Peas or Fish allergy likely culprit

[mysterylover]

Hi there!

Recently, all three sibling cats developed mushy, smelly stools and then two of them decided they no longer would eat the food I have fed for a couple of years. I was increasing the pate to try to combat constipation in one of the two males (Little One), and a couple of months after increasing to half and half, the mushy, smelly poop began and Junie and Tigger started walking away from not only the pate but the Just Juicy. They only eat wet food, and I feed three times a day. I had increased the pate to half pate and half Just Juicy when this started, with some help for Little One's constipation at first and then the mushy, smelly poop for all three, including him.

They were on Lotus Just Juicy Chicken and Lotus pork pate, duck pate, and turkey pate. Because it is easier to do food trials when they all eat the same thing (in hopes of them all being able to tolerate and like the new food tried), I stopped the Lotus pate in order to keep the food with higher protein and used the Just Juicy Chicken as a way to slowing try other food.

Oddly, something good started happening to Little One when I stopped the pate. He greatly reduced his overgrooming, and the quality of his fur got softer, fluffier. His overgrooming started at Christmastime a couple of years ago, and I blamed it on stress. In addition to the usual holiday changes around the house, my daughter got a bonus and wanted me to go shopping for gifts with her. We were out for hours several days in a row, and since I work from home and don't leave and stay gone for hours for days in a row, I thought Little One was stressing over my absence. When the overgrooming and pulling out hair and chewing continued after the holidays, I thought it was a habit (which I have read can be hard to break). His balding and chewing, pulling is over both hips (but started on one side till he was too bald there and started on the other), backs of legs/ankles, lower back on both sides, and stomach. It has taken like two years for him to work his way to all of the areas (so when I thought he was no longer licking and chewing one area, he was getting started on a new area, I think).

However, when I stopped the Lotus pate, I suddenly realized he was grooming less and spending more time in my lap. I thought maybe he felt like more lap time due to less digestive stuff, but he is definitely licking and chewing much less.

So, I want to make sure I am avoiding the most common item that could have been causing him problems while eating the pate. I am thinking I should avoid peas and fish. After him being better for about a week, I did a test and gave a meal of the Lotus turkey pate, though, and he literally licked, chewed, and ripped out the fur on his ankles for hours the next day. The pork and duck pate both contain white fish (5th on the label - even though the pork does not list fish on the ingredients on Chewy or the Lotus website, it is there when you click the label on the Lotus website and on my cans). The turkey does not list the fish, but ALL THREE contain peas in 4th or 5th position.

The food I have been trying is BFF Play Pate in the Chicken based only (chicken, chicken and turkey, and also chicken, duck, and turkey. There is no fish or peas in these foods.

I know there are a lot of people here who have dealt with food allergies, so I am hoping for guidance. I am actually lucky on this because they were only on the Just Juicy Chicken and these three Lotus pates, so the Just Juicy Chicken is not causing problems.

Is pea allergy common in cats? Most websites about food allergy in cats mention chicken, fish, beef. I was just thinking that there was no fish in the turkey, and he still reacted badly to one meal of it. Does fish allergy also include shellfish? All three of those Lotus pates contain New Zealand Green Mussels and also clams. I have been studying cat food (tired of reading ingredient lists online), as I would like to find several foods for them that work, especially to keep constipation in check.

Thank you for your time! I know this is a long post. On the plus side, they all love the BFF chicken-based pate, so they are eating.

 

[LTS3]

Pretty much anything in food can be a potential allergen. Protein, veggies, fish oil, grains, etc. One of my cat has a sensitivity to goat milk of all things Some people avoid peas because it's a cheap filler or their cats have some issue with it (tummy issues, etc).

A fish allergy could include shellfish. It depends on the cat. Seafood in general shouldn't be fed often anyways so it's fine to eliminate that from the diet if you're not sure if they cause issues with your cats.

I think some LID type diets include peas in some form. Have you tried Rawz? It's often recommended for cats with food issues. It's expensive, though, and only sold at authorized pet stores and a few online places.

 

[ladytimedramon]

I know my girls get the smelly poo when fish is involved.

 

[mysterylover]

Pretty much anything in food can be a potential allergen. Protein, veggies, fish oil, grains, etc. One of my cat has a sensitivity to goat milk of all things Some people avoid peas because it's a cheap filler or their cats have some issue with it (tummy issues, etc).

A fish allergy could include shellfish. It depends on the cat. Seafood in general shouldn't be fed often anyways so it's fine to eliminate that from the diet if you're not sure if they cause issues with your cats.

I think some LID type diets include peas in some form. Have you tried Rawz? It's often recommended for cats with food issues. It's expensive, though, and only sold at authorized pet stores and a few online places.

