Guar Gum and Agar Agar

[Show Me Your Kitties]

Yes, that's one approach! But given your cats' problem proteins, you're already starting with a limited pool of ingredients, so that further reduces your choices. Reduced choices are a big reason we feed a lot of freeze-dried raw food. I know raw food, including freeze-dried, isn't for everybody but our cats really love pork, so they get one meal a day of Primal freeze-dried pork, which has no gums, thickeners, or other things our cats can't/won't eat. I can't say I'm thrilled about all the ingredients, but pretty much any food (other than custom homemade) has its compromises. There may well be something in here that you can't/won't feed and your cats might not like freeze-dried raw food, but this is just a suggestion, another sort of "mode" of food. Primal makes a fairly broad range of foods and there are other brands.

They like freeze dried as treats but have never really liked the texture once rehydrated unfortunately.

 

[Show Me Your Kitties]

I TOTALLY understand! Fear of screwing up is what kept me from feeding raw for a very long time. In fact, I still worry a bit. And I've been feeding ground raw for close to 10 years!

Like I mentioned, some say a person doesn't have to add any supplements if feeding 80/10/5/5. Others say you should. I could give you more examples, but I would just stress you out more.
The supplement info is from what I consider very reliable sources... but who is actually correct?

Maybe you could message me your recipe/source and I can look at it? I'll be recipe "shopping" pretty soon and will probably browse the raw section for some ideas.

 

[daftcat75]

So it appears Teddy and Finny are sensitive/allergic to turkey, chicken, lamb, and eggs (so far).

My options are limited food-wise. They hate Rawz now, I can't find Feline Natural's Venison flavor anymore, and they've never been a fan of beef (so MeatMates is out since that is literally the only protein they offer my boys can eat).

I have avoided gums ever since getting them off Fancy Feast a few weeks after adoption, but I'm kind of backed into a wall now. I will eventually try making my own food, but until then I might have to go against my discomfort with feeding gums. Trade one evil (allergies) for another (gums).

My question is, what is everyone's current opinion on the two gums listed in the title? I heard Guar Gum is a soluble fiber, and there hasn't been much research on Agar Agar on whether or not it negatively affects cats' health overtime, at least as far as I know.

It seems whenever I finally find food without gums it has veggies and fruit or something else horribly unnecessary in it.

I'm gonna look over the ingredient list on this site when I get the time, but just wondered if anyone could ease my mind about feeding foods with either of these gums.

Thanks

Guar gum gets a bad rap because it's a gum. But not all gums are created equally. I have an IBD cat who can eat guar gum but agar agar will double her over in visible distress. And xanthan gum, which is in just about every smooth food and many supplements will mousse her poops. Total disaster! Every cat is different though.

 

[Show Me Your Kitties]

Guar gum gets a bad rap because it's a gum. But not all gums are created equally. I have an IBD cat who can eat guar gum but agar agar will double her over in visible distress. Every cat is different though.

I keep reading negative stories about agar agar so definitely gonna avoid that ingredient.

 

[daftcat75]

I keep reading negative stories about agar agar so definitely gonna avoid that ingredient.

I edited shortly after you replied. xanthan gum is another one that rips right through her. It makes food smooth but it does the same to her poops.

 

[kittyluv387]

There's nothing wrong with gums as long as your cats aren't sensitive.

Are your cats allergic to raw egg yolk?

Have you confirmed they're allergic to pure chicken and turkey and not the additives?

 

[Show Me Your Kitties]

I edited shortly after you replied. xanthan gum is another one that rips right through her. It makes food smooth but it does the same to her poops.

Yeah I've only ever felt somewhat okay with guar gum and before agar agar but now not gonna feed that because it seems to cause a lot of issues for so many cats on here. Poor Teddy has enough to deal with.

 

[Show Me Your Kitties]

There's nothing wrong with gums as long as your cats aren't sensitive.

Are your cats allergic to raw egg yolk?

Have you confirmed they're allergic to pure chicken and turkey and not the additives?

They don't have an interest in yoke. I tried once.

Yeah we are pretty sure they are sensitive to the proteins themselves. Obviously further testing might take place but we're pretty confident in what we found so far.

 

[kittyluv387]

They don't have an interest in yoke. I tried once.

Yeah we are pretty sure they are sensitive to the proteins themselves. Obviously further testing might take place but we're pretty confident in what we found so far.

