Don't laugh (okay, I'm laughing, but more in a self-deprecating way). We have two cats in our household. One is allergic to fish (his fur falls out and he gets all itchy).
The other cat, Squeak, rubs her jaw and gums on anything hard -- desk edges, counter corners, furniture, etc. Vet said this could indicate a food allergy. So for the last six weeks or so, I've had her on a raw-food diet. Started with all beef, which didn't improve matters any after a month. I've had her on all chicken for the last two weeks and have seen a marked improvement/decrease in rubbing. So, I figure either a) she's allergic to beef or b) there's something in the chicken breast or chicken liver she's been getting that she was nutritionally deprived of.
I'd like to start by switching back to a dry food that excludes beef and fish and see if the trend continues. If it doesn't, I'll have to look into an alternative, perhaps just adding a little chicken or chicken liver to the dry food.
We feed our cats twice a day (for various reasons) and handling the raw meat (I do cook it lightly so it's not purely raw, but still) is a pain. I would like to go back to a dry food because we have automatic feeders (which I haven't been using for Squeak due to having to manually feed her the raw food).
We use canned food as "special" treat-type meals (birthdays, after going to vet, after getting a bath, etc.), so both cats get extremely excited at the sound of a can opening, so I'd rather not go the canned route.
Anyone have any suggestions? I'm going to try looking at a few of the local pet stores (PetCo, PetSmart, and a couple of smaller ones) today after work, but any feedback would be greatly appreciated!
The other cat, Squeak, rubs her jaw and gums on anything hard -- desk edges, counter corners, furniture, etc. Vet said this could indicate a food allergy. So for the last six weeks or so, I've had her on a raw-food diet. Started with all beef, which didn't improve matters any after a month. I've had her on all chicken for the last two weeks and have seen a marked improvement/decrease in rubbing. So, I figure either a) she's allergic to beef or b) there's something in the chicken breast or chicken liver she's been getting that she was nutritionally deprived of.
I'd like to start by switching back to a dry food that excludes beef and fish and see if the trend continues. If it doesn't, I'll have to look into an alternative, perhaps just adding a little chicken or chicken liver to the dry food.
We feed our cats twice a day (for various reasons) and handling the raw meat (I do cook it lightly so it's not purely raw, but still) is a pain. I would like to go back to a dry food because we have automatic feeders (which I haven't been using for Squeak due to having to manually feed her the raw food).
We use canned food as "special" treat-type meals (birthdays, after going to vet, after getting a bath, etc.), so both cats get extremely excited at the sound of a can opening, so I'd rather not go the canned route.
Anyone have any suggestions? I'm going to try looking at a few of the local pet stores (PetCo, PetSmart, and a couple of smaller ones) today after work, but any feedback would be greatly appreciated!
