Possible Poultry Allergy, Swollen Cat Lip

[valentine319]

I gave my girl a sample of a second protein, turkey. She's been doing well on rabbit. I noticed her lip swelled up. I'll let her clear up and try another sample at another time but I think she's allergic to turkey. She was on lid canned turkey. The only other thing it could be was beef pancreas but she's never had a reaction to steak.

Has anyone else found their pet had a raw allergy and what were the symptoms?

 

[Cats&Coffee]

I'm also curious if my kitten is having allergy symptoms. I have a whole thread on her current vomiting issues. Vet told
Me today that it might have been a bacterial infection from eating raw and that consumers really need to be more informed about salmonella and other bacteria.

 

[valentine319]

Cats&Coffee here's a good article.
Allergies in Cats | Feline Immune Hypersensitivity

Bacterial infections can be a result of hypersensitivity.

 

[Cats&Coffee]

Interesting that bacterial infections could be from hypersensitivity. So far Stell doesn't have much interest in any wet foods so I guess it will be a process of elimination from here on out. Thanks for the link!

 

[valentine319]

Interesting that bacterial infections could be from hypersensitivity. So far Stell doesn't have much interest in any wet foods so I guess it will be a process of elimination from here on out. Thanks for the link!

Remember the top two allergens tend to be fish and poultry.

My cat was on canned turkey. Now that I've seen her have a swollen chin after eating raw turkey I'll have to check and do a test to confirm it.

I can say before allergies came on bad and she was ripping out fur she started by a sensitive stomach, farting and soft poop.

 

[mizzely]

My Jasmine is allergic to chicken, in raw or cooked form. She throws up within an hour and licks all the fur from her belly and back legs.

 

[valentine319]

My Jasmine is allergic to chicken, in raw or cooked form. She throws up within an hour and licks all the fur from her belly and back legs.

I'm wondering if a few years of sensitive stomach progressed to full blown allergy. With fish my girl starts ripping her hair out. It's horrible.

 

[huxleysmom]

How long was she on the LID canned turkey for? Was she totally asymptomatic while on that?

I gave my girl a sample of a second protein, turkey. She's been doing well on rabbit. I noticed her lip swelled up. I'll let her clear up and try another sample at another time but I think she's allergic to turkey. She was on lid canned turkey. The only other thing it could be was beef pancreas but she's never had a reaction to steak.

Has anyone else found their pet had a raw allergy and what were the symptoms?

 

[mizzely]

I'm wondering if a few years of sensitive stomach progressed to full blown allergy. With fish my girl starts ripping her hair out. It's horrible.

I wouldn't doubt it, honestly.

 

[valentine319]

huxleysmom On the canned turkey she still had what seemed like seasonal allergies and I constantly gave her zyrtec. It wasn't as a severe as a swollen lip but always smelly soft poop and pulling out hair. Rabbit canned she cleared up some in winter. If she can't have any poultry I'll deal. I just felt the canned really wasn't giving her body any help repairing itself. Yes, allergies were worse on canned turkey compared to rabbit. I've gone raw to give her body time to heal. I want what's best for her.

 

[valentine319]

huxleysmom The only thing different about raw turkey compared to canned is her lip swelled on raw but on canned she ripped out hair. Tons of pretty hair all ripped out and all over.

 

[huxleysmom]

I know exactly how you feel about wanting the best for our little fur babies! I'd say that if she had symptoms while eating canned turkey, and has some with the raw (even if they are different symptoms) then she is probably allergic to turkey. I would stay away from all kinds of poultry for now and maybe stick with the rabbit as she was doing very well with it. If you are doing an elimination diet, it would be best for her to stay with rabbit for at least 8-10 weeks,and then move on to another "exotic" protein. Huxley is doing well with pork.

huxleysmom On the canned turkey she still had what seemed like seasonal allergies and I constantly gave her zyrtec. It wasn't as a severe as a swollen lip but always smelly soft poop and pulling out hair. Rabbit canned she cleared up some in winter. If she can't have any poultry I'll deal. I just felt the canned really wasn't giving her body any help repairing itself. Yes, allergies were worse on canned turkey compared to rabbit. I've gone raw to give her body time to heal. I want what's best for her.

 

[valentine319]

I got 1 lb of whole ground cavies. Ugh hairy looking meatballs. i'm planning on beef, pork or mutton next to try. We have time since I've made up enough rabbit for just under 2 months.

I have beef pancreas in the freezer. I'm going to have her try a little bit of it in a few weeks (I used it as other organ in the turkey). I really think it's turkey though. But trying the beef sweetbreads to make sure she's not allergic to beef is an option if no reaction happens.

 

[huxleysmom]

Now that the turkey is in her system you'll have to wait a few weeks before trying any new protein because if she has a reaction after eating beef for example, you won't be able to know if she's reacting to beef or to the turkey.

 

[silverpersian]

Out cat has a chicken allergy. He scratched the fur off his ears. We eliminated all chicken, which was the bulk of his diet, and reintroduced it very gradually. He was fine for a while, then developed chin acne for the first time. Our vet thought it was caused by the chicken allergy again. We eliminated chicken again, and the acne disappeared.

He still gets the very occasional chicken wing tip, but no chicken as a meal.

Our vet believes that turkey and chicken are different enough for a cat to be allergic to one and not the other. Turkey and Cornish hen are fixtures in our protein rotation now, and our cat has no problems with either of them.

 

[valentine319]

Today she had the runs. We'll be waiting at least 2 weeks before testing the tiny bit of beef that was in the mix.

I'll try turkey after that.

 

[mizzely]

I would do minimum 4 weeks. The recommendation is 8 to 10 weeks to clear the body, and then allow 2 to 3 weeks with a new protein to allow time for a reaction.

 

[huxleysmom]

My vet recommended not changing proteins too often for a cat who has allergies. She says that not only it will not allow you to correctly identify the allergens that bother her, but giving them various proteins over a short period of time also puts strains on an immune system that is already over stimulated.

 

[valentine319]

Thanks huxleysmom , mizzely , silverpersian and Cats&Coffee for replying. I'm going to give her at least 4 weeks (or more) depending on how she does. I wanted to add in another meat, hoping at the end to have 3 to rotate her with. I know this takes time. Her staple is whole carcass rabbit.

huxleysmom I saw somewhere that pork was more of an allergen? Any idea if this is true?

 

[valentine319]

She had a bout of cow patty poop. I added her probiotic back into the raw. It's finally cleared up.

She didn't have a swollen lip with canned turkey but canned always gave her soft poop. That makes it difficult when you're trying to narrow down these allegeries. At least with raw I can narrow this down.