allergies

Hello! does anyone out there have a kitty with food allergies??? Cairo has had them for about 2.5 yrs and I am at a loss to totally fix it. I have eliminated chicken and turkey which was a problem.... my vet suggested Benadryl which I am going to try as a last resort before I do prednisone which I know can cause diabetes, but helped him in the past..... I have read about all the food trials 90 days same food and all that but what about supplements? Any thoughts would be helpful! thanks!!
p.s. Julius is still OTJ, his reading last nite was 64!

 

I had a civie with food allergies, the culprit for him was beef, fish and grains. He had been on pred for about 3 months, when we switched everyone to canned food, I eliminated first fish as one other civie pukes on fish, then beef and grains, almost overnight his allergies disappeared. But I think at least for him the biggest culprit was probably dry food.

Mel. Max & The Fur Gang

 

My civie Berta had allergies a few years back to so many different things (12 differents i think it was) such as dust, mice, peas, wich made her scrats the back of her head into blod and then it got infected. My vet at the time first checked what she was allergic to and then for the next 12 months I had to give her shots with just a little bit of the stuff she was allergic to. First i had to inject her every second day, then twice a week, and so on until we were one month apart. After the first two weeks the iching stopped, we continued the cure for the full year and she have been fine since.
I don't now if it is an option with food allergi, but Berta also reacted to food.

 

I can't remember where I read this, but one strategy with food allergies I read about was to switch them to a food with a different animal source than all the other animal sources in foods that they've had, like venison, lamb, or rabbit. Then you slowly re-introduce different types of food one at a time to see where the allergy lies. Or just keep them on the venison or rabbit indefinitely.

 

This is what I've heard too (but it was for dogs). I believe it's called a food trial. The suggestion was to use a totally novel protein source. A lot of people opt for lamb (if it is novel) because it's mild on the stomach. You need to make sure the food is free of things like grains, soy, eggs, fish, etc. etc. When you introduce new foods or new food ingredients you need to have tight control over them. I've also read it's best to prepare the food yourself (if its possible) because you can control everything that's going into it. If that's not possible, its best to stick with one brand of food (which means carefully plotting). I'm not sure how much weight this holds.

Oh- also you don't give treats or other eatables during this time.

 

Natural Balance has some cat foods marketed as "Limited Ingredients". There is Duck and Green Pea and Venison and Green Pea. All are grain free, all natural, complete nutrition, made especially for cats and kittens prone to allergies.

 

I had two who couldn't tolerate seafood of any kind. I also found they did better on lamb and beef, but we still do chicken & turkey.

 

Thanks all! I am giving him 'novel proteins' like suggested, Rabbit, Venison and Salmon was suggested by my vet. I add the supplements myself so there is no worry about that. I was also told kangarro?? has anyone ever fed their cat that??
Also any tricks with pills? I am giving him 1/2 benadryl twice a day and he drools and in general hates it!! I mean HATE! he is really bad with pills, he fights and does all the stuff we are all familiar with.. I can't hide it in the food, tried that... any thoughts?

 

Kangaroo is a very lean meat, just like rabbit and venison. Before she was diagnosed, 2-3 times a week I fed both Cheeky and Bodie a commercial brand available here in Australia called VIP Cat Steak, which is taurine-boosted kangaroo meat--they love it.

It can be a bit rich though so try small lots at first or it might come straight back up

 

You could try crushing it completely into dust, then make a little meat ball of tuna with the dust all in it. I have had great success with this. I put the "meatball" on a little plate and pour some of the water from the tuna can over it. My cat *knows* something is just not right with the tuna ball, but because she loves the tuna so much, she can't keep herself from eating it! :lol:
I use a spoon on top of another spoon to crush up the pill. Works like a charm.
hth.........

 

thanks to all!

 

If he drools because it tastes bad, put it into an empty gel cap. The smaller the better - you can break it into small pieces to fit. You still have to "pill" him, but he shouldn't taste anything that way. I got some from my vet. I think you can also get them at pharmacies.