Never ending allergy nightmare

[Kiyangoin]

sorry in advance for formatting, I’m on mobile.

So basically when we got my boy he was eating kitten chow (protein - chicken) and nothing else. At this point he was having no allergy issues. We wanted to spoil him so we did some research and settled on a limited ingredient, “high end” brand and decided on wellness core kitten food (protein - chicken and turkey) and he loved it. After we started feeding him the dry food he wouldn’t even bother with his fancy feast pate anymore, so we went ahead and got him some wellness kitten pate and he loved that too and all was well for maybe three weeks. We then noticed him itching excessively and specifically, he was developing vertical patches of dry skin and scabs on his back legs. We took him to the vet shortly after and he said it’s pretty common for cats to have allergic reactions like that from certain proteins, and to take him off anything with a bird protein, so he went on some steroids to help give him some relief. The hope was that after he got off the steroid and was fully transitioned to his new food, everything would even out and be good. Unfortunately that’s not how it went. We did exactly what the vet said - we got instinct limited ingredient salmon dry and wet food. We also got him some freeze dried sprat for treats. No more bird of any kind. He LOVED the food but After the first or second serving of his dry food, he started throwing up everything. Even the tiniest amount of the dry food and he would throw it up within minutes. We thought maybe he was eating too fast (it had freeze dried, raw salmon pieces in it)so I bought him a slow feeder, but that didn’t make a difference. He was still throwing up. We thought about it and realized it might have been turkey that was causing him problems, because when he was on the kitten chow, (which was chicken) he had no issues, and it wasn’t until the wellness core (turkey and chicken AND some turkey sticks I was giving as treats) that he started having issues. We made another appointment with the vet right away, and went out and got him some food with just chicken, since fish was a no go and maybe the turkey was a no go. Well after he was done with the first round of steroids, eating the chicken cat food, the patches of dry itchy skin came back on his legs. Back to the vet. He told us the same thing as before and gave us more steroids. We were browsing the foods, checking all the ingredients, and realized all the food we had been giving him EXCEPT for the kitten chow all had PEAS of some sort. Pea protein or dried peas, pea powder... This is something we didn’t know when we were at the vet, so we weren’t able to share this with him and get his opinion. Well, apparently peas are a pretty common allergy for cats. Unfortunately Almost Every single one of the more expensive brands of food have some form of peas. We found 1 food that had no peas but it was chicken, so we took a gamble, against the vets advice. As of right now, he is on the steroid and is healed, but there’s no way to know whether this is ok until he’s done with the treatment, which won’t be for another week. Last time the itchy skin came back pretty much as soon as the steroid was done.

if this doesn’t work idk what to do, I’m at a loss. Anyone have similar issues or have advice? I feel so bad for him because even when we slowly transition him over to a new food he still h

 

[Kiyangoin]

Even when we slowly transition him over to a new food he still has stomach issues*

 

[LTS3]

Use this chart to find pea-free canned foods: Check This Out.... Chart For Cat Food Ingredients No similar chart exists for dry food so you'll just have to read ingredient labels.

Rawz is one brand that doesn't contain peas. It's expensive, though, and sold only at independent pet stores and a few authorized websites. Natural Pet Food | Rawz It's a pretty bland-ish food that works well for many cats with food sensitivities.

 

[BluOnyx]

Peas and corn can be allergies for cats. One of mine is allergic to chicken and I went through a whole ordeal trying to figure that out. It was a nightmare. It sounds like a pretty severe allergy though. Mine would just get bad diarrhea from chicken and watery eyes.

You have to also consider where the vitamins are being sourced from as well. Not every brand/food uses the same type of vitamins. Some come from whole food items like fish oil while others are synthetic.

My youngest, when he was a kitten, he had bad reactions to a lot of kitten foods after awhile eating them but doesn't have any actual allergy. Come to find out it was the milk added to the kitten formulas causing throwing up, diarrhea, and itching. We decided to just do away with the kitten food and he has not had any issues since. He is over a year now and very healthy.

 

[Babypaws]

sorry in advance for formatting, I’m on mobile.

