Young Cat Allergic To Chicken/turkey

Richard2121

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So I’m new to the whole food allergy thing and we still don’t have exaaaacttt allergens narrowed down. However, Daniel seems to be allergic to Chicken and Turkey so far. We eliminated most common proteins from his diet while he was on prednisone and after about 2 months his symptoms were gone and he was perfectly healthy.

Daniel has been eating I and Love and You pate (Duck Flavor and Beef Flavor) because these two do not contain any other proteins including fish and also have no grains or carrageenan. He also happens to like these flavors and this brand of food. I feel like I have tried EVERYTHING you could imagine as far as high-end brands but maybe I have missed some good ones. I also can’t be spending hundreds of dollars each month on Daniel's food alone because we have 4 cats total and they all eat mostly wet food.

I have tried Instinct in every flavor/protein including the limited ingredient diet types and he HATES the green peas and refuses to eat an adequate amount. I have tried Koha and he liked the Kangaroo just long enough for me to order a case and then he stopped eating it. He would not even take a single lick of any of the other Koha flavors or textures. Rawz was GREAT for awhile he really liked the Duck & Duck liver pate, but they seem to have changed their recipe or the way they process the food, because what used to be a very smooth, almost paste, pate on the last shipment is now a soupy and grainy pate that he refuses to eat. So I lost a brand to rotate in. I’ve also tried Hound & Gatos flavors and he seems to like the pork and Lamb flavors if I add a small amount of water to soften up the food. But he only eats it for one or two feedings and then he decides he doesn’t want it anymore.

So now I’m left with I and Love and You brand Beef and Duck pates and he’s starting to get sick of those because I have no others foods to rotate in. He eats dry food every now and again as a bedtime snack but when I overfeed that he gets dependent on it and stops eating his wet food. So I am in a pickle and don’t know what other brands or flavors to try. I recently tried to reincorporate Turkey into his diet to see if he would react and within 4 days he started developing very slight ear redness and chin acne. So I’m stopping the turkey before steroids are needed.

I am also disheartened by the fact that some of his symptoms are returning as we don’t know FOR SURE that it’s the turkey and not something else he is eating. This guess is just based off the timing of the reaction.
 

daftcat75

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The secret sauce in the Rawz Duck flavor is salmon oil. It's present in that flavor but not the others. If you wanted to pick up a small pump bottle of salmon oil, you can try to mix one pump into another flavor of the Rawz. Maybe the beef or the rabbit? Krista loved the duck flavor but it gave her hairballz. That's how I found the salmon oil in the recipe. I added the salmon oil to the rabbit recipe but also mixed it with non-oil added rabbit since Krista eats more than a can in a day. That solved both the taste and the hairball problem. Until she decided she wanted the turkey and no salmon oil. Cats! She does best on the turkey flavor and eats it most consistently. Win-win!
 

KarenKat

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Life's Abundance is another brand that I feel is really good. Their original flavor had chicken/turkey but they now have a new Pork & Duck flavor that might work. It’s available at LifesAbundance.com and you can get a few individual cans to try out.
 

lokhismom

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I feed 2 brands that do not contain chicken or turkey. It's pricey but Feline Natural is a great brand and they have a lamb and a beef.
You mentnoned you've tried instinct but have you tried the cups. Natures Variety cups have a rabbit recipe that does not contain chicken or turkey.

Good luck
 
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Richard2121

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Thanks for the abundance of information so far everyone! I am looking into some of the aforementioned options and have requested samples from a few cat food companies. Hopefully I can find one or two other brands to rotate into Daniel's diet so he does not get bored. :flail:
 
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Richard2121

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So far so good, I have actually gotten 3 companies to respond already and offered to ship out samples same-day! :)

I also ordered a case of Merrick LID Duck pate because Daniel has shown enthusiasm with Merrick's Purrfect Bistro Pate line before and so I figured I would try the LID. Only problem is customer support would not send samples because of their 100% satisfaction guarantee (EYE ROLL). So I had to invest in a full case from Chewy and if he does not like it I will just return it for a refund.

