Food for diabetic with allergies

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mislissa777

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Hi!
Just a quick refresher on Trina......she's been diabetic for 6 years, diet was Purina DM dry & wet. For all those years she ate alot more dry than wet. Mid January of this year I've stopped the dry & switched to giving her about 20 kernels a day of Innova EVO. I've increased her wet alot. I've been adding some Fancy Feast classic chicken to get her to eat more wet. Trina was hyperthyroid, had I-131 radioiodine done at Thanksgiving & is now hypothyroid. She started the supplement Levothyroxine on Feb. 4, we are still working on getting her thyroid regulated. Trina started itching around Oct. 2009. Got very bad by March 2010 & she had caused sores & bleeding in the area between her ears & eyes. We thought it was the tapazole med. she was taking for hyperthyroid causing the itching......but she's been off of that since Thanksgiving & is still itching :-( So in March 2010 the vet put her on antihistamine & she still itched a little but it stopped her from causing damage until Aug. 2011. She has been wearing an ecollar since Aug. 2011. Uugh... poor baby. I went to a dermatologist yesterday & really wasn't told anything I didn't already know (sigh). She started her on a different antihistamine to see if that will make a difference & suggested Royal Canin Green Pea & Rabbit. I checked on the food charts & it's hgher in carbs than her DM wet food. I"m really worried about giving her food higher in carbs....how much will that increase the insulin dosage?? I don't even know if she would eat it either. I was really hoping that by stopping the Purina DM dry that would cease the itching because the ingredients in that have corn & soy & I was wondering if she was allergic to that but she's still itching & causing damage when I take her ecollar off to give her breaks.
Has anyone used the Green pea & rabbit food & are there any other options for diabetics with allergies to try?
The dermatologist also told me if I do a food elimination diet that I'd have to stop giving fish oil (which I just started giving her in Jan. 2012) & I would have to stop using pill pockets for her thyroid supplement & antihistamine she's taking now. Which I am not happy about, I don't pill cats well & she loves her Pill Pockets. She said there is a duck pill pocket but doesn't recommend that in case it was in contact with the other pill pockets during manufacturing. I don't know! It may not even be a food allergy....could be inhalant. Or both! But I"m getting desperate & would like to get her out of the ecollar so I"d like to try a food elimination diet. I"ve racked my brain trying to figure out what she could have developed an allergy to!!!
Dermatologist also mentioned possibly trying Atopic for cats, has anyone used that? She said bloodwork was an option too but alot of times it is not helpful in showing an allergy in cats.
Thank you! Missy & Trina
 
While both of my diabetics are allergy free I do have a civie that has bad food allergies, he would literally tear his face apart he would itch so bad. We tried everything at first with him. What we finally discovered with him was that he had two big allergens. Grains and beef, first just removing the dry helped alot but then I realized he was still getting itchy every so often so started watching the canned food labels to see what ingredients the stuff that made him itchy had in common, and was also surprised at how many canned foods also had grains in them. It came down to that he would be fine as long as the food didn't contain beef, wheat, or corn, he is fine on rice and soy as long as it was very low on the list.

It takes some trial and error or at least it did on our part but by watching labels and looking for common ingredients we were able to eventually wean him off the pred and he has been itch free ever since

Hope you find what works for Trina, I know how hard it is to watch them claw themselves apart and feel helpless to stop it.

The other trick I have found for giving pills without the pill pockets that doesn't effect either of my diabetics BGs is fat-free cream cheese, they love it and it is very low carb.

Mel, Maxwell, Musette and the Fur Gang
 
Wow, that is great that you figured out beef, wheat & corn were causing him to itch!! I am really disappointed that by removing the corn & soy it has not made a difference. I thought for sure that would be it since she ate Purina dry for such a long time. And her canned food has chicken by products, meat by products & salmon in it. I'm not sure what to try removing first. I guess I should find wet food that only contains 1 meat ingredient. I'm guessing meat by products would be beef so maybe I'll start with not giving food with meat by products. Then maybe I'll try eliminating fish. I don't know.....this is tricky but I have to figure something out. Thank you very much for the tip about cream cheese too. If I do end up having to stop the pill pox that could be an option. I just put a tiny dab of cream cheese on a dish & she ate it!! Thanks!
 
