Question about food allergies, Lucas is sick again:(

[momto4kitties]

hello everyone:

Sorry i haven't been here for the last couple of months, loosing my Baddy was hard and now I have more problems. AS most of you know Lucas was diagnosed with discoid Lupus like two years ago. he has been on prednisolone for two years now. Well, I changed vets because I wasn't really convinced Lucas really had Lupus (he diagnosed him based on symptoms only) , so the new vet told me what Lucas has seems more like allergies. he thinks Lucas is allergic to food.

So, Lucas is now eating Hills Hypoallergenic dry food. The vet told me I had to be patient because it takes like two months for the food to work because he still has the other food protein in his body. It has been only two weeks, but I wish I could see a change in him, I see no change. Lucas is scratching all over, his belly, ears, legs, face , neck, he looks awful!He is always indoors , but he looks like a cat from the streets. I was goping to take a picture of him, but I couldn't he looks so bad, my poor baby

he also has a fever, and since the vet doesn't work sundays I gave him 5mg of prednisolone instead of 2.5 to see it I could lower his temperature and it worked.

We have ruled out flea allergies, he doesn't have fleas or any other parasite. I stopped using perfumes and other chemical products just in case, I don't use Lysol anymore, I use a natural cleaner now.

I just wanted to ask, if someone has had a cat with food allergies, how long did it take for the hypoallergenic diet to work? I"m desperate, I'm even thinking of going back to the vet tomorrow.

Please help.

Tamar

 

[carolina]

Hi

Poor Lucas... Are you talking about Hills Z/D? Because Z/D dry has Rice, and it is actually a low allergenic food, not a completely hypoallergenic food...
Alison Joy has a kitty, Finn, with a similar problem, and he is doing great on Royal Canin HP - it is the same food I have been feeding my crew. I feed HP dry and ZD wet, making it truly hypoallergenic... I am not sure if this is available there?
Hope this helps!

 

[momto4kitties]

Hi carolina:

I really appreciate your help. OMG it is true, my cat is taking Z/D and it is low allergen, it is not hypoallergenic. The Royal canin hypoallergenic is available, but my vet doesn't sell it, he only sells Hills. I will go check at the other vet clinic to buy that one. You have been so helpful, I"m so desperate! Tahnk you!

Tamar

 

[momto4kitties]

I was just checking and comparing ingredients and both Hills Z/D and Royal canin hypoallergenic have rice as an ingredient. I will give Lucas the Hills food and once he finished the bag I will buy Royal canin.

 

[carolina]

You know what? You are absolutely right! It does have rice!

I wonder why one is called Hypoallergenic (RC HP) and Hills is called Low Allergen? Not sure.... I hope one of them works for you... I am not aware of another one with hydrolyzed protein...

 

[momto4kitties]

They both have rice but the pint you make makes perfect sense, I think the right thing for me to do is feed Lucas the Royal canin because that one is Hypoallergenic, the other one is low allergen and that is not good enough, I will feel better giving him the RC.

I thank you so much for your help

 

[minka]

I can't link you to this because it's from another forum, but here's the quote:

The Little Big Cat Journal arrived in my inbox this morning and they must have been reading my mind because they had some information about hypoallergenic diets:

"Hypoallergenic" diets -- aren't! A study published in February analyzed eight different dry dog foods to see exactly what protein ingredients were present. Four "control" diets (Royal Canin Venison and Potato; Del Monte Wholesome Medley; Science Diet Adult Advanced Fitness; and Good Recipe Petcare Good Life Recipe) and four over-the-counter "hypoallergenic" diets (Eukanuba Naturally Wild New Zealand Venison & Potato; Natural Balance Limited Ingredient Diet Sweet Potato and Venison; Nature's Variety Prairie New Zealand Venison Meal and Millet Medley, and Wellness Simple Food Solutions Rice & Venison) were assayed for soy, beef, and poultry proteins. Amazingly, only THREE of the eight tested diets matched what was on the label. Claimed proteins were absent, and unlisted proteins were present, in the other five foods. Of the "hypoallergenic" diets, only Royal Canin, Natural Balance, and Wellness were free of contamination by beef or poultry proteins. The Nature's Variety food also did not contain any poultry, even though the label listed chicken livers. Bottom line: labels lie. If you need to do a strict diet trial for suspected food allergies, making the food yourself is the only completely reliable way to prevent contamination.

