Cat Food...cause Of My Itching?-

[Guest Zmom]

I think I finally figured out why I itch at night.my cat who mostly sleeps all day snuggles with me at night. Looked at her food label- wheat is the third ingredient. I don't think anyone makes gluten-free cat food but I found one that at least does not list wheat or oats.

[MySuicidalTurtle]

If I don't wash my hands after feeding my mouse and bunny my hands will itch.

[elonwy]

I had to switch to wheat and oat free cat food, because I got severly glutened by dust spray from my cats dry cat food. I opened the bag to feed them, and the bag poofed dust right into my face, and I was sick for about 3 days. Not so fun. The best bet for finding cat food without wheat and oats is pet food stores, grocery store pet food brands are usually no good.

Elonwy

[frenchiemama]

Search the forum for pet foods, I think that cat food has been listed before.

Anyway, brands that make gluten-free cat foods that I can think of off the top of my head are Felidae and Natural Balance (but not every variety, so you have to check).

[Nancym]

Cats aren't adapted to eating gluten, or any grains for that matter. I finally have my cat on an all meat diet. Oddly enough, its the cheaper cat foods in the big cans, that are often grain free. But now I'm buying frozen raw food for him and he isn't vomiting any longer!

[Rachel--24]

My cat barfs all the time....I dont even know what to do about it anymore. I think he has food allergies. When he was a kitten all his hair fell off and the vet said he was allergic to corn. Corn is in all the cat food I and if I switch brands the barfing is 100 x worse. I use Iams...I dont know if its gluten-free....but even if the only ingredient was wheat I cant switch it because everything else I've tried makes my cat barf. Is it normal for a cat to get sick if you switch foods? Maybe they have to adjust or something?

[elonwy]

yeah you can't just switch them, you have to wean them off one and onto the other, usually takes 1-2 weeks. Cats are creatures of habit. heck, you aren't even supposed to switch litter on them suddenly, or they can stop using thier box because its unfamiliar.

My current cats don't barf unless they eat a foriegn object, string being the worst culprit, but they do have foods they refuse to eat. They also like dry food more than wet food, which I've never seen in a cat. And they don't like people food, unless its raw meat.

Be careful of ash and magnesium content in food (especially dry) when you have a male cat. It can cause crystals in thier urine, which leads to kidney infections, which can lead to death if not treated. Many of the supermarket brands of cat food have very high ash contents.

Never give an adult cat milk, they are lactose intolerant.

Also, a thing that can help with a barfy kitty is cat grass, though the most common cat grasses sold in pet stores are wheat and rye grass. So that may not be the best option.

My old roommate was a vetinarian assistant, so I've gotten every lecture there is on kitty health.

Elonwy

[psawyer]

What Elonwy says it all true.

Most cat foods, and dog foods for that matter, have as primary ingredients protien sources (meat/fish) and carbohydrates. You can find ones without carbs, although they are not typical. Rice is the most common carbohydrate in the better foods, with corn also being common. Wheat is not common, but is in some foods. Barley is found in some high end foods as a "better" energy source than rice, wheat or corn.

I will do some research into this, and will post a list of gluten-free cat food that I have discovered tomorrow evening.

[Rachel--24]

Thanks Elonwy and Peter,

That was very informative. Why didnt I know any of this stuff before? My cat is 12 now.

I guess I won't be trying to suddenly switch the foods on him again. Poor kitty...

[elonwy]

For food weaning, I recommend starting off with an 80-20 ratio, old food 80, new food twenty, and then upping the new food every two days until its all new food. You still might get some initial barfing, and if the barfing doesn't lessen after one week on the new food, it may be no good for him. Some people I know use a combination of cooked rice, meat broth and raw meat, with some kitty vitamins and vegetables, and thats what they use for thier delicate stomached cats. Pain in the butt, but it can sometimes be better than commercial cat food. I would however, suggest consulting with your vet before going this route with your furball.

And in the wild cats do eat vegetables, they eat them from the herbivores they eat. Kinda gross, if you think about it. Carnivores eat the stomachs and intestines first. (whats in there but ground up veggies?) so carrots and other vegetables can also be added, and there is a reason for them in cat food.

Cats are however, not vegetarians, and people who feed thier carnivorous pets vegetarian diets are animal abusers, in my opinion.

Ahhh. cats make the world a better place, even when they vomit in your shoes.

Elonwy

[Nancym]

Wheat is not common, but is in some foods.

I found it quite common in the wet foods where there is a "gravy" in it also in Pounce kitty treats.

[Guest nini]

Ahhh. cats make the world a better place, even when they vomit in your shoes.

Elonwy

I am just LOL about this!!!! I currently have 3 cats and on any given day ONE of them is barfing up something!

one of my kitties is very particular about his food and I cannot change it. He will not eat anything else and believe me I've tried weaning him onto other foods, Now he's losing weight AND chewing out his hair, the vet thinks he's in mourning from losing our kitty Jezebel right before Thanksgiving... I can't even get this stubborn neurotic kitty to take his vitamin the vet prescribed... it's a thick gooey mess to and I can't hide it in anything or force it down his throat...

ahhhhh the joy of kitties.

