Hypoallergenic and Diabetic food?

[Charlie's Mum]

I am still new to this forum. Thank you in advance for your help.

My cat Charlie has diabetes but also a very sensitive digestive system. I had been making him homemade cat food with chicken thighs but he started rejecting it. I thought maybe he had become allergic to the chicken thigh so I tried other proteins. He loves shrimp but that seemed to cause inflammation in his intestines. My backup food was Nature's Variety (NV) Instinct limited ingredient Rabbit but this food hasn't been available for a while now (I contacted the company who said that they were having production issues and did not know when it would return to the market, may be related to pandemic).

I purchased NV's other limited ingredient foods -one with turkey as the protein, one with salmon as the protein. I can get Charlie to eat some of the turkey if I mix it with tuna, he won't touch the salmon.

Does anyone have any other recommendations on a store bought food? I recently cooked him Halibut which he seemed to like and did not throw up afterwards.

Is there any way to prevent a cat from being allergic to a certain food? I've tried giving him other store bought low carb foods by only putting 1/2 teaspoon mixed with something he can/will eat but each time about an hour after eating, he is howling in pain and throwing up.

Thank you for your help.

 

[Katherine&Ruby]

How old is Charlie? Have you had an ultrasound done to rule out IBD or small cell lymphoma? Have you ever treated him for nausea? Ondansetron is very popular here to help with vomiting, but getting at the source of the vomiting is really an important issue. I would avoid poultry and seafood as they're so common in cat foods and some kitties develop allergies to them--have you tried pork? Many cats with sensitivities seem to do well on it. I would stick to a homemade diet as you can really control what is in it to rule out irritants. My cats who are both 11 years old used to vomit every day until I realized that was not normal, so now I feed them only homemade raw (boneless ground meats with EZ Complete) along with GI supplements like probiotics and digestive enzymes and the vomiting has come to a near complete halt.

 

[Charlie's Mum]

Thank you so much for sharing! Charlie is 16 1/2 years. He has had a couple of ultrasounds. I believe the vet did say that he might have IBD. He has had so many tests and I will need to go through them. Most of his tests (trying to figure out a secondary condition that may be causing difficulty in controlling his insulin) came back in the high -but within normal range. The doctor did say we could do a biopsy to find out the exact cause but didn't recommend it -I believe the doctor said the treatment would be the same (insulin, B-12 shots). I had been using Nutrin supplement for making the homemade cat food. Charlie also gets a probiotic every day (otherwise he has diarrhea). I give Charlie a B-12 shot once a week and just ordered the other B-12 methyl (?) supplement for him. Can you share with me where you get EZ Complete and the names of the GI supplements that you use? I would like to check them out in case they could help. Thank you for sharing!!

 

[Charlie's Mum]

I meant to say in the email above -finding a secondary cause to control his blood glucose (not insulin). Thanks!

 

[Katherine&Ruby]

Thank you so much for sharing! Charlie is 16 1/2 years. He has had a couple of ultrasounds. I believe the vet did say that he might have IBD. He has had so many tests and I will need to go through them. Most of his tests (trying to figure out a secondary condition that may be causing difficulty in controlling his insulin) came back in the high -but within normal range. The doctor did say we could do a biopsy to find out the exact cause but didn't recommend it -I believe the doctor said the treatment would be the same (insulin, B-12 shots). I had been using Nutrin supplement for making the homemade cat food. Charlie also gets a probiotic every day (otherwise he has diarrhea). I give Charlie a B-12 shot once a week and just ordered the other B-12 methyl (?) supplement for him. Can you share with me where you get EZ Complete and the names of the GI supplements that you use? I would like to check them out in case they could help. Thank you for sharing!!

If you click on Ruby’s spreadsheet link in my signature at the top you will see a tab called Foods/Supplements. I have everything Ruby eats and takes in there. Alnutrin is really good, I am making my first batch of turkey thighs and chicken liver with it today for my girls so I hope they like it. You can get EZ Complete here but they are temporarily out of stock at the moment: foodfurlife.com. The company is owned and run by the same people who manage the Raw Feeding for IBD Kitties website and Facebook group. Both the site and the group have been an invaluable resource for me as I transitioned my cats to raw. I really believe that getting Ruby’s GI issues under control have contributed a large part to the tight regulation of her diabetes as the systemic inflammation can lead to stress on the body and higher glucose readings. It also helps that homemade raw is nearly zero carbs so it takes all of the guesswork out of feeding her.

 

[Charlie's Mum]

Thank you so much! I will look at your spreadsheet and the resources that are working for you. I feel overwhelmed but so grateful for this website. I am going to try to take time off work so I can spend time figuring this all out.

Also, I added an order of pork to my grocery delivery. I'm hoping it will work with Charlie. I don't think that I've given him pork before so hopefully he won't be allergic.

Thank you!!

