Food Allergies - Need Support

Guys,

I can't catch a break with my 9 year old, Malibu since I switched him to a raw diet last June (2014).

Over the past year, I have concluded that he has a red meat "intolerance":

• When he eats Rad Cat Lamb, he immediately vomits it back up. I have tried to reintroduce it incredibly slowly but I'm thinking it may just be too fatty for him and he can't keep it down.
• I don't know if whole mouse is considered a red meat but I did order a pack of whole adult mice from Hare Today and Malibu vomited every single one within 20 minutes of eating it. I did serve it mouse-body (
  
  ) temperature. I don't know why he can't keep it down. Maybe he ate them too fast? (If you have never cleaned up freshly eaten regurgitated mouse from your living room floor, consider yourself VERY lucky. It is absolutely disgusting) 
• When he eats ground Beef, Pork and possibly Goat (all from Hare Today), he stool gets loose and incredibly smelly. 

When I put him on an all Rabbit & Poultry diet, things appeared to settle down for a while. He's keeping it down and has nice, "victory" raw poop that doesn't smell.

These are the meats that I have been feeding him:

Rad Cat Turkey

Rad Cat Chicken

Hare Today Ground Rabbit

Prey Model Raw (80/10/5/5)

• Cornish Hen
• Chicken Thighs
• Duck Heart
• Duck Liver
• Beef Kidney

He really as been thriving on this diet....until a few weeks ago when I noticed he has been itching like a madman and has scabs all over his head and neck. At first I thought it could be fleas but I did a food trial and put him on 100% Hare Today ground rabbit and he completely healed. All scabs were gone within a week. I then added a bit of chopped up cornish hen and the symptoms came back. OK so somehow, he developed a chicken allergy.

I put him back on 100% rabbit for 2 full weeks to let him heal up and introduced 1 meal of whole, cut up quail. He completely broke out and had the most severe reaction I have ever seen with big red patches of inflamed skin near his eyes and it was so terrible. This is crazy because he used to eat whole quail quite a bit before Hare Today jacked up their prices on it and I quit buying it and he has never had a reaction to it before. 

What do I do??? 

If he has a red meat intolerance and now a poultry allergy I have no idea what to feed him. Since he obviously is a cat that will suddenly become allergic to a protein, how much longer until he reacts to rabbit? What can I put him on before that happens? I guess cavies is an option but I *hate* serving him that because he has frequent hairballs when cavies are in the rotation. I mean every...single...day. He has NO hairballs when I don't have cavies to serve him.

Another thing that has me really concerned is that Rabbit is the only protein that he will be able to eat bone-in pieces now that he has become allergic to cornish hen and quail. I really depend on the Prey Model Raw diet to keep his teeth and gums healthy. And since I'm going to have to rotate proteins (even if I can find other proteins to rotate with rabbit), he will only get Rabbit bones for the month that Rabbit is in rotation. 

I'm feeling really defeated and sad right now. I just want my cat to live forever and I know that a raw diet is the best thing for him but he's had nothing but problems since we started. Is a raw diet just not for him? Kali is doing so amazing on raw. She eats cornish hen, beef, duck, chicken, lamb, rabbit and goat, has "victory" poop and is so incredibly healthy. 

Please someone give me some advise 

I'm no raw expert but this all sounds really strange to me. When was the last time he was at the vet? Have you ruled out any kind of digestion issue specifically? What about duck? I know its poultry but it seems to be a case by case thing? I think that if he does better on canned then that's the way to go. His body seems to be telling you raw might not be right for him. 

Abby,

I feel for you - dealing with allergies in cats is challenging and frustrating. 

Well, I don't know if what I can share will be helpful or leave you more confused (my own cats having been diagnosed with a chicken allergy several years ago).

I'm surprised about this because as you probably know there is one theory (and it is a theory) that it's the denaturing of proteins that some animals respond negatively to (itching, etc.), however, you are doing all raw so there is no denaturing of proteins.  (My cats can't eat processed chicken, however, I fed FD raw chicken -- and fish --- for three weeks to my female cat and had no problem whatsoever - no itching whereas any processed chicken she reacts to.)