I was looking around at the food charts & I might try the Natures Variety Instinct canned rabbit, lamb or duck. It would be lower carbs that the Royal Canin rabbit & green pea. I was thinking maybe instead of just stopping beef right now I should stop chicken too since that is a major ingred. in the food she's been eating for year. I don't know! I'm just really confused as to which route to go next to try to figure out this allergy!!! (With my luck food change won't make any difference & it will be an inhalant allergy!)
 
Hi. :) Love yer name, thats my name too. hehe. :D

Sorry to hear bout all the kitty problems. :/ I was wondering have you tried giving her Human food to see how she reacts? Like just a plain piece of steak that night for dinner (enough for a reaction or meal whatever) then another piece of meat like chicken the next day... or something like that to make it a little sweet and simple for ya. hehe :smile:
 
My boy has food allergies and he's diabetic. I give him raw chicken. He has bouts of unwellness which high powered cat vet believes is pancreatitis so we give him a few pieces of special dry on every meal of breast chicken (free-range) - the dry is Royal Canin Gastro Intestinal which is predigested. He doesnt' eat much of it but likes it put on. Waits till it's there if I don't put it on then leaves most of it on the plate. I think he's slightly allergic to the dry but it's the best diet so far. He has dandruff on his lower back - quite bad and red dry patches on his tummy and around his nipples and butt - :sad: . Someone was saying that brewers yeast helped their cat get rid of the dandruff. A half a teaspoon a day. I'm wanting to try it but I'm about to go away for a month and leaving my kitty at a cattery. nailbite_smile Am more worried about leaving him than his allergies at the moment. I was told that evening primrose oil is good for skin allergies. This from the vet derm but i thought it contributed to the unwellness/not eating/vomiting attacks. Basically it's about getting them to have omega 3. Instead of fish oil you can try flaxseed oil or eventing primrose oil but I am not sure what you are referring to with the fish oil capsules/pockets. It sounds like the fish oil is the culprit. I wouldn't give it to my boy. He loves fish but it doens't love him.

i think you can get away from these issues with a change of diet. Duck, rabbit (been there done that and he's sick of it). Venison. Keep trying... best Marilyn
 
I just bought my cat a low carb canned food that is said to be suitable for cats with allergies . The simplicity of the composition is what I believe let's them make that statement. It is a German food so I won't recommend it to you unless you are willing to pay a fairly high price for your cat's food but otherwise just look for something similar :
High % of meat (just one meat and no by product, offals)
Low in carb of course
No preservatives, coloring or flavoringd or starch
No grain or gluten or potato, soy, Corn, peas or beans
Minerals from natural sources

The one I found is 95% meat (chicken only) with water and 4% zuchini, broccoli and carrots
 
HI there - my cat Sitka battled food allergies for years and years. Two of her big allergens was fish & dairy - even fish oil would cause her to scratch herself into open sores. I would do an elimation diet using either canned Royal Canin Duck/Green Pea, Venison/Green Pea, or Rabbit/Green Pea if they are making it again. Another food is Natural Balance (which is available at Petco) - they also make a Duck or Venison & Green Pea (I was told that the same people who developed the Royal Cannin food defected and gave the recipe to Natural Balance). Its not as great in the carb dept as some foods but the canned is certainly better then dry. The idea is to only give a single source of a novel protein/carbohydrate along with no grains. Do that for 6 weeks and see if that clears up her allergies. You can also do a food elimination diet along with an antihistamine to get kitty completely cleared up - then wean her off the antihistamine to see if the elimination diet is working. Cats with allergies are much more difficult to treat then dogs because skin tests & blood tests are unreliable. Jan
 
There are allergy formula pill pockets--just get the Duck & Pea flavor. They are also the only diabetic-friendly pill pocket because they don't contain any sugar.

Natural Balance makes several limited ingredient canned foods that are low carb: http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/catformulas/NB_CatCanned.html#Venison. You could also try EVO 95% duck, Blue Wilderness Duck, or Nature's Variety Instinct Rabbit or Lamb formulas. I would stay away from the EVO 95% venision or the Instinct Venison because they are both sky high in phosphorus--2-3 times the normal amount a cat should be ingesting.

The most common protein allergens for cats are Fish, Beef, and Chicken, in that order.
 
