possible chicken allergy or dry skin, any wet food recs for kittens?

[haleyrose99]

My kiddos are about a week off of 5 months old. I went through a huge scare with my girl Phoebe, she was struggling to breathe and itching and biting all over a couple of weeks ago. My primary vet recommended she go to a neurologist, thinking she had a possible back injury that was causing hyperesthesia symptoms like back rippling, chasing her tail, excessive biting of her butt and tail, and looking around like she was paranoid (no clue about the breathing, but she hasn't done it since so fingers crossed). She just went yesterday and thank the lord she was not injured and has no neuro issues, but now I'm feeling super underprepared.

I already thought they had a food allergy previously because a little over a month ago they started itching more than I thought would be normal. At the time, I tried feeding them a few new foods with new ingredients (beef, peas, rice) and my vet told me it was likely the beef. So I cut that out. Now, the neurologist suspects it's an allergy again and told me to try food that didn't contain chicken. Well, right now I feed them pretty much only chicken... Purina Pro Plan chicken, Wellness Core Kitten (turkey and chicken) and Wellness ocean whitefish and tuna, and Weruva chicken shreds. Looking for kitten food without chicken feels impossible! The first one I bought was Purina Pro Plan Salmon and Ocean Whitefish because the label online showed no chicken, but after getting a few cans, I saw it printed on the label as the 3rd ingredient! Even the Wellness ocean whitefish and tuna flavor has chicken in it. I know Weruva has one kitten flavor with no chicken, and I've seen Rawz and Ziwipeak, but I can't find a variety pack/there's no way for me to buy one or two cans to see if they'll even like it.

The neurologist also recommended I try specifically fish only while trying to test the chicken allergy (I assume because they might also have dry skin), but I'm wary about fish for a number of reasons. I'm not above it, but again I can't really find more than one brand that has fish with no chicken in the ingredient list. They're still getting chicken and the occasional fishy flavor with chicken because right now that's all I have. Any suggestions?

 

[haleyrose99]

*I was also told by my vet that Phoebe is overweight for her age- she is about 7 lbs and Milo is about 6 lbs 10-12 oz. Is this true? I know I've seen some posts here that say some cats are just bigger off the jump. They told me to stop free-feeding dry and stick to only their wet meals, so I've been slowly decreasing how much dry I leave out. They're still so young though, so I worry they wouldn't be getting enough nutrients... any thoughts?

 

[Furballsmom]

Is this true?

No. Vets are understandably paranoid about the adult cat obesity situation that's getting so prevalent, but they are typically very undereducated regarding kitten needs and nutritional requirements.

I worry they wouldn't be getting enough nutrients... any thoughts?

You would be absolutely correct. Kittens are eating machines, and need to be until they are at least a year old, older for big breeds. Several small-ish meals throughout the day with either kibble or canned overnight since that's a long time to go between meals. Kittens need a lot of food to support all the growth that's going on, plus the calories they're expending in play. But their tummies aren't large enough to hold a lot, so they need frequent small meals

I'm thinking that since they're already 5 months old, you can start feeding them foods that are labelled as All Life Stages, which will open up the menu for you and them regarding avoiding chicken.

This thread might help;
Rabbit based food

and this recent post of mine could give you some ideas;
Coughing cat and vet thinks its IBD

 

[haleyrose99]

No. Vets are understandably paranoid about the adult cat obesity situation that's getting so prevalent, but they are typically very undereducated regarding kitten needs and nutritional requirements.
You would be absolutely correct. Kittens are eating machines, and need to be until they are at least a year old, older for big breeds. Several small-ish meals throughout the day with either kibble or canned overnight since that's a long time to go between meals. Kittens need a lot of food to support all the growth that's going on, plus the calories they're expending in play. But their tummies aren't large enough to hold a lot, so they need frequent small meals

WHEW okay, that makes me feel a lot better! I'm just going to keep free-feeding then!
I was feeding every 6 hours(6am-12pm-6pm-12am), but I was losing so much sleep and they were never hungry enough to finish their 6 pm meal, so I'm now on every 8 (7am-3pm-11pm) hours and keeping kibble out 24/7. Are three meals enough per day with the free-feeding?
I think part of her weight gain is because the vet recommended keeping her as calm as possible/limit her play for the last couple of weeks for the possible back injury, so she wasn't active but was eating the same. But she's clear now so she's been running around like crazy!

I'm thinking that since they're already 5 months old, you can start feeding them foods that are labelled as All Life Stages, which will open up the menu for you and them regarding avoiding chicken.

Awesome I will look out for all life stages food! I actually just ran out to Petco after looking through the threads and got some Weruva, Instinct and Honest Kitchen for them to try so I'm hopeful! You've been super helpful thank you!!

 

[Furballsmom]

You are very welcome

Are three meals enough per day with the free-feeding?

I'm thinking yes, but you'll be able to tell if they happen to go through a lot of kibble

 

[haleyrose99]

I'm thinking yes, but you'll be able to tell if they happen to go through a lot of kibble

Ah okay makes sense! They actually are eating more kibble than before, I think I'm going to go back to 4 meals in case they are too hungry, they wake m up at 6 am playing anyways
But I didn't see in either thread dry food recommendations for kittens, do you perhaps know of any kitty kibble that is chicken free or a thread that might have info? They are eating Hill's Science Diet right now which is all chicken, and it seems counterproductive to test the wet food while keeping the same dry...

 

[Furballsmom]

I misunderstood, I think, I was thinking you could start feeding All Life Stages kibble.

This one came up on chewy but it has turkey,
NOW FRESH Grain-Free Kitten Formula Dry Cat Food, 3-lb bag - Chewy.com

Other kitten kibble brands such as Halo are fish based.