7 Month old Kitten with allergies?

Hello

I have a 7 month old male kitten.  He's medium hair and seems to be doing a lot of scratching himself lately.  I bought him Wild Blue Buffalo kitten food along with Iams wet food.  I bought them based on there's no preservatives but could he possibly be allergic to these?  Any other recommendations for dry food?  Thank you in advance !

He may well be sensitive/allergic to something in one or both of these foods. It could just as easily be from other causes though. If I see a lot of scratching, the first thing I do is check for fleas. It's a possibility even with indoor only kitties, as fleas can easily hitch a ride on us and come into the home that way! [article="29664"][/article] As far as food recommendations goes, you might find this thread helpful [thread="200415"][/thread] These articles may help too [article="29707"][/article][article="31167"][/article][article="31127"][/article][article="33149"][/article][article="31144"][/article][article="33544"][/article]

Hello

Thank you for replying to my post.  Yes, I've checked for fleas and even ear mites and I don't see any.  I'm thinking I might get a humidifier.  Maybe he has dry skin??  I switched out his dry food to Purine One kitten food.  I'd like to wean him off of wet food altogether but he'll probably fight me on that issue. Haha.  I think on the wet food, I might try feeding him Science Diet wet food and see what happens.

If you're looking at wet foods, there are so many better options than Science Diet. The above links mentioned will give you a ton of ideas that are better than the SD, whose products are chock full of cheap fillers and are very carb heavy.

tammyd said:

 
If you're looking at wet foods, there are so many better options than Science Diet. The above links mentioned will give you a ton of ideas that are better than the SD, whose products are chock full of cheap fillers and are very carb heavy.

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I agree, particularly since it is so often the carby fillers that cause various sensitivity problems like itching and vomiting. I'd definitely check the Blue Buffalo ingredient list for potato, an ingredient that causes problems for some cats, including one of mine.

LisaHE said:

I agree, particularly since it is so often the carby fillers that cause various sensitivity problems like itching and vomiting. I'd definitely check the Blue Buffalo ingredient list for potato, an ingredient that causes problems for some cats, including one of mine.

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There are a whole load of ingredients that can be allergens. Potato is just one. Other potential culprits are artificial colours/flavours, wheat, gluten, grains, maize/corn, peas, other pulses, gums (guar gum, cassia gum etc), carrageenan, and even shellfish/fish, egg or chicken. Now, most cats are fine with some or all of these, and its almost unheard of for a single cat to react to ALL of them (and I say almost only because, in theory, it COULD happen ).

The obvious place to start is to look at the ingredients of both the wet and the dry foods to see if there are any in common. For me, the first ingredients to try eliminating would be grains, especially gluten containing grains, as these are very often what cause that itchy feeling in susceptible animals. They're also probably one/some of the easiest to eliminate.

I strongly urge you to only make one change at a time, and to give it a while to take effect (at least a month or two). If you make too many changes at once, you'll end up being no clearer on what is actually making the difference, and may end up unnecessarily limiting your cat's diet.

With wet vs dry food, if your cat does turn out to be sensitive to certain ingredients, you'll find it MUCH easier to get allergen free wet food than you will dry. There are a number of wet foods on the market at all price levels that are grain free/low carb - everything from Fancy Feast and Sheba patés up to the more expensive 'luxury' brands. The same cannot be said for dry food, and you'll very likely find yourself paying a premium to get lower allergen brands. Something to think about [article="31120"][/article]

Having said all of this, you really should take your cat for a vet check as a first step - just to be sure that there isn't a physical cause.
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Thank you all for your comments.  Much appreciated.  Never thought about the carbs.  I do have a few cans of Iams that he seems to like which are grain free.

Cats Meow said:

 
Thank you all for your comments.  Much appreciated.  Never thought about the carbs.  I do have a few cans of Iams that he seems to like which are grain free.

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Grain-free is a good start -- and I completely agree with @Columbine's suggestion of eliminating grains first, as you try to figure out what's causing trouble for your kitten -- but keep in mind that grain-free doesn't necessarily mean low-carb. Lots of grain-free foods have fillers and thickeners like potato, tapioca, peas, chickpeas, etc., etc. that can also add carbs to foods. And, anecdotally, based on threads on this site, some of them seem to cause sensitivities in cats.

Columbine's suggestion of comparing ingredients is a good one. I've also found it helpful to keep a food diary. Dumb luck can be extremely useful, too: that's how we figured out it was potato that was causing our cat to vomit!