1/3, Pookey, AMPS 106, +3 73, +4 80, PMPS 85, +2 92, +4 95

[Tim & Pookey]

Hi all,

Yesterday’s post:
https://felinediabetes.com/FDMB/thr...2-6-86-pmps-95-3-95-5-94.297102/#post-3233543

No vomit yesterday so that’s good.

Does anyone have any resources on food intolerances/allergies?

I’ve noticed he is eating the hair off his front paws. And more scratching and grooming around his face and a couple seemingly itchy parts of his body. Then some aggression this morning with Katie when she went to pick him up for his shot…

Forgive me, I know this isn’t FD specific really, but I value the advice and experience that you all have.

Have a great day! - Tim

 

[Bandit's Mom]

Does anyone have any resources on food intolerances/allergies?

I’ve noticed he is eating the hair off his front paws. And more scratching and grooming around his face and a couple seemingly itchy parts of his body. Then some aggression this morning with Katie when she went to pick him up for his shot…

I believe chicken is a common allergen. I will tag @tiffmaxee who has experience with food allergies and EGC.
@Angela & Cleo do you also have experience with them?

 

[tiffmaxee]

Food allergies are tough to crack but easier if you have proteins to feed never fed before. Chicken is a common allergen because it’s in so many foods. Try picking a protein never eaten before and feed only that for at least a month. You need to read labels because chicken is often in foods where the name on the front says duck or salmon. My cat has both food allergies and environmental ones I think. For scratching I give her 1/2 a Zyrtec regular strength every 24 hours.

 

[Tim & Pookey]

Food allergies are tough to crack but easier if you have proteins to feed never fed before. Chicken is a common allergen because it’s in so many foods. Try picking a protein never eaten before and feed only that for at least a month. You need to read labels because chicken is often in foods where the name on the front says duck or salmon. My cat has both food allergies and environmental ones I think. For scratching I give her 1/2 a Zyrtec regular strength every 24 hours.

Thank you Elise! It looks like beef and fish are also common problem proteins. Some of the FF pates have fish as a lesser ingredient, and I’ve been feeding the beef flavor as well.

Do you think it’s wise to jump to a completely new protein? Or try avoiding beef/fish first? Gosh… what a mystery this is going to be.

 

[cecile & bella]

I think @Staci & Ivy has experience with allergies as well.
I give Bella 1/2 Zyrtec a day when she scratches too much too, for her we eliminated fish and it seemed to help with that.
I am glad the vomiting stopped.
have a good day!

 

[Staci & Ivy]

I think @Staci & Ivy has experience with allergies as well.
I give Bella 1/2 Zyrtec a day when she scratches too much too, for her we eliminated fish and it seemed to help with that.
I am glad the vomiting stopped.
have a good day!

I actually don’t really have experience with allergies. But I do feel a novel protein, which Numerous years ago they felt Ivy may have some IBD issues, so they put her on a novel protein.
At the time it was salmon and chicken and then maybe about three years ago we switched her over to lamb since that had been a novel protein for her. She seems to do well with it.
I know some people have used duck, rabbit or even more exotic things.
Hopefully Pookie won’t need to resort to all that.
Beautiful curve, Tim!

 

[tiffmaxee]

Thank you Elise! It looks like beef and fish are also common problem proteins. Some of the FF pates have fish as a lesser ingredient, and I’ve been feeding the beef flavor as well.

Do you think it’s wise to jump to a completely new protein? Or try avoiding beef/fish first? Gosh… what a mystery this is going to be.

You could eliminate fish and beef and see first. Are you feeding chicken as well? Fish is definitely on the list of common allergies for sure. Lamb is also but my skin allergy cat did well on it. My other cat got horribly sick with maybe IBD when I tried to feed her lamb and beef like her sister was getting. I was hoping to feed both the same. Some have luck with hydrolyzed protein if they will eat it.

 

[Tim & Pookey]

Thank you @cecile & bella and @Staci & Ivy. I’ll start researching novel proteins. I just don’t want to risk any other complications or his BG progress if I don’t have to.

 

[Tim & Pookey]

You could eliminate fish and beef and see first. Are you feeding chicken as well? Fish is definitely on the list of common allergies for sure. Lamb is also but my skin allergy cat did well on it. My other cat got horribly sick with maybe IBD when I tried to feed her lamb and beef like her sister was getting. I was hoping to feed both the same. Some have luck with hydrolyzed protein if they will eat it.

Yes, he gets mainly chicken right now with others mixed in occasionally.

But - almost all the FF flavors have fish as a lesser ingredient, even the “classic chicken”… there is one flavor called chopped grill feast that does not have the fish, only chicken.

I need to go look at what was in his old dry food before diabetes…

Edit: The old dry food had everything under the sun in it.

