Food Sensitivities or Allergies after Switching to Raw Feeding

Hi all!! I've been a long time reader but have never started a thread, so here goes!

I've been researching health topics since I recently made the switch to a Paleo lifestyle and noticed some interesting (possible) parallels for feline nutrition. While I understand feline digestion is probably slightly different from human (rates, pH, etc.) the information I found made me curious about food allergies. I am trying to rotate in a variety of proteins for my kittens who started raw at 7 months old, but do worry about constant exposure to certain proteins. I remember seeing information (can't remember the source!) about how allergies/sensitivities in cats are more common when feeding standard food, but not raw. Could this be due to glutens and/or fillers causing inflammation in the gut?

This is the Paleo info on leaky gut I found:

"A “leaky gut” occurs when either the enterocytes are damaged or the proteins that form the tight bond between these cells and hold them together as a solid layer are damaged (or altered).   When this happens, it creates microscopic holes through which some of the contents of the gut can leak out into the blood stream or lymphatic system.  What leaks out isn’t big chunks of food.  Instead, it’s a combination of many different pathogens: incompletely digested proteins, bacteria or bacterial fragments from those friendly bacteria that are supposed to stay inside your gut, or a variety of toxic substances or waste products that would normally be excreted.  When these pathogens leak out, the resident immune cells of the gut recognize them as foreign invaders and mount a response against them (when large quantities of pathogens leak out, other parts of the body, especially the liver, also contribute to the response).  Exactly what leaks out, and how much, determines the precise nature of this immune response. 

Other substances (like incompletely digested proteins) cause specific inflammation, which can take the form of an allergy or an auto-immune disease.   An allergy is caused by immune cells creating IgE-type antibodies targeting a part of a protein that is specific to the food it originated from (like an antibody targeting the casein in milk resulting in a milk allergy).  A very similar type of immune response is caused by immune cells creating IgA-, IgM- or IgG-type antibodies targeting a part of a protein that is specific to the food it originated from.  This type of immune response is technically considered a food sensitivity (and not an allergy), and can cause both allergy-type symptoms and symptoms that you might not normally attribute to an allergy, such as: pain, fatigue, and eczema.  It is also the formation of these types of antibodies that can cause auto-immune diseases.  Antibodies target only a short sequence of amino acids, and not all of the amino acids that form an individual protein.  In the case of food allergies and sensitivities, this short sequence of amino acids is still specific to the food it originated from.  But, sometimes the antibodies that form in response to “leaked-out” proteins target a sequence of amino acids that isn’t unique to that protein, but instead is a sequence of amino acids also found in many other normal proteins in the human body.  When this happens, the body attacks itself thinking its own cells are foreign invaders."

[Source: http://www.thepaleomom.com/2012/03/what-is-leaky-gut-and-how-can-it-cause.html]

So my question is: has anyone noticed allergies or sensitivities to certain proteins after starting raw? How soon into it, how old were your cats, and what was their previous diet like?

I haven't noticed any sensitivities related to the protein itself. Ritz has a problem with acid buildup because I am gone for 11 hours during the day. She is less likely to throw up when I feed her a white/mild meat those days.
Sometimes the cat is not sensitive to the protein per se; rather the cat is sensitive to what the protein (chicken, beef, etc) is fed.
Also a cat's stomach is quite different than humans; they have a higher tolerance to certain bacteria. One reason why feral cats who dumpster dive don't get sick from food poisoning.

Yeah, Tux used to get acid build-up too, usually from too long of a gap between feedings. Of course, he would snarf the food down which didn't help either

Great point! It can be tricky to find pasture-raised poultry (even the free range ones are still fed corn & soy). I aim for antibiotic and hormone free, but it would be a good idea to switch vendors if an allergy cropped up.

Hmm, I knew that about the pH level and higher tolerance for pathogen load; I wonder if that has any effect on chemical interaction with the gut lining?

For pasture raised protein, check out your farmer's markets.

IMO, feeding a healthy rotation of proteins in a raw diet is what helps HEAL a leaky gut. As you point out, it is the feeding of species-inappropriate foods that can lend a hand in (if not be entirely or almost entirely responsible for) cats developing gastrointestinal problems to begin with. GI issues are often treated with antibiotics, which only compounds the problem, wiping out the healthy gut bacteria in the process.

Many, many cats WITH food allergies are able to eat the proteins in their raw form, even if they aren't organic or pastured. My theory on this is that when cats that can tolerate chicken raw, but not canned or kibble chicken, they didn't have an actual "allergy" at all, but rather a leaky gut and a reaction to something else in the food or the heat-treated protein (which creates histamines), rather than the protein in its natural state. Cats that are still reacting to a protein in its raw format have an "allergy," but I expect we'll find that with time on the raw diet, that food can included back in rotation. I'm working with someone right now that has fed a homemade diet for five months, and just reintroduced turkey, a protein that caused an allergic reaction before, but isn't now.

I suspect that this is due to the raw diet helping to reduce inflammation (though other steps have been taken by this person to address GI inflammation, notably giving slippery elm bark powder, distilled aloe vera juice, and S. boulardii this entire length of time).

 ... the Rogue cannot have cooked chicken (will get explosive diarrhea and an inflamed butt), but is fine eating raw chicken. Should he eat it  . He prefers mice these days, to the disgust of my niece

LDG said:

IMO, feeding a healthy rotation of proteins in a raw diet is what helps HEAL a leaky gut. As you point out, it is the feeding of species-inappropriate foods that can lend a hand in (if not be entirely or almost entirely responsible for) cats developing gastrointestinal problems to begin with. GI issues are often treated with antibiotics, which only compounds the problem, wiping out the healthy gut bacteria in the process.

Many, many cats WITH food allergies are able to eat the proteins in their raw form, even if they aren't organic or pastured. My theory on this is that when cats that can tolerate chicken raw, but not canned or kibble chicken, they didn't have an actual "allergy" at all, but rather a leaky gut and a reaction to something else in the food or the heat-treated protein (which creates histamines), rather than the protein in its natural state. Cats that are still reacting to a protein in its raw format have an "allergy," but I expect we'll find that with time on the raw diet, that food can included back in rotation. I'm working with someone right now that has fed a homemade diet for five months, and just reintroduced turkey, a protein that caused an allergic reaction before, but isn't now.

I suspect that this is due to the raw diet helping to reduce inflammation (though other steps have been taken by this person to address GI inflammation, notably giving slippery elm bark powder, distilled aloe vera juice, and S. boulardii this entire length of time).

Click to expand...

Yes! I agree with LDG... I believe that food sensitivity should not be a reason to DECREASE the number of foods fed or cause one to go on a search for that one perfect food. Food sensitivity is NOT NORMAL. It's OK to feed a limited menu for the short term, but for the long term, fixing the underlying problem is the best approach. Even if one does find the "perfect" food that the animal doesn't react to, it will most likely be a matter of time before that food also causes a reaction.

Tabitha

Thank you all for the great input! As I said, I do try to rotate proteins, but still rely heavily on chicken and turkey. My cousin's cat developed what she thinks is an allergy to chicken (fed kibble + canned). I suspect it might be an allergy to a filler or like LDG mentioned, to the heat treated protein. I haven't noticed any reactions in our cats while on dry, canned or raw so I think we're okay. Whew! Being a relatively new cat mom AND new to raw makes one paranoid, I guess