Ugh... The vet prescribed Z/D.

I have a 5 yo female tortie recently adopted from the local humane society.  For the past three weeks Stella has been pooping sporadically every 2-5 days, and dragging her butt across the new Ikea couch.  The poop consistently is VERY hard and dry.  She's been eating a 5.5 ounce can of high quality chicken wet food (hounds & gatos, great life essentials, felidae) per day.  She's well-hydrated and pees often.  I tried laxatone and even adding a tsp of pumpkin to each meal, but to no avail.

X-rays at the vet indicated she was impacted.  The vet squeezed her anal glands (they were empty) and gave her an enema.  The vet felt her issues were related to the high protein, low carb/grain chicken wet food that I was feeding, and prescribed Hills Z/D.  Needless to say I was mortified.

Now I eat mostly paleo myself and based on the literature I've read here and elsewhere, felt my cat should be doing the same.  I read the ingredients of the Z/D and vomited in my mouth:

Hydrolyzed Chicken Liver, Water, Corn Starch, Soybean Oil, Powdered Cellulose, Calcium Carbonate, DL-Methionine, Potassium Chloride, Dicalcium Phosphate, Choline Chloride, vitamins (Vitamin E Supplement, Thiamine Mononitrate, Ascorbic Acid (source of vitamin C), Niacin Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Riboflavin Supplement, Biotin, Vitamin D3 Supplement , Folic Acid), Iodized Salt, Taurine, Calcium Sulfate, minerals (Zinc Oxide, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), Beta-Carotene

So my questions:  

1. Are food allergies in felines mostly related to a single protein source (ie. chicken), and I could potentially try another protein source such as lamb?

2. How long does it typically take to see changes in behavior and bodily functions after allergens are removed from the diet?

3. Anyone else have a similar experience with chicken in canned food?  It seems like chicken (and fish) are the top protein sources used in cat foods.

Thanks!

Is her problem constipation or allergies? I'm wondering because I couldn't find any typical allergy specific symptoms in your description. 

Have you tried to add slippery elm bark to her food? It's a powder and as the name says it helps very well to smooth stool. And to sooth gastrointestinal issues. Depending on what amount you administer it can help with both diarrhea and constipation.  

From my take on our conversation she felt the constipation and butt dragging were both related to a food (protein?) allergy.  Believe it or not this is the second vet in the past week to tell me the exact same thing.

I'll research the slippery elm bark as a food additive.

And what about probiotics in this case?

http://www.thecatsite.com/a/should-i-give-my-cat-probiotics

I'll try to answer a little of your questions below.   I do think that 'food allergy' is a huge jump to make when only constipation is present - although perhaps I should add it depends how long the constipation has been going on and what has been done to address it.  If she was impacted, then no, adding a laxative wouldn't have had any benefit.  Perhaps you can ask the human society for some history on her food/constipation issues?  And the other thing to consider is that stress (like re-homing) will affect a cat's health, as will a sharp change in diet.  So it is quite possible that now she is not impacted, and she will have a stable home, she may settle, (and respond if needed to pumpkin etc. ), particularly if you slow down the food transition (add a bit of her old diet back, and just slowly wean her over). 

 
1. Are food allergies in felines mostly related to a single protein source (ie. chicken), and I could potentially try another protein source such as lamb?

2. How long does it typically take to see changes in behavior and bodily functions after allergens are removed from the diet?

3. Anyone else have a similar experience with chicken in canned food?  It seems like chicken (and fish) are the top protein sources used in cat foods.

Click to expand...

1.  You were correct to vomit in your mouth.  'Most' feline allergens are the foods they aren't biologically meant to eat - read all that plant stuff, much of it messed with and poor quality.  But yes, cats can be intolerant to certain proteins, and you can only find out (as far as I know) by doing single protein food trials.  It takes some time: 4-6 weeks for protein one, then add another protein to the diet for 2-4weeks, then another for 2-4 weeks and so on.  I don't know how to do this with canned or kibble, only raw, as then you get a single protein!  Also, raw trials let you see if it is every part of the animal they are intolerant to - some cats are intolerant to chicken meat, but not to the organs for example.  Of course, if you suspect chicken, you could try a switch to a different canned food, that does not contain chicken (or fish either, as this one IS common).  You can get novel protein canned food - (I used turkey); so yes, you could switch to lamb and see how it goes.  But in my country, not all ingredients are required to be listed on pet food, so your cat could be reacting to disaccharides for example (not shown in the ingredient lists and pretty commonly added to canned food).

2.  The first changes will be seen anywhere in that 6 weeks.  But quite commonly, you will know in 2 weeks.  I think also, that the first longer time period allows a certain amount of healing to happen (if you picked a winning protein/can change!), so the subsequent additions have shorter time periods before you know if they are reacting.  

3.  Yes.  I had to do food trials with my kitten, after months of testing for illness and drug trials.  I suspected chicken, as she didn't really like it.  The food trials also had an absolute ban on any fish, given this is a common allergen.  The upshot for Ava, as far as I can work it out, is that her original problems came from a pathogen somehow, as she passed the evil diahorrea to my big cat.  NOTHING conclusively showed up on even the most extensive/expensive tests, even doing them twice.  So we did drug trials - and this fixed my big boy, and improved Ava, but did not cure her.  I believe that illness weakened her tummy.  And I believe the food trials allowed her to heal, as they removed any irritant.  She can now tolerate a small amount of most food (like half a single serve over one day), but I feed mostly raw (rabbit, beef, turkey, pork and lamb or beef dried liver).  She will always have this weakness, I believe, so in times of stress (desexing) the upset returned.  Interestingly, if I cook a chicken (no additives), she enjoys that and has no problems - but raw chicken is avoided and canned chicken I try to avoid or only give a small amount as I know that can flare her up (and the only reason she gets any at all, is because she simply MUST copy her big 'brother' lol!!)

Hope that helps!

Your vet has old school thinking about nutrition for kitties with constipation issues.  That isn't unusual, vet's have very little training in nutrition and they have been thoroughly indoctrinated by companies like Hills.  Hills even starts the indoctrination process in vet schools.

It could be a food allergy or she could simply be prone to constipation.  You want to get as much fluid in her as possible which would mean wet food.  You could even try mixing a little water in with her wet food to increase fluid intake.  You could also try a water fountain, that doesn't work for all kitties, some kitties will drink more with a water fountain.

I would try a novel protein in a grain free simple food like Hounds and Gatos or Taste of the Wild.   The simple foods eliminate more of the possible irritants.  You could try adding a little canned pumpkin, plain not pie filling to her food to see if that helps.  Adding a little fiber sometimes helps, sometimes it doesn't.

If the problem continues you could try giving her a little Miralax.  Start with 1/8th teaspoon twice a day and adjust the dosage.  It's a tasteless powder than can be mixed into wet food.  Miralax should not be given to a cat that is impacted though.  Miralax works by drawing water into the colon, if kitty is impacted that could definitely make things much worse.