Food Elimination Diet...suggestions needed!

Hello all!

I'm hoping to get some insight on what to do regarding my kitty. I've had him for a little over 3 months now. When we got him, he had some terrible dandruff issues for the first month, but once we got him on an all-wet diet that completely cleared up. However, he's been itching himself like mad for most of August. I took him to the vet last week (for an unrelated reason...a bout of conjunctivitus, poor thing) and brought it up with her while we were there. She checked him and suggested it may be fleas (although she couldn't find any evidence of them) and applied Revloution. However, there's been no change in the scratching behavior. He mainly scratches on his head/face area and chews at his feet and paws.

I'm thinking, now, that he may have a possible food allergy or intolerance and would like to begin an elimination diet to try to figure out if that is in fact the issue. Right now, as far as protein sources, he is getting primarily turkey, chicken, and beef. He did have a little bit of duck, venison, and lamb last month (maybe about 3 small cans of each). What protein source should I start him with? I'd really like to go with the Natural Balance Duck and Pea or Venison and Pea (preferably the duck), but I'm not sure if him having had a little bit of those proteins previously would matter or effect anything. The one protein I know he hasn't had at all is rabbit, but its just so expensive (at least Nature's Variety is). 

Any thoughts? (I would prefer commercial food suggestions as I'm not considering raw, at least for right now).

Have you already eliminated all grains, starchy vegetables and fish from his diet? Those are much more likely to be culprits given that they're not species-appropriate.

If you have eliminated those, then chicken and beef would be the next most likely culprits since they are in so many commercial cat foods. I think that since he's only had a little bit of duck, venison, and lamb in the last month, you can use any of those since allergies develop over time. Just be aware that peas are known to be a source of allergens for some cats, so using the NB protein plus pea versions may not be a good test unless you know that peas are not a problem already.

vball91 said:

 
Have you already eliminated all grains, starchy vegetables and fish from his diet? Those are much more likely to be culprits given that they're not species-appropriate.

If you have eliminated those, then chicken and beef would be the next most likely culprits since they are in so many commercial cat foods. I think that since he's only had a little bit of duck, venison, and lamb in the last month, you can use any of those since allergies develop over time. Just be aware that peas are known to be a source of allergens for some cats, so using the NB protein plus pea versions may not be a good test unless you know that peas are not a problem already.

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Thanks for the response and suggestions! I will have to check to see if there are any starchy vegetables in his food (I'm assuming those are referring to potatoes?). He's currently eating Fancy Feast (Classic version in chicken, turkey, and beef), Weruva Cats in the Kitchen turkey and chicken, and a few Wellness CORE in addition to Greenies treats. I always thought the FF was grain-free in those flavors (though I could be wrong). I also think the chicken and beef flavors contain a bit of fish. The Greenies treats probably have grain in them as well. I've recently eliminated his daily CET chew treat (I believe the primary ingredient is freeze dried fish).

Potatoes, peas, sweet potatoes, etc. are often found in grain-free formulas.

FF classic pates do not have any grains/vegetables, but some formulas do have fish. I believe the Weruva Cats in the Kitchen also do not have any grains/vegetables. The Wellness Core grain-free has some peas if I remember correctly. I would definitely cut out the Greenies. Those have a lot of grains.

vball91 said:

 
Potatoes, peas, sweet potatoes, etc. are often found in grain-free formulas.

FF classic pates do not have any grains/vegetables, but some formulas do have fish. I believe the Weruva Cats in the Kitchen also do not have any grains/vegetables. The Wellness Core grain-free has some peas if I remember correctly. I would definitely cut out the Greenies. Those have a lot of grains.

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Gotcha. I think I will try cutting out the FF versions with fish as well as the Greenies treats in order to eliminate all fish and grain first. I'm all out of the CORE, so that solves itself haha