I have 2 male year old brother cats, Jasper and Rumpus. 3 months after they were neutered and done with vaccinations, they started chewing the hair off of their back legs and feet. This was in October 2012 (they were 10 months old).
At the time, they were eating Wellness Core (original, chicken) both wet AND dry food almost exclusively. I also supplemented handfuls of Sold Gold Katz-n-Flocken once in a while (which one of the cats became addicted to). Once I noticed the fur chewing getting much worse in Rumpus, I immediately started doing research and came to the conclusion that they were probably allergic to chicken.
Their regular vet tried steroid injections which didn't touch their itchiness. I switched their food around several times, with no real pattern (because they're picky and if they weren't interested in one flavor I would switch to something else right away). So they initially didn't get an actual "food trial" and instead were exposed to lots of novel proteins. Chewing continued and Rumpus was now bald on his back legs, front legs, and where his tail begins. They were both eating the same foods and getting the same flea treatments.
I took them to a dermatologist when Rumpus developed what was diagnosed as an eosinophilic plaque from the food allergy. The dermatologist suggested Rayne Clinical Nutrician foods to me and I went and ordered the kangaroo and squash wet food and removed any dry food and treats from their diet. His plaque cleared up after eating the kangaroo exclusively for about 3 months and the hair seemed to be growing back fairly well. Unfortunately, the dermatologist was 9 months pregnant and probably not terribly focused on her job at the time that I brought them back in for their checkup. She concluded that they were not doing much better (buh?!) and that they were likely allergic to other things. She suggested allergy testing (without telling me the cost) and ran the blood tests on both cats. 600 bucks later (ouch!) they are allergic to some very random weeds that don't even grow in my area and she told me to re-introduce their old diet. Fantastic.
I shouldn't have listened. I had a variety of random cans of food left over from before the kangaroo trial so they were reintroduced to several different proteins instead of just one. The fur was pulled out at an alarming rate and due to my own stupidity, I'm still not entirely sure what it is they are allergic to. I should have just kept them on the kangaroo. Now they won't touch the stuff.
Here is a list of what they have eaten thus far:
Wellness Core chicken wet and dry
Solid Gold Katz-n-Flocken dry
Ziwipeak lamb wet and dry
Ziwipeak venison wet and dry
Ziwipeak rabbit and lamb
Nature's Variety rabbit, lamb, beef, duck, venison, pork (all limited ingredient which include peas)
Weruva lamburgini
Rayne Clinical Nutrician kangaroo and squash
Merrick grammy's pot pie (and other varieties)
Tiki Cat puka puka luau (and other varieties)
Addiction new zealand brushtail
California Naturals Herring/sweet potato, salmon dry food
Things I "suspect" they are allergic to:
chicken, peas, salmon/fish, lamb, turkey, duck (anything with a feather)
Basically they have been introduced to every protein under the sun by now. I wish I had done a little more research as to the way to properly conduct a food elimination trial in the beginning, but I panicked.
So, my questions for those of you who have gone through all of this are:
1. Could I have caused this by feeding them high protein food? I know they're supposed to be better, but any cat I've ever had and friends currently have that ate nine lives and purina have had no real significant health problems, assuming because there is no significant level of protein in them.
2. Could this all actually be a yeast infection of the skin? I recall reading that the symptoms are identical but I've completely lost faith in vets and haven't even approached the subject of it.
3. On that note, I also haven't brought up FHS to my vet because they all seem so dismissive of my cats' symptoms. (and probably think I'm crazy)
4. Is lamb a higher allergen than peas? Because at this point it's between feeding them ziwipeak lamb (which they love) and feeding them NV rabbit/pea. I suspect either one has an allergen for them. Just a matter of choosing the lesser of 2 evils at this point.
5. They HATED home cooked meats so don't even bother suggesting I go that route. My cats prefer pate to anything else and home cooked chicken, home cooked kangaroo (holy expensive!) and home cooked beef did nothing to please them. I also tried PRIMAL foods raw stuff and they weren't having it.
