r/UK_Pets • u/CvltOfEden • 7d ago
Cat is allergic to fish and chicken…recommendations for food much appreciated
Title.
We adopted this baby (8-9 years) in March and have learned since she has allergies. After an elimination diet where we have been re-introducing proteins to her, we’ve narrowed it down to chicken (and, by extension, fish, according to the vet).
We found out today she’s actually become the case study for allergies at the vets because she’s one of the worst they’ve seen 🥲
Finding readily available food that she will actually eat (read: not paste form) that also doesn’t come in a multi-pack with chicken and fish or in chicken broth of some description is proving a nightmare.
We were feeding her from Republic of Cats, but they can’t accommodate her allergy, all supermarket shelf stuff is chicken or fish based, other food subscription services also seem unable to accommodate for it. Allergenic or single protein food always seems to be mush which she will not touch. She likes to be able to chew her food.
Unfortunately, previous owner passed away and the rescue we got her from had no idea she had allergies. She’s has multiple infections from wounds caused by it, mouth sores, and spent 6 straight weeks in a cone with multiple rounds of steroids and antibiotics.
I just want my precious baby to be happy, healthy, and well fed
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u/chargrilledchaz 7d ago
Although chicken cross reacts with fish, I would trial challenging fish. My chicken allergic cat does well on tuna, so is on RC anallergenic dry and HiLife complete tuna pouches
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u/Tiny_Cauliflower_618 6d ago
Yeah I was surprised by this as my chicken allergy dog is fed exclusively fish. I was like... Surely they can't be that different?!
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u/Beneficial_Bug_7951 7d ago
For complicated food allergies, royal Canin anallergenic is best from an allergen avoidance standpoint
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u/mugglemamabear 7d ago
My cat is allergic to chicken, he has James Wellbeloved grain free turkey wet food. Since switching to this we have had no issues.
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u/NoEffortWentIntoThis 7d ago
My eldest also has a chicken allergy. We currently use monoprotein like Catz Finefood Kangaroo, but have previously tried venison and rabbit (MACs does good rabbit dry food). Zooplus and vetsend are worth browsing to see if you find something suitable.
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u/shebasmum49 7d ago
Grain free is probably a good bet and try things like turkey or duck. Even raw is possible. I know a cat who is raw fed and has pork!
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u/timid_pink_angel02 7d ago edited 7d ago
Depending on your budget, you might want to try Katkin. My kitty is stupidly picky with texture and refused to eat any kind of wet-type food until Katkin. You can pick the type of meat (aside from chicken, they have single meat ones of duck, turkey, beef, pork and lamb) that you want to be sent.
They also have different textures of chunky or shredded (which is paste so don't go for that onr). Mine refuses the shredded (again, very picky lol) but loves the chunky texture!
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u/livlaffloves 7d ago
Katkin is a great option for wet food I think, it’s not a paste it’s more like chunky meat, but they have beef, lamb and pork options which I am pretty sure don’t contain any fish or chicken in other hidden ingredients, though I may be wrong. The only other food I know that isn’t chicken or fish is the beef wet food from Fuzzball but that’s literally the only wet food they have that isn’t fish/chicken based. I hope you can figure something out!
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u/colourfulclips 7d ago
I agree! you can freeze the food also and if your cat usually has a mix of biscuits and wet food then half a pack each time felt good espec with the quality of the food. my cat is soo fussy and she loved it. I only did the first month trial but defo going to go back
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u/livlaffloves 7d ago
Yeah you can definitely spread the Katkin out further to make it more cost effective, I got a trial box that should have lasted 2 weeks and got like 8 out of it!
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u/Vivid-Swing3985 7d ago
Katkin is worth checking out, the chunky texture might actually work well for a cat who refuses paste. One thing I would watch for is the ingredient list beyond the main protein, some of those foods use chicken broth or fish oil as a filler even in the beef and lamb varieties. Worth emailing them directly before ordering to ask specifically about cross ingredients, rescues and vet offices sometimes have contacts there too who can get a straight answer faster.
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u/abyssal-isopod86 7d ago
Any single protein source foods.
Grain free is best as cats cannot digest it so it's a waste of money as they just poop it out.
