Allergies In Cats - Fish Oil

[cflaesg]

hello!
I am new to the forum and I adopted a 8 yo Siamese cat about a month ago (Violet). When I first adopted her, she had issues releasing her anal glands, which resulted in a trip to the ER vet to have them released.

The vet gave me Free form fish oil pills and I began to give them to her two weeks ago. I don’t think she liked them that much bc she was hesitant to eat her food when I put the capsule in it.

The entire week I gave her fish oil, I noticed she started to have a coughing fit every day. I was worried that she had asthma. However, she didn’t wheeze or get out of breath while playing. Later in the week I noticed that her skin was scaly near where her tail meets her trunk. I thought she was maybe allergic to wheat so I switched her food.

Once I stopped giving her the fish oil her skin improved, less itching, less grooming, less redness and crusty skin and scabs from over grooming.

It’s been three-four days since I’ve given her fish oil pills. Last night she had a big coughing fit, and it seems like she is a littl constipated. She’ll try to use the litter box, sits in it for a minute, then hop out.

I also noticed that her poop is a little stringy, I think from the grooming when she was itchy. I don’t think she has a parasite bc she had her stool tested a month ago, she is not an outdoor cat and is not around other cats.

I’m just worried and wondering if I should call the vet, make an appointment, give her an oatmeal bath to remove the flakey skin?

Attaching some images of her skin as well as the debris that comes off of it when I brush her.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. It would probably be best to take her to the vet about her constipation issue starting up again, and have them look at her skin while you are there. Ask your vet about using something like canned pumpkin (no additives) for the constipation issue. A lot of members on this site use it for that purpose with their cats.

I wanted to add that if you don't want to take her to the vet just yet, at least call them and tell them about both the constipation cropping back up (and possible treatment with pumpkin), and the skin condition.

In the meantime, you can take chamomile tea bags (standard grocery store type, no additives), brew them in water, cool the liquid and dab it on the itchy, scabby spots with cotton balls. The tea has both soothing and healing properties.

 

[She's a witch]

Do you know what was she eating prior to the adoption and if she had the same symptoms? Maybe the sudden change in food caused it. Does she eat dry or wet?I would try to slowly feed her limited ingredients and low carb wet cans (or even raw) to see if it improves anything.

As for asthma, coughing may be the only symptom, she doesn’t necessarily have to wheeze or anything else. Siamese cats are unfortunately more prone to it than other breeds. I wouldn’t rule this out without x-ray. In the meantime you can get rid of any source of smoke, aerosols, strong smells and chemicals and see if her coughing pattern changes.

 

[LTS3]

What are the fish oil capsules for? The anal gland issues?

I'd take the cat back to the vet to address the constipation and coughing. If you aren't comfortable with the vet you previously saw, you can take your cat to a different vet.

 

[cflaesg]

Hi everyone,

Thankfully, she did have some poops while we were gone. But she keeps going into the litter box and getting out then meowing, so I hope she doesn’t have issues with her anal glands again.

When she was at PAWS she was give wet and dry merrick cat food. The dry cat food was grain free. I’m not sure about the wet food.

She did have some skin flakes when I adopted her at the time. But those wet away with brushing.

She prefers wet food, so when I first got her we gave her Healthy Gourmet (has rice in it) wet cat food, then the Freedom (grain free) wet cat food. I started to give her the healthy gourmet mixed with the Freeform Omega 3 pill and that’s when the coughing was more frequent and her skin began to get rough.

Her ears were crusty and she was also scooting her butt on the floor which had me worried it was also the anal glands. Since I stopped giving her the Freeform the redness, crusty ears and scooting has stopped. The vet gave me the Freeform pills since she’s an older cat.

I definitely am not going back to her original vet since they misdiagnosed her and then we had to go to the ER Vet (the same day) which was quite expensive.

Other than the occasional coughing and rough skin patches. She’s playing, eating, and using the bathroom.