The article below is interesting although it is geared more toward people who are feeding cats processed foods and whose cats have allergies, the vet briefly discusses the cats' "reticuloendothelial" system and allergies:

http://feline-nutrition.org/answers/answers-raw-diet-for-my-cat-s-mystery-allergy

Article 2 also has an excerpt about beef although the article is about exotic meats as part of a diet for cats:

http://feline-nutrition.org/answers/answers-are-exotic-meats-nutritious-or-a-novelty

They have a preference for very fresh meats, so will only eat fresh kill. What this means is that cats can and will eat most exotic meats. Whether they should or not is actually harder to answer.
Take beef for example. Cats wouldn't naturally hunt cattle, so for a cat, it is an exotic food. In my professional experience, I have found that cats fed daily on beef have a higher incidence of asthma and allergies. Beef is a meat that is higher in histidine than other meats, and histidine can cause inflammation.³

Are you using a probiotic at all since Malibu is throwing up? My male cat has a pattern of throwing up, especially his first meal of the day and a probiotic has helped with that (we are doing Primal FD and RadCat turkey). I give  him just a little bit for his first meal, I wait a few minutes before serving him more food rather than giving him the full serving portion in one sitting. It takes a little longer for him to eat but this has helped reduce the vomiting. 

Does Malibu get vaccinated regularly? I have read that yet another theory re: poultry allergies may be related to the eggs used in vaccines (eggs = chicken protein).

I think boosting Malibu's immune system is worth exploring.

http://www.littlebigcat.com/health/food-allergies-in-cats/

While the following article is from ZiwiPeak, I think there is some very useful info re: pets and allergies:

http://ziwipeak.com/allergies-in-our-cats-and-dogs/

What causes the immune system to start attacking things it really should tolerate as normal? Here are some potential causes:  
1. Missing nutrients such as trace minerals and omega 3 fatty acids. The body simply does not have the basic equipment with which to quiet daily inflammation.

2. Having to deal with too many toxins, such as those created by the processing of food (AGEs, rancid fats-see discussion under alternative therapies), food additives, preservatives, chemicals in the water and air, etc. Even overfeeding, a VERY common practice for pet owners, can contribute to the overwhelm of a system. The liver is particularly sensitive to the end result of the body processing too much “bad” stuff.

3. Leaky gut syndrome. The cells of the intestines are normally knit closely together. Irritation of the intestines through poor diet, loss of good bacteria, drugs, etc., can result in increased space between the cells, allowing particles of things that would normally never see the interior of the body into the blood stream. This sets off inflammation in both the intestines and throughout the body. Leaky gut syndrome is likely associated with inflammatory diseases throughout the body. This is one major reason why probiotics (good bacteria), colostrum, and a good diet can help so much with allergies and inflammation.

4. Stress- can come in many forms ...

And finally, this may seem a bit out on a limb, however, when all else fails - and I have tried this and seen a difference: Pet food energetics - hot, neutral and cold meats as they pertain to allergies. For example, lamb and venison are considered "hot" proteins and can exacerbate skin allergies; chicken and turkey are "warming proteins", beef, pork are "neutral" with duck and rabbit being "cool" proteins, here is link that may be helpful (and this is practiced by some holistic vets):

http://www.animaldoctormuskego.com/...wledge-of-food-energetics-could-help-your-pet

http://pets-1st.com/files/2013/04/Food-Energetics-Brochure-All.pdf

This is re: dogs and allergies but may be helpful:

http://www.shareguide.com/petfood-energetics.html
Likely though a visit with the vet. Does your vet support raw feeding? If not, is there a holistic vet you can consult? 

You are feeding a raw diet, the most bio appropriate diet you could feed your kitty. If I were in your situation, I would do everything possible to keep kitty on raw and try to work this out. In fact, I am kind of in your shoes b/c my Mikey still has to wear a little bib around his neck (from scratching at a wound, it has healed but he goes at it when we remove the bib - we now think it's the microchip and are considering having it removed).  Mikey has very thin skin also, compared to his sister who has thicker skin. 

I plan on trying colostrum with him to see if that will help boost his immune system (he is also FHV).