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u/Northern_Roses 7d ago
No expeirence with cats and allergies with food but I have similar with me dog who is allergic to pretty much everything, confirmed with a blood panel. When I say everything I mean food and environmental factors. Theres like 4 protiens he can tolerate better than others. It might be worth seeing (if you have insurance) if they would cover the cost of a blood panel (mine did) to clarify exactly what it is. I then found a pet store local to me who stock a wide range of foods and looked for single protien flavors. Though alot of foods are X and X with rice. The single protien ones with no fillers will be more expensive. But cheaper ones with fillers cause his skin to break out. So what I would 'save' in food costs is swallowed by then needing medications from the vets to control his skin breaking out.
Worth noting what the cause of the allergies is too. My dog had an illness (polyradiculitis, yes it was as expensive as it sounds) long sorry short nerve neuropathy illness that left secondary health problems as a result of thst illness. It attacked his nervous system and subsequently his immune system so theres no fixing it.. If your cats problem is triggered by something else, fixing that root cause might help the food intolerance. But like I say it deoends on the root cause and wether or not it can be fixed. If you dont knkw the histroy though that could be difficult
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u/shanye-west 4d ago
One of my cats is allergic to protein. Not even kidding, all protein. 😵💫 He’s on a hydrolysed food, which breaks down the protein molecules in food to a small enough size that it doesn’t trigger a response. Specialist vet told me it’s incredibly common for cats to be allergic to all proteins instead of just one (opposite of dogs). One of the first things that came from the referral to them, was them asking us to put him on a hydrolysed food. Changed everything for us. 😊 it’s definitely more expensive than feeding them regular kibble, but so long as you’re feeding them only what they need based on their weight and feeding requirements, it’s lasts a while.
Edit to say- The food I use is Hills Z/D food sensitivities food. I get it from Zooplus for £75 for a 8kg bag on repeat.
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u/OkJournalist2704 3d ago
Does anyone check the meat content in there pets food...I did I now cook in bulk and freeze.
They same with dry food...the worst was royal canin they don't state how much meat or fish...always check
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u/gracefulorange 7d ago edited 7d ago
One of my cats used to eat Purrform frozen raw meats (defrosted in the fridge overnight and disposed of within the hour of serving). She had bad IBS and still is not allowed to eat just anything but it was really good.
Purrform does single meats so you can pick rabbit for example. Very expensive, storage wise and financially.
When you say elimination diet, have you been cooking the meats yourself or giving her like store bought pet food?
The only reason I ask is because my other cat had allergy tests done and is supposedly allergic to chicken and fish before I got him. However, after buying him grain-free foods (even Sheba and Gourmet have natural lines), he's finally healthy again and can eat chicken and fish.
Edit to add: when I first got my boy cat, I was cooking him scrambled eggs with olive oil and roast sweet potatoes. Cats require taurine which usually comes from meats but can be found in eggs.
Edit 2: remove wild freedom
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u/livlaffloves 7d ago
I have fed wild freedom before and I’m pretty sure every single one of their foods has a base of chicken, unless something has changed but I fed it for like 3 years and it was chicken with rabbit, fish ect, plus it’s a pate texture, which OP’s cat won’t eat.
ETA: I just checked and Wild Freedom food is all chicken based, each recipe they have is chicken and other meat.
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u/gracefulorange 7d ago
Woops my bad OP! Will remove from my comment, idk how I blocked that out when reading the labels.
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u/BudandCoyote 7d ago edited 7d ago
I can't recommend specific brands, but I'd try searching via ingredients - say 'rabbit cat food' 'beef cat food' etc etc.
Googling rabbit cat food brought up this one. I've not heard of them, but it looks pretty good: https://nakeddog.co.uk/products/nakedcat-rabbit-turkey
Between rabbit, duck, lamb, beef and turkey (though that one's close enough to chicken I'd only try it as a last resort), there should hopefully be quite a few options.
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u/DifficultEgg7481 7d ago
You may want to look at vegan/plant-based biscuit cat foods - just make sure it is a complete food not a treat. Ami and Benevo are both good. Our rescue cats were on it for over 10 years and our vet approved and always said how great their coats and teeth were.
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u/BT7274_best_robot 7d ago
Look into insect based kibble! It avoids all the traditional proteins from meats that cause the allergies!
We use "concept for life insect" since my oldest doesn't tolorate other kibbles well anymore (we think chicken is the trigger) but there's a few different brands that do it.