cat has allergies?

[MyCatPaulie]

Hey everybody, just wanted to come on with a quick update. When we went to the vet last week she wanted us to start using revolution again and since them Paulie's itch has been better. He's still itching but not as bad. He's been eating Wellness for two weeks now and there are no bumps on her neck, does anyone know if she is allergic to something in this food if they would be broken out by now. I don't know if we should keep her on this wellness and see how it goes or try the royal canin which we already ordered? Also does anyone know if cats can be allergic to thickening agents like guar gym in wet food?

[krazyaboutkatz]

This sounds very promising. I'd try her with this food for a while. If you keep on switching food, you'll never know what works for her. I don't know about any allergies to thickening agents like guar gum.

Do you think that she just had fleas all of this time or maybe mites? Maybe the Revolution is what she needed all along.

[MyCatPaulie]

HI krazyaboutkatz .
I finally decided to take Paulie to a dermatologist on October 4th, I love my vet but I think a specialist could help us a little more, I don't think he had fleas all along because he was on revolution last fall but we took him off to make sure he wasn't allergic to that. It's just so weird that he's itching but not breaking out yet and the itching could be from the fleas. When he breaks out in little scabs they are always on his neck and chest my vet said that means it's a food allergy, do you know if that's true?

[Catlady711]

HI krazyaboutkatz .
I finally decided to take Paulie to a dermatologist on October 4th, I love my vet but I think a specialist could help us a little more, I don't think he had fleas all along because he was on revolution last fall but we took him off to make sure he wasn't allergic to that. It's just so weird that he's itching but not breaking out yet and the itching could be from the fleas. When he breaks out in little scabs they are always on his neck and chest my vet said that means it's a food allergy, do you know if that's true?

There are about 2 dozen things I can think of off the top of my head that can cause itching, hair loss, and scabbing on a pet.

Most vets will try the food trials first because it's one of the easiest, cheapest things to try and a common causes of allergies. For a food trial to be effective you have to feed the new food EXCLUSIVELY for 6-8 weeks. That means no treats, no people food, no goodies, no other foods during that time.

Flea bite allergy is another common cause of itching and another relatively easy/cheap one to eliminate. It can take as few as ONE flea bite to cause an allergic reaction that may take a week or more to recover from. You don't necessarily have to see the fleas to have a single one sneak on, have a bite, then hop off to lay eggs leaving behind an itchy pet.

Pets can also suffer from pollen and environmental allergies like people do which can cause alot of itching.

Dry skin can also cause a fair amount of itching.

In addition, regardless of original cause, constant scratching by an itchy pet can lead to skin infections that can make the whole situation worse.

I hope the dermatologist can help shed some light on things for you. Too bad they couldn't get you in sooner though.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I'm glad to hear that you'll be taking Paulie to a specialist. Hopefully this doctor will finally be able to find out whats going on with Paulie. Good luck.

I only have experience with Storm losing the fur on his ears because he became very itchy from eating fish. I've also had some cats that would get feline acne on their chins from time to time even though I fed them out of stainless steel bowls.

My Pearl has Eosinophilic Granuloma Complex which causes her to break out on her lips and chin. It can be caused by an allergic reaction to fleas, a food allergy, or an airborne allergy. I think she may have a food allergy even though my vet said that this hasn't been proven to cause this disease. I treat all of my cats every month with advantage so no one has fleas. Pearl actually broke out again a few days ago so she's now on prednisolone for several weeks. The last time she broke out was on 4-1-08. I recently changed everyones diet so this may be the cause but it could also be just a coincidence.

[MyCatPaulie]

Thanks so much to the both of you for your help! I have the bag of royal canin green pea and rabbit but I don't know if I should start her on it or just keep her on the wellness, that way if she does start breaking out the vet can see what her bumps look like. It worries me that I can't find any reviews on that food, do you know anyone who has tried the royal canin limited ingredient diets? I'm going to call the dermatologist back on Monday to tell them if they have any cancellations to let us know so we can get him in sooner. I will keep you guys posted for sure! Thanks again for the help!

[Catlady711]

Thanks so much to the both of you for your help! I have the bag of royal canin green pea and rabbit but I don't know if I should start her on it or just keep her on the wellness, that way if she does start breaking out the vet can see what her bumps look like. It worries me that I can't find any reviews on that food, do you know anyone who has tried the royal canin limited ingredient diets? I'm going to call the dermatologist back on Monday to tell them if they have any cancellations to let us know so we can get him in sooner. I will keep you guys posted for sure! Thanks again for the help!

I've never personallly used the Pea and Rabbit formula, but I had Dusty on the Pea and Duck formula for a time as a diet elimination trial. She liked the food well enough, although in her case it turned out that she just had mental issues rather than a food allergy. We have some clients on Royal Canin vet diets our more popular ones being the one I had Dusty on and the Hypoallergenic 23 formula. We've had pretty good results with both if it did turn out to be a food allergy.

You need to pick one food (whether Wellness or the Royal Canin) and STICK WITH IT for 2 months minimum. The body can take up to 2 months to recover from an allergic reaction to something and if you're changing foods more often than that it will be impossible to know what's helping/hurting there.

[MyCatPaulie]

Thanks so much for your help Catlady711! On Friday we were going to start giving her the green pea and duck so I mixed in 13 peices of that with the wellness, then we deicded to just keep her on the wellness until she sees the dermotologist but today she is having soft stools again, would the green pea and rabbit be the problem, she tried nateral balance green pea and duck and that didn't agree with her so I'm worried about the rabbit. Thanks again for the help!

[Catlady711]

Any diet change, particularly if done rapidly, can cause loose stools. Some pets just simply don't get along with all foods. For right now just stick with that Wellness until you see the specialist. If the loose stools continue you might want to see your regular vet before that just to rule out any other problems.