Is it worth trying a wheat free diet?

[Toddlerteaplease]

Cheddar is still vomiting, a lot. Had two weeks with none after stopping mixing doe high meat food in, but it's back to what it was before I gave her that food. An assistant in a pet shop suggested I try a wheat free diet. I have some high meat content food which did improve the volume she was sick but not the frequency and I've bought some of the Sainsbury's own brand wheat free stuff. Has anyone tried this and did it work? She's well I'm her self and eats and drinks very well.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

Remind me what work up has she had for her vomiting?

[wheelygo]

We adopted our kitten from a rescue and she is fed on Sainsbury’s own exclusively. We were recommended to continue this due to the wheat free aspect and all of the other cats in the rescue are fed this aswell, with no problems. It’s definitely worth a try.
Incidentally their cat milk is the only one we’ve found to be lactose free rather than lactose reduced!

[Toddlerteaplease]

The vet has checked her out and doesn't think there is a problem with her tummy. They did offer to do bloods but I didn't want to go looking for problems in an otherwise very well cat. The rescue said she was always a bit of a sicky cat. She will have been checked by the rescue vet as well. I might ask them to get in touch with her previous owner to see if they had an issue.

[stressystressy]

How often are you feeding her? Is the vomiting happening immediately after she’s fed or a few hours later?

[Lonecatwithkitten]

I would strongly suggest bloods to check for chronic pancreatitis around 75% of clinically well cats have it. It is felt to be the single biggest cause of intermittent vomiting.

[MrsSchadenfreude]

I had a cat that couldn’t tolerate gluten and was sick all the time. Switched to GF food and it made a huge difference. Vet recommended it, after giving her a barium meal and not finding anything seriously wrong (apart from an odd shaped colon). She lived to be 22,

[Ilovecrumpets]

My kitten with a sensitive stomach seems to do quite well on Smilla - the kitten food anyway is not quite such a high a meat content as others but it is grain free ( the rest is broth - so water I guess!). My sensitive boy seems to find very high meat content food a bit difficult to digest

[Lonecatwithkitten]

Having thought more you should also have bloods to rule out PKD as she is a Persian unless both parents had bloods to prove they were homozygous non-carriers.

[Toddlerteaplease]

@Lonecatwithkitten the vet did suggest bloods to rule out chronic pancreatitis. But I thought that she's just too well to have it. I will have them done if this doesn't work though.
She's sick a while after eating, with the high meat stuff it's small amounts and digested. With the RC It's large amounts and undigested which is why I think it's diet related.

[Toddlerteaplease]

Not sure about PKD. I had no history from the rescue other than she was revoked as the owner was away a lot and couldn't give her the time she needed.

[Toddlerteaplease]

I also think over feeding may be an issue. She's such a greedy piglet and tells me she's not been fed for a month. I put more food out for Snorg As I'm worried about her not getting any.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

If you do not know her history it would be worth investigating PKD if just one parent carries the gene the incidence in the litter is 50% and the incidence of the gene is very high in Persians.
We believe up to 75% of cats have low grade chronic pancreatitis - yes that is every cat who is an intermittent, but regular vomiter.
Honestly I would spend the money on bloods rather than stabbing in the dark with food.

[Toddlerteaplease]

Yes. You are probably correct. It after such a rough ride with the other two I'm reluctant to go down the medical line just yet.

[Toddlerteaplease]

Took her to the vet for a hygiene trim and the vet nurse had a good feel of her tummy and said if she had chronic pancreatitis it would be painful. So also thinks it's a diet problem. If this doesn't dirt it I'll definitely get bloods done.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

The most update research shows that significant numbers of cats with pancreatitis do not show signs of pain on clinical examination I would say only around 50% of the cases I see do. I see at least three cats with pancreatitis a week.

[Toddlerteaplease]

She's had 36 hours of high meat content/grain free mixed in with a tiny bit of her old food and vocal, nosey Cheddar is back! I was being firmly told off for having a shower.