Food allergies

[sophie1]

Outstanding! That's a wonderful and highly illustrative story.

I wouldn't overthink it. Hare Today is a great and affordable option as a pet food source. No reason to look further than that if it's working for you.

I don't regularly feed canned food to my cats. Too many issues, like manufacturers changing up recipes without warning, it's more expensive than feeding supplemented grinds, and the minimal added convenience isn't worth it in my book. Like, you still have to shop for the cans, dispose of the cans, etc. Weruva for example, I used to give my cats their "paw licking chicken" as a treat, as my cats went crazy for it. At some point the recipe (but not the label) changed. It bears no resemblance to the original, and my cats wouldn't touch it. Is it nutritionally the same? I doubt it.

 

[maves]

I am feeling overwhelmed. Apparently because my cat hasn't had a varied diet, she is developing sensitivities to the different ingredients. I looked at some recipes on Paws of Prey, and I can't possibly start doing all that. How can I get variety into her diet? She can't eat beef, pork, or rabbit, or anything from grocery stores. I'm not supposed to give her fish because it's contaminated, or canned or commercial raw food because it's unreliable. I'm about to try Alnutrin without eggs, mixed with boneless chicken. But how do I supplement the turkey, quail, and pheasant mixes? And what do I do when she becomes allergic to Alnutrin? Is there any reasonable way to do raw feeding? The formula calculators and 15-ingredient recipes are way beyond my capacity. I'm getting to the end of my rope here.

 

[lisahe]

I am feeling overwhelmed. Apparently because my cat hasn't had a varied diet, she is developing sensitivities to the different ingredients. I looked at some recipes on Paws of Prey, and I can't possibly start doing all that. How can I get variety into her diet? She can't eat beef, pork, or rabbit, or anything from grocery stores. I'm not supposed to give her fish because it's contaminated, or canned or commercial raw food because it's unreliable. I'm about to try Alnutrin without eggs, mixed with boneless chicken. But how do I supplement the turkey, quail, and pheasant mixes? And what do I do when she becomes allergic to Alnutrin? Is there any reasonable way to do raw feeding? The formula calculators and 15-ingredient recipes are way beyond my capacity. I'm getting to the end of my rope here.

It's very hard dealing with food allergies and sensitivities -- we've been through that with two cats now. One thing I always suggest is starting an incident log, tracking symptoms, dates, and "last meal served" if you're not already doing that. It can help figure out what's causing problems.

I mentioned above that we no longer feed raw foods. That's because I, too, don't have the bandwidth (as they say) to deal with the realities of handling and feeding raw meat. It's just not going to happen. And that's okay. We used to feed commercial raw food... but too much of it had bone or other ingredients that I didn't want or need to feed.

I do make homemade food with Alnutrin, though, and our IBD-ish cat enjoys it. It's a good basic supplement. I'm glad you're trying egg-free Alnutrin with chicken. I'm not quite sure how to say this gently but don't worry yet (yet!) about variety or allergies to Alnutrin. Try this first step. If it works, you have something to feed, at least for now. You have a respite. Respites can be short, though, so I'm always on the lookout for new foods, supplements, and approaches to feeding. And, odd though it may sound, I simultaneously look for ways to simplify Edwina's meal plan. I can't stress enough how much simplification has helped: I'm less stressed and if I'm less stressed, the cats are less stressed, and if the cats are less stressed there are fewer incidents. "Less stressed" and "simplification" also mean we feed things like Fancy Feast (turkey/giblets)... but the thing is that FF works for Edwina. She eats it reliably, she doesn't seem to have any sensitivities to it, and it's readily available. Is it the best cat food I could buy? No. Do I like that it has guar gum and relatively high phosphorus? Not particularly. But she doesn't eat tons of it: she eats lots of homemade food as well as some other commercial foods (like Rawz, Nulo, and occasional Mouser) that I'm happier to feed. Finding tradeoffs like those has been really important, particularly since being a maximalist on food can cause problems when recipes change or products are discontinued. We've also had a huge assist from Feline Gut Soothe, which continues to do what its name promises. Having Cerenia on the shelf is serenity for all.

I'm not sure what to suggest about the turkey, quail, and pheasant mixes. Are these Hare Today blends with organs, bones, and so on? Alnutrin may (should?) be able to tell how to handle those. I've never had to contact them for help myself but I've noticed that others often say they're helpful.

Here's hoping Bean does well on the new Alnutrin! Crossing fingers for both of you. None of this is easy.

 

[maves]

Thank you. I feel like there is a lot of condemnation out there -- "I would never do that," and "if you do it wrong you're causing more harm than good." I have literally been having nightmares every night about mangy one-eyed cats, and I'm sick to my stomach with the stress. I will do everything you suggested. What do you put in your homemade food?

 

[lisahe]

Thank you. I feel like there is a lot of condemnation out there -- "I would never do that," and "if you do it wrong you're causing more harm than good." I have literally been having nightmares every night about mangy one-eyed cats, and I'm sick to my stomach with the stress. I will do everything you suggested. What do you put in your homemade food?

I know, it can be really hard, particularly because everyone has their preconceived notions of what cats should eat. But every cat is different so what works for one may not work for another. Or the cat's humans. Sure there are things that you'll do that I'd never do -- and vice versa, of course -- but that's because our cats' disease manifests itself differently. I wish both our cats would eat a more ideal menu... but they won't or can't. Fortunately, what's realistic for them isn't bad.

As for Alnutrin, I just use meat, fish oil, liver, and Alnutrin. Sometimes I add gizzards for fun!

I know how hard the stress (and sleeplessness) can be when you're trying to figure out how to feed a cat with digestive issues. I hope you're able to find something to help Bean soon. The good thing is that very often when you do find what works, it takes effect very quickly. I hope that happens soon for you.

