Is A Rice Allergy Possible?

[Larkspur]

So poor Lucy has a food allergy. She had a bad ear infection in one ear. When I'd introduced a new food, there was an immediate reaction of vomiting, and a few hours of very loose stools as well as itching and head shaking. I thought food allergy and the vet agrees with me. I picked up a grain free, Porta 21 grain free chicken dry and the Portoa21 only chicken wet. The dry I couldn't switch right away so mixed it with her other dry (Happy cat kitten). She has been one week only on the chicken and the ear and skin symptoms are greatly reduced. I had also picked up some Almo Nature chicken and pumpkin in case we had some upset stomach. Today I gave her the Almo and she puked and had the runs in 5 mins.
I was suspecting fish and seafood because the first immediate reaction was with the Almo pure Tuna but both these have rice, real pieces of it. I did a quick check and all the other food I've tried has rice flour in it.
My vet is closed now and I'll call Monday but she's pretty much left me to figure it out on my own. I have food allergies, have done food elimination diet myself before and she didn't want to do blood tests without elimination diet first. I was thinking of cooking some rice and just giving it to her to confirm (a first food trial), but is that a good idea with such a quick reaction? or should I decide that's enough evidence to confirm rice as an allergy? I did my food trials at the hospital but I think that won't work for a cat. I'm worried about a serious reaction without the right drugs. Can I use my epi-pen on a cat?

 

[Kieka]

Since rice isn't really an ideal foor for cats and it is fairly easy to find food without rice I would just avoid it. While you won't have the confirmation of a food trial its one of those better to avoid foods anyways.

I had a similar situation that one of mine started throwing up whenever shrimp was present. I just started reading labels and buying food without shrimp and no more problems.

 

[lisahe]

Since rice isn't really an ideal foor for cats and it is fairly easy to find food without rice I would just avoid it. While you won't have the confirmation of a food trial its one of those better to avoid foods anyways.

I had a similar situation that one of mine started throwing up whenever shrimp was present. I just started reading labels and buying food without shrimp and no more problems.

I couldn't agree more with Kieka's suggestion. We had a similar situation with one of our cats: we were lucky to realize, fairly quickly and by chance, that she couldn't eat potato. Potato isn't a common problem for cats, though there are several other Cat Site members whose cats vomit (as ours does) if they eat it. We feed our cats only wet foods that don't have grains or carby vegetables. Our cats have somewhat sensitive stomachs and those ingredients don't belong in cat food anyway!

 

[Larkspur]

She was on grain free when the problems started. The rice and chicken was a suggestion by the vet to deal with stomach upset, since she had some liquid stools. The hard part is if the food makes her vomit, then she suddenly decides it's all she wants. She gets a sudden burst of energy, almost like a high and I think she likes it. The other major problem is with wet food she eats a table spoon at a time. Too much and it gets buried under toys and socks. The vet and I discussed home cooked or raw she thinks it will be a hard sell since she doesn't eat treats and has zero interest in our food or plants, but first we need to find the allergin. In the end she''ll most likely be on dry with her tablespoon of wet. She drinks well and doesn't over eat yet so not too worried. She was on Happy Cat grain free (I should have been clear) with the ear infection hence the shock over rice. Not my first choice but I'd be ok (not thrilled) with Happy Cat but I'm highly allergic to it. Whoever thought birch leaves should be in cat food should be shot. I also saw a holistic with aloe in it, and I'm pretty sure it's poisonous to cats. There's a lot of things in cat food that don't belong there.
After spending 17 years trying to convince my Main Coon Friskies isn't food, I'm willing to compromise some things but in the end it will be the best food she'll eat and doesn't make her sick.

 

[Kieka]

In that situation, you could test the rice ti see if it is what is specifically causing the reaction. I would partner with your vet first though since the diet is at their suggestion. As to the epipen, it is too high a dosage for cats however cats can have Benadryl for allergic reactions. You would want to double check with your vet but I believe the dosage is 1 milliliter per pound.

Rice usually isn't one of the things cats are specifically allergic to which is why it is normally a base for an elimination diet. However, as I am sure you are aware, it is possible to be allergic or sensitive to anything. So it is possible that your cat is allergic or sensitive to rice.

 

[Larkspur]

My husband and I discussed it and since we're close to the hospital, we decided to risk it. We used the same amount in the food 7 grams with chicken broth. Sadly, nothing, not even scratching or head shaking. Now I'm at a complete loss. My husband thinks it's too healthy, ha! Though there might be something there, meaning the old owner for sure wasn't about to spend for a grain free wet food.
So here's the Almo Nature Ingredients, the two she vomited with:
Chicken & tuna:
chicken 48%, tuna 27%, fish stock 24%, rice 1%.
Chicken with pumpkin:
chicken 70%, chicken broth 24%, pumpkin 5%, rice 1%.

I just don't get it. Not chicken or rice. The tuna is easy to check and we can next weekend, that should also cover fish stock. Pumpkin is impossible here in Germany until next Halloween so that one can wait, though not really necessary. Maybe there's something in the process, or I just got some bad batches? Thanks for the tips and if anyone has some other ideas or experiences I'd love to hear them.

 

[xcourtney3]

I may have missed it, but how do you know it isn't chicken?

 

[Larkspur]

I didn't at first, but it was the easiest mono protein and I only found one dry food without salmon oil. So we started there. My biggest worry was the immediate reaction (vomiting and explosive diarrhea), and nothing happened with chicken. In fact she had very normal stools and the discharge from her ear stopped in a little over a week. She's still shaking her head, but that could be seasonal allergies or the chicken of course. We'll see in time.
Good news is I found some chicken bit snacks without anything added and she actually liked them. Small miracles.

 

[Larkspur]

I found my allergen, Icefish, which seems to be in the smelt family. She's still on grain free dry food supplemented with pure chicken once a day, and no itching or ear discharge for weeks. She's happy so I'm happy.

 

[lisahe]

I found my allergen, Icefish, which seems to be in the smelt family. She's still on grain free dry food supplemented with pure chicken once a day, and no itching or ear discharge for weeks. She's happy so I'm happy.

That's great to hear! How did you figure out it was icefish? (I thought I'd ask since your experience might be helpful for other people!)

 

[Larkspur]

Sure I'll explain. We started with a mono protein, grain free food for 6 weeks. The symptoms went away completely so we introduced some other proteins, one a week for two days a table spoon at a time. We started with egg, then tuna, salmon, then ice fish. The ones we could do ourselves from people food we did the others were pet foods these complementary ones with 'pure' meats. Just to be sure we cleaned the bowl with the same dish soap/washing up soap and cloth. We have tried other proteins, like shrimp and squid and they were fine. The icefish made her vomit two days in a row with very soft stools. People fish were fine but the cat food made soft stools plus she doesn't seem to like it so it could be sensitivity or cross contamination from the manufacturing or from the fishes diet. There're probably a few other sensitivities but we're pescatarian so it will take some time to find the right cat foods or enlist help from meat eating friends.
If the symptoms hadn't gone away I would have switched proteins and started again.