Serum Allergy Testing

yeva2292

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I want to have a discussion with my vet about getting Smokey tested for both environmental and food allergies. She is constantly scratching her face and ears. She is on Paradyne and the vet did put her on Tresaderm for two weeks which was effective, but the itchiness came back almost immediately. Do any of you have experience with the serum allergy test? Is it effective and are the results reliable?
 

Furballsmom

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Hi!
I did a site wide search for threads about this test and there were very few, and they were old threads so I don't know if the posters are still active.
I did find this, possibly still helpful for you;
Skin Conditions In Cats
 
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yeva2292

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Thank you! I did see a couple earlier posts about allergy tests, but they were from 2008 and I wasn't sure if the test has become more accurate/reliable since then. I will probably call her vet's office tomorrow and see what they think.
 
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yeva2292

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Her vet's office said that they don't do allergy testing. We have an appointment tomorrow with a different vet that does do allergy testing, but only after exhausting other options. I'm not really looking forward to tomorrow's appointment, but at this point I doubt I'll find a vet who will order an allergy test without doing feed trials.
 
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yeva2292

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Well, that appointment could have gone better. Fairly certain the vet thought everything I have done up to this point is absurd and that I'm a crazy cat lady. He spent the majority of the visit attacking me (he even later said "it may sound like I'm attacking you") about switching Smokey to different foods when she would stop eating, having diarrhea, or throwing up, and didn't sound at all happy about my feeding her a raw diet.

He thinks the issue is IBS combined with a food allergy. Since there is a tiny possibility of convincing him to order an allergy test at the end of all this, I'll do as he asks and try his requested 4-6 week Hills SD food trial, and we'll see where it goes from there.
 
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yeva2292

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So I ended up taking Smokey to a different vet that a friend recommended and WOW, it was like night and day. This vet is absolutely amazing! :bliss:

We spent close to an hour discussing her medical history and how to approach addressing her problems. He believes that her dermatitis and stomach problems are two separate issues. For now, we're going to be working on treating her skin allergies (which he also believes cause her hairballs). He switched her from once-a-month Paradyne to 2x per week Capstar to see if it is a flea allergy and also gave her a mild shot of an immune supressant (if I remember that correctly). I'm also changing her litter from Dr. Elsey's to Feline Pine (non-clumping) and keeping her on Hills z/d for now.

He thinks her stomach issues are most likely due to colitis, based on her entire history, and that there's only a small chance that its an actual food allergy. Prior to her appointment, I had picked up her test records from her previous vet. She has had blood and urine testing every year, and every year her vets told me that her results came back normal. Well, actually, every year her platelet counts have been pretty low (40 instead of 200-500 :eek:) and her neutrophil count has been half the normal range. This vet believes that since she isn't showing signs of thrombocytopenia, that the platelets and neutrophils are most likely being depleted in her gut due to colitis. After we resolve her skin issues, we'll probably do testing to see if colitis is the right diagnosis.

Oh yeah, and I also went to pick up another copy of her results from the emergency vet we visited last year. When I had asked for copies last year, they had only given me chart notes (this is after my calling and asking for lab results for 5 days :doh:). This year, I saw her actual file - no lab results at all - it only had the chart notes in there. Most likely, they charged me $200+ for labs and never ran them. :mad2:
 

Ladyrosee

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I would definitely do it. I am considering it for my cat who has immune mediated thrombocytopenia. Cant hurt to test him for an allergies... maybe something is causing my kittens.. I doubt it though it's probably a birth defect his platelets get as low as 8,000 :( I think it's always good to know though what a cat could be allergic to especially food since they're so good at hiding things
 

mayabear

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I want to talk to my vet about it too. I've mentioned it a few times to various vets (Maya's seen several) and they all kind of brush it off. I know it isn't 100%, but I don't think it would hurt. It'd be funny (but not really) if after all of these tests and various vets, and $$$$$! (plus driving myself absolutely crazy), she just has an allergy.
 
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