Grain vs Grain Free Diet?

[PooshieCat]

Hi everyone! I have an 8 months old kitten who I have had since she was only a month old and she came to me with a lot of digestive problems and constant diarrhea, so her first vet told me she might have had a grain allergy and I should switch to a grain free diet instead.. Fast forward to now, I changed her vet to a nearby place and the vet got very angry at me for feeding my baby a grain free diet and she told me how I was abusing my kitten (how freaking rude!!!!) because grain free diets can cause heart disease and all kinds of other issues and how I was practically killing her. She went on to insult me further during entire appointment (I was there for her regular checkups) ... Needless to say, I came home crying and went to another vet location for a second opinion, this vet had a much nicer team but they also agreed that grain free diet has been linked to heart diseases and assured me that my kitten won't have any allergies as she's too young.. So recently about 3 weeks ago, I have transitioned her to her new grain diet and I have noticed lately she has been scratching her face, especially ears like crazy!! She'll itch maybe 10-15 times a day which I have never seen her do before! She's starting to lose patch of hair and I don't know what to do?? My vet says she'll grow out of it? Will it cause any severe health issues if I continue to feed her this new grain food?

So I want to know your opinions! Are grain free diets actually bad as the vets making it seem to be? I just want what's best for her!


Ps. She was on a Blue Buffalo Basics Limited Ingredients Kitten Diet in turkey flavor (has had no issues on it) but now eating Blue Buffalo Healthy Gourmet Kitten food in chicken flavor. I'm also not sure if her reaction could be due to chicken and not grain? As I've read a high % of cats are allergic to chicken as well.

 

[Deb & Wink]

So I want to know your opinions! Are grain free diets actually bad as the vets making it seem to be? I just want what's best for her!

No they are not. Your vets need to go back and learn some basic feline nutrition information.
Like this two, from vet Dr. Deb Zoran.
https://vetmed.tamu.edu/news/pet-talk/cats-are-carnivores-so-they-should-eat-like-one/

https://vetmed.tamu.edu/news/pet-talk/choosing-the-best-diet-for-your-kitten/

Cats don't need to eat the other "grain free" ingredients that the manufacturers use to replace the grains with either. Like potatoes, peas, beans, etc.

She was on a Blue Buffalo Basics Limited Ingredients Kitten Diet in turkey flavor (has had no issues on it) but now eating Blue Buffalo Healthy Gourmet Kitten food in chicken flavor. I'm also not sure if her reaction could be due to chicken and not grain?

Yes, it could be the protein ingredient or even some other ingredient difference between the 2 foods.

You could try switching your kitten back to the LID food and see if that clears things up.

Check the canned food labels, and compare the ingredients list.

BB Basics Limited Ingredients Kitten Diet.
Turkey, Turkey Broth, Turkey Liver, Fish Oil (source of DHA-Docosahexaenoic Acid), Natural Flavor, Carrots, Potatoes, Pea Flour, Flaxseed (source of Omega 3 and 6 Fatty Acids), Powdered Cellulose, Pumpkin, Cranberries, Blueberries, Carrageenan, Guar Gum, Cassia Gum, Potassium Chloride, Sunflower Oil, Taurine, Salt, Choline Chloride, Iron Amino Acid Chelate, Zinc Amino Acid Chelate, Vitamin E Supplement, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of Vitamin C), Thiamine Mononitrate (Vitamin B1), Copper Amino Acid Chelate, Manganese Amino Acid Chelate, Sodium Selenite, Niacin Supplement (Vitamin B3), Calcium Pantothenate (Vitamin B5), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Vitamin B6), Riboflavin Supplement (Vitamin B2), Vitamin A Supplement, Biotin (Vitamin B7), Potassium Iodide, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Folic Acid (Vitamin B9), preserved with Mixed Tocopherols.


BB Healthy Gourmet Kitten Food
Ingredients: Chicken, chicken liver, chicken broth, dried egg product, fish oil, natural flavor, flaxseed, brown rice, guar gum, carrot, sweet potato, potassium chloride, taurine, salt, carrageenan, cassia gum, cranberry, magnesium oxide, choline chloride, iron amino acid chelate, zinc amino acid chelate, vitamin E supplement, thiamine mononitrate, copper amino acid chelate, manganese amino acid chelate, sodium selenite, niacin supplement, calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine hydrochloride, riboflavin supplement, vitamin A supplement, biotin, potassium iodide, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin B12 supplement, folic acid, mixed tocopherols.

