosters and ferals and I work at a wildlife rescue.
So i’ve taken to testing potential food allergies on my own for now, while saving for an environmental allergy test for him.
Problem with the food trial is, I can’t find a truly novel protein for DC - he’s had pork, alligator, buffalo, kangaroo, quail, duck, rabbit, venison. boar, lamb, guineafowl. He’s not had these often by any means, but he’s had each at least twice before in the last several years.
I have found some foods with Brushtail which he has not had, but I either can’t find much information on the brands, they are not single protein, or are not limited ingredient (lots of fruits, veggies, starches, etc), and I can’t figure out how to even source a couple of them anyway.
I just did a semi-food trial with Evanger’s rabbit and quail as a potential starting point until I had more time to research. (I did it for 16 weeks because I suspect my boyfriend did not quite grasp the concept of “this is the only thing he can eat” at first and may have slipped him some treats).
I think he improved, but it’s hard to tell... he currently has no new sores, and one scab that appears to be healing, which is better overall. However, I did see his skin get super red just a few days ago, so I’m not sure how to interpret his results - or where to go from here.
Is there any hope that this food trial might have worked even though it wasn’t truly “novel”?
Do I try one of the hydrolyzed prescription formulas (not thrilled about the ingredients, but short term it should be okay)?
Do I start the reintroduction process of the most common proteins he usually eats?
Is there another novel, single protein food I didn’t list that anyone knows of?
