Cat food for cat with allergies?? Updated

[Ruth0552]

Between 1 and 2 is still in adolescent stage. He’s like a teenage boy, super active and running around all over the place and eating like a damn pig. Technically, an 18 year old is an adult- but we all know better. Same thing with cats. He might be technically an adult but really well all know he’s still a silly teenage boy doing stupid things like not making it onto the counter or thinking he can scale the television.

Sometime past 2, nearing 3, most cats tend to calm down a bit. They also tend to start to get round.

The food is probably fine for a now, but I’d try to find a lower calorie food that still meets his needs. See if this works, first, but eventually you should try to find something that is under 300 kcal/cup. 500 kcal/cup is a really high calorie food.

[SmartAlex]

My allergy cat takes 1/4 pill of regular Zyrtec a day. Sometimes twice a day. She is allergic to everything under the sun besides pork and fish. We’ve had her tested. She can no longer get cortisone shots because after years of them she turned diabetic. We got that turned around in 6 weeks so it isn’t necessarily permanent.

It’s not easy to find a cat food without chicken meal in it. And if you do they won’t like it. We have her on Hills Prescription Diet which is pricey, but works. The m/d formula wet food is pork. She also likes k/d formula fish.

[findeight]

I free feed my dry and split a 3 oz can once a day between the three of them. None gorge on it like a dog would. I travel for work, have a sitter but twice a day is out. Vets have told me cats are more nibblers by nature, often leaving some remains for scavengers or to finish later, dogs hunt and finish the whole thing at once, even the bones plus you have the pack fighting over it. Have no idea but makes sense.

Have had a total of 7 cats over 20 years, first three died at 13, 16 and ??? had it 14 years and was an adult when it picked my porch. Current batch are aged 3, 5 and 7…or is it 4, 6 and 8???. Anyway no problems, my one pudgy cat is pudgy whether I restrict food or not, so was her father. The free fed dry also lessons the obnoxious starving cat behavior and quells most of the fighting at mealtimes.

[french_fry]

findeight, interesting! I’ve been admonished several times that cats are meant to eat a couple of large meals and “grazing” is bad for them, but I’ve found the same as your vet said with my own cats. One of them in particular gets barfy if she doesn’t have a little dry food to munch on during the day.

[findeight]

Yeah, I don’t free feed the " high test" stuff like Wilderness, I have fed those in place of the can of wet though in addition to a regular dry food ( Purina One currently) couldn’t afford that anyway.

I like the little bit of wet though, keeps things moving better:lol:

[saitou_amaya]

It’s been about a week on the new food. I switched him over completely to the new food after a day because he was just picking out the new food and not eating the old food at all. But even with the new grain free, corn free, soy free food with fish instead of turkey his itchiness and red spots are getting worse. I’m not sure if I should give it more time, try a different food, or take him in to the vet for another steroid shot. What do you guys think? I can try to get a picture of the red spots if that might help.

[french_fry]

Vet. Definitely.

[Dutchmare433]

My allergy cat is allergic to so many different things…wheat, soy, chicken, turkey, corn, and on and on. I now feed both cats free choice Natural Balance LID (Limited Ingredient Diet). It’s actually on the cheap end for the “natural” cat foods available.

As to the amount you’re feeding, I think if his weight is good, I wouldn’t change it. My cats have free access, so it’s hard to tell exactly how much they eat, but I think if I limited them to the recommendations you’re seeing, they’d be too thin.

FWIW, my guy also has seasonal allergies, so we deal with those as they come in the spring and fall.

[saitou_amaya]

I’ll plan on making him a vet appointment. It’s just frustrating because I have no idea what he could be allergic to! This food has none of the same ingredients as the old food.

I couldn’t imagine it’s something environmental. He is a strictly indoors kitty, never sets foot outside. Not to mention it’s the dead of winter in the Midwest. Is there other environmental things he could be allergic to that I’m not considering?

I don’t want to get into this cycle of the rash pops up, we take him to the vet and get the steroid shot, good for a couple months and then start it all over. I’d rather figure out what this is!

[Dutchmare433]

I looked at the ingredients of the new food–the second ingredient is chicken meal. Chicken can be a pretty big allergen for pets, and certainly is for my guy. Definitely see the vet, but might be worth it to also try to find a chicken free food also.

[french_fry]

[QUOTE=saitou_amaya;8499014]
I’ll plan on making him a vet appointment. It’s just frustrating because I have no idea what he could be allergic to! This food has none of the same ingredients as the old food.

(snip)

I don’t want to get into this cycle of the rash pops up, we take him to the vet and get the steroid shot, good for a couple months and then start it all over. I’d rather figure out what this is![/QUOTE]

The best place to actually get some answers is the vet’s.

Also, I’ll second the chicken thing. My girl is viciously allergic to it and it’s in just about every non-limited ingredient food even if it’s not one of the flavors. Definitely mention that you haven’t eliminated chicken to your vet.

If your vet thinks it’s a food allergy they may want you to do a novel protein trial which has to be done in a very specific way so I wouldn’t change foods again yet.

[Cammie]

Keep in mind that if he’s allergic to turkey, he’s highly likely to be allergic to all fowl. You need to find a food that doesn’t have ANY chicken, egg or any other feathered relative such as duck. No chicken meal, by-product, fat, dried egg, etc. You need to look at the entire ingredient panel, even dried egg way down at the bottom of the list can be enough to set off an allergic response.

The only dry foods that were completely chicken free last time I looked was Acana Pacifica and Orijen Six Fish. Which may be more than you want to spend. Although keep in mind, they’re much lower in carbs and he’ll be eating less than his current food so it’s not quite as bad as it might seem from the price point.

Some of the kibbles have hydrolyzed processing of proteins like chicken, which supposedly means that it won’t cause an allergic response. I haven’t dared to try it with my allergic kitty, but I just got a free sample of First Mate kibble that features that. I don’t know the price point on that though, or whether it will fit your other nutritional needs.

I ended up feeding raw to my allergic wonder, she gets beef sliders from a local company called Small Batch. I fed 95% canned beef for awhile, but she would periodically still flare up, although not too badly. Probably from the manufacturing process leaving trace allergens when they switch flavors during canning would be my best guess.

Once you switch to a novel protein with ZERO feathered friends in it, you need to give it 6 weeks to see if there is any relief of symptoms. And it has to be strict- no treats or anything apart from the designated food. You can ask your vet for a steroid shot to give him immediate relief, but factor that into the food trial- you’ll want to go a few weeks longer to make sure the new food is working out for him without the influence of the steroid shot.

[SmartAlex]

[QUOTE=saitou_amaya;8499014]
Is there other environmental things he could be allergic to that I’m not considering? [/QUOTE]

Of course. For instance, my cat is allergic to wool and dogs… off the top of my head. She is NOT allergic to corn, which is good because I like to use corn based litter. In the summer she is allergic to pine, goldenrod, clover…

It’s tough enough to suss out and eliminate all the triggers even when you know what you’re trying to eliminate. A few hundred bucks for allergy testing is worth it in the end.

P.S. try some Advantage on him. If he has even a few fleas, that could also cause the reaction