 

[Katherine&Ruby]

Ruby’s ultrasounds also showed inflammation in her small intestine but I’ve been really hesitating to do a biopsy to see if it’s IBD or SCL so I’m going the controlled diet route in the hopes it is IBD and that her next ultrasound will show some improvement as a result. Her nausea and vomiting has gotten so much better so I’m really hopeful.

There is a lot of information on there internet to take in, and what works for one kitty won’t work for all, so a lot of what I’ve done is a matter of trial and error. I have some fiber listed in her GI supplements like pumpkin and psyllium to try to relieve her constipation, for example, but this week what’s worked best is powdered egg yolk.

Patience is a virtue, as is an acquiescent cat. I hope you can figure out a way to make your Charlie feel better.

 

[Katherine&Ruby]

PS: The only suggestion Ruby’s internal medicine doctors had for her diet was some hydrolyzed soy kibble, to which I said no way. Most vets aren’t good with nutrition, and a lot of the advice given on the Raw Feeding for IBD kitties site is the kind you’d get from a holistic vet. I found going my own way on this, especially given Ruby’s diabetes and kidney disease, has been the best route. I’m sure you will find yours.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

I have an IBD kitty (who's not diabetic). I went the biopsy route so I knew what needed to be treated since lymphoma and IBD can have very similar symptoms but the medications to treat each condition differ.

I'd encourage you to not include chicken in your cat's diet. I had been feeding my cats poultry (chicken or turkey) for years only to find out it's one of the more common proteins to cause inflammation. I feed a mostly raw diet these days and use EZ Complete. I generally feed my guys pork. I also use ZiwiPeak venison and their rabbit and lamb combination. Both are low in carbs. Stella & Chewy's has an air dried rabbit, although I don't know the carb count. Part of the reason for the canned food is that it's hard for me to source novel proteins in a raw state The best I've been able to find is goat. As a result, I use the ZiwiPeak and rabbit so I can rotate the proteins. (ZiwiPeak also makes lamb but one of my cats just hates it!)

There are a couple of new brands of limited ingredient foods out -- Identity and Koha. Please read the labels carefully. I've found other proteins, like chicken, in some of the so-called limited ingredient food.

One of the reasons I like ZiwiPeak is that there are no gums or carrageenan in their food. Those products can cause inflammation.

 

[Charlie's Mum]

Ruby’s ultrasounds also showed inflammation in her small intestine but I’ve been really hesitating to do a biopsy to see if it’s IBD or SCL so I’m going the controlled diet route in the hopes it is IBD and that her next ultrasound will show some improvement as a result. Her nausea and vomiting has gotten so much better so I’m really hopeful.

There is a lot of information on there internet to take in, and what works for one kitty won’t work for all, so a lot of what I’ve done is a matter of trial and error. I have some fiber listed in her GI supplements like pumpkin and psyllium to try to relieve her constipation, for example, but this week what’s worked best is powdered egg yolk.

Patience is a virtue, as is an acquiescent cat. I hope you can figure out a way to make your Charlie feel better.

Thanks so much! I went to the IBDKitties website and printed the information. I'm going to go through that and also go through my vet records for Charlie. I plan to check with my vet to make sure that any supplements aren't something Charlie should have. Charlie is currently taking Nutramax Proviable DC (a prebiotic and probiotic) -1 pill a day which has helped his diarrhea. Thanks again for sharing this. It gives me hope that I can get him feeling better.

 

[Charlie's Mum]

I have an IBD kitty (who's not diabetic). I went the biopsy route so I knew what needed to be treated since lymphoma and IBD can have very similar symptoms but the medications to treat each condition differ.

I'd encourage you to not include chicken in your cat's diet. I had been feeding my cats poultry (chicken or turkey) for years only to find out it's one of the more common proteins to cause inflammation. I feed a mostly raw diet these days and use EZ Complete. I generally feed my guys pork. I also use ZiwiPeak venison and their rabbit and lamb combination. Both are low in carbs. Stella & Chewy's has an air dried rabbit, although I don't know the carb count. Part of the reason for the canned food is that it's hard for me to source novel proteins in a raw state The best I've been able to find is goat. As a result, I use the ZiwiPeak and rabbit so I can rotate the proteins. (ZiwiPeak also makes lamb but one of my cats just hates it!)

There are a couple of new brands of limited ingredient foods out -- Identity and Koha. Please read the labels carefully. I've found other proteins, like chicken, in some of the so-called limited ingredient food.

One of the reasons I like ZiwiPeak is that there are no gums or carrageenan in their food. Those products can cause inflammation.

Thanks so much for this information! I had been feeding Charlie chicken for a very long time and I think that may have been the problem. I won't feed him chicken anymore. Thanks for all the suggestions for proteins. I'm hoping to try out pork for Charlie tomorrow. I did check out EZ Complete -they are out of the formula but I'm glad to know about it. I've been using Alnutrin supplement to make the homemade food. Thanks again for sharing!