Civvie allergic to Friskies??

[lmcfrld]

I switched both my cats, one diabetic, one civvie, both 12 yrs old, both lifelong dry food eaters, to wet food recently. I first started at the beginning of November with a prescription of Purina DM, both wet and dry. Then after finding this website, completely switched to Friskies Pate about 3-4 weeks ago. About the same time, my civvie cat Simka developed a pink patch on his lower lip. At first I thought it was a bald spot, and kept an eye on it for a few weeks, without it changing much. Then in the last week or so, it's swollen and gotten quite pink. I took him to the vet today, she thinks it's probably an allergic reaction to the food. Is this common? Anyone else have this happen with their kitties? She gave him a steroid shot, and told me to call her in a couple days to see if it's better.

 

[BJM]

Common allegens may include wheat, gluten, rice, corn, beef, pork. Anything can be an allergen.

Are you rotating flavors of Friskies, or sticking with just 1?

You might try sticking with just 1 flavor for about 6 weeks with a novel (never eaten) protein such as a duck & pea on the low carb list and see if symptoms change.

And watch for fallout from the steroid shot - it can trigger diabetes.

 

[Julia & Bandit (GA)]

Friskies does contain some rice, which could be the allergen in question. But, other common allergens (such as fish or beef) could also be the problem. I would recommend trying a food without either for a bit (Wellness Turkey comes in big 12 oz cans which makes it pretty affordable, and EVO also comes in big 13 oz cans) and see if it clears up. Once it does, you could try reintroducing a food with byproducts (which often include fish and beef) but without rice, and see what happens. Special Kitty (Walmart) and Grreat Choice (Petsmart) both have pate foods that are exactly the same as Friskies (but cheaper) without the rice.

Usually reactions to these foods present themselves as intolerances (GI upset) rather than allergens that cause physical sores. What type of dishes are you feeding/watering from? Another common cause of these problems (feline acne) are plastic food/water dishes. You can switch to stainless steel or ceramic and also try to eliminate that aspect. Coincidences do happen--it may not necessarily be the food.

 

[Hillary & Maui (GA)]

I was going to ask about food/water dishes you are using.

in addition to what Julia suggested about dishes you can also try paper or glass. I went to bed bath beyond and bought their set of glass salad bowls that are wide and shallow enough for food.

 

[lmcfrld]

I use ceramic dishes, not plastic, so I know that's not the culprit. I bought a 4 flavor pack of Friskies at costco, and have been rotating the 4 flavors (mixed grill, turkey giblets, whitefish/tuna, and salmon. The last week or so I've been limiting the fish varieties to 1-2x a week, since I learned that it's not good to feed fish too frequently. I'll try some of the Special Kitty varieties and see if that makes a difference.
Thanks so much for your help!