Chicken allergy?

[catm3]

As some of you know, my cat has had diarrhea....and I've originally isolated the issue to feeding too much Blue Buffalo Spa Select Chicken (too rich?) so I switched to Natures Verity Instinct Chicken.

<old>Blue Buffalo's Spa Select Chicken/Turkey
<previous>Natures Verity Instinct Chicken
<current>Natural Balance LID Chicken and Pea

After trying several verities I'm beginning to think he may have a problem with poultry.

However, if feed a Blue Buffalo or Natures Variety (chicken/dry) exclusively the diarrhea will go away.

I've fed Natures Variety canned duck for two days and noticed that the stool firm up. However when I went back to chicken the following day he had violent diarrhea.

I'm about to return all of his cans of Chicken but wanted your advice first.

Thoughts?

[Dominoes]

Originally Posted by catm3

As some of you know, my cat has had diarrhea....and I've originally isolated the issue to feeding too much Blue Buffalo Spa Select Chicken (too rich?) so I switched to Natures Verity Instinct Chicken.

<old>Blue Buffalo's Spa Select Chicken/Turkey
<previous>Natures Verity Instinct Chicken
<current>Natural Balance LID Chicken and Pea

After trying several verities I'm beginning to think he may have a problem with poultry.

However, if feed a Blue Buffalo or Natures Variety (chicken/dry) exclusively the diarrhea will go away.

I've fed Natures Variety canned duck for two days and noticed that the stool firm up. However when I went back to chicken the following day he had violent diarrhea.

I'm about to return all of his cans of Chicken but wanted your advice first.

Thoughts?

Is there any reason for why he should be fed exclusively chicken? (or chicken by-products in the form of factory produced cat food, that is) I always heard that variety is the best with a cat, and since he doesn't seem to do well with poultry, then the best is try other options (and keep a nice varied diet for him).

[kwarendorf]

If you suspect chicken is the culprit try eliminating it. There are lots of chicken free, high quality foods. As you know, Natural Balance makes a Duck & Green pea food. They also have a venison formula. There are also rabbit formulas from other manufacturers. Any novel protein will help narrow down the source of the problem.

[catm3]

Chicken is the human-default protein around here so that's why I went with it. Where can I find out the pro's cons of other proteins? For example I read that fish proteins cause a more lively poo odor..etc

[kwarendorf]

Stay away from fish. Try duck, rabbit, venison, lamb...

[catm3]

Thanks. Will do!

[catm3]

I purchased a few cans of Natural Balance Duck and Pea, and Natures Variety Lamb. I fed him the Lamb today and he took 3 breaks while eating - not sure if he liked it.

I almost purchased Natural Balance Pea and Duck dry but put it back on the rack once I realized that peas were the first ingredient - I'm not sure if that's good.

[Beth_Laubenthal]

Originally Posted by catm3

I purchased a few cans of Natural Balance Duck and Pea, and Natures Variety Lamb. I fed him the Lamb today and he took 3 breaks while eating - not sure if he liked it.

I almost purchased Natural Balance Pea and Duck dry but put it back on the rack once I realized that peas were the first ingredient - I'm not sure if that's good.

It's not. Try to stick with canned foods. The first FEW ingredients should be meat based. Try to stick to whole meats, not necessarily meals. The first few ingredients should be meat because cats are carnivores. For the life of me, I don't understand why they even bother putting plant material in cat food...but that's my opinion.

Canned Cat Food | PetSmart

The first several of the products are great products. Meat based. Grain free. You just have to look at the ingredients to make sure it's really chicken free.

Good luck!

[catm3]

Thank you all. Today he pooped and it was solid. *Sigh*... He's still eating dry natures veriety/blue buffalo chicken. For some reason its chicken-wet that causes the diarrhea.

[Alpaca]

Wasn't sure if I read right, did you have a problem when he was on Nature's Variety Instinct canned Chicken?

Well, I also agree that variety is the key for both pickiness and allergies. My guys are on constant rotation for the canned breakfast (Nature's Variety Instinct with occasional brand rotation of Wellness Core and Go!) (Protein rotation: venison, duck, lamb, chicken, or turkey) so they get a different one each morning. They are also fed raw for dinner (chicken and/or beef, quail) which could also be a different protein from the morning. For the bedtime snack, I am feeding Nature's Variety raw bison. So lots of variety! They eat all of them readily.