Hypoallergenic cat food, anyone have any experience?

[Robinrs]

Took little "Itchy Scratchy" (Michael's nickname for my boycat, Max) since he's been scratching like mad to the point of pulling out his hair! Turns out he has a bad allergy to fleas and POSSIBLY his food, so the vet suggested we change his and all of my cat's food to hypoallergenic.

The problem is a 6 pound bag of this prescription formula is nearly $30.00!! My four cats could kill that in a couple of days!

Needless to say I've been searching the internet for a better deal but I'm not sure of the alternatives. If anyone has any experience with this I'd appreciate it... ugh....

 

[bicker]

We went throught this with Kaliope. She still occasionally licks her stomach to the point where she has no fur and abrates her skin, but we've gotten it mostly under control -- she hasn't licked herself bloody in five years. We actually had a very hard time of it, because what Kali ended up being allergic to were rice, soya, potatoes and carrots, the first two being among the most common ingredients in even hypoallergenic cat food. (It took several hundred dollars to do the tests necessary to identify the specific things Kali was allergic to -- it was a very hard decision to spend that much money, but nine years later, I don't regret a dime spent.)

 

[alliecats]

I have read that hypoallergenic cat food has been treated and processed to where there is not much nutritional quality there at all. Maybe she is allergic to the grains you find in most commercial cat foods, including, as Bicker said, the hypoallergenics. I think it might cost you less in the long run to get the tests done now, than to buy the expensive food that might not even help if it contains something that will set her off.
There are some high quality canned foods like Wellness and Nature's Variety that don't contain grains (if it turns out she is allergic to them), or dry foods like Innova Evo that don't contain grains either.
Good luck!

 

[cherylp3]

Again it depends on the type of food you need.

petfooddirect.com may help. Also many of the specialty stores offer buy so many bags and get 1 free.

 

[bicker]

The regular hypoallergenic cat food is actually not treated and processed any differently than regular cat food, and is completely nutritious. Don't worry about that. I would only worry about whether your cat is actually allergic to an ingredient in it. Mine was. Very few cats are, though. It is extremely rare to have an allergy to rice. There is a super-hypoallergenic cat food, where the food is mechanically pre-digested which may be what the earlier poster was referring to. It is still substantially nutritionally complete, though, but is more heavily processed.

 

[Robinrs]

Wow! Thanks everyone!

I will try the food I ordered first (the doc said give it 4 - 5 weeks) then see if it works. If not I will get the allergy tests done. No sense in wasting more time trying to find out, my poor baby deserves better.

BTW, the whole night after he was poked and prodded and annoyed he slept in a tight ball right next to me. Max was a abandoned formerly abused cat when I got him at the Humane Society and he has always seen me as his "protector". He trusts NO ONE but me and it took him weeks to get to that point. That was 3 years ago. His dependence on me has made me so attached to him and since he trusts ME to help him I always feels so obligated to do it.

Thanks again, everyone.

 

[bicker]

Don't get me started about Kali -- please.

Good luck with the food...

 

[mariethecat]

I have a 12 year old cat who was vomiting on a regular basis and I thought he was just getting old. The vet said it was an allergy to the cat food that he has been eating for years and recommended a hypo-allergenic cat food. It is more expensive but it has made a huge difference in the last month. He never vomits now and the extra costs makes up for all the time and expense to clean floors and everywhere else that was getting dirty. I have 2 other cats so I have to feed them all the same food but they are worth it.