On day 2 of an elimination diet in hopes of isolating a food allergy. My cat Lexi has been exhibiting signs of itching skin and has scratched herself raw in a few places over he past few months. She has been fed a wide variety of proteins over the past several months including chicken, turkey, duck, lamb, and rabbit. She does not appear to be too fond of the Hill's canned Venison Formula d/d we're trying, but she did eat the past two meals I offered her. The vet also gave me two cans of Hill's hydrolyzed chicken to try. See which she prefers. I doubt I would feed her the hydrolyzed long term, but perhaps for 8-12 weeks. I may investigate home cooked and discuss with the Vet. Also other novel protein foods that board members have mentioned. Lexi is a bit food obsessed, so I suppose eating begrudgingly for a while would be OK. That said, we like our pets to enjoy their meals.
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starting cat on an elimination diet due to suspected food allergy
- Thread starter rawlins02
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So, basically, are you just going to use this thread as kind of a log? It helps other members if they ever have similar issues.
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- #4
@missmimz Point taken. Will discuss with my Vet.
@mrsgreenjeens Yes I plan on logging our experiences in this thread.
@mrsgreenjeens Yes I plan on logging our experiences in this thread.
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- #5
Lexi has tried 2 cans of the Hill's canned Venison Formula d/d and 2 of the Hill's hydrolyzed chicken v/d. Ate the venison reluctantly, but completed the meals. Likes the hydrolyzed chicken. I suppose we could go with that for 8-12 weeks or so. I want to decide soon whether to go with one of those or try home-cooked.
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- #6
She's disgusted by both of the food options (above post). And she'll eat just about anything. I would imagine compliance is an issue for many pets presented these options. Tech at Vet Office says these food elimination trials are much preferred over testing for atopic(?) environmental allergies, due to costs for the latter. I think I'd be willing to pay $1000 just for the chance that my cat won't have to eat disgusting, unpalatable food for a suspected food allergy. I was also told that home cooked meals are often unbalanced, and clients often find them to be too much work. I'm guessing some folks here would disagree.
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I am definitely among those who disagree about home cooked meals! I use the EZcomplete supplement to make cooked food with chicken, pork, and turkey that I buy at the supermarket. I cook the meat for about 25 minutes in the toaster oven, let it cool, shred it (our cats prefer the most labor-intensive method!), and add the supplement, which makes the meat into a complete meal. It's not that much work and the cats love it. There are other supplements that Cat Site members use that seem to work well but EZcomplete has been great for our cats.
I have a broad (and perhaps naive!) question: do you have any sense of what makes your cat itch? And what had she been eating before you started on the diet? I ask because, as @missmimz noted, it's often not the protein/meat in the food that causes allergy or digestive symptoms but various additives and fillers. Sometimes eliminating ingredients like grains, potatoes, peas, carrageenan, tapioca, or thickener gums can relieve an allergy. Basically, there can be a lot of trial and error involved and the simplest possible recipes are often what work best. Or that are at least helpful in figuring out what would work: at least there are fewer possibilities to run through. Keeping a food diary (or this thread!) can help you keep track of symptoms and ingredients so you can find patterns. Sometimes figuring things out is dumb luck: that's how we found out it was potato that was making one or our cats vomit.
There aren't a lot of canned foods without all those ingredients I mentioned but they do exist, albeit at high prices: we feed a fair bit of Tiki Cat and our cats also like the new Feline Natural canned food. Most of their diet, though, is raw food (mostly freeze-dried but also a small daily Rad Cat meal) with one meal a day of home-cooked. Our cats are young, with sensitive stomachs, and that combination works very well for them.
Good luck!
Abby wasn't happy when she went on the Royal Canin limited ingredient diet, but eventually started eating. This is going to sound like a crazy question, but what type of food bowl are you using? Abby refused to eat the wet in a bowl, but started eating when I placed it on a flat plate.
There's that, too! One of our cats much prefers her food when it's mounded on a flat plate. And some cats are known to prefer their pates mushed with extra water so they can lap it up.