So basically when we got my boy he was eating kitten chow (protein - chicken) and nothing else. At this point he was having no allergy issues. We wanted to spoil him so we did some research and settled on a limited ingredient, “high end” brand and decided on wellness core kitten food (protein - chicken and turkey) and he loved it. After we started feeding him the dry food he wouldn’t even bother with his fancy feast pate anymore, so we went ahead and got him some wellness kitten pate and he loved that too and all was well for maybe three weeks. We then noticed him itching excessively and specifically, he was developing vertical patches of dry skin and scabs on his back legs. We took him to the vet shortly after and he said it’s pretty common for cats to have allergic reactions like that from certain proteins, and to take him off anything with a bird protein, so he went on some steroids to help give him some relief. The hope was that after he got off the steroid and was fully transitioned to his new food, everything would even out and be good. Unfortunately that’s not how it went. We did exactly what the vet said - we got instinct limited ingredient salmon dry and wet food. We also got him some freeze dried sprat for treats. No more bird of any kind. He LOVED the food but After the first or second serving of his dry food, he started throwing up everything. Even the tiniest amount of the dry food and he would throw it up within minutes. We thought maybe he was eating too fast (it had freeze dried, raw salmon pieces in it)so I bought him a slow feeder, but that didn’t make a difference. He was still throwing up. We thought about it and realized it might have been turkey that was causing him problems, because when he was on the kitten chow, (which was chicken) he had no issues, and it wasn’t until the wellness core (turkey and chicken AND some turkey sticks I was giving as treats) that he started having issues. We made another appointment with the vet right away, and went out and got him some food with just chicken, since fish was a no go and maybe the turkey was a no go. Well after he was done with the first round of steroids, eating the chicken cat food, the patches of dry itchy skin came back on his legs. Back to the vet. He told us the same thing as before and gave us more steroids. We were browsing the foods, checking all the ingredients, and realized all the food we had been giving him EXCEPT for the kitten chow all had PEAS of some sort. Pea protein or dried peas, pea powder... This is something we didn’t know when we were at the vet, so we weren’t able to share this with him and get his opinion. Well, apparently peas are a pretty common allergy for cats. Unfortunately Almost Every single one of the more expensive brands of food have some form of peas. We found 1 food that had no peas but it was chicken, so we took a gamble, against the vets advice. As of right now, he is on the steroid and is healed, but there’s no way to know whether this is ok until he’s done with the treatment, which won’t be for another week. Last time the itchy skin came back pretty much as soon as the steroid was done.

if this doesn’t work idk what to do, I’m at a loss. Anyone have similar issues or have advice? I feel so bad for him because even when we slowly transition him over to a new food he still h

How’s your little boy doing? I hope things have improved for both you and him. It’s so stressful when your pets are sick, you do your best to try and help them.
Prayers go out to you.

 

[Beholder]

Morty is highly allergic to fish, and I suspect turkey and peas too. I've tried so many different foods and the only thing that finally worked for us was preparing the food for him ourselves. If that's an option for you Kiyangoin there are a ton of great resources like felinenutrition.org. For us it ended up cheaper than buying canned food and when you prepare the food yourself, you also eliminate other potential allergens/sensitivities that might not be coming from protein (like certain gums or preservatives). Of course you would want to do the proper research before going that route, but it is a good alternative if you're unable to find a food for him.

 

[FluffySnow]

My cat is also allergic to chicken, not sure about turkey or duck, I will find out later. I went to see the vet, and the vet told me to give her 5mg Zyrtec, and give fish based diet to my cat. I started feeding my cat, Nulo cod recipe with limited ingredients. The scratching has reduced since I changed the diet. Her eyes are not swollened and not losing hair like before.

Then I tried to change the brand to Instinct Original grain free recipe with salmon. I didn't mix well with the previous brand, so my cat ate the bit too much of new food, then she started puking. My previous food was running low, I was only able to mix the two for two days. She was fine eating only the new brand until 10th day, then she started puking again. I had to run a local store to buy a small bag of Nulo cod recipe. Now I mixing these two again, and slowing switching to Instinct brand. I also feed my cat Wellness CORE Grain-Free Salmon, Whitefish & Herring Pate Canned Kitten, and Earthborn Holistic Harbor Harvest. After next month, I plan to feed her beef based diet, after that I will try Instinct limited recipes with rabbit on my cat.
I hope you will find out the foods what your cat is not allergic to. Good Luck!

 

[Babypaws]

I would check out the Earthborn food, recently there was a long list of their food being recalled.

 

[FluffySnow]

I would check out the Earthborn food, recently there was a long list of their food being recalled.

I checked it yesterday. Luckily Earthborn Holistic Harbor Harvest is not on the list. Plus it was made in Thailand.

 

[Babypaws]

 

[Beholder]

My cat is also allergic to chicken, not sure about turkey or duck, I will find out later. I went to see the vet, and the vet told me to give her 5mg Zyrtec, and give fish based diet to my cat. I started feeding my cat, Nulo cod recipe with limited ingredients. The scratching has reduced since I changed the diet. Her eyes are not swollened and not losing hair like before.

Then I tried to change the brand to Instinct Original grain free recipe with salmon. I didn't mix well with the previous brand, so my cat ate the bit too much of new food, then she started puking. My previous food was running low, I was only able to mix the two for two days. She was fine eating only the new brand until 10th day, then she started puking again. I had to run a local store to buy a small bag of Nulo cod recipe. Now I mixing these two again, and slowing switching to Instinct brand. I also feed my cat Wellness CORE Grain-Free Salmon, Whitefish & Herring Pate Canned Kitten, and Earthborn Holistic Harbor Harvest. After next month, I plan to feed her beef based diet, after that I will try Instinct limited recipes with rabbit on my cat.
I hope you will find out the foods what your cat is not allergic to. Good Luck!

