Gluten Allergies

[Thorn]

The short, stupid question....do any of you with gluten allergies find issue with grain-fed meats?

The long question that will really make me sound stupid....the original question has nothing to do with a human; it is my cat, Ms. Horks Alot. It is just that humans have more history paying attention to gluten allergies.

I am sad to admit that in my cat's 14 years, I have, unconsciously experimented on her diet.

First, I fed her kibble. Quality kibble, but kibble none-the-less. She survived, but didn't thrive. Then one day she stopped being able to eat kibble at all. We switched to quality canned food. Her fur was better; she had more energy. Lesson #1: Michael Pollan might have something with the "eat food, not nutrients." After all, kibble is a classic example of all the right nutrients, yet the cat could not digest it.

So, now she's on high quality canned food. Over time, there was a refusal on various flavors. We were down to just 3 flavors and she starts throwing up the chicken. I went out and bought various other brands, various flavors, staying away from the Fancy Feasts (aka kitty frosted flakes). Some she can eat; some she eats and then tosses back up on the carpeting.

As the engineer that I am, I start keeping a list of all ingredients noting what stays down and what doesn't. Lesson #2: My cat cannot digest gluten. If the food has gluten in it (wheat or barley), I will be cleaning the carpeting.

So now I am wondering why the chicken causes problems yet only some foods with chicken? I find it hard to imagine that the chicken meat would be contaminated if it were grain-fed (sort of like Contador's clenbuterol -- hey, I had to bring in a cycling reference). Seems more likely just a contamination in the factory, but I thought I'd pose the question. Am I hunting in the right direction? Or am I seeing patterns that can't exist?

Any clues would be greatly appreciated by both me and Ms. Horks Alot.

[Eden]

My boy kitty sounds like her twin...it appears he can't tolerate poultry - and worse it not only seems to cause puking, but he gets crystals in his urine too! So no birdy foods for him. This is just supposition really... but the first time he ended up with a UT crisis I'd recently switched him to a high quality all meat kibble made from duck. After that I went to a full time 100% meat 100% canned food diet. I'd been feeding exclusively Ziwi Peak canned. The second time he started having problems (I caught it quickly before it was a crisis the second time thankfully) I had tried to introduce some canned 100% turkey and duck foods in for a little variety... a week or two later he started showing signs of UI problems again. Back to only Ziwi Peak and no problems - their flavors are fish, venison and lamb based.

From that I can only surmise that he has some serious problems with poultry...

He also horks really easily... if he eats too much - hork, too fast - hork, cold food - hork.... ugh... so he gets fed small amounts 3 times a day and if the food has been in the fridge it gets warmed about 10 secs in the micro. (oh and I've tried raw foods.... hork...) I appear to have it controlled. He only pukes now if he's got a hairball to work out - whew!

[TsPoet]

My mom is gluten intolerant. She has trouble with some canned products because they use flour to prime the equipment used to process the food. Not too uncommon with things like canned meat - gotta keep the metal parts moving and flour does it.

[Thorn]

Thanks....flour to keep the parts running? Makes sense now that you say it, but I would never have thought about it. Fascinating.

And there are cats with poultry allergies. When my cats wouldn't eat beef or venison I figured that those really wouldn't have been natural food choices for a predator their size. But rabbit, birds, fish, etc. should all be things their bodies were designed for. It is good to know that a poultry allergy is not impossible. Bad for the cats, but good to know I'm not heading completely down the wrong route.

ZiwiPeaks is not common around here. Their web site has one place that isn't too far away. I will probably give it a go. For a long time we had things under control with Tiki Cat's seafood line. But, over time I've been told that anything with sardines or shellfish is inedible. No horking, but no eating either.

Thanks again. More clues. Clues are good.

[moonfroggy]

there are recipes online for making cat food. both raw and cooked. i did it for a while for my calico but she died and my living cat prefers dried kibble or his own fresh caught food. that seems like the best way to make sure your cat has gluten free food but it can be messy and gross to make it.

[Thorn]

but it can be messy and gross to make it.

Yeah....and I'm vegetarian. My little furry carnivores are spoiled to the max, get the bestest food I can buy, but I just can't bring myself to processing meat for them. It is just a level I'm having a hard time reaching. I'm not sure what I'm going to do when I reach that point.

Ms Horks Alot went to the vet for her annual checkup. The vet said, "Oh, a Calico. The princesses of the cat world. Demanding. Trouble." Yep.