Cat allergic to food

My cat's allergy to cat food used to be limited to just food with corn. Lately his fur is oily again and now he has black heads on his chin. I read that the black heads are also a symtom of food allergies. He has always been a skinny cat and I don't want to take the chance that a new commercial product will make his condition worse. I would like to try preparing his food myself, I need some information to do this. My local vet has not been very helpful as he does not know much about this type of allergy in cats.

Hope someone can help!

Holly

Your vet doesn't know much about this stuff? Did he graduate yesterday? Food allergies are common, but are you sure it's the food? My cat gets reactions on his face too, but it's not his food he's allergic to, we determined it to be plastic bowls, so I switched all our bowls to ceramic and it got better. He was also allergic to his nylon collar (he had scabs on his neck) but I switched him to a hypoallergenic leather collar.

There are foods out there that are specifically for allergic pets, such as Hills D/D (dermotological diet) or Z/D (allergen free), or MediCal Hypoallergenic Formula. Yeah they can be pricey, but it may be necessary. The oily coat may be from his food, but I don't think it's an allergy.

Hi KittyKat,
Thank you for your response!
When my cat first got sick as a kitten, the local vet charged me $1200 and said he didn't know what the problem was. I went online after that and figured out that it was a food allergy. We eliminated foods with corn in them and he got better in a matter of days. A couple of months later he was eating the dog's food (with corn) and he got sick again. We feed the dog outside now and he has had no problems for over 2 years. Now he has the same symptoms + blackheads. I have stopped feeding him his regular food and I am giving him chicken, rice and a little white fish. His coat is a little less oily and the blackheads seem to be disappearing. I was looking for information on feeding him a homemade diet - what kinds of food to use, what to use for fiber and fat etc. I hope someone who has had similiar problems or feeds their cat a homemade diet can help me out. Special commercial products are hard to come by in my neck of the woods!!
I did know about plastic, he has always had a ceramic bowl and no collar.


Thanks!

Holly