Possible Allergy to Food-Help Please?

ashtonsmommy

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Hi everyone! My name is Tara, my boyfriend Will and I have a beautiful seven month old blue persian in our family. We have recently realized that he is developing an allergy. He gets his monthly FrontLine drops, and I have checked him over well for fleas. This is obviously not the reason for the reaction. The next thing we are going to try is switching him to a very high quality food. There is a very good chance that this will solve our problem, as we have recently realized we are feeding him CRAP. Price is no object right now (don't go crazy on me though $50 for a pound of food...hehe), we just want to find the best thing to try to help our baby.

After searching through the forums, I have found two different brands that seem to be highly recommended, available about an hour away from home. Innova and Natural Balance. The SolidGold (I believe that's the name, and I believe I've heard it mentioned in good terms here) *may* be available right down the street.

I am completely ignorant when it comes to nutritional things. So I am going to leave it up to YOU all to pick out a food for him. lol Please pick one of the above, or suggest other high quality foods that I could look into.

While I'm here, I picked up some spray at the store the other day in hopes that it would help relieve his itching a bit. It is "St. Jons PetRelief Anti-Itch Spray". Does anybody know anything about this product/company? Is it truely safe? Are there any possibilities of complications if he grooms an area where it has been applied?

And of course, if a food switch doesn't help his matter, he will be going to the vet ASAP. Thank you all so much for your help, I'm really excited to have found this forum!!!
 

russian blue

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First, welcome to the forums!

You don't mention what reactions he is having? Is he itching? Does he have bald spots? Is he throwing up? Loose stools?

I would not automatically assume a food allergy. In my opinion, I would go to the vets FIRST to make sure that it is not another health problem. I don't think anyone on the board can determine what your cat is allergic to, even if he is having food allergies. The vet is the best place to determine the exact cause of these symptoms.

If it is his food, then you have to start eliminating the various 'problem' foods: grains, corn, soy, beef etc. Many foods are manufactured for cats who have food sensitivites but I would not do anything until I have the all clear from the vet on other health issues that could be the source of his problem.
 
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ashtonsmommy

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Originally posted by Russian Blue
First, welcome to the forums!

You don't mention what reactions he is having? Is he itching? Does he have bald spots? Is he throwing up? Loose stools?

I would not automatically assume a food allergy. In my opinion, I would go to the vets FIRST to make sure that it is not another health problem. I don't think anyone on the board can determine what your cat is allergic to, even if he is having food allergies. The vet is the best place to determine the exact cause of these symptoms.

If it is his food, then you have to start eliminating the various 'problem' foods: grains, corn, soy, beef etc. Many foods are manufactured for cats who have food sensitivites but I would not do anything until I have the all clear from the vet on other health issues that could be the source of his problem.
Hi, I'm sorry, I guess I could have listed the issues, huh?

Ashton has just been itching like mad, and also severely over grooming. No throwing up, his stool is fine, no eye problems, etc. He is begining to thin down a little bit, but he doesn't have any bald spots. He has now got a couple of scabs underneith his chin. I was researching on the internet, and all of his symptoms seem to fall in line with some type of allergy. Everything that I read said that the two main causes for skin allergies in cats are fleas, and allergic reaction to food. Since I know that it is not fleas (FrontLine, plus combing through him with a flea comb, never seen one in our apartment, etc.), and we really have been feeding him absolute CRAP food. Kitten Chow, I didn't know any better.
I'm guessing he's either having a reaction to the low quality ingredients, food dye, etc. He's been eating food with the main ingredient being chicken (or by products) since he began eating solids as a kitten. I don't know, I told you I'm bad with nutrition stuff! lol

I just want to find him something a little more...pure. One way or the other. Whether it be an allergy or not, he's getting better food!

How about the spray I listed up there? Would it be safe to put on him until the morning (earliest vet opening)? Or should I just let him keep on suffering until I get him in?

Thanks so much for your help!
 
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ashtonsmommy

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Oh, and yes. Corn. I do NOT feed any of my critters corn, if I had even REALIZED at the time that Kitten Chow had corn... *sigh*
 
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ashtonsmommy

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Ok. So the vet didn't *really* check out Ash, he just took a quick look and agreed that it seems to be an allergy. Unfortuanately, he had an emergency to attend to (long story including a horse trailer and a car wreck.
). So I went out and bought some Nutro last night. We're workiing on switching him over, and see how it goes for a few days. If he's not feeling a bit better by the middle of the week, we'll get him back into the vet.

Any suggestions, help, or healing vibes for Ashton are highly appreciated.

Thanks everyone!
 
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