Cat food allergies really starting to wear me down :(

[Lotusflwr79]

I am basically at my wits end with one of my 4 cats, Daniel, who is a 1 year old, healthy male cat (domestic short hair). We love him to death and really want to narrow down what is causing his food allergy symptoms but time is our worst enemy. We seem to get the symptoms under control fairly quickly with use of steroids (per vet recommendation). But after a month or two of the steroids when we have made dietary adjustments the symptoms slowly come back after 2-3 weeks.

We feed him an exclusively wet food diet of the following:
I and Love and You Beef Pate
I and Love and You Rabbit Pate
Merrick Limited Ingredient Diet Rabbit Pate

Before people recommend higher-end brands, he won't touch them. I did food trials with basically every brand you can think of including Koha, Rawz, Ziwi Peak, Instinct, Hound & Gatos, Commercial Raw diets, and the list goes on. He likes basically none of the flavors or consistencies of these brands. And even when he does like one, he only eats the food for a few cans and then he stops enjoying it. I have been able to get him on a fairly limited diet with the above brands/flavors and he eats them every single time I put them down.

His symptoms keep coming back and we have been dealing with this for about 6 months now. We treat the symptoms to keep him comfortable but I feel obligated to take him off the meds after an extended period of time so we can check and see if the symptoms are recurrent and if his body is still reacting to something. I am new to this. My other 4 cats had health issues growing up but they are all just over 1 year old and healthy as can be. Daniel? He is a complicated case to crack. Does anyone have any insight they can share? I am working directly with a very trusted vet but I also need to be actively doing my own research. This is all so brand new I feel overwhelmed by the thought of trying to figure this out.

Did you ever figure out what the allergy was? This is the exact problem I’m going through right now with my 1.5 yr old. He’s had issues since about 8 months also and we also have to give him steroids periodically. We go to vet next week and she wants to put my guy in hydrolyzed dry food for awhile. It’s very frustrating. My guy Romeo itches and overgrooms until his fur falls out in clumps. Very hard to watch. We just want to help him get better!

 

[Peachiekitty]

Did you ever figure out what the allergy was? This is the exact problem I’m going through right now with my 1.5 yr old. He’s had issues since about 8 months also and we also have to give him steroids periodically. We go to vet next week and she wants to put my guy in hydrolyzed dry food for awhile. It’s very frustrating. My guy Romeo itches and overgrooms until his fur falls out in clumps. Very hard to watch. We just want to help him get better!

this sounds so similar to my girl! My girl started at 8 months and it’s been nearly six months of struggles. She has had pred several times. So about a week and a half ago my vet finally wore me down onto the hills z/d hydrolyzed. It’s too soon to know if her results are from the steroid but she is doing very well on the food. She loves it. She has gained back some of the weight she had lost, her poops are normal, and she hasn’t had this much energy since before her allergies started. If it in 2-3 months we have no progress, I will switch to something new and try allergy testing but for now I feel hopeful. I have tried many diets and so far this one seems to be a favorite.
There are also some very helpful Facebook groups specifically for cats with allergies or pets with allergies I’ve found if you are looking for new perspectives.

 

[Lotusflwr79]

Thank you! Good to know about the food! I’ve been hesitant bc I have another cat too so I’ll have to wean both off of current food and onto another. I know it’s not a cheap food either. What are you giving for wet food? Both of mine are super picky. It’s very hard to find a food they’ll both eat.

 

[Peachiekitty]

Thank you! Good to know about the food! I’ve been hesitant bc I have another cat too so I’ll have to wean both off of current food and onto another. I know it’s not a cheap food either. What are you giving for wet food? Both of mine are super picky. It’s very hard to find a food they’ll both eat.

Oh it’s so expensive but it’s cheaper than taking her to the vet every couple of months! At least that’s what I keep telling myself She is on hills z/d wet and dry food now. She isn’t very picky but she does like this food more than almost anything I’ve given her. She doesn’t seem super interested in the dry food (and I only introduced it in the last few days) but that is cheaper. I wouldn’t feed her dry at all, but I have a sometimes crazy work schedule and can be required to work late or all night. I don’t want her to get super hungry when that happens so I’m glad I can leave dry food out even if she doesn’t eat it much and I toss it every couple of days.

There is a purina blue Buffalo hydrolyzed that is made from salmon that we may try next.

 

[Lotusflwr79]

Ok— mine have to have dry food bc there’s two of them and they are bigger male cats and we work all day. They get wet food morning and night— but I give them 1 cup of dry to share each day. My vet is hesitant to give my guy anything with fish, but I saw the blue Buffalo limited ingredient with duck and potato I’m tempted to try. She asked me not to switch the food yet but his vet appt isn’t for a week and a half and I need to grab a bag of dry food until then so I was looking at that. I’m glad your kitty is doing better!! Fingers crossed this food works!

 

[Peachiekitty]

Ok— mine have to have dry food bc there’s two of them and they are bigger male cats and we work all day. They get wet food morning and night— but I give them 1 cup of dry to share each day. My vet is hesitant to give my guy anything with fish, but I saw the blue Buffalo limited ingredient with duck and potato I’m tempted to try. She asked me not to switch the food yet but his vet appt isn’t for a week and a half and I need to grab a bag of dry food until then so I was looking at that. I’m glad your kitty is doing better!! Fingers crossed this food works!

Keep me updated if anything gets better- or worse! But I am hoping for both of us things improve. My girl is still improving a little every day. Probably the pred but still.