Hypoallergenic wet cat food?

[BatshitCrazyWoman]

My cat was diagnosed with IBD in the summer, and the vet recommended a hypoallergenic diet. She's on half a steroid tablet a day, and once she's on a completely hypoallergenic diet (that she actually eats!) we are going to titrate that down.

I have Royal Canin hypoallergenic dry food, which she kind of likes, but never eats it all. I tried the Trovet food, and she didn't eat any of it at all. The vet mentioned Hills zd food, but I've read such mixed reviews.

Can anyone recommend any other HA cat food? That their cat actually eats!

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Oh for goodness sake. Photo hasn't loaded. And I'm typing this with an ad covering the entire screen 🙄

Mine love the Royal Canin wet ones. I think there's an allergy one and a sensitivity control one. I think Hill's do them as well?

I think Purina do one but I’ve never tried it.

My cat eats Purina one sensitive exclusively. She vomits after any other food or treats we have tried. She is 17

Yes Hills zd is the one with the bad reviews. The vet looked and said there wasn't a Royal Canin hypoallergenic wet food. The sensitive one is not HA (she was on that before she was diagnosed, and she really liked it 😬).

Thanks for the Purina recommendation. I have already asked the vet about that, and it's not hypoallergenic 😬

Royal canin is not that great IMO.

I only buy pet food that’s grain free and my cat loves PURIZON from Zooplus.

My previous cat suffered allergies and the vet wanted him to be on steroids permanently (!!) but the grain free cat food sorted him out and no more asthma attacks!

Total game changer. 🥰

I can't get a straight answer from the vet about what hypoallergenic cat food actually is. Grain free isn't hypoallergenic apparently. Neither are any of the 'sensitive' ones.

It basically seems like HA food is food my cat doesn't want to eat. She liked the sensitive food, and the grain free food I've bought her, but they are apparently all wrong.

I wonder if they mean it has to be hydrolysed protein (the proteins are broken down so small the body can't detect them as allergens). Royal Canin Hypoallergenic Dry and Hills z/d are both hydrolysed, so that would fit. I've not any recommendations (only had to feed a dog hydrolysed for allergies) but might help your search?

I think you're right. I'll have to try her with the Hills zd, and see how that goes.

Sorry, I don't have any tried and tested advice. I had two cats who needed special diets so I feel your pain. I had to do a lot of reading and research and I would scrutinize the entire ingredient list to make sure I was buying the right thing. As you said, many of these terms and labels can be confusing.

I found Zooplus a fairly good website to hunt for specialist diets. The prices were reasonable but it's always worth searching around on the internet for deals or checking the website of the company / brand directly as sometimes they sell it cheaper.

www.zooplus.co.uk/shop/veterinary_food/cat_vet_food/hypoallergenic_cat_food

Purina HA is hydrolysed

The only wet hydrolysed cat foods are hills z-d and dechra soecific FOW-HY. The others are all dry, however my personal experience as an owner of a cat with food allergies is that Purina HA is the most palatable of all the hydrolysed foods my cat really enjoys this running to her bowl each time,

I buy her Royal Canin HA dry food from Zooplus. I like that I can have it delivered to a parcel shop, as I otherwise have to pay through the nose for next day delivery and cancel plans, as I have no safe place to leave stuff and my neighbours are also out a lot!

I can see they do the Purina HA dry food, and I'll try that next time, but they don't sell any wet HA food (she was on the RC sensitive one when she developed IBD, and it's not HA, although might be fine for skin issues).

I'm going to try her on that Purina one.

There is also a brand called Trovet that does a HA wet food (the vet recommended it to me). My cat won't eat it!

Vets have very limited knowledge about allergies and nutrition as they’re similar to GP’s with only an overview and they’re sent a huge amount of puff from the big cat food suppliers so it’s hardly surprising they push those brands.

Hypoallergenic is a pretty meaningless term as it has no agreed scientific definition.

But hydrolysed does have a very specific meaning and is what has been recommended. Glad to hear all those hours I spent in lectures on the nutrition and micronutrients appear to have so little value and not single one was given by a pet food company.
hydrolyzed means that the carbohydrates and proteins have been broken down to such a small molecular weight that they no longer can cause the allergic reaction.

Thank you @Needanadultgapyear , I've been reading all the ingredients lists, and comparing them, and hydrolysed protein is mentioned on the HA foods.

Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone!

We tried various single protein source cats foods for our IBD boy and had good results with the pork katkin. It contains only pork protein but is fairly appetising (unlike some of the very processed hydrolysed vet foods). After a few months once his gut had settled amd he'd had b12 injections and was putting weight back on, we were able to introduce other katkin flavours back in. He now tolerates the chicken, duck and turkey ones too. The downside is that it takes up a lot of freezer space. Here's a code for a trial pack if you want to give it a go
katkin.mention-me.com/m/ol/wh1lt-sally-uren

https://www.katkin.com/products/oink-pork-cat-food a bit more info

Thanks for that @AltitudeCheck. I will bear it in mind. I would have issues about being in to receive a delivery though, plus I don't have a very big freezer!

It's well packaged so stays frozen until you get home but the freezer space is an issue (the cat has his own mini freezer now 🤦🏼‍♀️)

Ha! I could probably squeeze in a little freezer for her. I don't have any safe place for parcels to be left, or neighbours that are around to take things in, so home delivery is a bit of a nightmare (for everything, not just cat food!).

She's got a vet appointment next week, so I'm going to mention the foods that have been recommended here, and see what the vet says, then try some of them out on her.