Thanks for your response! I never loved the idea of feeding food with peas (or the fact that the Lotus pate had some fish in it), but at the time, but they tolerated it well, so I went with it, since it is so hard with three cats to find food they can all eat without digestive upset of some sort. Since all seafood could be involved, I am suspicious of the clams and mussels as well as fish, since he reacted to the turkey so horribly and it has no fish.

Years ago, I tried Rawz, pate and the shredded. They liked the pate, but they had smelly flatulence. I assume it was from the fenugreek seeds, but maybe I did not go slowly enough and give them a chance to get used to the food. I tried the shreds off and on, but a couple of my cats seem sensitive to sunflower seed oil, giving them loose stools, and the one cat who could tolerate it (because of his constipation), did not like the Rawz shreds. But hey, they are clearly different cats digestively than they used to be because they are eating this BFF with three gums in it, and two of them have not been able to eat any gums in the past without having diarrhea (though I think the xanthan gum is causing constipation - so maybe the Rawz would be the right balance for them now that they are seniors).

Does Rawz pate have ground bone in it? I don't know if I should be concerned about phosphorus with my three cats since they 11 years old, but it seems high in the Rawz pate, which made me figure there is ground bone. Still yet, it has higher fat in it, and I feel like my cats could use a food with more animal fat in it, especially with the Lotus pate gone, which still has only like 18% on a dry matter basis of fat. Maybe it would be okay to have Rawz in the mix with trying to mix in some lower phosphorus foods, since they eat 3 times a day?? I'd seriously love them to have some variety anyway.

Thanks for mentioning the Rawz. Of course, I would have to wait for it to ship to try it, unless I want to drive 45 minutes to the only store near here that sells it. Maybe I can bribe a family member to go there and get some to try given that the cats are getting more picky. LOL!

 

[mysterylover]

I know my girls get the smelly poo when fish is involved.

Thanks for sharing your experience! I am thinking that, because I fed them the Lotus pate every day and then increased the amount, they all might have had an intolerance/allergy build up - all three digestively and then, maybe from the start, skin itching for one of them. It's hard to find food all three tolerate and like, and it is so much easier if they all eat the same food. I hate food trials. I drive my family nuts with the buying and the returning. LOL!

 

[Lulu&Finn]

When we got Lulu she would have back twitching, running around, over grooming near her tail. I truly thought she had Hyperesthesia. Through trial and error I believe she has a fish allergy. She no longer acts this way since she has been on a fish free diet. Every now and then it will happen and sure enough, a food I thought was fish free will have it in it. It's been a struggle.

In the last 6 months or so something has changed with Purina Pro Plan wet foods and she will not touch it. We are struggling and she's only eating dry food. She hasnt lost any weight but I don't doubt that soon she will refuse the dry food out of boredom. There are very few fish free dry foods in Pro Plan. If anyone has any ideas I'd love to hear them. I did buy Purina Cat chow in the green bag fish free and she had an issue with it.

I'd like to switch her food but finding fish free is a challenge! It sounds like your cat is a lot like Lulu.

 

[lisahe]

One of or cats can't eat green-lipped mussels (she barfs) and neither of our cats will eat peas, which made their way into one of their formerly favorite foods before I checked the label for recipe changes. As LTS3 mentioned, nearly anything can cause reactions. We've had particular problems with thickeners like potato starch and agar-agar. And possibly gums, too, though I don't want to go through food trials there to find out for sure!

On another note, how interesting, Lulu&Finn , what you say about hyperesthesia! Our other cat has had mild versions of that behavior since we adopted her in 2013... But it has lessened in recent months and I wonder if that might be because she has been on an antihistamine cream that was initially prescribed for her after she licked the fur off one hip. (She also has asthma and the antihistamine prevents ger from coughing so we're keeping her on it after her fur grew back.)

 

[ladytimedramon]

Thanks for sharing your experience! I am thinking that, because I fed them the Lotus pate every day and then increased the amount, they all might have had an intolerance/allergy build up - all three digestively and then, maybe from the start, skin itching for one of them. It's hard to find food all three tolerate and like, and it is so much easier if they all eat the same food. I hate food trials. I drive my family nuts with the buying and the returning. LOL!

Fancy is on a food trial now and I'm about to change proteins myself.
1. Rabbit LID doesn't come non-pate and I'm going through insanity to get her to eat it.
2. The stink and soft stools are still there. Not as rank, but still bad. The only way I know it's her and not the other cat is I've been in the room when the other cat uses the box and the smell is slight and goes away after about 5 min, while with Fancy it lingers for a half hour or more (or until I use air freshener, whichever comes first).

I keep a timed kibble feeder for snack times so both girls need the same kibble. But their wet is in the microchip feeders so it's kept separate.

 

[R@ch]

For my guy, it’s peas, peas, peas!