I understand. I'm only now doing raw for the puppy - my cats refuse to eat it anyway. And I worked up to this cost-wise throughout the years, certainly couldn't have done it in school.
There are other dry foods that have other main protein sources and the only chicken is "chicken fat". When I had a girl with IBD who also seemed particularly sensitive to chicken (and I had a strict budget), I learned that if chicken fat was the only chicken ingredient or if the chicken ingredients were not in the top five ingredients then she would generally not react strongly to these. If that is true for your cat, then you can also try California Natural Herring and Sweet Potato, Nature's Variety Prairie Lamb & Oatmeal, Nature's Variety Prairie Salmon & Brown Rice (though this contains chicken liver, which is very rich), or the Wellness Salmon and Turkey Formula. Good luck - I know food trials can be frustrating!
There are other dry foods that have other main protein sources and the only chicken is "chicken fat". When I had a girl with IBD who also seemed particularly sensitive to chicken (and I had a strict budget), I learned that if chicken fat was the only chicken ingredient or if the chicken ingredients were not in the top five ingredients then she would generally not react strongly to these. If that is true for your cat, then you can also try California Natural Herring and Sweet Potato, Nature's Variety Prairie Lamb & Oatmeal, Nature's Variety Prairie Salmon & Brown Rice (though this contains chicken liver, which is very rich), or the Wellness Salmon and Turkey Formula. Good luck - I know food trials can be frustrating!