Need Novel Protien Help for Food Allergies

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Onyx & Klepto

Onyx & Klepto

Member Since 2013
Wow! The new site looks awesome!!! Well done to the person/people who made the upgrades. :)

So I'm one of the unlucky parents of a sugar kitty who absolutely refuses to eat wet food, which has made my life difficult. She's been OTJ multiple times, but has now been back on it for several months, because she refuses to eat the "changed" Young Again food. I'd found a few alternatives that were making it easy to keep her numbers in the 100's, but due to other issues she's had for over a year (severe vomiting, pulling hair out), my vet is convinced she has food allergies and GI issues, which means he wants her on a hypoallergenic or hydrolized novel protein diet. Well let me just say, it's nearly impossible to find one of these diets that's appropriate for a diabetic. The one the vet prescribed (Science Diet D/D) is 40% carbs!!! NO WAY!!!

Since being diagnosed, she goes through really bad vomiting spells (believed to be chronic pancreatitis), that will cause her to stop eating for days (other meds are involved). Regardless of how high her numbers are when the spell starts, her numbers plummet. Several times in the 20's. Which is super scary. When the spells started, it was like every other month. Then it grew to every few weeks. Now, it's about twice a week. Fortunately, we started her on famotidine injections twice a day to heal her tummy and get rid of the stomach acid, so the spells aren't nearly as bad (thank god!). But the numbers still plummet. So if I give her a high carb food, that means she'll need a TON more insulin, and when she gets sick, it will drop even harder. I start a new job next week, so I'm really nervous about leaving her alone. And given this scenario, when my vet tells me "don't worry about the % of carbs, just give her the food", it makes me think he's a total idiot...or just doesn't care if she goes hypo. He says he's never seen a cat with issues like this, or one whose numbers drop from 400's to 20's in just a few hours. He's clueless.

So I'm wondering, is there anyone out there who has a cat with any similar issues? Maybe someone can help point us in another direction. Vet was to do $500 worth of GI tests, which I don't have!

And has anyone by chance come across a dry novel protien, limited ingredient diet of duck, rabbit, or turkey, that is also low in carbs? I've searched and searched...but I'm convinced I'm missing something.

I'm also thinking, given the way she reacts, it might be time to switch her to a more predictable insulin, like Levemir. After 18 months of this roller coaster ride, I just don't know how much more I can take. :(

Thanks for your help. And I hope everyone's kitties are doing well.

Brandi
 
Brandi, was an specf fPL test run for pancreatitis? I would start with just that one test which will tell you if it is pancreatitis. It also could be IBD or other itestinal problems that is true. If p'itis, nausea medication, sub-q fluids, pain medication, and feeding small amounts often might very well clear the whole thing up. You could start with only cerenia or ondansetron for nausea and see if that helps. Max first was diagnosed with it over 5 years ago and he only need ondansetron for nausea on the correct dose to get him to eat. Nauseous cats are very picky. Unfortunately turkey would likely not be a novel protein as it is in a lot of foods. What have you been feeding? Maybe your vet doesn't mean to feed the high carb food right now. He likely just wants her to eat anything first to avoid fatty liver disease?
 
tiffmaxee said:
Brandi, was an specf fPL test run for pancreatitis? I would start with just that one test which will tell you if it is pancreatitis. It also could be IBD or other itestinal problems that is true. If p'itis, nausea medication, sub-q fluids, pain medication, and feeding small amounts often might very well clear the whole thing up. You could start with only cerenia or ondansetron for nausea and see if that helps. Max first was diagnosed with it over 5 years ago and he only need ondansetron for nausea on the correct dose to get him to eat. Nauseous cats are very picky. Unfortunately turkey would likely not be a novel protein as it is in a lot of foods. What have you been feeding? Maybe your vet doesn't mean to feed the high carb food right now. He likely just wants her to eat anything first to avoid fatty liver disease?
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Hi Tiff.

No, the vet never did the actual test, just went by symptoms. And pretty much everything you suggested is what we do for her when she has one of her spells. In fact, the vet always makes sure I have fluids, Bupe, Cerenia, and an appetite stimulant on hand for when it happens. Since we started the famotidine injections twice a day, the only thing she's needed is 1 dose of Cerenia to stop the vomiting when it's happened. Her appetite is fine most of the time, so that's good. The vet hasn't ruled out GI diseases, which is the $500 of testing he wants to do. He's convinced it's food allergies since most of bloodwork looks normal. But if it does turn out to be a GI or kidney disorder, all the studies say they need a LOW carb, novel protien diet. So THAT will be even worse on the diabetes. If only she would eat wet my life would be so much easier.

And no, my vet gets mad at me because I watch the % of carbs. He yells at me and tells me to ignore it. He's quite complacent and old fashioned with things. He didn't even want me doing home testing.

Right now she's eating Wysong Epigen Fish and Wellness Core, but I'm combing the internet for something rabbit or duck with limited ingredients. Just spent an hour on the phone with Chewy's. *UGH*
 
I think what the vet meant was that first the cat needs to be eating and the insulin can be adjusted accordingly. If a cat won't eat you cannot dose insulin effectively. however, i doubt if Onyx would eat Hills for long, most cats don't like the Rx diets.

Famotidine controls acid, but it doesn't control nausea. Cerenia is good for vomiting and I think ondansetron is good for both vomiting and nausea. This is a very good site for Feline IBD. I've had really good results w/ giving Tess SEB (Slippery Elm Bark) syrup. It coats the stomach so the excess acid doesn't irritate.

What about subq fluids? If a cat is vomiting a lot they can become dehydrated very quickly.

Novel proteins might be rabbit, venison, duck, lamb, pheasant and I've heard of kangaroo but never found it. Have you tried raw? It is supposed to be easier for them to digest.

When Emma showed up the vet thought she might have IBD, but it never stopped her from eating. The poo was awful though. She's been getting digestive enzymes and probiotics for over a year and is doing fine now.
 
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Hi Brandi - sorry to hear that Onyx is having issues. A possible solution dry is food from Rayne. Their rabbit dry is still 34% carbs due to the sweet potato and potato, but they will do custom formulations so maybe they'll do something lower carb. They also make foods with kangaroo.
 
What about this? Feline Caviar Holistic. The venison kibble is available at Chewy. You would have to contact the company to get the as fed numbers. I can help you calculate it out to Metabolized energy, which is how our foods lists are presented.
 
If you were to bake a home recippe to a dry texture, maybe that could work.
 
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