Pregnant with food allergy

rang_27

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
May 28, 2002
Messages
4,304
Purraise
5
Location
Milwaukee, WI
Hello T.C.S. I haven't been on in a long time, but I have a question. We have a cat at your shelter that appears to be pregnant (we tend to play the wait and see game when there is a possibility of pregnancy). She has developed a food allergy, and I'm just wondering if anyone has recommendations on what to feed her? We will be getting her in to the vet as soon as possible, but I'm just curious if anyone here has any experience with this.
 

happykitty

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
May 6, 2012
Messages
200
Purraise
79
Location
Southeast USA
Top offenders are usually wheat, corn, soy, or beef.  Less ingredients and higher protein the better. 

Is it skin problems or tummy problems?

Vets are usually not very educated about nutrition, so if that is the only problem then you could probably hold off on the vet for now and just try different foods and see how it goes. 
 
Last edited:

StefanZ

Advisor
Staff Member
Advisor
Joined
Sep 18, 2005
Messages
25,999
Purraise
10,648
Location
Sweden
Do you have any idea WHAT she is allergic for?  Otherwise it is tricky even for a good vet. It usually demands a long trial and error. The problem is, wrong food making things worse you see it soon (so it is good here), but making things better may take up to 6 weeks...  Btw, int the "suspect" list above add also fish and shrimps.

Although, in the last years they had come with quick tests, so hopefully your modern vet can get an answer if not in hours so in a couple of weeks (if he must send the test to some laboratory).  I dont really know how it is done.

I was much into food allergies when our older resident had some sort of food allergy, mostly for fish. The problem disappered entirely after he got neutered...  :)

So "allergy" can in some cases be induced by stress and or gender hormones.

Food? Try with some good quality food she probably dont eats normally.  Ie no fish, no biff, no these wheat, soy etc...     Say main ingredients from wild animals, or New zealands sheep... Or turkey or lamb.

James Wellbeloved brand has a good reputation as low allergenic food most cats like, and yet it doesnt cost a fortune.

JW contains much rice, but rice is better than cereals.

Good luck!
 

orientalslave

TCS Member
Top Cat
Joined
Jan 23, 2012
Messages
3,425
Purraise
114
Location
Scotland
I'm surprised the rescues does 'wait and see' with a cat they think might be pregnant, rather than getting her spayed straight away. 

What are her allergy symptoms?  Skin problems are very often flea allergy, and it doesn't take much to trigger it.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #5

rang_27

TCS Member
Thread starter
Top Cat
Joined
May 28, 2002
Messages
4,304
Purraise
5
Location
Milwaukee, WI
We are a no-kill shelter so if we think a female is pregnant we will not abort the babies. To us that goes against what we are all about.

She has red raw patches of skin that are missing hair in multiple places on her body.

At any rate, I had x-rays done at the vet because I was concerned about the kittens, and the vet did not see any skulls. So now we do not think she is pregnant, but the vet thinks she has R.W. I am not convinced of that either because she has been in the shelter for 6 weeks and we have NO other cats showing symptoms of R.W. They just remind me of the spots that I have seen on other cats with allergies. Since we are not concerned about her being pregnant, I will switch her to one of the low allergen foods that we feed to some of our other cats with issues.
 

happykitty

TCS Member
Adult Cat
Joined
May 6, 2012
Messages
200
Purraise
79
Location
Southeast USA
RW should be able to show up under black light or culture, it is a fungus.  Did the vet rule out mites?  Many time cats can have mites even with negative skin sample.   A dose of Revolution or Stronghold is in order if suspected. 

Start with a limited ingredient diet.  There are a few brands with one or two meats (turkey, rabbit, and lamb are more tolerated), some rice flour, vitamins, and that is it.  Evangers and Soulistic are a couple brands.  You will have to wait about a month or so for things to clear up and then you can try to start adding things back in as tolerated. 

Pregnancy can only be confirmed by xray if the kittens' bones have calcified (around 45 days). 
 
Top