Just so you're aware, chicken, fish and beef are the most common allergies in cats, and often when cats develop one allergy they're prone to developing more. Rabbit is a good option, but of course a variety of different proteins is best. I'm shocked that your vet told you to give your cat a fish-based diet. Fish is usually the one protein many of us on here avoid when it comes to both allergies and health.

 

[FluffySnow]

Just so you're aware, chicken, fish and beef are the most common allergies in cats, and often when cats develop one allergy they're prone to developing more. Rabbit is a good option, but of course a variety of different proteins is best. I'm shocked that your vet told you to give your cat a fish-based diet. Fish is usually the one protein many of us on here avoid when it comes to both allergies and health.

My vet did told me that it is common for cats to be allergic to proteins. She told me that there is no quick test to determine what my cat is allergic to, so she told me to put my cat on a food trial. She asked me what I was feeding my cat. I told her I feed her Dr. Elsey's clean protein Chicken Formula and Fancy Feast Tender Feast Variety Canned Kitten Food. Fancy Feast has either chicken or Turkey, so she suggested me to give my cat only a fish-based diet as only protein for four weeks to monitor her allergy. I revisited the vet after 4 weeks, my cat was getting better. She still scratches herself, but not often like before. Since this is my first cat, I don't really know if she is excessively scratching herself or not, at least she is not losing hair behind her ears like before. The Vet checked my cat and told me to put the cat on the same diet for four more weeks. It costed me $55 just to tell me that she needs to be on the same diet for four more weeks, haha. My cat stole a piece of chicken from my plate while I was away for a minute, then she started having an allergic reaction again. In three weeks, I will do another food trial with a beef ingredient. I am hoping she is not allergic to it. Then I will change it with rabbit, pork, lamb, etc. Can't wait to feed her a variety of different proteins.

 

[Beholder]

My vet did told me that it is common for cats to be allergic to proteins. She told me that there is no quick test to determine what my cat is allergic to, so she told me to put my cat on a food trial. She asked me what I was feeding my cat. I told her I feed her Dr. Elsey's clean protein Chicken Formula and Fancy Feast Tender Feast Variety Canned Kitten Food. Fancy Feast has either chicken or Turkey, so she suggested me to give my cat only a fish-based diet as only protein for four weeks to monitor her allergy. I revisited the vet after 4 weeks, my cat was getting better. She still scratches herself, but not often like before. Since this is my first cat, I don't really know if she is excessively scratching herself or not, at least she is not losing hair behind her ears like before. The Vet checked my cat and told me to put the cat on the same diet for four more weeks. It costed me $55 just to tell me that she needs to be on the same diet for four more weeks, haha. My cat stole a piece of chicken from my plate while I was away for a minute, then she started having an allergic reaction again. In three weeks, I will do another food trial with a beef ingredient. I am hoping she is not allergic to it. Then I will change it with rabbit, pork, lamb, etc. Can't wait to feed her a variety of different proteins.

Yes this is true. Cats are usually allergic to a protein in their food, although sometimes they can have reactions to other things like carbs, gums, preservatives etc. She's also correct about the allergy tests. They do exist but they're extremely unreliable, sadly. It would be so much easier if it were as simple as getting a test!

Elimination diets are such a pain. It can take up to 3 months to know for sure what your cat is allergic to, so I'm not surprised she told you to give it another month. I'm shocked you still got charged though. I would think your vet could have just told your that over the phone or in the original consultation. With some cats you can tell immediately if they are allergic to something. My Goose has a beef allergy/sensitivity and he will throw it up immediately after consuming it. Morty on the other hand has been a lot of trouble. It's taken years for us to pin down all of his sensitivities. Usually (but not always) cats become allergic to what they've consumed most in their lives, which is why after the elimination process it's a good idea to feed 3-5 different proteins, so I'm glad you're open to so many!

I'm happy your cat is doing better though. Hopefully chicken is her only allergy

 

[Peachiekitty]

sorry in advance for formatting, I’m on mobile.