 

[Karolina & Nestle]

Another beautiful cycle for our superstar Pookey!

I hope you can get some answers soon as to why he's vomiting and scratching more. Good luck!

 

[Karen and Chispa (GA)]

Chispa has food allergies, especially to chicken, which used to be her favorite. It's a tough allergen to navigate around because it's everywhere -- even in the Pill Pockets that I used to use to hide her meds. I finally found Buddy Biscuits, which are soft treats that you can wrap around a pill. The tuna flavor is chicken-free.

I'll also say that she compulsively licked her fur off for YEARS while we tried everything under the sun: Novel proteins, dermal sprays, various supplements, Feliway in case it was stress-related, two rounds of allergy testing, even an animal communicator/pet psychic to find out what was bugging her. Nothing really helped, and meanwhile she walked around with a mohawk because the only place she couldn't reach was the top of her back. Finally the vet agreed to try prednisolone, and that was the miracle cure. She's been fine ever since.

I hope you can solve the mystery of Pookey's itchiness without having to go through all that!

 

[Heike & BInie]

Hi Tim, glad the vomiting stopped. Sorry, you might have to deal with an allergy. You could also post in the main forum for more attention. I hope you get some useful ideas!

 

[Tim & Pookey]

Chispa has food allergies, especially to chicken, which used to be her favorite. It's a tough allergen to navigate around because it's everywhere -- even in the Pill Pockets that I used to use to hide her meds. I finally found Buddy Biscuits, which are soft treats that you can wrap around a pill. The tuna flavor is chicken-free.

I'll also say that she compulsively licked her fur off for YEARS while we tried everything under the sun: Novel proteins, dermal sprays, various supplements, Feliway in case it was stress-related, two rounds of allergy testing, even an animal communicator/pet psychic to find out what was bugging her. Nothing really helped, and meanwhile she walked around with a mohawk because the only place she couldn't reach was the top of her back. Finally the vet agreed to try prednisolone, and that was the miracle cure. She's been fine ever since.

I hope you can solve the mystery of Pookey's itchiness without having to go through all that!

Thanks for sharing Karen! That’s quite a journey you guys were on! I hope so too, that sounds daunting.

 

[Tim & Pookey]

Hi Tim, glad the vomiting stopped. Sorry, you might have to deal with an allergy. You could also post in the main forum for more attention. I hope you get some useful ideas!

Thank you Heike. I’ve gotten some great feedback, but it sounds like it’s going to be something we have to work on for a while. Hope you’re having a nice day.

 

[cecile & bella]

If you decide to try to avoid fish, Tiki Cat has lots of options without fish. I had a hard time finding food with no fish, I spent hours looking at ingredients!
bella too would lick herself until she was bald, she spent several summers with a bare belly, she would start licking again as soon as the hair grew back. We went with raw food and it improved immediately. I am lucky to have a place here that makes raw food with very minimal ingredients, I buy it frozen, and we can choose the meat.

 

[Tim & Pookey]

If you decide to try to avoid fish, Tiki Cat has lots of options without fish. I had a hard time finding food with no fish, I spent hours looking at ingredients!
bella too would lick herself until she was bald, she spent several summers with a bare belly, she would start licking again as soon as the hair grew back. We went with raw food and it improved immediately. I am lucky to have a place here that makes raw food with very minimal ingredients, I buy it frozen, and we can choose the meat.

Oh no! Sorry you had to deal with the licking too. But - it does give me hope that I’m not alone with this. Thanks for the tips about the food I’ll do some reading

 

[cecile & bella]

It was a long time ago, I think the last time was the summer of 2022.

 

[Mary & Jude]

Jude had problems with licking, too. And before he was diagnosed with FD, he'd get hot spots (where he had licked his skin raw), which we treated with an occasional steroid shot; of course we know now wasn't a good idea since he eventually developed FD after one of those shots. I'm not at all sure how this has cleared up for him, except that we went low carb, and it's possible that might have been the allergy for him. I believe that you can have cats tested for allergies. I've never looked into this myself, and it might even be cost prohibitive, but I've heard of people doing it.

 

[Tim & Pookey]

Jude had problems with licking, too. And before he was diagnosed with FD, he'd get hot spots (where he had licked his skin raw), which we treated with an occasional steroid shot; of course we know now wasn't a good idea since he eventually developed FD after one of those shots. I'm not at all sure how this has cleared up for him, except that we went low carb, and it's possible that might have been the allergy for him. I believe that you can have cats tested for allergies. I've never looked into this myself, and it might even be cost prohibitive, but I've heard of people doing it.

Thanks Marielle! So when you switched to LC, the licking went away? I seem to have the opposite going on. What food was he on pre-FD?

