Feed Allergy in Cats: Causes and Treatment

If a cat cannot tolerate certain ingredients, this will trigger an allergic reaction in their body. For affected animals such a food allergy is associated with numerous complaints. In particular, it causes the cat to suffer from diarrhoea and skin problems.

Causes of food allergy in cats

Like all allergies, food allergy in your cat is caused by an overreaction of the immune system. The body of the quadruped classifies certain ingredients of the cat food as a threat and tries to fight it.

In most cases the allergens are animal proteins. However, sometimes different artificial additives can be responsible for the allergic reactions. In addition, cereals in the feed are often the trigger of a feed intolerance or feed allergy in cats.

Symptoms of a food allergy in cats

If your cat suffers from a food allergy, it can manifest itself in a number of symptoms. These include digestive tract problems and problems with the skin and coat.

It is not possible to say in general terms which symptoms occur in each case and to what extent they become noticeable. Depending on the severity of the allergy to the cat food, the symptoms caused by it can also vary.

In principle, however, the following symptoms in particular can indicate a food allergy in your cat:

• The cat vomits.
  
• The cat has diarrhoea.
  
• This leads to allergic inflammation of the skin.
• The quadruped loses weight.
• Water accumulations form in the tissue.
• Strong itching leads to wound-licking spots.
• The cat suffers from ear infections.
• Further skin changes such as skin ulcers may occur.
• How a food allergy is diagnosed in cats

If you notice the above symptoms in your cat and suspect that they may be caused by a food allergy, a visit to the vet is recommended. After all, the symptoms may also be caused by another disease or an infestation of worms or giardia in your cat.

For a reliable diagnosis and subsequent treatment, a specialist examination is therefore essential. If the veterinarian has ruled out other causes such as a worm infestation of the cat, the next step is to treat the food allergy.

Treatment of a cat with food allergy

Usually you can assume that your cat's food allergy is not curable. Once the four-legged friend has developed an allergy to a certain food component, it will persist permanently.

To counteract the cat's food allergy, it is therefore necessary to identify incompatible ingredients in the food and to avoid them in the future.

For this purpose, your cat will first receive a food with a protein source that has not been used up to now. If your cat tolerates it well, other ingredients are gradually added to the food to provoke possible allergic reactions.

This way you can gradually find out which components of the food are responsible for your cat's food allergy and adjust your pet's diet accordingly in the future.

Allergy food for cats

The elimination diet just described works quite well in practice. However, it is associated with a high expenditure of time. It can take up to eight weeks to identify the cause of the food allergy in your cat.

A sensible and time-saving alternative is therefore to use a special allergy food for cats. Such a hypoallergenic cat food only contains ingredients that are practically impossible to trigger the food allergy in your cat.

The proteins contained in the allergy food are usually hydrolysed for this purpose. This means that they are broken down into very small pieces during processing. This means that possible allergens are no longer recognised by your cat's immune system and, with a bit of luck, the symptoms of the food allergy will disappear.

High quality allergy food for cats from I love my cat

It is not always possible to counteract a food allergy in cats with an allergy food containing hydrolysed protein. In addition, such a cat food can cause even more problems over time.

Some owners therefore decide to barf their cat. However, as this form of feeding is associated with a number of risks, we recommend a different approach for cats with food allergies.

For your nutritionally sensitive four-legged friend, choose a cat food that contains a source of protein that has not yet been used and whose ingredients do not require excessive processing.

The hypoallergenic cat food with insect protein from I love my cat meets these requirements perfectly and is therefore ideally suited to permanently control your cat's food allergy.

The most important advantages of our allergy food at a glance:

• Insektenprotein enthält alle essentiellen Aminosäuren.
• Das Allergiefutter für Katzen ist frei von künstlichen Zusätzen.
• Insektenprotein ist besonders gut verdaulich.
• Das hypoallergene Katzenfutter ist getreidefrei.
• Die Nutzung von Insektenprotein schont die Umwelt.

Useful food supplements for cats with food allergies

In addition to exclusive feeding with our hypoallergenic insect-based cat food, it makes sense to support your nutritionally sensitive cat with suitable food supplements.

For cats with food allergies we recommend the following products from our range: 

• I Love My Cat Kidney Strength
• I Love My Cat Immune

I Love My Cat Kidney Power (I love my cat Nierenkraft) stimulates the detoxification processes of the kidneys with a special herbal mixture and helps the vital filter organ to better cope with the additional burden of the cat's food allergy.

I Love My Cat Immun (I Love My Cat Immune) is a natural food supplement whose special composition provides your cat with food allergy with valuable nutrients to strengthen its weakened immune system.

Of course both products are hypoallergenic, so that their administration does not lead to any intolerance in your cat due to the feed allergy.

Our saver sets for your cat with food allergies

In order to offer you the best possible support in getting the allergy symptoms of your four-legged friend under control, we have put together special saver sets for cats with food allergies. Order, for example, our set for allergic cats with inflamed ears or allergic cats with watery eyes and secure attractive discounts compared to purchasing the individual products.

Prognosis for cats with feed allergy

By feeding your cat with a high-quality allergy food from our range, the symptoms of food allergy should disappear completely within a few weeks.

However, this only applies if you consistently follow the feeding plan and avoid other foods permanently. Because often even small amounts of an allergen are sufficient to trigger the cat's food allergy again.