Ruxpin

My cat, Ruxpin, is about 11 years old and was diagnosed a few months ago. After not responding to Prozinc he's now on 3 units of Lantus and we seem to have his blood sugar under better control, but only after we were able to get him on a long term course of a couple of different antibiotics to control his chronic rhinosinusitis. Overall he's doing well now.

Biggest problem at this point is food related. Every wet food I finally get him to eat he turns out to develop an allergy to. I switched from plastic bowls to ceramic years ago, and wash daily so that shouldn't be the problem. Back when he was on dry food we never had this problem. I assume it's because the food wasn't touching his face for as long or something. The food options have been getting more and more expensive as I try to weed out allergens, and his lips just started swelling up again. And it's so hard to get him to even eat the food he doesn't like. It doesn't help having four cats, trying to figure out cost and separating animals is tricky. Anyhow, here's a couple of cute pictures.

 

Ahhh... love those tuxedos! I have 6 cats so I get the whole feeding issues!! Stainless steel bowls are actually the best to use for food and water as even the ceramic will get fine scratches in it which can trap bacteria and create chin and mouth issues. Was he eating any wet food years ago or is the wet only a new thing? Was the meat in the dry the same as the meats he is eating now? Reason for asking is why would an 11 year old suddenly develop an allergy to his food especially if the meat proteins are the same between the dry and wet? Something to look into.

 

The meat is the same. I've always kept all the cats on chicken and turkey. Beef makes one of the cats vomit, and they've never been interested in seafood (even fresh). It's actually not that sudden. One of the reasons I took them off wet food was because of his allergies when I first got him. I used to feed a combination wet and dry, and he started developing allergies. When I eliminated the wet food, the allergies vanished. This was when he was just a couple of years old. When two of my older cats needed the wet food again as they got older (they're gone now, congenital heart failure and kidney disease), I started feeding them on the counter where he can't jump because he's a klutz.

 

Hmm.. hard to say then if it’s a food allergy or a contact allergy. I am assuming that the bowl is wide enough for him to eat easily? If you’re worried about his food touching his face, have you tried using pet wipes to clean his mouth/chin area after eating??

 

I actually use full size plates. Recently had to buy new ones since I dropped one of the old ones. I keep separate Fiestaware plates just for the cats. It also makes it easier for the cats since they try to crowd each other out, so two can eat at once. I'm feeding them twice a day right now. Unfortunately, Ruxpin doesn't always eat his before I have to leave in the morning. I leave for work before 5:30. He's eating so little, I don't know if I can force him to eat on a short schedule, especially since he's on the insulin and I'm not home to monitor him.

 

I fed my cats a diet of chicken and turkey for. years. It turns out that poultry is a very common allergen and one of the cats actually developed IBD.

An option may be a raw diet with a novel protein. Alternatively, a canned novel protein or an air/freeze dried novel protein may be worth trying. ZiwiPeak has air dried raw food in novel proteins. The food looks like jerky treats. My IBD kitty adores the venison both in canned and air dried varieties.

Please join us over on the Health forum. Members there may have some other ideas.