Author Topic: Hypoallergenic cat food  (Read 3538 times)

Offline Mark

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Re: Hypoallergenic cat food
« Reply #9 on: July 09, 2016, 21:47:38 PM »
I am just wondering if changing the dry food alone might do the trick. Go-Cat, Whiskas dry and supermarket own brand dry foods are full of cereals, colouring etc. Simply changing the dry food to something like Purina One sensitive, with turkey and rice (much cheaper online from Zooplus thna from UK supermarkets) alongside cereal-free dry, such as Felix in jelly (not the gravy one) had fantastic results with our cat Alice, who had a cereal intolerance - it wasn't her skin, but she had terible bloody diarrhea if she ate anything with cereals or dairy in.
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Offline Sue P (Paddysmum)

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Re: Hypoallergenic cat food
« Reply #8 on: July 09, 2016, 18:31:07 PM »
Yep, I know what you mean about her body language. 

Has she always done this, or is it something that began a little while after you got them? 

When cats resort to this type of behaviour, they're trying to let us know, in the strongest terms possible, that "something's up."  Not in a "revenge" or "spite" manner - just a "help!" manner.

Trouble us, we're not always that adept at figuring out what it is.   :-:  Gawd, I wish I could speak cat!

As she doesnt normally cover her poop, it could be the litter feels uncomfortable or unpleasant to her paws - this is less likely when you have a soft litter type and have tried other litters, but I wonder if you try a bag of garden compost whether this would make a difference?  I'd maybe try something quite peaty with no added chemicals (ie fertilisers).  Sand is another thing to consider - children's play sand is more expensive, but cats often like the texture, and it doesnt smell.

Alternatively, she may be scent marking, because she's trying to dominate her sister, or because she doesn't feel as confident about "owning" various areas of the house.   This would come back to watching her around her sister to see how they interact, making sure there are plenty of beds or snoozing spots so that each of them has a choice of spots to choose from.   This is much more important with Indoor cats, as they have limited territory to share.  Might also be worth considering whether your inappropriate pooper is being upset by cats outside the property peering through windows or peeing and spraying outside.  Do you have large picture windows?

We found that Pet Remedy spray came in quite handy (sill does!) and use it on the furniture and bedding, our cothes and hands, and in the cat carriers.  It may be worth trying some around the litter trays.  We also had more success with the Pet Remedy plug ins over the Feliway ones (cheaper too).

It's clear you care greatly for your Girls, and I hope you can get to the bottom of what's making them tick and what's giving your nervous girl the skin lesions and urging her to mark outside the litter tray.  Hopefully some of these ideas may help find the cause and resolve it.   :hug:

Offline unicron

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Re: Hypoallergenic cat food
« Reply #7 on: July 09, 2016, 16:48:04 PM »
Thanks for you impressive and comprehensive reply, it is much appreciated!  Cats are 5 years old, the problem cat rarely covers her poop when she does use the litter tray, and when she pees in it, she regularly does it on th side wall of the hooded tray (we have used numerous types of tray in the past).  We have two trays in two separate rooms, filled with soft tigerino litter, and we have tried numerous other litters in the past.  Her body language I mentioned is like she goes lower with her tail curled and scurries away as to say to imply, 'I've been a naughty girl and you aren't going to like this...'.  I will try your suggestion with cleaning the area she poops in and putting food down.

Offline Sue P (Paddysmum)

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Re: Hypoallergenic cat food
« Reply #6 on: July 09, 2016, 15:00:16 PM »
When you say "you can tell by her body actions" can you describe what she does?  Has she always done it?  And how old is she?  How many litter trays do you have for the girls, and where do you put them?  How often do you clean them, and what kind of litter do you use in them?  Have you always used that particular litter?

We got our two girls last November.  They were eight weeks old and totally freaked out by people.  They're now approaching 11 months old, still skittish, and with more than their fair share of nervousness, but they're making good steady progress.

One of them began soiling an armchair which is on our bedroom.  She was peeing on it repeatedly.  What she was effectively doing, was marking it as "hers."   It was puzzling initially, but because both me and my OH use the chair, and OH used to leave his clothes on it a lot (which consequently also got peed on), it  would have smelt strongly of us to her.  We believe she was worried that she needed to mark us out as "hers" because of her sister (a bit of a pushy princess) and our other cat, who would also take up our time.  At first, we were puzzled what to do, but we hit on a solution which you can try, and see if it works for you.

Given that she's marking on the floor, rather than an item of furniture, I would mark the areas she toilets with some low tack masking tape, so you know exactly where they are.

Clean the areas thoroughly with a specialist enzymatic cleaner.  This bit is important.  Ordinary cleaners wont work for this type of problem - it has to be an enzymatic cleaner.   We used RX66 which we bought online.  I think it was a company called "living is easy" but I can't get a link to their company to open. 

When you've enzyme cleaned the area, put small dishes of food in those areas, or a bowl of drinking water.  Cats will seldom toilet within a close space of where they eat.  We kept this up for about two weeks, and it became part  of our bedtime routine, to fill up the small bowls - some with dried food, some with wet - only small amounts were necessary, and to take them up to the room with us when we went to bed.  It worked for us, and we had no more problems. 

