What food allergen? w/o expensive test

Sharky, herpes was not tested for to my knowledge.

I haven't been back to the vet yet. I was supposed to have an appointment this Saturday for the vet to see how the prednisone was going. I tried to call and talk to the vet about food trials (2nd attempt to talk to him about food trials; first time was in his office but he prescribed the prednisone instead) but he was busy so the receptionist said she'd go ask him and she came back and said he wanted to schedule a biopsy. So I called back a couple days later and cancelled the original appointment. *sigh* I wish I could find a holistic vet or atleast a vet that didn't think that all health problems are solved with meds or surgeries. But the vet is nice enough and atleast this surgery makes sense even though it's not my only option nor my preferred option.

**Inserted for humor** On a side note, the 2nd vet I went to, not the one mentioned above, suggested that the sores were caused by being scratched by DeeDee so I should get them both declawed. Then he said that the sores would never heal all the way (uhhh...yes they do and have) so I should schedule a surgery with him to remove the damaged tissue. **

For now, it's a little more than a week and a half of the Lamb and Rice and his sores look much better. The problem I'm having is the scabs irritate him so he scratches them off. Again, I'm not sure that they won't come back if they even heal up all the way. But here's to hoping!

In the meantime, I'm considering soft paws to keep him from tearing up the sores over and over again before they get a chance to heal all the way.

Sorry, my posts are either 1 sentence or 100...my brief update.

Hope things are going well...we've been going through something similar with our Doc. Actually it's been about 2 years...everything will be calm and then he'll flare up. He's gone through steroid courses; longest was 15 days...just gave him time to fight the inflammation and for his scabs to heal & the fur to grow back. He had a really good long streak with beautiful fur on Solid Gold Katz-n-flocken. (He didn't like the NB venison/pea formula...he'd use his paws to separate the katz-n-flocken from the NB in the bowl...furry paw just sifting away!!)

Still trying different foods, but he's much, much better. So hang in there...

Originally Posted by whiskerynature

Hope things are going well...we've been going through something similar with our Doc. Actually it's been about 2 years...everything will be calm and then he'll flare up. He's gone through steroid courses; longest was 15 days...just gave him time to fight the inflammation and for his scabs to heal & the fur to grow back. He had a really good long streak with beautiful fur on Solid Gold Katz-n-flocken. (He didn't like the NB venison/pea formula...he'd use his paws to separate the katz-n-flocken from the NB in the bowl...furry paw just sifting away!!)

Still trying different foods, but he's much, much better. So hang in there...

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Ahhhh thank you so much for sharing that, Whiskery *big * Glad to know I'm not the only one going through this. I wonder if I could trick new vets into an interview to get their views on meds vs natural remedies before I pay them anything. I'm all for meds if its the only option, but if this is a food allergy, I'd rather just avoid the offending food than put him on meds long term.

Palas doesn't really like the lamb frozen medallions, he will only eat about 1/3 the portion of canned or wet food that he normally eats with gusto. But DeeDee likes it! She is getting quite solid eating her serving of canned Innova Evo that Palas is not eating right now, and then finishing off his lamb medallions *rethinks serving sizes*

Additionally, both kits are fine with the swheat scoop litter after 2 weeks. Yay!

Just a quick update as I'm a little late for work this morning. I've been swamped with things I have to get done. Three weeks ago I started a new full time job with benefits! YAY! But its been rough switching to a 32hr week where I coudl take off if I wanted to a solid 40 hrs where I have to earn my vacation and sick days over time...PLUS 2 summer courses which means homework twice as often since the semester is 2 mos shorter than fall or spring. *whew*

Palas is doing great on the new food! *cheer* His sores still havent' flared up at all and are now a fraction of the size they were before and drying up. I think the sores were getting infected again during the time I was letting them heal so I used some of the antibacterial/antifungal topical cream on them twice and he stopped scratching them and opening them back up again. He's not terribly fond of his food but his condition seems to be improving so far on it. I have to check my posts and calendar to be for sure, but I think we're going on 5 weeks of the NV Lamb & Oatmeal dry and frozen.

Gotta run! Everyone have a good day!

On a side note, the 2nd vet I went to, not the one mentioned above, suggested that the sores were caused by being scratched by DeeDee so I should get them both declawed. Then he said that the sores would never heal all the way (uhhh...yes they do and have) so I should schedule a surgery with him to remove the damaged tissue. **

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There should be a malpractice against this vet.

That's great to hear that he's doing better!

Yeah ...

Hello all,

I'm having trouble sleeping tonight so I thought I'd post an update and say hi. Final projects and finals sap the life out of you, btw.

I went back and checked the thread and this is week 7 with Palas on the NV Lamb & Oatmeal. I think I said Lamb & Rice before, but its really the Lamb and Oatmeal.