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- #10
No, not sure. I adopted her in February 2015 at 1.5yo. It has been some time now that she has been shaking her head. In May 2015 she scratched a raw spot under left ear. Then no damage again until this past summer when she scratched raw under one ear (healed in a month), then the other (healed in a month), and now under her neck. Since scratching was less noticeable last winter, I was thinking some kind of seasonal environmental allergy. She is on Frontline Plus, and the vet has never seen evidence of ear mites.
For the past several months she has eaten Merrick chicken pate, Merrick turkey pate, and several of the Nature's Variety Limited Ingredient duck, lamb, and rabbit. Never thought feeding such a wide variety could be problematic. I do understand how a food allergy can be due to something other than the protein.
I noted that this morning after refusing the Hills z/d hydrolyzed protein wet, she accepted the dry kibble version. I don't like the idea of feeding her dry only for 2-3 months. She has always gobbled up the wet foods listed above. I suppose I could try the venison again.
She eats out of ceramic bowl. I will try a flat plate. I do mix with a bit of water and warm it up. They both smell awful.
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- #11
She now won't touch either of the wet food options. Having second thoughts about this experiment. Tomorrow morning I plan to return the products to the vet. Appointment with the dermatologist is 4 weeks away. Hopefully an appointment will open up sooner so we can get a second opinion.
IMO your funds would be better spent trying out raw food over paying for an dermatologist that will likely recommend you do expensive allergy testing that won't give you any reliable answers, as allergy testing in cats isn't that accurate. Rad Cat has some good novel proteins, like venison.
http://feline-nutrition.org/answers/answers-raw-diet-for-my-cat-s-mystery-allergy
http://feline-nutrition.org/answers/answers-raw-diet-for-my-cat-s-mystery-allergy
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- #13
Cost not an issue. And while possibly unreliable, an answer is still useful information. Will look closer at the studies of testing efficacy.
My local mega-pet-food store can order Rad Cat. Would arrive on Monday. The venison is the only protein she has not had. Hopefully she'd eat it. Hill's venison was a no-go.
Try a small tub, and use toppers freeze dried treats to entice her if she's never had raw before. Rad Cat is excellent food. Mine crew go nuts for the venison.
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- #15
She just ate some of the Hill's hydrolyzed protein dry kibble. I'll have to keep feeding her that until another option is identified. It could be as much as 6 days until the Rad Cat would arrive. If I'm lucky, the local farm supply store listed on the Rad Cat web site will have some in stock.
I hope the Rad Cat works, it really is good food. Our cats love the chicken and turkey.
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- #17
Maybe I'm confused. If she's been eating 5.5 oz wet per day, I'd need close to 40 oz over a week. Sold in 8 oz, 16 oz, and 24 oz containers. So I'll need to order two of the large tubs to last until the next shipment arrival. I'll try a small tub of venison if it's in stock locally. If it must be ordered, I'll need to get a weeks worth and hope she'll eat it.
I see that the Toppers freeze dried treat won't break the diet. Good to know.
Raw food isn't equal to wet food, so how much she'll eat really just depends. Below what RC suggests for feeding guidelines. I wouldn't invest in a lot of RC until you know she'll eat it. http://www.radfood.com/education/feeding
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- #19
Looks like they suggest about the same weight as what she's been eating. Obviously a once per week shipment is inconvenient for trying out. Tomorrow I'll know if it's in stock elsewhere local. Expedited shipping during this 'trial' period is an option.
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I am not sure if this helps at all but often at my clinic we prescribe a Rayne (http://www.raynecanada.ca/) Novel Protein for cats with allergies in order to determine if it is the protein source causing problems. The main two are usually rabbit or kangaroo. The food is prescribed specially by a vet because it is usually only meant for the short term in order to identify the potential allergen although there are longterm options available if the cat does end up being allergic to other protein like chicken. It would be something to ask your vet about.
It looks like it is also available in the U.S. but the link to their US site is not working for me and I am not sure why...
It looks like it is also available in the U.S. but the link to their US site is not working for me and I am not sure why...