So basically when we got my boy he was eating kitten chow (protein - chicken) and nothing else. At this point he was having no allergy issues. We wanted to spoil him so we did some research and settled on a limited ingredient, “high end” brand and decided on wellness core kitten food (protein - chicken and turkey) and he loved it. After we started feeding him the dry food he wouldn’t even bother with his fancy feast pate anymore, so we went ahead and got him some wellness kitten pate and he loved that too and all was well for maybe three weeks. We then noticed him itching excessively and specifically, he was developing vertical patches of dry skin and scabs on his back legs. We took him to the vet shortly after and he said it’s pretty common for cats to have allergic reactions like that from certain proteins, and to take him off anything with a bird protein, so he went on some steroids to help give him some relief. The hope was that after he got off the steroid and was fully transitioned to his new food, everything would even out and be good. Unfortunately that’s not how it went. We did exactly what the vet said - we got instinct limited ingredient salmon dry and wet food. We also got him some freeze dried sprat for treats. No more bird of any kind. He LOVED the food but After the first or second serving of his dry food, he started throwing up everything. Even the tiniest amount of the dry food and he would throw it up within minutes. We thought maybe he was eating too fast (it had freeze dried, raw salmon pieces in it)so I bought him a slow feeder, but that didn’t make a difference. He was still throwing up. We thought about it and realized it might have been turkey that was causing him problems, because when he was on the kitten chow, (which was chicken) he had no issues, and it wasn’t until the wellness core (turkey and chicken AND some turkey sticks I was giving as treats) that he started having issues. We made another appointment with the vet right away, and went out and got him some food with just chicken, since fish was a no go and maybe the turkey was a no go. Well after he was done with the first round of steroids, eating the chicken cat food, the patches of dry itchy skin came back on his legs. Back to the vet. He told us the same thing as before and gave us more steroids. We were browsing the foods, checking all the ingredients, and realized all the food we had been giving him EXCEPT for the kitten chow all had PEAS of some sort. Pea protein or dried peas, pea powder... This is something we didn’t know when we were at the vet, so we weren’t able to share this with him and get his opinion. Well, apparently peas are a pretty common allergy for cats. Unfortunately Almost Every single one of the more expensive brands of food have some form of peas. We found 1 food that had no peas but it was chicken, so we took a gamble, against the vets advice. As of right now, he is on the steroid and is healed, but there’s no way to know whether this is ok until he’s done with the treatment, which won’t be for another week. Last time the itchy skin came back pretty much as soon as the steroid was done.

if this doesn’t work idk what to do, I’m at a loss. Anyone have similar issues or have advice? I feel so bad for him because even when we slowly transition him over to a new food he still h

Hello have you had any luck? I’m going through the same thing with my girl.

 

[Kiyangoin]

Hello have you had any luck? I’m going through the same thing with my girl.

we switched him to weruva and now we’re planning another switch to get away from fish. Meanwhile I just spent about 40$ On this canned food on the boy hoping petco will let me go in and exchange without a receipt. We haven’t seen the dry patches of skin yet but he just finished his last round of steroids not long ago so it’s kinda soon to tell.

 

[Peachiekitty]

we switched him to weruva and now we’re planning another switch to get away from fish. Meanwhile I just spent about 40$ On this canned food on the boy hoping petco will let me go in and exchange without a receipt. We haven’t seen the dry patches of skin yet but he just finished his last round of steroids not long ago so it’s kinda soon to tell.

Oh I have quite the stack of foods that didn’t work out. I need to donate it because I’ll never make it into town to return it or it came from Chewy. Keep me updated on your kitty! I’m hoping he doesn’t have any reoccurrence!

 

[Beholder]

Oh I have quite the stack of foods that didn’t work out. I need to donate it because I’ll never make it into town to return it or it came from Chewy. Keep me updated on your kitty! I’m hoping he doesn’t have any reoccurrence!

Chewy lets you do returns months after you ordered and for any reason you like. You just have to put it in a box and drop it off at a fedex location (or they can come to you) and returns are free. It can even be half a case of food so long as you say your cat didn't like it or had a reaction.

Also, with Petco Kiyangoin if you used a rewards phone number you don't need the receipt. Also sometimes they'll return it if you can just provide proof of payment (like a bank statement).

 

[shmecky]

I'm so glad I found this thread!!! My girl is soooo itchy! I took the vet's advice and bought the rabbit presciption cat food. Fed exclusively rabbit for more than 8 weeks with no improvement. I cross checked the ingredients on her food before the elimination diet and the current diet. It's PEAS!!!! Peas is the number 1 ingredient on the prescription diet, too! What in the world... So... Now on the hunt to find kibble without peas that both my cats will eat, but also no chicken or fish, until I know for sure that it's the peas. I bought Nature's logic rabbit, but they don't like it, exchanging it for turkey. My allergic cat has been eating PureVita in duck and for the first time today, no runny poop! I have also been feeding them Primal freeze dried cubes in rabbit, rehydrated and I've found some wet foods with no peas, just for variety. Made by Nacho in turkey, I and Love and You in rabbit and turkey, Nature's logic has some wet foods I might try too. This has been so hard on her. She hates when I apply any medicine, it seems to make her mad so she tears up her ear and feet even more. Fingers crossed that it's just the peas!