[jerseyangel]

Oh--I love all this talk about cats! Right now, we have only one--Allo, who is in my picture. He is very picky about what he eats, and will go through phases where he throws up and then go a while not at all. He's a longhair, and if we keep him brushed, it helps him a lot in that respect. His food does have wheat in it. We use Nutro Adult Formula. Now, my husband or son feeds him the food--I take care of his water bowl--he loves fresh ICE water a couple times a day. He will sit and stare at me until I put the ice cubes in his water! Thanks all for the useful info

[mookie03]

I currently have two cats (ok i think that is obvious) and they are 1 yr old and never barf. SO i cant contribute to that line of the conversation (thankfully-my shoes are intact). But it is true about the meat percentages in their diet- when we adopted them, the woman suggested we put them on a raw meat diet b/c they need lots of meat and shouldnt eat a lot of sugar/grains. I cant afford not to feed them the normal brands, and the ones i use contain wheat. However, this has never made me sick no matter how much time i spend w/ my kitties- and they sleep with me every night. I always wash my hands immediately after feeding them and i dont usually let them snuggle with me right after i feed them - like until i cant smell it on their breath anymore. And i have never had problems..its expensive enough to put myself on a gluten-free diet, i couldnt possibly afford to do it for my cats!!!

[Rusla]

Just as I do when I am doing the litter box, when I feed my cats I use a vinyl glove and a mask. After I finish I wash my face and hands.

Do not feed cats dog food because dog food does not have the ingredient Turine, which is important for the cats eye sight. If they food does not have Turine (sp?) they can eventually go blind.

[elonwy]

To add on to what Rusia said, cats also need more protien than dogs do, so would not get an adequate amount of protien from a dog food.

Elonwy

[ravenwoodglass]

To add on to what Rusia said, cats also need more protien than dogs do, so would not get an adequate amount of protien from a dog food.

Elonwy

To add on a bit also don't give cat food as a primary food to a dog, it can damage their kidneys. We switched all our kitties to the Felidae cat food and while it took awhile for our mega-cat (25lbs food addict) to get used to it my 2 others preferred it from the start. A bonus is the big kitty no longer eats till he pukes 3 or 4 times a day. It is hard to find (not really hard just lots of label reading but we're used to that) wheat free food but I think my cats do better on it.

[Felidae]

Cats are carnivores (with some grass) and wheat shouldn't be a part of their diet. Many brands use grains as filler because it is cheap and makes the food go further. There are good quality cat foods out there, not at the grocery stores. You just have to do some research and you will find them. It's just like human food, there is crap and there is quality. My cats mean the world to me so I try to give them a higher quality food.

[psawyer]

Well, today was a busy day, and I didn't have a chance to spend time reading labels and other stuff. So, no list tonight. I'll see if it's a bit quieter tomorrow.

[Idahogirl]

I feel lucky to have such an easy cat. He's never messed anywhere but the litter box, rarely coughs up furballs, and doesn't shed much. And he's the sweetest kitty ever! He does try to lick my nose all the time, which drives me insane! When I push him away, he just looks at me as if to say "but I love you!". I have my son feed him, and I haven't had any problems. It still makes me a little nervous, but it's nothing compared to spilled Shredded Wheat all over the counter!!

Lisa

[psawyer]

The following is a list of dry cat foods which I know to be gluten-free. It is not exhaustive. The list is in alphabetical order, and is not intended to be an endorsement of any or all of these foods, only a confirmation that they are not sources of gluten.

Eukanuba Chicken & Rice Adult

Eukanuba Indoor

Iams Hairball

Iams Indoor

Iams Kitten

Iams Original

Iams Weight Control

Natural Balance Venison & Green Pea

Nutram Adult

Nutram Indoor

Nutram Kitten

Nutram Less Active

Royal Canin Feline Health Nutrition Adult Fit 32

Royal Canin Feline Health Nutrition Babycat 34

Royal Canin Feline Health Nutrition Beauty & Care 32

Royal Canin Feline Health Nutrition Beauty & Fit 37

Royal Canin Feline Health Nutrition Intense Hairball 34

Royal Canin Feline Health Nutrition Kitten 34

Royal Canin Feline Health Nutrition Oral Sensitive 30

Royal Canin Feline Health Nutrition Persian 30

Royal Canin Feline Health Nutrition Skin Care 30

Science Diet Adult

Science Diet Advanced Protection Adult

Science Diet Advanced Protection Senior

Science Diet Hairball Control Adult

Science Diet Hairball Control Light

Science Diet Hairball Control Senior

Science Diet Indoor

Science Diet Kitten

Science Diet Light

Science Diet Senior

Science Diet Sensitive Stomach

TechniCal Lifestages Adult

Nutram and TechniCal are only available in Canada.

Sorry again for taking making this post Tuesday evening instead of Sunday as originally promised.

[bluelotus]

I've never seen felidae brand, where have you all found it?

[emcmaster]

Hi everyone -

I'm pretty sure my cat's food is gluten-free - which I'm happy to see, because i find her hair in my food, mouth, EVERYWHERE. She's on Hill's Prescription Diet r/d Feline and here are the ingredients:

Chicken By-Product Meal, Brewers Rice, Corn Gluten Meal, Powdered Cellulose 18.8% (source of fiber), Chicken Liver Flavor, Soybean Oil, Calcium Sulfate, Potassium Sulfate, Choline Chloride, Vitamin E Supplement, Taurine, Glyceryl Monostearate, Iodized Salt, vitamins (L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate (source of vitamin C), Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin A Supplement, Calcium Pantothenate, Riboflavin, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Vitamin D3 Supplement), Potassium Chloride, preserved with BHT, BHA and Ethoxyquin, L-Carnitine, minerals (Ferrous Sulfate, Zinc Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite), Beta-Carotene.

It sure looks gluten-free to me but I'm going to email the company. Does anyone see anything glaring that I'm missing?

Thanks!

[kevsmom]

I always wash my hands with soap and water and dry them with a paper towel after feeding my dog.

Cindy

[Patti B]

Peter,

I used to feed my cats Iams indoor but then I saw it contained brewer's yeast. Isn't brewer's yeast a source of gluten?