hypollergenic foods without rice

Having moved the cats to an all wet diet is not working as well as we hoped. Chumley is apparently allergic to brewer's rice.... which makes me assume he's allergic to rice.

We stopped free feeding the cats, because the hypoallergenic Hill's Science Diet z/d (hypoallergenic dry) has RICE BRAN in it!

I've been searching to find a hypoallergenic dry with no rice. Even the Royal Canin's #1 ingredient in the dry hypoallergenic food is RICE.

I want the kids to be able to free feed again, because the cats that don't need to lose weight are, and Billy is VERY SLOWLY reducing his weight, and he's the only one that really needs to.

But Lazlo has lost too much weight. They're just used to nibbling all day long, and they're just not adjusting to a schedule very well.

I don't want peas or potatoes, and I'm not excited about the hydrolized soy protein.... but I don't want a grain free, because the boys all have problems with crystals (they're all on c/d prescription wet) - but the c/d prescription dry has RICE BRAN.

Is anyone familiar with a hypoallergenic food that does not have rice, soy or wheat - but isn't the potato/pea option? Does such a food exist?

Even just pointing me in the right direction to search, I'm happy to do the work - just not finding the solution myself yet.

Thanks.

Oh - I have to add, we were free feeding the Hill's c/d, because ALL the boys had problems with crystals -both struvite and calcium oxalate, so an acidifier is not way to go either.

That's why I don't want a hypoallergenic food without grains, and corn doesn't seem to be a problem. We don't know about soy or wheat. But rice is a problem for Chum.

We don't know that soy or wheat are a problem, and we're pretty sure corn isn't a problem. We just know Brewer's Rice IS a problem - and that's a major ingredient in c/d dry food - and the z/d.

Meats of any kind aren't a problem.

I looked at the Royal Canin Urinary SO 33 (dry) - it has rice - though again, I don't know if rice itself is a problem, or if it's just brewer's rice.

And the main ingredient in Royal Canin HP 23 dry food is rice.

Well - we'll be seeing Chum's holistic vet soon, so perhaps I'll ask her. Her opinion was that the cats shouldn't be on dry food, period, but several of them are just not keeping on weight on the all wet diet.

I'm good with the canned c/d, and that's what they're eating. c/d stabilized the boys: Lazlo blocked five times (struvite), had to be catheterized on three different occasions; Tuxedo blocked twice, catheterized once, and he had surgery to remove calcium oxalate crystals embedded in his bladder wall; Shelly "only" blocked twice (struvite) and required no catheterization. So c/d isn't the best food in the world, but I REALLY don't want to mess with their tendency to create crystals, and they've all been without problem for the 5/6 years they've been on the diet. They obviously require a diet that creates a pH neutral envrionment in the bladder.

Chumley is allergic to at least brewer's rice, but the c/d wet has oat fiber, corn gluten meal, and corn starch, so those obviously aren't a problem.

The problem with a grain free food is the crystals in the boys. In cats that have repeated crystal blockage problems, grain free foods seem to exacerbate the problem.

And apart from that, I use pill pockets to give Chumley his pills. His vet wanted me to use the hypoallergenic pill pockets (Duck & Pea). When I tried those, he doesn't eat them. So the duck/pea combo won't work. If he won't eat a small pill pocket made with them, I can't see him eating it as his food.

In reviewing ingredients again, I do see that rice is an ingredient in the c/d canned.

Given his primary food is c/d canned, it's probably worth trying the Royal Canin Urinary SO 33 dry food.