If you haven't tried it already and if they're willing try giving them raw chicken or turkey for 1 meal and see how their bodies respond. It's pretty uncommon for a cat to be allergic to all those proteins in their purest forms.

 

[Show Me Your Kitties]

If you haven't tried it already and if they're willing try giving them raw chicken or turkey for 1 meal and see how their bodies respond. It's pretty uncommon for a cat to be allergic to all those proteins in their purest forms.

Okay I'll give it a shot

 

[kittyluv387]

Okay I'll give it a shot

Yes make sure to get them from meat chunks like chicken and turkey thighs. So that they wont have stuff like rosemary and salt added.

 

[Show Me Your Kitties]

Yes make sure to get them from meat chunks like chicken and turkey thighs. So that they wont have stuff like rosemary and salt added.

Okay. Though I am looking into eliminating the problem proteins just to see if the itching and rashes go away. I just need to find a food to replace their current.

 

[kittyluv387]

Okay. Though I am looking into eliminating the problem proteins just to see if the itching and rashes go away. I just need to find a food to replace their current.

If you do make your own raw food you might find that those proteins weren't actually the issue.

 

[Show Me Your Kitties]

If you do make your own raw food you might find that those proteins weren't actually the issue.

Interesting. Is that something you've personally experienced?

They've been eating omas pride raw for over a month now. Never figured the recipe itself could be an issue. Guess I'll find out once I settle on a recipe and get the supplies and knowledge I need.

 

[kittyluv387]

Interesting. Is that something you've personally experienced?

They've been eating omas pride raw for over a month now. Never figured the recipe itself could be an issue. Guess I'll find out once I settle on a recipe and get the supplies and knowledge I need.

No. My cat had different issues. He had chronic diarrhea with every dry and wet food that I gave him. The only thing that helped was raw food. Now I make my own single protein meals: chicken, turkey and rabbit.

Are you using the Oma's Pride Purr Complete meals? If so I'll admit that the ingredient list looks pretty good (except who knows what the calcium and phosphorus levels are). The only thing that stands out to me is the colostrum. That's not a common ingredient I see in raw food. I saw a warning on one colostrum retailer's website saying if your pets are particularly sensitive to dairy not to feed it to them.

 

[BaileyCat]

They've been eating omas pride raw for over a month now. Never figured the recipe itself could be an issue. Guess I'll find out once I settle on a recipe and get the supplies and knowledge I need.

I don't know HOW I missed what you were feeding. My apologies!! With your boys having so many issues, I would definitely try a different brand.

 

[Show Me Your Kitties]

No. My cat had different issues. He had chronic diarrhea with every dry and wet food that I gave him. The only thing that helped was raw food. Now I make my own single protein meals: chicken, turkey and rabbit.

Are you using the Oma's Pride Purr Complete meals? If so I'll admit that the ingredient list looks pretty good (except who knows what the calcium and phosphorus levels are). The only thing that stands out to me is the colostrum. That's not a common ingredient I see in raw food. I saw a warning on one colostrum retailer's website saying if your pets are particularly sensitive to dairy not to feed it to them.

I'm glad you found a solution for your kitty. Hopefully I will too soon.

Yeah, I feed the complete meals. That ingredient could be an issue. It's not the only thing they eat, though. They also get feline natural ven/chic and lamb/chic.

 

[Show Me Your Kitties]

I don't know HOW I missed what you were feeding. My apologies!! With your boys having so many issues, I would definitely try a different brand.

Teddy is the only one with visible issues. Though Finny is getting a little rash spot on his ear. That's about it. I'm going to the pet store near me that sells raw and organic and see if they have any new brands I can try. I was interested in Vital Essentials new frozen raw.

 

[mani]

Mod Note:
A reminder that discussions about raw feeding have their own forum here due to the time, knowledge and fine-tuning that is essential for a home produced diet.
It's too difficult to divide up the raw conversations in this thread, but please use that forum for future discussions.

 

[lisahe]

Interesting. Is that something you've personally experienced?

They've been eating omas pride raw for over a month now. Never figured the recipe itself could be an issue. Guess I'll find out once I settle on a recipe and get the supplies and knowledge I need.

Our cats loved Oma's Pride food (the complete Purr) food but I quickly stopped feeding it to them when I asked the company about the bone content and found out it's 21%. That's very high and can cause constipation so if your cats are vomiting, that could be a factor.