I also wanted to ask is anyone has any experience with Chicken Fat vs. Chicken Protein (i.e. liver, etc.). Nulo has a canned food in a "minced" variety and the flavor is Beef and Rainbow Trout. The ingredients are as follows:

Beef, Beef Broth, Herring Broth, Beef Liver, Dried Egg Whites, Rainbow Trout, Dried Ground Peas, Spinach, Natural Flavor, Guar Gum, Chicken Fat, Ground Flaxseed, Sodium Phosphate, Salt, Calcium Carbonate, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Taurine, Cranberries, Pumpkin, Blueberries, Dried Kelp, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Inulin, Iron Proteinate, Zinc Proteinate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin E Supplement, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Sodium Selenite, Niacin Supplement, D-calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Biotin, Potassium Iodide, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid.

It appears to contain chicken fat and I did not notice this until AFTER I ordered 2 cases because Daniel really liked this food in the past and it was a special treat before his food allergy. Now I am wondering if it may be okay to feed?
 

daftcat75

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So far so good, I have actually gotten 3 companies to respond already and offered to ship out samples same-day! :)

I also ordered a case of Merrick LID Duck pate because Daniel has shown enthusiasm with Merrick's Purrfect Bistro Pate line before and so I figured I would try the LID. Only problem is customer support would not send samples because of their 100% satisfaction guarantee (EYE ROLL). So I had to invest in a full case from Chewy and if he does not like it I will just return it for a refund.

I also wanted to ask is anyone has any experience with Chicken Fat vs. Chicken Protein (i.e. liver, etc.). Nulo has a canned food in a "minced" variety and the flavor is Beef and Rainbow Trout. The ingredients are as follows:

Beef, Beef Broth, Herring Broth, Beef Liver, Dried Egg Whites, Rainbow Trout, Dried Ground Peas, Spinach, Natural Flavor, Guar Gum, Chicken Fat, Ground Flaxseed, Sodium Phosphate, Salt, Calcium Carbonate, Potassium Chloride, Choline Chloride, Taurine, Cranberries, Pumpkin, Blueberries, Dried Kelp, Yucca Schidigera Extract, Inulin, Iron Proteinate, Zinc Proteinate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin E Supplement, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Sodium Selenite, Niacin Supplement, D-calcium Pantothenate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, Biotin, Potassium Iodide, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid.

It appears to contain chicken fat and I did not notice this until AFTER I ordered 2 cases because Daniel really liked this food in the past and it was a special treat before his food allergy. Now I am wondering if it may be okay to feed?
It's not likely the chicken fat will be an issue. Allergies are often (always??) the protein component. My guess is that proteins are bigger molecules and easier to fingerprint based on shape or amino acid sequences. While fat is much smaller comparatively and breaks down easy enough into its smaller fatty acids which aren't so easy to distinguish after digestion.

But if the food does cause upset, how would you know it was that and not the beef, the herring, the trout, peas, spinach, cranberries, blueberries, or even the natural flavor which is sometimes vegetable and sometimes chicken? When chasing down food allergies, the fewer ingredients the better! Meat, moisture, organs, and supplements is all that's needed. Organs are also called "meat by-products" when they aren't identified by name such as heart or liver. Supplements are there because cooking and canning destroys nutrients. Better safe than sorry to add them back in.

Anything else in the recipe is a potential irritant or allergen. Bigger molecules like gums and proteins are more likely to be allergens while starches and sugars are more likely to feed the wrong gut bacteria.
 
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Richard2121

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I guess the problem I am having is he doesn’t like the prescription diet foods and refuses to eat them. At this point I’m wondering if he will live the best quality life on a dry LID food. I can’t get him to eat anything LID in canned form and I’ve spent so much time and energy trying to get him to conform to a controlled diet. He’s now eating mostly just Duck and Beef with as few ingredients as possible. I made the mistake of trying turkey about a 2 weeks ago but had to stop as soon as I started seeing a flare up of his symptoms. Now I’m unsure if the flare up was coming before the turkey since he had only been off steroids for about 2 weeks. I have resumed his normal restricted diet. No chicken, turkey, grains, carrageenan, and no fish. It has been about a week of me doing this again and his flare up seems somewhat controlled but there are still signs showing. I really hope I don’t have to put him back in another steroid?
 
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