 

[Sarah&Soph]

As far as I’m aware, most if not all of the current research about grain free diets and heart disease is in dogs. Whether that’s because it’s not affecting cats to the same degree or because there’s simply not the data for cats, I can’t say. But if it were my cat, I’d keep them on the diet that they were doing the best on.

My cat is on a grain free diet not necessarily by choice, but because it’s one of the very few options she has for her protein allergies and it just also happens to be grain free. I am a little concerned that many years down the road she may end up with heart problems, but at the end of the day, she’s going to die from something and at least she won’t spend the time up until then with constant GI issues and uncontrollably itchy. FWIW, several of her vets also insisted she did not have food allergies, but amazingly almost all her symptoms stopped when I quit feeding her what I suspected was causing issues

 

[Veronica & Babu-chiri]

So I want to know your opinions! Are grain free diets actually bad as the vets making it seem to be? I just want what's best for her!

No actually cats have no need for grains what all cats need (not only diabetic ) is low carb ( that will almost always mean no grain ) and high protein, all cat foods have taurine added because taurine deficiency can cause heart problems in cats (nothing has been really established about healthy dogs yet, even though dogs with heart problems appear to benefit from getting extra taurine) but that was discovered long long time ago so regulations now indicate that cat foods have to have taurine.

The reports that have been going around about food without grains are related to dogs, and even now nothing has been said conclusively about what is causing the problem it appears that some brands got rid of the grains but substituted them with other ingredients that are not good for dogs instead of adding more protein (to keep them cheap) but really there hasn't been an official report about this issues.

All my cats (not only my diabetic ) are on grain free food and they actually got better in a lot of issues including their coats, constipation, energy once they got switched to grain free low carb high protein food

ssured me that my kitten won't have any allergies as she's too young.

There's no actual age for a cat to have allergies those can appear at any time in the life of a cat young or old doesn't matter

Ps. She was on a Blue Buffalo Basics Limited Ingredients Kitten Diet in turkey flavor (has had no issues on it) but now eating Blue Buffalo Healthy Gourmet Kitten food in chicken flavor. I'm also not sure if her reaction could be due to chicken and not grain? As I've read a high % of cats are allergic to chicken as well.

Each cat is different and each cat can be allergic to different foods but if she's doing ok on the Blue Buffalo Basics Limited Ingredients Kitten Diet in turkey flavor I think it's better to keep her on that one and for future foods since eventually you will need to change her to adult food take into consideration that she's ok with turkey

 

[Veronica & Babu-chiri]

Here's a link to Dr Lisa Pierson web page that has some amazing explanation about cat nutritional needs https://catinfo.org/

Quoting from her web page:
"4) Cats are strict carnivores which means they are designed to get their protein from meat/organs – not plants."

" It means that your cat was built by Mother Nature to get her nutritional needs met by the consumption of a large amount of animal-based proteins (meat/organs) and derives much less nutritional support from plant-based proteins (grains/vegetables). It means that cats lack specific metabolic (enzymatic) pathways and cannot utilize plant proteins as efficiently as animal proteins."

 

[Juls and Billy]

I agree with our other posters. Cats are carnivores, but there are levels of carnivore. Cats are more carnivorous than dogs, and slightly less carnivorous than ferrets, for example. It's why cat's can't eat dog food and be healthy, and the difference is carbs and taurine level. Cat's don't digest any carbs well, and need more protein than dogs do. Cat dry food isn't stuffed with grains, beans, peas, tapioca and the like because it's good for them. It's because it's cheaper to use fillers than good protein sources.

Just like humans, cats can have food allergies at any age. They can be born with them. I had one cat with a serious chicken allergy from the time she was a kitten.

For now, I would try your kitty on foods made for allergy issues and see how she does. That scratching at her face and ears can absolutely be from an allergy. You might try a wet diet for a few days, something lower in all the carb sources, both grains and other carbs. You might try an unusual protein. Something like lamb or duck, but pick one that's chicken free if you can find it. If she does better on that diet, then you can try slowly adding in other proteins to see if she reacts to any of them. It's always a bit of trial and error to see what a kitty is allergic to, but if you start simple, and add other ingredients slowly, you should be able to figure out what her trigger foods are.