Basically I wouldn't trust Hills with anything because they advertise as being so good, yet have such low quality ingredients in their foods. And now apparently not even the ones that are listed.

Hypoallergenic foods are foods that don't have the 'typical' ingredients in them. Chicken, beef, turkey, rice, and corn are 'typical' ingredients.
The reason they don't have those ingredients is because most foods have those ingredients and it is hoped that by removing all of them, the pet's allergies will go away.
Since the Hills food you are feeding is not necessarily 100% 'typical' ingredient free, it may or may not help your kitty, but if it was me, I would throw it all out and try something else.
Whether it be Royal Canin or Natural Balance, its up to you, but I think a switch to either will be most helpful. Or like the article said, if you have the time, switch to a raw diet.

 

[momto4kitties]

Thank you, that was very interesting. I know Hills food is not good quality, that is why I'm so worried. I wish I could get Natural balance, but they don't sell it here in PR, the only choice I have is to buy Royal Canin.

I wish I could switch to home made food or rwa, but I've tried and Lucas won't touch it. BUt if nothing else works I will have to keep trying, I can't let him be sick forever.


Thank you so much for the info

Tamar

 

[AbbysMom]

You may want to look into the Royal Canin Limited Ingredient diets:

http://products.royalcanin.us/produc...n-formula.aspx

They come in Venison, Rabbit and Duck. This is what my allergic cat eats.

 

[momto4kitties]

Oh Yes, I wanted to get some of those, but sadly, they don't sell them here in Puerto Rico, I don't have that many options and when I try to buy them online, they don't ship them to PR , I don't kno why.

I was wondering, how long did it take for your allergic kitties to get better once you changed to hypoallergenic food? Lucas doesn't seem to be getting better and I"m getting so worried.

 

[carolina]

Originally Posted by Momto4kitties

Oh Yes, I wanted to get some of those, but sadly, they don't sell them here in Puerto Rico, I don't have that many options and when I try to buy them online, they don't ship them to PR , I don't kno why.

I was wondering, how long did it take for your allergic kitties to get better once you changed to hypoallergenic food? Lucas doesn't seem to be getting better and I"m getting so worried.

If Lucas is not getting better on Hills, I would switch him to Royal Canin HP now instead of waiting for the end of the bag.
It does take a little while for the toxins to leave the body completely, but you should start seeing improvements soon after he starts on the new diet...
IMHO Hills diets do serve a purpose, and I do feed Z/D wet for my 2 that can't eat anything else (along with HP dry). I would not feed Science Diet, but Hills has foods that really works... The key is having a food that works for your cat

Also, there is a difference in Hypoallergenic diets and food for cats with allergies going under an elimination diets - the later are usually Novel protein diets, such as venison, duck, rabbit and so forth. It can also be single protein/single starch - such as salmon and green pea, chicken and green pea.
The difference is that a Hypoallergenic Diet has hydrolyzed proteins that are not recognized by the body as such, so the cat doesn't have a reaction to it.
In an elimination diet you are eliminating the proteins and allergens your cat can have had in the past and putting it on something new, as it is probably sensitive to one protein or allergen contained in the present food. Then you start building the diet back on until you find the culprit.

In an Hypoallergenic Diet, you are going all the way - removing all the possibilities.

Z/D wet is a Hypoallergenic Diet, Royal Canin HP Dry is a Hypoallergenic Diet.
Z/D Dry is a low allergen diet.
That is not to say that the elimination diets don't work for allergies - they do, as long as your cat is not allergic to that ingredient, of course...
Bugsy for example is allergic to Chicken and can not eat the Duck version from Royal Canin or New Balance.
Hope.... forget it - she can only handle Z/D or HP.

 

[momto4kitties]

Hi carolina, I didn't know Hills z'd was Hypoallergenic I thought it was low allergen like the dry. That is wonderful to know. I have to order some cans and I will go buy the Royal Canin hypoallergenic on Thursday, I made some calls and I found a vet who will order it for me.

Tahnks for all your help, you've been great.

I hope Royal canin helos Lucas, he was a little better yesterday and today he is all red again and scratching like crazy. Tomorrow will be three weeks since he started hills z/d and I was hoping to see a little improvement, but i haven't. I'm hopefull RC will help

 

[carolina]

Originally Posted by Momto4kitties

Hi carolina, I didn't know Hills z'd was Hypoallergenic I thought it was low allergen like the dry. That is wonderful to know. I have to order some cans and I will go buy the Royal Canin hypoallergenic on Thursday, I made some calls and I found a vet who will order it for me.

