Feeding RAW

The basics are that my cat has MASSIVE food allergies. I was going to take him to a holistic pet clinic this month but I don't have the money. [I cannot BELIEVE how expensive it is, we don't charge by the hour... or per 5 minutes after your "hour" visit. Talk about crap.] Anyways, I thought I would have the money, but my horse got really sick. SO. Anyways my cat has been on RAW. My vet is at his wits end about my cat so he said to put him on RAW turkey for a month, just for fun. It isn't a complete diet, but a month won't kill him. Well I made the mistake of adding chicken hearts and livers, the livers bothered him a little, but the hearts really made him itch.

So how would a RAW diet even help my cat? That's what everyone keeps telling me, but he can hardly eat anything without having a reaction.

Turkey alone he's okay, but he can't just live on turkey... can he?

He is allergic to chicken, beef, rabbit, buffalo, peas, and who knows what else that I haven't been able to diagnose. Even on z/d which is hydrolized he itches, not to mention it's so broken down he gets nasty diarrhea.

I am just at the end of my chain, I can't find any specialized diets for him that don't have peas in them, I haven't tried lamb, but he was on a duck & pea diet, so it was definitley the peas he reacted to, but what if he's allergic to duck?

He can't be on Innova because it still has to many variables food wise.

Could he eat turkey as long as I supplement it? I suppose I could be asking my vet this, but I just had to get a vent out tonight. I just feel SO bad for him, and I have spent so much money on special diets, half of which he is never able to eat and it sucks.

He seems to have a protein allergy, on top of little random allergies. I mean, PEAS? Who ever thought peas would cause someone problems.

The only other option is a depomedrol injection, and we will be screwed if he becomes diabetic because he won't be able to eat the diabetic diets. I can't imagine having him diabetic... what would I feed him? I'm just so flustered with everything, and I feel bad for his poor little face.

I would be asking the holistic vet all of this... but I doubt I'll be seeing him. There's no way I can afford it this month. I still haven't gotten my vet bill for my horse I have no CLUE how I am going to afford things this next month between all the crap that's been going on.

Anyways, any advice is appreciated since I have no clue what other foods are out there that we could try.

I have considered a raw diet for my cats because of chronic pancreatitis in one of my cats. A former coworker was really into the holistic care including diet for her pets. I have went to another job and she has retired, of course before my cat began with his problems. I do know though that a small amount of the liver that matches the ground meat has to be added to the mix so I don't know if you can make it work. Maybe just the liver without the hearts might help. There is a company called felineinstincts that make the supplements necessary to add to the raw meat mixture. They have a website. The mix includes egg which I know at least in humans can cause allergic problems. The mix includes kelp and psyllium husks for fiber. The kit also includes salmon oil capsules. From the little I remember my former coworker telling me you don't see immediate results. Everything from the former diet has to work it's way out of their system which if you have been feeding raw meat by itself already this has probably already happened. It then takes awhile for the cats system to get used to it. The company has a website and the diet supplement can be ordered online. The main problem a lot of conventional vets and cat owners have with the diet is the raw meat itself but your vet has already went to that but it might be worth a try to supplement it to make it a complete diet.

I recommend talking with a holistic vet if you can... My vet is holistic and conventional and has given me volumes of info on feeding raw... the other thing is that what some are allergic to cooked they arent raw( my Gigi is an example of that ...

Yeah, but my cat has been given all of these things raw and he is allergic to them. He is allergic to these things both cooked and raw.

As far as the holistic vet goes, I'm a bit upset over the cost. Conventional vets don't charge by the minute, and I think it's a load of crap to be doing so. I'm very unhappy about it, and it makes it worse because I've just spent $500 on my horse.

I guess I'll just have to talk to my vet again. I'm afraid there's nothing I'll be able to feed my cat, and that's where the problem lies.

Have you done actual allergy tests... blood muscle etc..???


Have you tried things like phesent ?> ostrich?? elk??


it is okay with supplements to only feed the turkey though he may get bored ,,,

Have you used an enzyme supplement with the meats??

Yes I have done actual allergy tests, nothing came back conclusive. A significant allergen count food, and physical allergy is at least 150 units out of 5000. The highest on his results was 28 or something, to blue grass. The highest on his food count was like... 7 [I'd have to grab his chart and see, I can't remember].

He has had pheasant, which he reacted to right away, he also didn't really like it. He's had both raw, and canned, and he took to the raw moreso than the canned, but still had a problem no less.

I haven't tried ostrich or elk, but I'm trying to find a butcher who carries meat like that, most of the places around here only go as far as venison. Those are good suggestions though, because I didn't even think of them.

My initial thought was to get ahold of some lamb and try that? So I at least have a few more animals to try, ugh.

I have not used an enzyme supplement with the meats, he's had no issues digesting it. Good stools etc. I've not had him on supplements because my vet wanted to be sure that raw would either work or not work. Supplementing it can give him a reaction.

On the canned diet he was getting a taurine, lysine, and all purpose supplement. But the all purpose supplement [which was a daily vitamin supplement] caused a reaction as well.

Do you think bone meal would cause a problem? If I do find a raw diet that works, I don't have a a grinder, so I'm not sure how I can grind the bones down. Is that something a butcher can do?

Thanks.

A butcher should be able to do it. If you find a complete supplement for a raw diet that works it will include both bone meal and enzymes.

If you can have him muscle tested.... I didnt react the traditional way but that way I did...

It sounds like he may have issues with micro nutrients rather than macro... what that means is I dont think his trouble is fat carb and protein ... rather either food combos or some small nutrient in the food ... the enzymes could help( nothing much to do with digestion)... you can get real basic with meat organs and taurine and calcium( which many are bone free).. PM me and I will give the links I find..

Wow, this is a tricky situation. Allergic to so many animal proteins. Have you tried lamb? Duck?

Your cat can live on turkey if you supplement, sure.... but I'd feel safer with at least some variety to the food. Dr. Pitcairn has written a book "The completet guide to natural health for dogs and cats" and there are recipes of "hypo allergenic" diets in the book. Turkey is one of the meats he recommends.

I know many allergic cats tolerate lamb and maybe that's easier and cheaper than elk?

I just started my cats on raw, and they're doing well. I found the most helpful information on catnutrition.org, including a lot of personal stories of sick kitties who finally got better eating raw (check out the testimonials page). She also talks about why a cat might not do so well with peas, that they basically have no ability to break down plant matter on their own (I don't know if this is true, but it makes sense).

Good luck!

Nature's Variety makes a venison raw diet, but I'm not sure what else is in it. Something to look into perhaps? Also, Cal Natural does a venison and rice.

My allergic cat has settled into a duck, oatmeal and pea canned variety and is doing quite well. It's too bad your guy can't do it My Raphael is allergice to most grains, chicken, fish and beef.