 

[maves]

The food log is so helpful! I found the magic combination for Bean: turkey or quail at 1:1 mix to boneless, as well as some boneless chicken with eggless Alnutrin. The problem is that this is 5% bone, and the minimum should be 7%. But when I made it 2:1 mix to boneless, her perfect stools were not as good anymore. Is 5% bone really too low?

 

[lisahe]

The food log is so helpful! I found the magic combination for Bean: turkey or quail at 1:1 mix to boneless, as well as some boneless chicken with eggless Alnutrin. The problem is that this is 5% bone, and the minimum should be 7%. But when I made it 2:1 mix to boneless, her perfect stools were not as good anymore. Is 5% bone really too low?

I'm glad to hear the food log is helping!

As for your question... I'd suggest contacting Alnutrin to make sure what you're doing fits the egg-free version. It sounds like the eggless Alnutrin is designed specifically for "diets without bones," meaning it has a calcium source, likely either egg shell or limestone powder. If you already bought a package, the directions and ingredients should be listed. If you only got a sample so far, you may not have that information! I wouldn't want to feed too much bone, calcium, and/or phosphorus, particularly since the ratio of those two minerals can be fiddly. I don't know/remember details about this but maybe someone else could help with that.

 

[maves]

I solved this by giving him boneless food made with EZComplete or Alnutrin with calcium (this requires adding organs) and simple ground chicken or turkey in the morning, then bone-in mixes for the rest of their meals - but with extra meat & organs added to dilute the bone content to no more than 6-7%.

I was trying to follow this advice, and it worked well when I diluted the mixes to 5%. Is that too low?

 

[lisahe]

I was trying to follow this advice, and it worked well when I diluted the mixes to 5%. Is that too low?

I think I'm confused about what, exactly, you're feeding, in particular if any of it has bone. It sounds to me like it does, is that right? But the Alnutrin is labeled for a boneless diet and has some form of calcium in it.

 

[sophie1]

Sounds like some simplicity is called for....
Nature Variety makes a "limited ingredient" line of canned foods, where each is restricted to one protein, and they have a decent variety of proteins like venison. Maybe that would be helpful to make your life a bit easier.

Meanwhile, I liked the idea of Hare Today because they make it easy to get a range of novel proteins that cats like. Have you tried your cat on their goat and venison? Unfortunately you're right, there's no eggless Alnutrin product for meat/bone/organ grinds, nor is there an eggless EZ Complete formulation. If you're sure that eggs are a problem, here's what you can do:

1) Buy boneless grinds and chicken or turkey organ ground mixes. Mix 1 lb boneless chub with 1/4 of an organ chub, then add eggless Alnutrin with calcium as directed, plus fish oil. I do this and it's quite easy, you just have to partially defrost the organ chubs, cut into quarter pieces, then refreeze what you don't use.

2) Buy meat/bone/organ grinds and mix in boneless grinds to dilute to your desired bone %. 5% works fine, this is what Lisa Pierson's friend Anne J. does for her cats. You'll then have to make 3 or 4 lb batches to follow Dr. Pierson's supplement recipe (lite salt, vitamins B complex & E, taurine, fish oil).

#2 is not very convenient, but it's the only option if you want to feed some proteins like pheasant, and it will also be the least expensive compared to #1 or the Nature Variety canned food. Also, it gives you full control over all the ingredients and that may be worth a lot for peace of mind. However- most cat owners don't go to the effort of making homemade food, and there is no shame if you decide you'd rather not do that for whatever reason, including time & logistical headaches. I mean, lisahe is no slouch and she decided to feed canned foods for those reasons. Perhaps stick to canned foods and ask your vet for advice on which ones would be best?

 

[lisahe]

I'm so glad to see your post, sophie1 , since I'm just not up on the bone questions. Other than knowing that we have to keep it relatively low for our cat who gets constipated!

Yes, we feed a combination of homemade (totally by-the-book Alnutrin with meat and eggshell calcium, no bone) and canned because there's no way we could possibly make all homemade. It's just too much, for me (who doesn't especially enjoy making cat food), the freezer (which can only hold so much cat food), and the cats (who'd rebel if fed exclusively homemade cat food). Feeding a combination of homemade and commercial foods is also good in terms of being (more) ready if/when something's not available. Even before the pandemic, for example, I often had trouble finding fresh turkey for homemade. On the other side, for commercial foods, we've dealt with all too many recipe changes and shortages over the years.

Dr. Pierson's recipe, by the way, went over very well for our cats -- they really loved the one batch I made! -- but I confess that even that's too much for me, dealing with all the supplement ingredients. The reality is that if I don't keep things simple, I procrastinate, which is no good at all!

 

[sophie1]

My cats love the homemade chicken recipe from Dr. Pierson's site too - I was so lucky to find a Tasin grinder on ebay. I haven't done that in a while because of the time it takes, but it's great to know I have that backup if I ever run into shortages of the frozen food.

I wanted a commercial option too, but I kept running into so many problems with manufacturers changing their recipes without warning, and without changing the label so you have no idea about the change until you find your cats will no longer eat it. My cats really don't care for any commercial food, they'll eat it for a few days but after that they'll start refusing it.

So I'm kind of stuck with all homemade raw. My spoiled cats! I am trying to arrange it to be as easy as possible, which is: defrost a single 1 lb chub, mix it with the appropriate supplement, and feed it straight out of the fridge. Unfortunately, the 10% bone grinds are bit too much for one of my cats, so I'm going to have to keep cutting them with boneless meats.

 

[KSRS]

I used Lotus raw for one of my cats who had megacolon. It helped with his allergies plus no bone didn't constipate him. Not sure it will work for your cat but maybe worth checking out. Small batch has been good for some cats but I couldn't feed due to bone content.