Cat with Food Allergies

[jenng]

Originally Posted by Plebayo

Yeah I think you have to be careful making it too acidic. I was going to put him on DL-Methionine but the stuff I was given was chewable at the time. Thanks for bringing that up actually, I might look into that as well because I know that that is proven to work for sure.

The DL-Methionine that my boys get is just another ingredient in their food... I'm not supplementing with a separate tablet or anything. I do tend to look for that ingredient when I'm researching new foods for the boys because I know that's one of the ingredients in the Rx foods for cats who do get struvite crystals. (Don't worry, I have discussed this with my vet.

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Originally Posted by Nekochan

If you're trying to make the urine acidic, if you make it too acidic couldn't they get Calcium Oxalate crystals?

Nekochan, that's how I understand it. If the urine gets too acidic, then the oxalate crystals and stones can form. That's why before I put Pollux on any supplements, I'd want to talk to his vet. She'd probably want to get a urine sample to see how he's doing before we added anything to his diet to change his pH levels.

 

[jenng]

Hi there

I just thought I'd post an update. Caster has been itch-free for over a month now with staying on his current food (California Natural Chicken & Brown Rice) with 2.5mg of Prednisolone every other day.

We picked up Nature's Variety Prairie Lamb Meal & Oatmeal Medley today and gave Caster a sample. He does like it so far. I just gave him a small portion of the kibble to see if he likes it, as well as not wanting to upset his tummy and take it slow because of the allergies.

So now we wait. If he starts scratching himself horribly, we'll need to pull him off the food and increase his Prednisolone for a few days and start over. (All of this has been discussed with his vet.) I'm really hoping this one works for him. Keep your fingers crossed for us, okay?

 

[chriscjc]

Hi,

Can you tell me what your cat was diagnosed with after the biopies? I am in the same situation as you with my little cat.

thank you.

 

[kylew]

Hi Chris - Franklin was diagnosed with Inflammatory Bowel Disease, IBD. This is not the same as Irritable Bowel Syndrome. The biopsy confirmed the presence of inflammatory cells in his intestine. They don;t know what causes IBD and they can't cure it. They can control it. He gets 5mg prednisolone every other day and he's good to go. He's even added another 1/2 pound since I posted to this thread almost 2 years ago

Kyle

 

[firepulse]

Peas are a top allergen in cats... No I have no idea why food companies use them in allergy formulas, outside of most cat foods added veggies into the mix within the last ten years.....

I just found & joined this site after reading through this thread! It is so helpful! I've been freaking out as my Wesley's symptoms have worsened over the last five months and now I wonder if it's related to the peas!

I had him on Blue Buffalo Healthy Living Chicken & Brown Rice (Indoor Cat) which he loved but then he started scratching. So we tried switching to Blue Buffalo Basics Grain Free Fish & Potato which he was on for a month and seemed no different and now we're trying Natural Balance LID Green Pea & Salmon. It's only been a week and he seems much worse. I have to talk to my vet again, she suggested it could just be stress because my house was literally falling down after Hurricane Sandy so it was a stressful year with lots of changes. Wesley has gone from licking off his tummy fur/hind legs to excessive scratching and licking so things are definitely not improving since things have calmed down in his environment. After I read this I went back through all the ingredients and peas have crept closer to the top of the ingredient's list. I'm sorry this is such a long, rambling post, I'm just so concerned about the little guy. He's full of scabs and has bloody "eyebrows" from scratching the last week. Does anyone think I should just switch him to a pea-free wet food while I look for other dry food? Or would that be even more disruptive? He's had wet food in the past but one day a couple years ago he just started refusing to eat it so we switched to a dry food diet. He's had a few cans here and there and happily eaten them, just not every day.

 

[bfish29]

Hi Firepulse,

  Food allergies are hard to put your finger on, and it does take patience, trial and error.  Most importantly, it can take up to 90 days to flush out their system before seeing any improvement.  It took me over a year to finally find a diet to help my cat.  The key is to limit their diet to a protein they have never had before, and stick to it and be sure he eats  nothing else but this (including people food, snacks, etc).  Something like blue wilderness grain free duck or venision would be a good alternative and an ingredient that has not been in his diet.  You may have to start by mixing half and half, and gradually switching him to the new diet.  You may want discuss with your vet a cortisone/steriod shot, which will immediately stop his itching and will last quite a few weeks to give his body time to rid itself of the irritating proteins. The only thing with steroids shots is they can be hard on the cats kidneys, and must be very limited, your vet can guide you on that.  Food allergies are very strange, and tramatic events can trigger them to start.  I hope this helps and I hope you find a cure for him.  By the way, Natural Balance Limited ing. green pea and salmon dry and wet was my savior!

Bobby

 

[firepulse]

Hi Bobby, thank you so much for your input! I'm glad your furbaby is doing well!

 

[xcourtney3]

Nature's Variety also makes Limited Ingredient formulas

 

[firepulse]

Natural Balance Green Pea and Duck formula dry food - tried this just this past Saturday - already started scratching - went back to California Naturals
 

I just had the same issue with Wesley, on the Natural Balance Green Pea and Salmon dry food. He loved it, but his symptoms - scratching and licking off his fur, increased dramatically. For Wesley, I think it may be the peas. I went back and looked up all the ingredient labels and each food has progressively contained more peas. I think you mentioned wanting to avoid chicken and rice, but I'm about to try their Ultra Premium Cat Food, which has lamb meal, chicken meal, duck, duck meal and brown rice, but no peas and is not horrifically expensive like Orijen or Young Again. Not a fantastic choice but Amazon has it with Prime shipping for less then $15, and Petco sells it as well. It seems like you can find sub par food with lots of corn, wheat and soy fillers with no peas, or products with better grade food and peas. If you find any other dry food choices please let me know, as I seem to be having a similar problem. Good luck!

 

[firepulse]

Oops, my apologies for repeating some of the same information, I got confused when reading through everything on my phone!

 

[mamagonzalez2]

My cats have been eating a good brand of cat food that I had need buying I sent my hubby to the store and he came back with a cheap brand the ate it but a lot less one of my cats went missing for a day when he came back he had a runny noise and a cough like he had a cold he would not eat so I went out and got their usual food and I also gave him a can of tuna after he ate the tuna he moved on to his usual brand of dry food n water now he seems better I don't see any more runny noise he is eating normal once more he still has a little cough but other than that he seems fine could he have food allergies