Hypoallergenic foods

Hi all,

So we've been dealing with an itchy cat for some time, and recently have decided to assume it's a food allergy. We weren't able to find any hypoallergenic food in the big-box stores (petcetera, petsmart), so went to the vet and got some Medi-cal Hypoallergenic food for Stan.

He's been eating the Medi-cal for a few weeks, and while he eats it I'm finding it smells very chemically on his breath and we've noticed he's gained some weight as well. He was on nutro natural choice before, and was totally fine (aside from the scratching!).

Can you guys recommend some good quality hypoallergenic food? I'm willing to shop around or order it from the internet, as it can't be much more expensive than vet prices!

Thanks a lot!

HYPO = LESS... so lots of food s qualify ... what have you tried or do you know is a allergen?>??

Okay, well like I said we're trying the Medi-cal food from the vet. He hasn't been on it very long - it's only been a couple of weeks since we finished phasing him out of the previous food (nutro).

I don't know the allergen. We've had the cat since September, and he's been in an e-collar for 75% of that time because he will scratch himself until he bleeds on his face. He's had surgery to cut out a wound that would not heal because of the scratching. We think it may be a food allergy, but we have no clue what. It's very frustrating.

I assumed (wrongly?) that there would be foods out there without the most common cat allergens since I seem to be able to buy them from the vet. Like I said previously, I'm not very happy with the food from the vet since the cat has put on weight since he's been eating it, and it has an awful smell of chemicals.

I'm sorry if I used the wrong terminology I'm just trying to help my cat!

It really depends on what he's allergic to. Even within food allergies there is an impressive range, wheat corn and soy are common grain allergies, but there can also be protein allergies (chicken, turkey, etc.) So in order to find an appropriate food, you really need to have some diagnostic work done to figure out what exactly he's allergic to.

I have a cat here who, without treatment, will scratch herself raw, after much diagnostic work it was determined she is allergic to dust. Which is everywhere. She is now on a bi-weekly allergy serum injection.

BUT, I found getting her on a grain-free food has helped as well. As you probably know, when you have an allergy to one thing, it's not uncommon to have allergies to all sorts of other things, unfortunately.

So, to start I would have some blood/scratch tests done to try to narrow things down for you.

I would suggest a novel meat... ie here in the USA that would be venison, Kangaroo, fish ( only) , rabbit , bison

Grain frees would only help grain issues as most are chicken