First pet cat, having severe allergic reaction to food, help!!

sidthekid · Nov 8, 2015

We adopted our cat Archie (our first real pet), a Russian Blue (mix) 3 1/2 weeks ago. He has the most incredible, friendliest personality and is otherwise a dream cat besides some health issues that his previous owners swear he never had.. We adopted him from a foster woman, who initially raised him as a kitten then gave him to a loving family. That family is now having a baby and can't take care of animals right now, so they gave him back to her.

When he got here last month we started feeding him half of what the foster mom was (Purina one Urinary Tract health dry food), and half of some Blue Wilderness grain-free food. Within a week he was throwing up to several times a day. We contacted the original owners and they said they had been feeding him Blue Buffalo dry food for sensitive stomachs… HELLO!

About 1 1/2 weeks ago we switched him to the BB sensitive stomach food, and his vomiting stopped! We thought all was well.. until the scratching started on his ears, and face. Took him to the vet and he said maybe it was pollen allergies (impossible at our house) and prescribed Claritin. We've been giving him claritin daily and each day his head is getting worse. This morning his eye was almost swollen shut, and red, and he has dry blood all over his face. It's terrible. He's incredibly stressed out and not feeling well so we don't want to take him to the vet… we are waiting to hear back from her.

We obviously need to switch his food. Any recommendations? Should we just get a completely new brand, with some new protein like Lamb? Are there creams or supplements we can buy? (he clearly needs probiotics)

Thanks so much,

Sid

nansiludie · Nov 8, 2015

sidthekid said:
We adopted our cat Archie (our first real pet), a Russian Blue (mix) 3 1/2 weeks ago. He has the most incredible, friendliest personality and is otherwise a dream cat besides some health issues that his previous owners swear he never had.. We adopted him from a foster woman, who initially raised him as a kitten then gave him to a loving family. That family is now having a baby and can't take care of animals right now, so they gave him back to her.

When he got here last month we started feeding him half of what the foster mom was (Purina one Urinary Tract health dry food), and half of some Blue Wilderness grain-free food. Within a week he was throwing up to several times a day. We contacted the original owners and they said they had been feeding him Blue Buffalo dry food for sensitive stomachs… HELLO!

About 1 1/2 weeks ago we switched him to the BB sensitive stomach food, and his vomiting stopped! We thought all was well.. until the scratching started on his ears, and face. Took him to the vet and he said maybe it was pollen allergies (impossible at our house) and prescribed Claritin. We've been giving him claritin daily and each day his head is getting worse. This morning his eye was almost swollen shut, and red, and he has dry blood all over his face. It's terrible. He's incredibly stressed out and not feeling well so we don't want to take him to the vet… we are waiting to hear back from her.

We obviously need to switch his food. Any recommendations? Should we just get a completely new brand, with some new protein like Lamb? Are there creams or supplements we can buy? (he clearly needs probiotics)

Thanks so much,

Sid

This is very concerning. Can you tell where the dry blood possibly came from? Does he have any eye injuries or can you not tell? I think this may be an emergency situation. Can you get him to a Vet today? I know its Sunday, most are closed but I honestly do not think its good for him to wait much longer given his condition. The Vet should have some hypoallergenic food but I'm mostly concerned how he is now. What exactly is the Blue Buffalo sensitive tummy food?

Sarthur2 · Nov 8, 2015

It definitely sounds like he is allergic to something in his food. I would first try giving him cooked chicken and fish for his meals for awhile instead of cat food to see if this helps his itching, vomiting, and swollen eye. A probiotic sprinkled on his food is a good idea.

It also sounds like he is not responding well to claritin. He may need a cortisone shot to stop the itching. The vet should be able to prescribe a prescription cream to help with the raw sores on his face and head.

I would apply a warm compress to his eye in the meantime. It sounds like he may have scratched his eye inadvertantly and may need antibiotic opthalmic drops.

It also sounds like he has anxiety from the re-homing, so I recommend a Felliway diffuser in the room where he spends most of his time. They emit calming pheromones which may help him to relax.

For suggestions on brands of foods you may wish to visit our nutrition forum and post your diet question there, as well as check out other threads to see what has worked for others in your situation.

sidthekid · Nov 8, 2015

Thanks for the responses. First I want to clear up that his stomach is better, as in he hasn't vomitted in over a week. He also was only stressed the first few days we had him, and now could not be any more lovey dovey and happy to be in our (quiet) home.

The dry blood is from his chin where he scratches the most. The claritin has helped a bit with the redness and itchiness but obviously not enough. today we are going to go back to the food the woman was feeding him, the purina one. Hopefully we can get to a vet today or tomorrow.

This is the food that he is allergic to http://bluebuffalo.com/natural-cat-...-stomach-adult-chicken-and-brown-rice-recipe/

cinqchats · Nov 8, 2015

Maybe if Claritin doesn't cut it, try another anti-histamine? My kitty with allergies was on chlorpheniramine, an old anti-histamine that is fairly cheap, but it wasn't cutting it. We switched him to cetirizine (aka Zyrtec) and it works much better plus helps to boost his appetite a little bit. If you're going to switch the food, I'd suggest something with the fewest ingredients possible. Maybe a high-quality canned food? I was trying the limited ingredient diets and in the end it turned out my cat was allergic to the veggies that were used in lieu of the typical crappy corn, wheat gluten, etc. He couldn't stand the green pea, green bean, pumpkin, squash, eggs, etc.

nansiludie · Nov 8, 2015

Its filled with alot of carbs and starch, the blue food. I am relieved that you know where the blood was coming from. I had imagined something much worse. Sarthur has left good advice. I will note that I don't know if you're open to feeding raw food but that might end up being something you might want to carefully think over. There is a raw feeding forum here and also a recipe at CatInfo.org.

sidthekid · Nov 11, 2015

Thank you everyone! He got a steroid shot at the vet a few days ago and the itching and redness has subsided 50%.. Hopefully in another week he will barely be itching! He's itchy now because his sores are healing. We also switched back to the Purina Urinary tract food the foster mom was giving him and he seems to be doing fine with it.

It seems like Blue Buffalo has been recalling their products lately, and a lot of people have been complaining about their food causing their cats to get ill. There are SO many ingredients in the blue food! Wont be buying it again.

First pet cat, having severe allergic reaction to food, help!!

sidthekid

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nansiludie

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Sarthur2

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sidthekid

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cinqchats

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nansiludie

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sidthekid

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