Maybe the issue with Malibu is leaky gut syndrome?

I hope I haven't confused you more but given you a few areas to explore, I empathize with what you are going through.

Edit: to relive the itching, although temporarily, I mix two parts ACV (apple cider vinegar with the pulp) to two parts water and wipe down both my cats, it helps relieve any itching and also repels dust mites.

Thank you both so much for the suggestions and information. Let me try to answer some of your questions:

 - Malibu goes to the vet annually in March for a complete Senior Panel that includes blood work, CBC, Chem II Panel, T4, Urinalysis and a heart scan. His last visit and Senior Panel was March 2015. He has never had anything irregular show up in his diagnostics.

- He used to get annual vaccines but I have opted out this year so he hasn't been vaccinated since March 2014. 

- I want to clarify that he is not vomiting or coughing up hairballs at all right now. I only wanted to mention that he has had frequent hairballs when fed cavies in the past and that he immediately regurgitates when fed lamb and whole mice but I haven't offered those meals to him in about 12 months. 

He was doing fine on a diet variety of chicken, cornish hen, turkey and rabbit for quite a while now. The problem we're running into is somehow, he has developed an allergy to poultry. By "allergy" I mean intense itching causing scabs on his head and neck and puffy red patches of skin on his face. He has never had an allergic reaction before so I'm taken off guard. I don't know if it is ALL poultry that is causing this. So far in our "food trial" he has reacted very negatively to chicken, cornish hen and quail. I have not tried to introduce duck or reintroduce turkey. I want him to heal completely on 100% rabbit and give his system a break for a little while. 

My concern is that eventually he may start to have a reaction to rabbit so I need to have another protein ready to introduce in about 4 to 6 weeks. I'm scared to introduce any more poultry (duck, turkey, etc) in case he really did somehow develop an allergy to all poultry. But I know from the past that he gets digestive upset when I slowly introduce beef.

My plan is to keep him on one protein for about 6 weeks and then switch to a different one for 6 weeks. Ideally, I would like to have about 4 proteins that I can rotate for 6 weeks (or so) at a time but the only one that I know he isn't reacting to right now is rabbit. I do have some ground goat from Hare Today in the freezer. Maybe in about 3 weeks I will try to slowly introduce that to him to see if he tolerates it. Keep your fingers crossed for me and if anyone has other suggestions, please add your thoughts.

Abby2932 said:

 
He was doing fine on a diet variety of chicken, cornish hen, turkey and rabbit for quite a while now. The problem we're running into is somehow, he has developed an allergy to poultry. By "allergy" I mean intense itching causing scabs on his head and neck and puffy red patches of skin on his face. He has never had an allergic reaction before so I'm taken off guard. I don't know if it is ALL poultry that is causing this. So far in our "food trial" he has reacted very negatively to chicken, cornish hen and quail. I have not tried to introduce duck or reintroduce turkey. I want him to heal completely on 100% rabbit and give his system a break for a little while. 

My concern is that eventually he may start to have a reaction to rabbit so I need to have another protein ready to introduce in about 4 to 6 weeks. I'm scared to introduce any more poultry (duck, turkey, etc) in case he really did somehow develop an allergy to all poultry. But I know from the past that he gets digestive upset when I slowly introduce beef.

My plan is to keep him on one protein for about 6 weeks and then switch to a different one for 6 weeks. Ideally, I would like to have about 4 proteins that I can rotate for 6 weeks (or so) at a time but the only one that I know he isn't reacting to right now is rabbit. I do have some ground goat from Hare Today in the freezer. Maybe in about 3 weeks I will try to slowly introduce that to him to see if he tolerates it. Keep your fingers crossed for me and if anyone has other suggestions, please add your thoughts.

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It does seem odd especially since you were feeding a variety of poultry products that kitty suddenly developed allergies to all of them.  I think it's a good idea to to just feed the rabbit for now, until he is healed.

Maybe leaky gut syndrome is worth researching?

Are the meats HT uses hormone and antibiotic free? Just wondering if this might be an issue with some pets and protein allergies.

Hopefully other members will have some ideas for you as well.