Instinct Raw Boost: Is It Okay For Food Allergies?

[MistyDawn]

So as I've posted before, I have a cat that has a severe food allergy. I mean, he looked like the Chupacabra, but after Instinct: Low Ingredient, he looked better, until allergies hit again, this time to fleas, which seemingly came from nowhere; no one goes outside. My only guess is a neighbor's dog has them and they made their way to our apartment, through the carpet in the indoor hallway. (I seem to have found the one landlord on earth that doesn't care how many cats you have!) Regardless, winter got rid of the fleas before our 8 Capstars even arrived, and he's growing back quite nicely now into the black panther (with a white bib) that I know so well.

Enter Alaska. He loves the grown-up's food over his and apparently thinks the grass is greener. But I want him to have the maximum nutrition, and he's going to be eating the same food as the other adults, eventually, but I wanted to give him Orijen to help him grow, due to its very high protein. I've heard Raw Boost is good for this too, and thought maybe we could compromise everyone with that.

Basically, I'm looking for a compromise in what foods we feed our all cats that will help Fang's allergies but still give Alaska the nutrition to maximize his potential.

 

[LTS3]

It should be ok but you should double check the ingredients to see if it's ok for your allergy cat to have. Instinct Raw Boost | Instinct Pet Food It's basically the Instinct Originals with freeze dried raw pieces added to it.

 

[MistyDawn]

The problem is, we don't know what specific ingredient causes the allergy. We don't know specifics. The rescue just said "Food allergies", and I asked what, they said their vet didn't specify what. But I could try it and monitor him. Alaska just doesn't like Orijen for some reason, and doesn't eat as much as he does the adults' Instinct, and he's getting to the age where he's as large as an average non big breed cat, so he can take care of himself, so he can finally go in and out of my bedroom whenever he pleases.

Usually, he's kept separate because the females are aggressive toward him, and I had a puppy lose an eye from an aggressive cat as a kid. I don't want anything happening to him like that. I decided to wait until he's bigger, and his immune system can fight off any bugs they may have. For instance, one of my cats came from a rescue that had a Coccidia outbreak. They thought it was gone, but he still had it. We got rid of it ourselves with Ponazuril, but he still has diarrhea sometimes. I'm not sure if it came back after or not. He tested negative in his post treatment visit and after that, but we wanna be dead sure Alaska doesn't suffer with have his growth impeded by this. That cat is at the vet today, getting his annual checkup/seeing if there's anything he's still carrying.

Anyway, the point is, I want to give Alaska the healthiest food possible to help him reach his maximum "Sijka photo material" potential, as he's going to shows and, hopefully, will be bred to paying customers' females, once he's won enough ribbons. We want him to be the biggest and strongest and healthiest, with the best coat he can have.

Orijen is a great brand, nutrition wise, but he doesn't eat it as often because he isn't too fond of it. Nutritious food isn't that great if he's only eating that much. He's only 8lbs at 20 weeks, so I'm concerned his lack of eating the brand I tried to force on him is stunting his growth.

 

[Ladewyn]

If you can, I'd suggest working with your vet or a feline nutritionist (your vet should be able to recommend one) and figuring out what exactly your cat is allergic to. That way you'll know exactly what you need to watch for, what foods are safe and what foods aren't.

 

[Cojakama]

My Abbey loves the Raw Boost Rabbit, but after introducing it, she had a terrible allergic reaction. The vet said it was probably from the pork and not necessarily the rabbit, but had to eliminate it until we can figure which is causing her grief.

 

[duckpond]

I think Instinct and Orijen are both good foods, but my cats are only so so about eating either one. Both of these foods have a lot of different ingredients, so im not sure how they would work with allergies? You dont know what the cat is allergic to?

I feed my indoor cats mostly Dr. Elsey's for dry food, the chicken flavor, it is very high protein and low carbs. They all 4 like it I also feed some Farmina, they especially love the pumpkin and venison flavor.

I picked up a new to me food at tractor supply, and my local pet store carries it as well. Taste of the wild prey. very limited ingredients. they have a turkey and a beef. » Formula Results

Do you feed wet food? That may be a good thing to introduce as well, if you do not?

 

[Neo_23]

There are instinct limited ingredient canned food diets too. I know that the rabbit one is high in protein. Ziwipeak also has air dried foods that are high in protein and are limited ingredient. The venison one is particularly higher in protein than the rest.

Orijen is actually not that high in protein. It's high for a dry food but compared to wet or raw foods it's low in protein because it's still about 20% carbs.

Edit: I did read somewhere that Orijen recently came out with a limited ingredient dry food that is higher in protein than its other varieties. Might be worth looking into.

 

[Cojakama]

It’s so difficult when most of the foods they eat are the allergy culprits. I’m having a hard time finding one Abbey likes that doesn’t include chicken or fish.

 

[josiegirl]

I'm not sure where you live but you could try the Instinct raw boost dry food at Petco and you can bring it back if it doesn't work. Just save your receipt.

My cat is on a rotation diet: Raw, wet and very little dry food (sprinkled over wet if he is being picky and won't eat it) Lately, though, my Noah has turned his nose up at Instinct dry food so I did some research and settled on Evo. He loves it. It's one of the highest ANIMAL protein dry foods out there, along with very low carbs. Unfortunately, I just found out that they are discontinuing the whole line of cat food. I tried Orijin but then found out they opened a plant in Kentucky (Used to be manufactured in Canada) and altered their ingredient list. Read quite a few reviews about cats getting sick. Sure enough, Noah started doing runny poos and vomiting. I threw the bag out!!

Noah is very picky with raw food. I tried Instinct raw, Primal and Honest kitchen prowl. No go! Finally tried the Stella & Chewy's brand chicken and he loves it. He's on his third bag. Who knew?

So....Have you tried raw food? That may be what is needed to clear up allergy issues.

 

[Cojakama]

I just started Abbey on the Stella and Chewy Duck Duck Goose. She’s not a fan of it with the water, but absolutely loves it straight out of the bag. She drinks plenty of water so that isn’t an issue. No vomiting, no diarrhea. It’s a little pricey, but it’s worth seeing my kitty feel better. I like that there is a single protein so it’s easy to determine what is causing the allergic reaction.