If you suspect that your cat has a food allergy or is hyper sensitive to certain types of food, you might want to look at hypoallergenic cat food. Before buying hypoallergenic cat food you might have to look at the symptoms your cat shows. It is useful to discuss these symptoms with the vet. Other diseases should be excluded first, then the vet can tell if your suspicion of food allergy is correct. The vet can give definitive advice on whether or not to give your cat hypoallergenic cat food.
Diagnosis of food allergy
Certain symptoms are characteristic for food allergy in cats. You often see that cats suffer from itching around the head. This can lead to irritated spots such as red spots and bald patches. The more your cat scratches, the more pus and scabs can develop on the head of your cat. In addition, you may notice that your cat suffers from loss of appetite and loses weight. Other symptoms on the skin and in the stomach and intestines, can also present themselves with food allergy. If it does not go away in a short time, it is advisable to contact the vet immediately. The vet can check whether your cat is allergic to certain proteins that occur in animal food.
Special cat food
Hypoallergenic cat food consists of different compositions of ingredients. It all depends on the allergy of the cat. To ensure that food is safe for cats, completely different products are often used. Hypoallergenic cat food often has ostrich meat or goat meat. The chance that your cat is allergic to these products is very small. There is also a special type of cat food which has modified proteins. This means that the protein no longer triggers an allergic reaction so your cat can eat the same products safely.
Special wet cat food
Just like dry food, hypoallergenic wet cat food has a modified composition. This way hypoallergenic wet cat food does not cause an allergic reaction. With wet food there is extra attention for the fat content of the cat food. Wet food generally has more calories and weighs more heavily on the stomach and intestines. That is why it is important that in case of cat allergy you do not only buy dry hypoallergenic cat food but also wet hypoallergenic cat food.