Tahnks for all your help, you've been great.

I hope Royal canin helos Lucas, he was a little better yesterday and today he is all red again and scratching like crazy. Tomorrow will be three weeks since he started hills z/d and I was hoping to see a little improvement, but i haven't. I'm hopefull RC will help

Glad to help!

Yes, the wet Z/D is "Ultra allergen-free", while the dry is only low allergen.
Royal canin Hypoallergenic HP is... well... hypoallergenic

That's the combo I use, and Alison Joy, who has a kitty who scratches himself uses the same combo successfully as well - you can PM her if you have questions

Tons and tons of vibes for your little Lucas :vi bes:

 

[minka]

Originally Posted by Carolina

Also, there is a difference in Hypoallergenic diets and food for cats with allergies going under an elimination diets - the later are usually Novel protein diets, such as venison, duck, rabbit and so forth. It can also be single protein/single starch - such as salmon and green pea, chicken and green pea.
The difference is that a Hypoallergenic Diet has hydrolyzed proteins that are not recognized by the body as such, so the cat doesn't have a reaction to it.
In an elimination diet you are eliminating the proteins and allergens your cat can have had in the past and putting it on something new, as it is probably sensitive to one protein or allergen contained in the present food. Then you start building the diet back on until you find the culprit.

Oops, yes, I forgot about this. I must have been tired when I wrote that post. xD
Either way though, I don't trust Hills hypo-diets because like the study showed, the Hills diet contained proteins that the label said it didn't.

 

[momto4kitties]

Everybody who posted has helped me so much, I want to thank you all so much. I"m feeling a lot better now that I know what food is better for Lucas. I'm getting RC hypoallergenic and I also ordered cans of Hills z/d, now I feel like I'm doing what's best for Lucas, I will keep you all posted on how he does with his new food.

HUgs to all

 

[carolina]

Originally Posted by Minka

Oops, yes, I forgot about this. I must have been tired when I wrote that post. xD
Either way though, I don't trust Hills hypo-diets because like the study showed, the Hills diet contained proteins that the label said it didn't.

I see no Hills on the Study - I see Science Diet (and not an Allergenic one for that matter - it cites "Science Diet Adult Advanced Fitness"), but not Hills. Science Diet and Hills are not the same thing and not to be confused. SD is over the counter and Hills is prescription - two different things, two completely different quality controls. Science diet does not use hydrolyzed proteins which is what Hills does.

 

[minka]

Originally Posted by Carolina

I see no Hills on the Study - I see Science Diet (and not an Allergenic one for that matter - it cites "Science Diet Adult Advanced Fitness"), but not Hills. Science Diet and Hills are not the same thing and not to be confused. SD is over the counter and Hills is prescription - two different things, two completely different quality controls. Science diet does not use hydrolyzed proteins which is what Hills does.

Both are made by the company Hills however, and there should be no digression in quality control between one and the other. If you are going to let the wrong meats slip into one, its going to happen to the other. If you put poisonous menadione in one, it could slip into another.
Quality of ingredients in terms of one has by-products and the other doesn't, yes I can see that, but letting things slip in? No.
Also the one that they showed was supposed to be a type of low-allergen, non-typical meat type of food, and yet there were other ingredients in there.

 

[momto4kitties]

Since I've read all your coments, I have no trust in Science diet or Hills

Lucas has been on hills LOw allergen for three weeks and he doesn't look better, the vet should have told me to buy a real hypoallergenic food, no low allergen food, I feel like I wasted my time and money and Lucas has suffered , which is the worst part. ut I guess the vet just wants me to buy what he sells, I should have been more careful and I should have asked this question here before buying the food.

 

[goingpostal]

Yes, sadly a lot of vets don't know much about nutrition and push whatever they've been taught to, my kitty went through years of SD kibble on vet recommendation and doing poorly the whole time until I wised up and got her onto wet grain free food that she thrives on. It sounds to me like both the vets your cat has seen are just guessing as to what the problem is. I hope it gets figured out and he sees some improvement.

 

[minka]

While it costs around $200 (at least thats what I found online), I would recommend getting an allergy test done for your cat. It will tell you Exactly what he is and isn't allergic too, and then all you have to do is find a food that doesn't have those ingredients.

This website says for allergies, you need to test the new food for twelve weeks, but also that cats develop allergies to the foods they are most frequently fed. http://www.peteducation.com/article....1+1332&aid=142