Tapioca Issues?

MeowHiss

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My cat was previously on instinct LID rabbit formula dry and wet.

While on it, she was displaying symptoms such as itching ears, itching her belly, sneezing, and she also had moderate dandruff.

I tried to tell my vet about it. He really didn't think it was a food allergy, but all the same, he recommended I switch to Fromm foods.

In the months that I switched, my cat has stopped her itching fits, her dandruff is just about gone, and she doesn't sneeze so much anymore.

The only thing that I've changed is her food. I suspect she had a sensitivity to tapioca or some other ingredient.

She doesn't seem to have a problem with chicken or fish like I thought. She seems to be doing fine with potatoes that are in Fromm.

Anyone else ever have a cat with tapioca issues?
 
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MeowHiss

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There's peas in the Fromm dry food. They're 6th on the ingredients list. On the instinct, I believe they were second.
 

daftcat75

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So it's a difference in quantity. If it is the peas, it may take a while longer for you to see it with the Fromm's. But she may eventually become reactive to that too. Certainly less is better than more but keep an eye out for a pea-less option for when Fromm's becomes potentially problematic.
 
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MeowHiss

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If that ever happens, I'll probably end up feeding all canned or canned and raw.

I read a bunch of dry food bags before deciding on a food and all of them that I've seen have either peas, corn, or wheat gluten.
 

daftcat75

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Why not all three? That would spread out the risk assuming you're not feeding the same recipes for wet, raw, and dry. Strength through diversity. If she's not reactive on the Fromm's (yet), use this opportunity to start looking for good wet formulas. Because it will be a lot harder when she becomes reactive again. A good wet formula is meat (not meal), moisture, organs (byproducts okay, just unnamed organs), and supplements. No grains, vegetables, fruits, starches, etc. That's actually a good formula for cat food in general and you see why dry food falls so short.
 

Melania Maria

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Why not all three? That would spread out the risk assuming you're not feeding the same recipes for wet, raw, and dry. Strength through diversity. If she's not reactive on the Fromm's (yet), use this opportunity to start looking for good wet formulas. Because it will be a lot harder when she becomes reactive again. A good wet formula is meat (not meal), moisture, organs (byproducts okay, just unnamed organs), and supplements. No grains, vegetables, fruits, starches, etc. That's actually a good formula for cat food in general and you see why dry food falls so short.
Hello,
I am New to this site.. I am doing research dailyand have been doing that for a while now after good wet food for my cat. Do you have any recommendations? With no starch, grains, peas, no guar gum or agar agar. Oh she is allergic to chicken, beef and fish too. I found Tiki dark Venison but its with fillers aswell.
All the best,
Melania
 

daftcat75

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Hello,
I am New to this site.. I am doing research dailyand have been doing that for a while now after good wet food for my cat. Do you have any recommendations? With no starch, grains, peas, no guar gum or agar agar. Oh she is allergic to chicken, beef and fish too. I found Tiki dark Venison but its with fillers aswell.
All the best,
Melania
Tiki Cat After Dark Venison looks like a good food. Dried yeast and cassia gum are the only ingredients that don't fit that meat, moisture, organs, and supplements formula I offered. I wish I knew what kind of yeast they use. It could be s. boulardii which is a probiotic or it could be brewers yeast or nutritional yeast with are both sources of B vitamins. None of these are as problematic as unnecessary fruits, vegetables, starches or grains. They are potentially beneficial too. And cassia gum is one of the more benign gums. Guar gum is also one of the more benign gums and may even be a pre-biotic (encourages the growth of good gut bacteria.) I would not lump guar gum or cassia gum in the same basket as carrageenan or agar agar which are both known irritants. Does your cat like this food and does she do well on it? If so, I would have no reservations feeding this food. I like Tiki Cat as a brand and especially the After Dark line.

I just noticed the beef liver in the ingredients. If you say she's allergic to beef, then this might be a food to avoid. You're going to have a hard time finding a food that doesn't have chicken, beef, or fish. I recommend the Rawz brand in either turkey or rabbit. Hound & Gatos may also have something in rabbit, pork, or venison.

Please create a new thread so that others might see your question and respond accordingly. Resurrecting this thread is going to have a limited audience.
 
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MissClouseau

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I’m going to say it’s more likely to be the peas. Allergies tend to be proteins rather than starches. Tapioca would be more likely to produce loose stools as carbohydrates are poorly digested by cats.
Everything has their own protein (that might cause intolerance/allergies). Tapioca included.
 

Caspers Human

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I suspect she had a sensitivity to tapioca or some other ingredient.
I'd say yes to the possibility of food allergy but no to the idea that tapioca is the cause of the problems.

Tapioca is starch and "empty calories." (Rich in carbohydrates and sugars but poor in nutrition.)
Tapioca has no protein and only small amounts of nutrients. Cats don't really need very much carbohydrate in their diets.
For cats, tapioca is basically junk food. In cat food, I say that it's mostly just a cheap filler.

There is one possible way that tapioca could cause problems but the symptoms you describe aren't even close to that so it's not really worth mentioning.

Peas, peanuts lentils and soybeans are well known human allergens. (Legumes.) I don't think believe it's a stretch to think that legumes could also be allergens for cats.

However, if your cat is allergic to legumes, I would expect the reaction to be more severe and I would also expect it to be worse right after she eats.

If changing your cat's food seems to coincide with your cat's symptoms going away, I wouldn't worry too much about what her problem might be.

Take notes, either mental or written, to remember what your cat's problem and what was happening at the time the symptoms started or went away. After a while, you might be able to spot a pattern.

Myself, for example...

I have had a skin rash for years. Itch and scaly with little bumps. I went to several doctors and they all said it was idiopathic. (Cause unknown.) I made all kinds of dietary changes (eggs, legumes, seafood, tomatoes, wheat, etc.) but nothing seemed to have any effect.
Finally, I changed my laundry soap and started showering with Castile soap instead of regular soap. My rash started to go away within a week and it was almost completely gone in a couple of months.

I assume that my skin rash is caused by the dyes and perfumes in most commercial soaps but I'm not 100% certain.
Since the simple change of using different soap seems to have made the problem better, I don't feel the need to dig any deeper.
However, if the problem does come back and changing soap doesn't help, I will look into it further.

You changed your cat's food and the problem went away.

Take the win! ;)

You can save the detective work in case the problem ever comes back.
 
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MeowHiss

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I still never figured out what the problem was, but the vet switched her to Nulo wet and dry. She's been on that for quite a while already and it's really done wonders for her coat health.
 
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