5 month old kitten with possible food allergies

I have a 5 month old kitten that would get these lumps on her neck and they would eventually turn into open sores. Took her to the vet 3 times and finally on the 3 rd time the vet said that he sees those sores in cats that are stressed or have food allergies. He gave her a cortisone shot and said if it worked then I needed to check her diet. Sure enough the bumps and sores are gone. I feed her EVO canned 2-3 times a day and her kibble it Kirkland (the dark purple bag). So I am trying a elimination diet to see what the culprit is. I am in the process of switching her from kirkland to solid gold which is a grain free food. So am I on the right track? Or should I begin with eliminating certain proteins instead? BTW she also has a runnny eye and displays symptoms of a URI, but I was wondering if that to could also be from her food allergy? She's been treated for URI's and is fully vaccinated now. So any suggestions would be appreciated!

Grain free is a good idea, except the grain s in the Kirkland are the least allergenic of commonly used ones ( rice and oats).....

Likely the fish could be a issue as it is the Number one animal allergen( wheat and soy are ahead of it)

With an elimination diet you want to basically try a formula without any of the ingrediants in common with old food ( this can be hard so most just remove proteins )


IMHO I would try a food without chicken , fish , rice and oats

Where do you shop?

the URI may be the herpes virus Very common in cats and while not curable it is manageable... Depending on who you ask or what you read 50-90% of cats have the virus and roughly 50% of those have chronic issues from it ... L Lysine is something to research and discuss with your vet

Ok I'll try to find a food that doesn't have chicken,fish,or wheat. I shop everywhere. I bought the solid gold from Petco, have bought food from the local feedstores, and the EVO came from I think National Pet Pharmacy online.
What sucks is I have 3-4 cases of Evo and am sure some might have fish in them. Any suggestions on any dry kibble food that would be acceptable?
Thanks

BTW I do have L-Lysine and will keep adding it to her food. I have a powder form that a vet gave to me when I brought them home. They were only 4-5 weeks old when I rescued them.

You know I was sitting here thinking and I suspect it may be the EVO food. They were eating Kirkland kibble,Merrick canned,and chicken soup for the kitten lovers soul before and she never had any of these bumps. Think I'll take her off the EVO for a while and see if her bumps go away. That would kinda suck though cause I bought over 100.00 worth of EVO canned online since I can't get it locally. Anyways I'll let you know how's she's doing in a few weeks.

Would recommend Grain free to any pet owner its great for all sorts of things. I would check back with the vet if things persist after eliminating...Good luck to you and your kitty

Originally Posted by Ajno

You know I was sitting here thinking and I suspect it may be the EVO food. They were eating Kirkland kibble,Merrick canned,and chicken soup for the kitten lovers soul before and she never had any of these bumps. Think I'll take her off the EVO for a while and see if her bumps go away. That would kinda suck though cause I bought over 100.00 worth of EVO canned online since I can't get it locally. Anyways I'll let you know how's she's doing in a few weeks.

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Which Evo did you have/ do you have?

It may give a clue to what she may have issues with

IMHO if you are starting an elimination Diet, I would go all the way to Hills Z/D, which has hydrolyzed protein (body doesn't recognize as protein) and no grain on the wet, one only grain on the dry (rice). Or you can also go with one novelty protein, one starch, such as Green pea and Venison, Duck and Green Pea, rabbit and green pea...
The whole point of the elimination diet is to be able to pinpoint the protein or grain that is causing tha allergy, so you really don't want to feed a food that has more than one protein. As Sharky mentioned, it is important to feed proteins you never fed before, thus feeding a novelty or hydrolyzed protein.
Hills Z/D is sold through your vet, and so is prescription novelty Hills D/D (Venison, Duck and I believe Rabbit), as well as Royal Canin.
Natural Balance is Sold at Petco, they have Venison and Green Pea wet, Duck and green Pea wet and dry, Salmon and green pea wet and dry, and I believe chicken and green pea as well.
Good Luck!

Let's see I have EVO beef,turkey and chicken,chicken and turkey, and Innova cat and kitten food. I'm going to take them off and put them back on Chicken soup for the kitten lovers soul and see how she does. She started getting another lump a few days ago. I'm going to see how she does for the next week on the old food. The only ingrediant that stands out on the EVO foods is they all have some form of herring in it. Chicken soup doesn't. So maybe thats what shes allergic too.....

Just chiming in with my experience with a similar problem. My kitty Sasha has been very sensitive to food, with problems varying from vomiting to dermatitis on her head. The food I finally found that she can eat without any problems is Blue Buffalo. I have switched her over to Blue Wilderness, which is supposed to emulate a raw diet quite closely. It's grain free and high protein. It may be a possibility for you.

We'll I took her to the vet yesterday. My vet is finally back!!! YEA! Hr had a heart attack while doing surgery a few months back. Ended up having to have open heart surgery. Anyways he examined her neck and said its odd to only have the bumps on only one part of her neck. They are along her throat and go down to her shoulders. He gave a her a cortisone shot and a shot of something to boost her immune system. He's not sure if its allergies or not. But her last cortisone shot should have lasted a month. The last one last 2 maybe 3 weeks before the bumps came back. So I switched her to Wellness canned and some of the dry mixed with Kirkland. So I guess if they come back I will be back at the vets and maybe then request bloodwork incase there's something impairing her immune system. BTW I think she does have herpes, do you think it could be causing the bumps and not her food? I do have l lysiene, need to be better about giving it to her.

Originally Posted by MaryInBoise

Just chiming in with my experience with a similar problem. My kitty Sasha has been very sensitive to food, with problems varying from vomiting to dermatitis on her head. The food I finally found that she can eat without any problems is Blue Buffalo. I have switched her over to Blue Wilderness, which is supposed to emulate a raw diet quite closely. It's grain free and high protein. It may be a possibility for you.

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NO dry food is remotely close to raw.... Most canned food is low grain to no grain to begin with but still is no where near a raw diet... Research is key to not falling for common marketing gimicks

Originally Posted by Ajno

We'll I took her to the vet yesterday. My vet is finally back!!! YEA! Hr had a heart attack while doing surgery a few months back. Ended up having to have open heart surgery. Anyways he examined her neck and said its odd to only have the bumps on only one part of her neck. They are along her throat and go down to her shoulders. He gave a her a cortisone shot and a shot of something to boost her immune system. He's not sure if its allergies or not. But her last cortisone shot should have lasted a month. The last one last 2 maybe 3 weeks before the bumps came back. So I switched her to Wellness canned and some of the dry mixed with Kirkland. So I guess if they come back I will be back at the vets and maybe then request bloodwork incase there's something impairing her immune system. BTW I think she does have herpes, do you think it could be causing the bumps and not her food? I do have l lysiene, need to be better about giving it to her.

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Try to give the lysine daily ... Have you tried putting it in water?

Bloodwork would likely be a good place to start off next...

Dumb ? are the bumps on the Top or are they on the underside of her chin and throat?

They run along her throat and start just below her chin. They stop almost to her shoulders and only on that side of her neck, none on the back or sides. I think DR suspects swollen lymph nodes, he asked if she has URI symptoms, which she didn't. She had the shot yesterday and today there a fewer of them. I thought about adding the lyseine to water and squirting it in her mouth 2x a day.

I would suggest blood work if the dr saw swollen glands... it is a long shot but look up cat acne and see if that at all resembles it

I'm 100 percent positive its not cat acne. The bumps have shrunk a lot and are almost gone. I'm going to keep her on Wellness for the next month and see if they come back.