 

[Mary & Jude]

Before his diagnosis, he ate Purina Pro Plan Essentials--mainly the chicken or turkey--but sometimes he ate a fish option as well. And he received a little kibble each evening--I think it was Royal Canin. On his LC diet, he eats the FF classic pates (chicken, turkey, beef) and Tiki After Dark pates (which are all no-fish options). As I'm looking at these, I'm noticing that there is no fish in the mix. Perhaps that is what did it for Jude; I'm not sure. (Just talking about this...I feel I need to do some sort of a juju incantation or burn a candle or something to ward off returning home to see him suddenly licking again.)

 

[Tim & Pookey]

Before his diagnosis, he ate Purina Pro Plan Essentials--mainly the chicken or turkey--but sometimes he ate a fish option as well. And he received a little kibble each evening--I think it was Royal Canin. On his LC diet, he eats the FF classic pates (chicken, turkey, beef) and Tiki After Dark pates (which are all no-fish options). As I'm looking at these, I'm noticing that there is no fish in the mix. Perhaps that is what did it for Jude; I'm not sure. (Just talking about this...I feel I need to do some sort of a juju incantation or burn a candle or something to ward off returning home to see him suddenly licking again.)

We should stop talking about it, I’m convinced the cats read here lol. Some of the FF classic pates do have fish lower down the ingredient list which I learned today.

 

[Diane Tyler's Mom GA]

Nice numbers Tim. I hope you can find other food that will stop Pookey from scratching and grooming so much

 

[Mary & Jude]

Yes, he gets mainly chicken right now with others mixed in occasionally.

But - almost all the FF flavors have fish as a lesser ingredient, even the “classic chicken”… there is one flavor called chopped grill feast that does not have the fish, only chicken.

I need to go look at what was in his old dry food before diabetes…

Edit: The old dry food had everything under the sun in it.

Did he get mainly chicken before?

 

[Tim & Pookey]

Did he get mainly chicken before?

He was raised on Meow Mix dry which has all sorts of proteins. So it’s hard to say. I’m hoping the problem isn’t chicken.

 

[Tim & Pookey]

Nice numbers Tim. I hope you can find other food that will stop Pookey from scratching and grooming so much

Thanks Diane we might investigate some other brands too.

 

[Mary & Jude]

He was raised on Meow Mix dry () which has all sorts of proteins. So it’s hard to say. I’m hoping the problem isn’t chicken.

The fact that he's eating mostly chicken now would make it easy to eliminate that protein to see if that's the culprit.

Whatever happens, I just hope you're able to get to the bottom of it so that the irritation will stop!

 

[Jason - Kona's Dad]

For my Cleo (Kona's sister), when she has issues, I move to the same, chicken-only food and cut out the fish based foods...

My vet also recommended 1mg of chlorpheniramine maleate (over-the-counter antihistamine) crushed up and mix with food. I've tried this, but think food is the underlying issue, not my house or environmental culprits.

Kona eats everything and never has any issues, which I'm so grateful for as I need various foods to keep her enticed and all their varying carb levels.

Cleo's allergies issues come and go... they seem to flare back up when I'm giving her the extra foods Kona doesn't need at the time and I don't want them to go bad.

 

[Tim & Pookey]

For my Cleo (Kona's sister), when she has issues, I move to the same, chicken-only food and cut out the fish based foods...

My vet also recommended 1mg of chlorpheniramine maleate (over-the-counter antihistamine) crushed up and mix with food. I've tried this, but think food is the underlying issue, not my house or environmental culprits.

Kona eats everything and never has any issues, which I'm so grateful for as I need various foods to keep her enticed and all their varying carb levels.

Cleo's allergies issues come and go... they seem to flare back up when I'm giving her the extra foods Kona doesn't need at the time and I don't want them to go bad.

Interesting! Thanks Jason. I was actually looking through your old posts today as I was doing a deep dive on Weruva. Their “Paw Lickin’ Chicken” doesn’t have a fish ingredient, and the added benefit of lower phosphorus which might be good to get out in front of.

 

[Jason - Kona's Dad]

Interesting! Thanks Jason. I was actually looking through your old posts today as I was doing a deep dive on Weruva. Their “Paw Lickin’ Chicken” doesn’t have a fish ingredient, and the added benefit of lower phosphorus which might be good to get out in front of.

I only recently been trying the Paw Licking Chicken because it was on sale.

These are the foods that we’ve been doing for years… the Wx line is supposed to be one of the best for low phos. They are NO carb at all, so you gotta be careful if you need carbs. We rotate probably 10 different foods, it’s ridiculous, Kona begs for me to add toppers and “sup up” her meals, she’s annoying.

I ONLY buy foods when there is a killer deal, then I stock up! Especially when Chewy has the buy $100, get $30 gift card.