Understanding your Cat’s Food Allergy
Food allergies can be frustrating but the good news is that truly hypoallergenic diets are available to help diagnose and manage this condition.
What is Food Allergy?
A food allergy is an over-reaction of the immune system against proteins in the food that would normally be considered harmless. This may be caused by abnormalities in the intestinal tract allowing the immune system to be exposed to proteins that are normally not absorbed across the intestine. In contrast, food intolerance does not involve the immune system - an example is lactose intolerance in cats (they can lack the enzyme to digest lactose, the sugar in milk). Although the mechanisms are different, food allergy and intolerance can be difficult to tell apart and their dietary management is very similar.
The most common signs of food allergy are either an itchy skin or gastrointestinal signs such as vomiting or diarrhoea (or both). Many other conditions can cause these signs so your vet may need to carry out various investigations to rule out other conditions.
Diet is Important.
The reliable way to diagnose a food allergy is to feed an elimination diet such as Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets Feline HA St/Ox Hypoallergenic. If your cat has a food allergy then the signs should disappear when fed the elimination diet (and return when your cat goes back onto its original food).
Purina Pro Plan Veterinary Diets Feline HA St/Ox Hypoallergenic is a truly hypoallergenic diet – it contains selected proteins that have been treated (hydrolysed) to break them down into tiny fragments that are highly unlikely to provoke an immune response.
Once food allergy is confirmed you may chose to either find a diet which avoids the specific protein source that your cat is allergic to (if this has been identified) or continue feeding a hydrolysed diet such as Feline HA St/Ox Hypoallergenic.
