What were the signs of your cat's food allergies?

[tweeter]

Hello all,

I have switched my cat, Gizmo, from CA Natural Dry to Orijen (I wanted a grain-free), although he is showing signs of possible food allergies. He has a strip (It looks like a landing strip) of hair loss forming from the base of his tail to the center of his back. I have read that this is a common symptom of psychogenic alopecia, where the cat overgrooms himself due to stress. This stress can be caused by a change in diet. However, he is also doing a little bit of scratching and overgrooming of his paws and feet, which are signs of food allergies. I have compared the past foods he has eaten and am suspecting, if it is a food allergy, it may be to dairy products (eggs) or potatoes... or maybe possibly turkey. The vet suggested food trials and gave Gizmo a cortisone shot for his back, but stated it may just be alopecia. My questions to the group are:

-How did you discover a food allergy? What were your cats symptoms? If he/she was scratching or overgrooming, how often did it occur?

-Did you think it was a food allergy and later discovered your cat was just stressed from the change in diet, resulting in overgrooming?

-What is your cat allergic to and how did you find out about it? Anyone ever heard of a cat allergic to eggs or milk or even potatoes?

Thanks for any input!

 

[ddcats]

I thought my cat had food allergies because I have been feeding Wellness canned and dry. For convenience and price I started feeding Nutro canned and dry. She eats both without any problems.

Then, all of a sudden, she starts getting hair loss on her head. She was scratching her feet the way you described.


I freaked out, to the vets and $$$ later, they did ringworm and other tests. They gave me antibotics and anti-itch pills.

After much research, I have finally found out why she got the hair loss. She was going into the toilet for her water.

She must have caught some germ. Her ear got a minor infection. And she was scratching the fur away without me seeing her. I have started taking measures with the bathroom deal, see other thread in behavior forum titled "No Toilet".


I have been giving her a bath every day. I stopped giving her the pills because she hated them. I was getting puncture wounds in my hand and I said forget this. I did start giving her a drop of Echinacea and Chamomile tincture in her food.

Her fur is growing back now and I am working on getting her a fountain.

My other cat has alopecia!! She has male pattern baldness under her belly.
Her dog died-stress. We got new dog-stress. I changed her food-stress. The doctor prescribed hormone pills, I gave them to her once a month, but I stopped. Her alopecia has not changed or has gotten better. She is doing well without the pills.

I suggest you give your kitty back the food he was on and keep stress levels low.

 

[ms.blackie]

Hi,
My experience.
I actually switched for a around a year to CA. Natural because of food allergy's suspected. She would scratch around her face alot- after a period getting her shots every couple mths. The vet stated that actually finding the allergen is very difficult, that I should actually try changing the food myself and find one that works better. Sort of trial and error. I came across
Ca. Natural and tried it. It worked for me perfectly. Although I have
just now switched for more a UTI friendly food also with no problems,
thankfully.
My cat is also allergic to World's best cat litter (corn based) that caused her to over groom, resulting in a rodent lip (swollen lip).

Brenda

 

[4meezers3kids]

Fur loss on face, on temples like dd's photos, sometimes including some scabbing above the eyes.

Overgrooming belly.

Fur AND SKIN loss on chin and neck.

Diarrhea.

(FREQUENT) vomiting.

Watery eyes and runny nose.

These were primary symptoms, in DIFFERENT cats. I've had a few.

 

[sharky]

Zoeys was overgrooming in weird areas it was do to wheat.... I am a dog allergy expert so I immediately changed her diet ... all was calm till I tried some soy.. then se went after four areas of her body and also had the loose stools

FISH is the most common allergen in cats

then

wheat

soy

then

corn , peas

 

[abigail]

rodent lip ulcer. very swollen and awful looking. chin acne.

she needed a cortisone shot , acted bizarre for about a week and now I have to avoid fish oils or they start up again.

 

[2furbabies]

Hi - When my female cat Virginia had food allergies, she was vomitting every hour on the hour and was extremely lethargic. Mostly what she was vomitting up was plain white foam. Poor little baby was so lethargic she could hardly lift her head. Unfortunately it happened in the middle of the night, so I stayed up with her most of the night until we could get in to see the vet the next day. Sure enough... she said it was food allergies. She switched her food and it has never happened again.

The food she ate all her life was Purina One Hairball Formula. The vet switched her to Science Diet Green Pea and Duck. Now she eats the RX CD Dry for UTI's.

 

[momto3cats]

I've only had one cat with food allergies. In her case the symptoms were chin acne, occasional loose stools and frequent vomiting.

I currently have a cat who sometime over-grooms her tail and forelegs. It seems to be related to her stress level and not to food. Reduce her stress, and the hair grows back.