Sorry for this extensive post! I'm just at my wits end and feel so badly for my furbabies!
At the time, they were eating Wellness Core (original, chicken) both wet AND dry food almost exclusively. I also supplemented handfuls of Sold Gold Katz-n-Flocken once in a while (which one of the cats became addicted to). Once I noticed the fur chewing getting much worse in Rumpus, I immediately started doing research and came to the conclusion that they were probably allergic to chicken.
Their regular vet tried steroid injections which didn't touch their itchiness. I switched their food around several times, with no real pattern (because they're picky and if they weren't interested in one flavor I would switch to something else right away). So they initially didn't get an actual "food trial" and instead were exposed to lots of novel proteins. Chewing continued and Rumpus was now bald on his back legs, front legs, and where his tail begins. They were both eating the same foods and getting the same flea treatments.
I took them to a dermatologist when Rumpus developed what was diagnosed as an eosinophilic plaque from the food allergy. The dermatologist suggested Rayne Clinical Nutrician foods to me and I went and ordered the kangaroo and squash wet food and removed any dry food and treats from their diet. His plaque cleared up after eating the kangaroo exclusively for about 3 months and the hair seemed to be growing back fairly well. Unfortunately, the dermatologist was 9 months pregnant and probably not terribly focused on her job at the time that I brought them back in for their checkup. She concluded that they were not doing much better (buh?!) and that they were likely allergic to other things. She suggested allergy testing (without telling me the cost) and ran the blood tests on both cats. 600 bucks later (ouch!) they are allergic to some very random weeds that don't even grow in my area and she told me to re-introduce their old diet. Fantastic.
I shouldn't have listened. I had a variety of random cans of food left over from before the kangaroo trial so they were reintroduced to several different proteins instead of just one. The fur was pulled out at an alarming rate and due to my own stupidity, I'm still not entirely sure what it is they are allergic to. I should have just kept them on the kangaroo. Now they won't touch the stuff.
Here is a list of what they have eaten thus far:
Wellness Core chicken wet and dry
Solid Gold Katz-n-Flocken dry
Ziwipeak lamb wet and dry
Ziwipeak venison wet and dry
Ziwipeak rabbit and lamb
Nature's Variety rabbit, lamb, beef, duck, venison, pork (all limited ingredient which include peas)
Weruva lamburgini
Rayne Clinical Nutrician kangaroo and squash
Merrick grammy's pot pie (and other varieties)
Tiki Cat puka puka luau (and other varieties)
Addiction new zealand brushtail
California Naturals Herring/sweet potato, salmon dry food
Things I "suspect" they are allergic to:
chicken, peas, salmon/fish, lamb, turkey, duck (anything with a feather)
Basically they have been introduced to every protein under the sun by now. I wish I had done a little more research as to the way to properly conduct a food elimination trial in the beginning, but I panicked.
So, my questions for those of you who have gone through all of this are:
1. Could I have caused this by feeding them high protein food? I know they're supposed to be better, but any cat I've ever had and friends currently have that ate nine lives and purina have had no real significant health problems, assuming because there is no significant level of protein in them.
2. Could this all actually be a yeast infection of the skin? I recall reading that the symptoms are identical but I've completely lost faith in vets and haven't even approached the subject of it.
3. On that note, I also haven't brought up FHS to my vet because they all seem so dismissive of my cats' symptoms. (and probably think I'm crazy)
4. Is lamb a higher allergen than peas? Because at this point it's between feeding them ziwipeak lamb (which they love) and feeding them NV rabbit/pea. I suspect either one has an allergen for them. Just a matter of choosing the lesser of 2 evils at this point.
5. They HATED home cooked meats so don't even bother suggesting I go that route. My cats prefer pate to anything else and home cooked chicken, home cooked kangaroo (holy expensive!) and home cooked beef did nothing to please them. I also tried PRIMAL foods raw stuff and they weren't having it.
Sorry for this extensive post! I'm just at my wits end and feel so badly for my furbabies!