My cat is allergic to pet food but is picky about the food I cook for her, what do I do?

[frankiedee]

My cat is a female 14 month old Himalayan. Some months ago she had recurring indolent ulcers that the vet said were caused by a severe allergy. After changing her bedding, toys and various other things, we eventually found that the moment she ate Whiskas dry or canned food she erupted in these awful pus filled boils around her mouth.

I immediately switched to natural food. Unfortunately tho, she's a terribly picky eater. Refuses to eat the same thing two meals in a row, and believe me when I say I do my best to mix it up. So now she's gone off the range I usually have her on, completely, and I know it isn't something medically wrong with her cos although she turned her nose at some of her usual staples, I gave her some kippers out of a tin (something she doesnt usually get) and she gobbled it up. Im worrying about her now cos she's getting quite thin and I can't coax her to eat more than a few bites of anything. So questions:

1. Is there anything safe that I can give her to increase her appetite?
2. What other foods can I give her apart from those listed below?
3. I usually boil the food with a pinch of salt, but is there any other way I can cook the meat?

Additional info:
* I live in a small South Asian country and we only get one brand of cat food - Whiskas so I've no access to anything else, but I can get most fresh ocean fish types - note fish like cod, kipper etc are imported and very expensive
* She's picky about the types of fish she eats as well, no small fish with bones, doesn't like salmon, only tuna, Seer fish ...I've not given her prawns , squid etc. I was told they weren't good for cats?
* Every meal , she gets any two of the following foods - Chicken, chicken liver, seer/tuna fish, mashed potato with cheese, scrambled egg -
* She absolutely refuses to eat = beef liver, beef mince

[skepticalpeach]

I see you have access to the internet, can you order cat food online? Purina One Beyond is all natural and doesn't have weird ingredients in it. Good luck!

[opus88]

if you read all the catinfo site it will lead you to this link about making cat food, however I will add it just incase you missed the link....read everything very carefully. I don't necessarily agree with all the recommendations of this Vets diet but I do believe its better than any store bought food esp with a cat suffering from allergies.
I will also mention that chicken is sometimes a very common culprit, you mentioned feeding chicken, try eliminating that, its what my himalayan was allergic to.

http://www.catinfo.org/?link=makingcatfood#Putting_the_Recipe_Together

[opus88]

hi and welcome I hope we can help you and kitty both.
I will try to answer your question. but to start with I want to comment on two things.....1. don't use SALT, this is extremely bad for cats. 2. fish is okay but NOT tuna...tuna is the worst, and I can't remember all the reasons...higher in mercury for one...just trust me, I found this out b/c my own kitty loves tuna and read reports about it being the worst. so I had to d/c this one.

and cook in the oven or a slow cooker don't boil, this way is loosing all the nutrients.

I have one of mine on a home made cat food b/c he 'hates' canned cat food and refuses to eat and dry food was giving him urinary tract problems b/c its so dehydrated. for him I use pork....I slow cook it in the oven and add the vitamins necessary to give it a correct balance of nutrients.

to start with I will send you a website that deals with nutrition the Vet there promotes a RAW diet, but I could never get my boy to eat raw and besides I don't like handling raw meat so I found other sources for a cooked recipe. but there is still tons of good reading on her site. I recommend reading this first.

http://www.catinfo.org/

Whiskas isn't a recommended food. and dry diet is even worse. so many kitties have allergies to the preservatives and or the GRAINS that are used.....