The other thing to try, is to think about where the litter trays are located, and how many you have.  General rule of thumb is one for each cat, and one spare.  They should be placed somewhere the cat can't be cornered when they're looking to enter or exit the tray, or indeed whilst they're using it.  Does your other cat intimidate the inappropriate toileter?  Does she get interested if the other cat goes to use the tray, and maybe try to block her from entering or leaving the litter tray area?

The other thing is that cats dont always want a "private place" to use the littertray, and it's better to try out new places, even if they wouldnt be your first choice, or it turns out to be a place you'd rather not see or trip over a litter box.

Think about how the cats use the trays - are they perchers, but something is preventing them perching?  Are they diggers or scrapers?  Is the litter deep enough?  Is the litter hurting their paws, or is it a texture they don't like?   Is it very dusty, and irritating sensitive eyes or noses?  DO you use a tray cleaner which may not agree with the cat who prefers to go outside the box?

What works for one of your cats may not work for them both.

You can experiment using different types of litter in different trays to see which they prefer, especially the more nervous of your two girls.

Is the size and depth of the litter tray an issue?  If so, consider a different size or shape.  Older or arthritic cats sometimes prefer a tray with lower sides.  A young energetic cat might like a deep box where they can scratch and scrape their way to Australia.   Don't position a lidded box with the entrance facing into a corner - it might make your cat/s feel uncomfortable about being ambushed.

This might involve a few days of more than usual intimacy with your cat in terms of watching what she does, when she does it, and how she does it, but it really is worth doing if the trick with the food doesnt work.

Let us know how you get on.

Offline Sue P (Paddysmum)

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Re: Hypoallergenic cat food
« Reply #5 on: July 08, 2016, 13:50:33 PM »
As Mum to two semi feral gurlies and one chilled out boy, I can empathise.

I agree about trying zylkene.  it's helped us out enormously.  Am hoping I'll get a chance to give you some more tips to try, just not got time at the moment as am skulking on here instead of working.  Be back later.

Offline Dawn F

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Re: Hypoallergenic cat food
« Reply #4 on: July 08, 2016, 13:23:12 PM »
if it is stress related there are other things you can try - I've had good results with royal canin calm food for a situation I found myself in with two cats who hate each other, while still not mates things have improved a lot

I know others have had good outcomes with zyklene (sp?) as well

Offline unicron

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Re: Hypoallergenic cat food
« Reply #3 on: July 08, 2016, 13:19:58 PM »
Hi, thanks for the reply.  We have two cats who are sisters, but it's only one of them who poops on the floor now and then.   She just seen anxious at times but then they are both pretty timid cats by nature as they were borderline ferrel when we rescued them.   But the problem cat does more or less poop in the same spot,  and she knows she has done wrong as I can tell by her body actions.  She is also sometimes a princess to her sister,  gently swiping at her as she walks past,  or you can see it in her eyes that she is jealous when we pay attention to the other cat.  But we do try and balance the attention out between them but she still poops on occasion.  To deal with stress we also have plugin Feliways around the house,  cat attract litter, deterrent spray for areas we don't want her to poop....  So my last hope was with allergies.

Offline Sue P (Paddysmum)

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Re: Hypoallergenic cat food
« Reply #2 on: July 08, 2016, 06:56:21 AM »
Hello Unicron.  Welcome to Purrs.   :welcome:

I've had a dog with food allergies but never had a cat with food allergy.  I do know that Pets at Home sell a Purina hypoallergenic food - I think it's dried though, which is not always a great choice for our cats. 

With the dog we had, we switched to a tinned food called Chappie, which was largely meat and little else, so I'd say if you could find a food supplier specializing in a very high meat content, or maybe even consider feeding a raw diet, that might help.   Some cats take to a raw diet better than others, but it's not always easy to get them to switch. 

Natures Menu do a pre-packed raw diet which could be worth trying.

How many other cats do you have?  Do they all get along well? 

The other thing that occurs to me is that maybe the lesions could be stress related, along with the toileting outside the litter tray?   Does she always toilet in the same places, or does she have a particular favourite place?   Cats are exceptionally clean by nature, so if a medical condition has been ruled out, then it's a behavioural issue, most of which have their roots in some sort of stress inducing situation.  Is there anything you can think of which may be affecting her?  If you can't think of anything immediately, I'd suggest closely watching your cats' interactions with each other.  You have to be aware that in cats, communication signals can be very subtle, such as shoulder-bumping, or ears, tails and whisker postures.  Not all interactions may be as obvious as overt aggression, so worth just observing closely for a few days to look for tell-tale clues. 

Offline unicron

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Hypoallergenic cat food
« Reply #1 on: July 07, 2016, 19:22:48 PM »
Hi, one of our cats seems to be getting tiny skin lesions now and then,  and I was wondering if perhaps she has some allergy to her current food, go-cat biscuits and felix wet food.  Our vet once put her on a course of Ovarin because she said it could be hormonal,  but upon further reading I've heard that the hormonal aspect of miliary dermatitis is being ruled out...   She is an indoor cat and has no fleas, but she does also have a habit of pooping on the floor randomly, usually at night or early hours of the morning,  so maybe this is linked to her lesions...?  I have therfore deduced her skin issue to an acute allergic reaction to the food she is given.  So does anyone have any recommendations on a good manufacturer of hypoallergenic cat food (wet and dry) for us to try?

 


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