He only has 2 sores left. They get to the point where they are healed over with skin but the fur hasn't grown back yet before he scratches them a little and reopens them. I'm not sure if/why they are still irritated when they close up all the way. I wonder if the NV Lamb still has a small amount of the something that Palas is allergic to. But, they aren't bloody nor infected anymore yay! and haven't been since they've started healing.

I know for food trials it's supposed to be 6-8 weeks on a food, but I think I will keep him on it for another month or two. Right now I have finals and I have to find a place to move into by the end of the month. So, assuming that he continues to do well on this food, I think it would be less stressful for both me and Palas to keep on it for the time being.

I hope everyone is doing well. I'm going to go try to sleep again. Night!

Yay! Despite Palas occassionally scratching the sores back open, the sore on his back has started to fur over again No new ones have appeared. Now for the last one above his eye

YIPPPYYYYYY... so glad something is helping

Hello!

We're settled into our new home. When we first moved in Palas scratched his sore again. I wondered if that was due to the stress of moving and getting comfortable in a new environment, but it's just 1 little scratch and not a big bloody patch like before.

But, they are now LOVING the new place with 2 sets of stairs and a screened door to the backyard where they like to hang out for fresh air when I have it open.

Palas is still doing great on the lamb and oatmeal. We are out today so I am going to the store after work. I would like to try him on something else, now that we're in a stable environment again. Also, I should mention that I've been giving him cooked beef...mostly the cut offs from my steaks and hamburgers (I've been grilling since the weather has been great and this is the first place I've had with a backyard ) This has been going on for 2 mos with no allergic reactions. So I know he's not allergic to lamb, oatmeal, and beef now. That's a start!

I guess I will be picking up some NV canned food with beef to get more wet back into their regular diets. But for food trials, I will look for other canned that doesn't contain chicken to put on my list to try.

Update again later! Cheers!

Tekgrl,

Congratulations on finding a food that your cat tolerates. I am still searching because my Shadow has stomach problems that come and go. I am thinking her "food allergy" is more of a disease symptom now.

Vets don't help you much with food allergies from my experience.

Glad your kitty is doing better.

jenkitty

Tekgrl,

Glad to hear all is good. I had a similar experience with food allergies, although my cat's symptoms were not nearly as severe as your cats. I switched Gizmo from Meow Mix to Chicken Soup a little over a year ago and noticed that he lost a strip of fur on his back and was overgrooming and itchy. I switched him to CA Natural and he was great. I thought that it had to be one of the meats in Chicken Soup (due to there being so many different sources).

Well, recently I switched Gizmo from CA Natural to Orijen and he had the same exact symptoms as before (hair loss, overgrooming, etc). After doing food trials and going thru about every grain-free dry on the market (not to mention burning a hole in my wallet), I finally pinned it down to POTATOES. So no grain-free drys for Gizmo

After extensive research on the internet, I remember finding a website (don't have the link, sorry) of a vet clinic that did food allergen blood tests on over 300 cats and dogs and found that the most common allergens were corn, wheat, soy and potato. They stated that meat allergies were less prevalent and dairy products even less prevalent than that. The rare allergies were various roots and other fruits/vegetables. If I find the site I will post it here.

Check out CA Natural chicken, as the ingredient list is short. And if it is a chicken allergy, you will notice the symptoms developing in less than a week. I guess my advice would be not to assume that it is a meat allergy, as it could be a number of other things. And I have to agree with JenKitty, most vets seem clueless about food allergies.

Good luck in your search

Natures variety is potato free ( i will double check...

I have written the common allergens on here SEVERAL times

http://www.naturesvariety.com/conten...DAB5Ykj2C6D723

http://www.naturesvariety.com/conten...DAB5Ykj2C6D723

Sounds like you are doing well with your kitty now. That's great.

I did want to mention something though. I use spring water for our cats as I heard distilled water, because of the lack of minerals, would draw minerals from the cat's body which isn't a good thing.

Anyone have a comment on that?

Originally Posted by Yosemite

Sounds like you are doing well with your kitty now. That's great.

I did want to mention something though. I use spring water for our cats as I heard distilled water, because of the lack of minerals, would draw minerals from the cat's body which isn't a good thing.

Anyone have a comment on that?

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there is conflicting research but I dont drink and neither do the girls distilled water ... Too me the theroy of drawing out minerals is accurate since the water needs things to get into and out of cells( usually the water has this but distilled would have to find it

Originally Posted by sharky

Natures variety is potato free ( i will double check...

I have written the common allergens on here SEVERAL times

http://www.naturesvariety.com/conten...DAB5Ykj2C6D723

http://www.naturesvariety.com/conten...DAB5Ykj2C6D723

Click to expand...

Hey thanks, Sharky. That was one food I didn't try. I had no idea there were grain-free drys without potato. Going to head down to the pet store today!

Hi, I'm glad to hear your kitty is doing better. I'm just curious about when you were feeding the Nutro kitten were you feeding the Indoor (contains soy protein) or the regular formula?