PET WELLNESS
PETS HAVE GLUTEN ALLERGIES TOO GRAIN-FREE FOOD CHOICES FOR YOUR FURRY FRIENDS By Dara Hall
s a family, we always had pets. I loved every single one of them, and I’m not afraid to admit I have a favorite, our black cat, Michelin (we found him on a tire, so the name was just too fitting). He’s one of those cats who doesn’t fight for your attention; he’s content just being in the same room as you are. When we started noticing these sores and scabs on his body, especially his ears, we were unsettled. We took Michelin to see the veterinarian. The vet did recognize that it was some type of food allergy but without doing extensive and expensive blood work for allergies, they did not feel they could give an accurate diagnosis. Given a limited family budget for pet care, the veterinarian offered a plan B: steroids for 10-days and an antibiotic. During the ten days of treatment, Michelin’s symptoms cleared up. Then after a week off the steroids, we noticed the sores and scabs on his ears again. My parents didn’t want to put him back on the steroid because they knew there would be sideeffects. So, they begin the journey of making our cats’ diet more limited (our other cat is a Maine Coon mix and is solid health-wise). A local pet food supply store was opening down the street. A conversation with the owner about what was happening led to an informal diagnosis: it was likely a gluten allergy. But here’s the thing, we already figured that out. The food we were feeding our cats was gluten and grain-free. Yet, Michelin still had little sores and scabs on his ears. They weren’t as bad as before but we were at a loss, what was going on? It couldn’t be gluten. Then we checked the litter we were using, one of the first ingredients, wheat. Once we changed the litter, he completely cleared up.
DRY CAT FOOD – NATURAL BALANCE
Parallel to our cat’s journey with gluten, we had a Pitbull mix that was getting hot spots. This time the veterinarian said it was most likely a gluten allergy. Once we became aware of this, we became diligent in assuring that his food and treats were gluten and grain-free. Now and then he still gets hot spots. We do have a no table scraps rule in our house… but sometimes it’s easy to forget there is gluten in a piece of food when the soulful, plaintive eyes of your pet are looking deep into your soul. It’s terrible when your pet is in pain, and you’re not entirely sure how to help. I’ve shared my experience with navigating gluten allergies so you can understand how this allergy affects pets, how to recognize the symptoms and appreciate the rewards of keeping your allergic pet gluten-free for life. If you are recognizing the pattern here, the manifestation of a gluten allergy, check out the glutenfree food options we’ve found successful at keeping our pets healthy.
To keep our cat free of sores and scabs, we were on the hunt for dry food that had limited ingredients. We were so lucky to find Natural Balance and their grain-free L.I.D. Limited Ingredient Diets® formula!! Our cats’ favorite is the “Green pea and Chicken.” Natural Balance has other formulas that can be tailored to your pet’s needs like Fat Cats® or Fat Dogs® to help with weight and Delectable Delights® for fussy eaters. If you don’t know which one to choose, the website has a simple survey that helps you determine which option would work best for your pet. Info: naturalbalanceinc.com.
WET CAT FOOD – TASTE OF THE WILD
For the wet food options for our feline friends, we found favorites in a few brands but we wanted to keep exploring different options. After some experimentation, we found Taste of the Wild. Our cats are fans of their grain-free “Rocky Mountain Feline Formula.” Taste of the Wild offers a grain-free limited diet formula as well called “Prey” and their formulas cover life stages from kitten to even pregnant and nursing. Info: tasteofthewildpetfood.com. JUNE 2020
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