I would like to thank everyone so much for sharing your insight & giving me such great advice! I stopped at a Healthy Pet Food store & the owner was very helpful! I was telling her some of the suggestions from you guys & we decided upon the Natures Variety Instinct canned rabbit, duck pill pockets & she gave me a sample bag og Natural Balance green pea & duck dry. (sometimes I have to put a few kernels on her food) Although I may not have to do that anymore because she loved the canned rabbit & green pea!!! For now, I'm mixing it with her Purina DM & will wean her off of the DM. The owner of the store said in her experience her first guess is that Trina's allergy is to chicken. So we will see!! The owner didn't have any sample bags of the Instinct dry green pea & rabbit so that's why I tried the Natural Balance duck. But maybe it's not a good idea to mix duck & rabbit right now. From what I can see on the food charts & the newer chart in Excel Instinct dry is alot lower in carbs than Natural Balance. Although it doesn't specify which type of Natural Balance on the food charts, it just says natural balance. Well, she won't be eating much dry anyway. So I'll keep everyone posted on what happens with her itching as we get her off of eating the chicken! Hopefully the itching stops!! Thanks again!
 
Re: Food for diabetic with allergies carb content

Hi everyone,
I have a question, I cannot find the carb content of Dick Van Pattens Natural Balance duck & green pea wet food. I also can't find the carb content of Royal Canin duck & green pea wet food. I'm considering switching to one of these. Trina is still wearing an ecollar & still itching her face. I changed Trina over to Natures Variety rabbit & green pea 4 weeks ago. She's had a sore that is taking a long time to heal, mainly because if she itches when I take her ecollar off she makes it bleed all over again. Actually, over the weekend I was beginning to get very excited that the food change may be helping because I thought the itching has reduced over the past few weeks & I had her ecollar off about 6 hours on Friday & Saturday & she did great. But then on Sunday out of the blue she got itchy & yesterday she itched where the scab was & was itching so hard she caused a new cut/gash which bled. And she kept wanting to itch there. I'm also beginning to wonder if food is not the issue. But since I give her duck pill pockets I"m thinking maybe I should try duck food. Not sure if I should try Royal Canin or Natural Balance, NB would be easier to get since I can get it at pet stores.
Also, last week when I went to get more rabbit & green pea by Natures Variety they didn't have any. They said it is intermittenly in/out of stock which I don't understand. I went somewhere else & got a few cans but I bet they will be running out soon too. So maybe it is best I do stop the rabbit. She has been taking antihistamine as well.
Thanks!
 
I'm not sure if anyone has those values, so you may have to call the company and get them yourself. However, judging from the ingredients I think you're ok--the only carb-y ingredient is pea flour and it's the 4th thing down on the list. Considering your problems with finding a novel food, I would try it.

Have you eliminated other possible causes of the itching? I find it very odd that she'd have an allergic reaction to the Rabbit formula. Did you treat her with some flea medicine like Frontline Plus (kills the eggs) just to eliminate that possiblity? Flea allergies are by far the most common cause dermatitis. You'd think you'd be able to see them, but you'd be surprised. It just takes one flea coming in on your shoe to cause this sort of thing and cats groom themselves constantly, so you don't always see them. Unless you treat with something like Frontline Plus for at least 3 months, they can also go away and keep coming back.
 
Hi,
I have not treated with flea med. Maybe I will do that, thanks for the suggestion! She has been itching since Oct. 2009. It was controlled by hydroxyzine but that must have wore off this past summer, she's been in an ecollar since Aug. I have 2 different type, the inflatable one & a soft floppy one. I take them off whenever I am home & can keep a close eye on her so she doesn't cause more sores on her face. The only area she scratches is between her eyes & ears. Sometimes back of her ears. I do use a flea comb & have not seen any signs of fleas but maybe there is one. I took her to a dermatologist too & she wanted to start with a food trial. I called Natures Variety today to ask about them being out of stock of rabbit & green pea, she said they'd have it restocked by June 1. I don't know if I"m going to switch to duck or not. She does eat some duck Natural Balance crunchies, about 15 a day. This itching issue is very frustrating! I just want her out of the ecollar! For years & years (5-6, ever since I found her), she will sometimes shake her head, twitch, run & her back rolls......I was just told that it could be something called Hyperesthesia. I have to do some research on that. Not sure if that could contribute to itching or not. Thanks!
 
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