Cat allergic to cats?

namo

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My sister has had one of her toms for 8 years and only a couple of years ago adopted a stray that had been hanging around her house for a long time. She checked around and he didn't belong to anybody, so she took him to the vet who gave him a clean bill of health and she kept him. But a few days or so after she brought Peach into the house, her first tom, Romeo, started to lose the fur in patches on his face. She took him to the vet who examined him and said that Romeo was allergic to cats! Is this even really possible? He's been off and on prescribed meds (steroids) for it, and his fur will grow back when he's on them, but will lose it again when he's taken off of them.

Can cats be allergic to cats? Or is it more likely a virus of some kind that Peach carried?
 

gizmocat

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Are you sure that's not ringworm?

You don't want to keep that other cat on steroids for too long. Serious internal damage can result.

I'd get another opinion from another vet.
 

white cat lover

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I dunno if cats can be allergic to cats, but there is a member here whose cat was allergic to her dog!
 
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namo

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Originally Posted by gizmocat

Are you sure that's not ringworm?

You don't want to keep that other cat on steroids for too long. Serious internal damage can result.

I'd get another opinion from another vet.
I'm not sure that it's not ringworm. That Romeo was just allergic to cats was what the vet said, but that doesn't really make sense because their owner has had other cats before and Romeo never had a reaction to them. They never keep him on steroids for very long, just when it's really bad and until it clears up, I guess.
I'll suggest a visit to a diff vet to her, definitely. ty!!
 
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namo

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Yeah, him being allergic to cats seems like an off-the-wall thing to happen, but I suppose anything is possible... *shrug* It just seems unnatural, because if he was allergic to cats wouldn't he break out everytime he licked himself? But then wouldn't he have built up an immunity to it and it not bother him?
He's healthy in every other way, not very active, but he's starting to get on in years. He used to be a really really mean cat, and tried to kill my 10 year old queen once, but he calmed down once my nephew was born.. I'm just worried because I really like him, and I don't want my sister to have to put him down or something like that.
 

myndnbabies

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I do have a Sphynx cat that is allergic to cats with hair. She is allergic to the hair. But I dont know about a hair cat beening allergic to a hair cat. Does the two cats have different types of hair?
 

jen

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Ya but all cats are unique and have certain amounts and types of fur, dander, saliva, etc. It could be possible but I have never heard of it.

I would usually relate something like hair loss to ringworm, fleas, food, I wouldn't never have thought allergies to another cat. What do you feed your cat? Many times hair loss is result of an allergy to certain ingredients in FOOD.
 
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namo

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I'm not sure what brand/type Romeo's owner feeds him, other than it's dry (big help, i know). Next time I see her I'll ask if she's tested Romeo for ringworm. We don't have fleas in our area because it gets too hot and dry for them, but of course that doesn't mean they couldn't have been brought here and adapted! Peach's history is unknown because he was just a stray kitten when she found him. I think she said that her mother-in-law was going to take Romeo for a while to see if he really is allergic to Peach.
 

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Cats CAN be allergic to cats, they can also be allergic to dogs. It's all in the dander, and some cats can be hyper sensative. He doesn't have to be allergic to himself to be allergic to other cats.

The only thing I can think of other than him being allergic to the other cat would be food. Ringworm would not react to steroids, if anything it would get worse because the immune system could be down. However, a food allergy would react to steroids.

Did she actually have a blood test drawn? The vet can draw blood to determine just how much the cat may be allergic to other cats, and could also show that the cat is allergic to other things, it can also tell you where to go from here based on the results. Blood tests aren't 100% accurate, but an allergist told me that even if the numbers are low, the animal is still very much allergic and the next step would be to do a tissue test.
 
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namo

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I'm not sure if she had a blood test done, but I'm definitely going to talk with her about what's been done for him the next time I see her, which should be tomorrow.
 
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namo

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Also, he didn't have any type of reaction to our sisters cat, or my cat when they were living with us, or to the other cats Heather has had. Could it just be Peaches type of dander??
 

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I have 3 cats and a dog.  One cat, female, black, 11 yrs old, is allergic to a male furry cat we rescued a few months ago.  She chokes and coughs when he is around (not his hair, because the hair doesn't have time to blow to her before she starts choking).  We have a 3rd cat.  This female, 9 yrs old, is not alergic to him, and the two females are not alergic to each other.  
 

mani

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Hi @Robert Monk and welcome to TCS!


Thank you for your input to the thread.  It is a very old one, but your input is appreciated.
 

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I'd like to chime in here for the sake of others looking for answers. I'm having this same issue with my Somali cat. So let me break it down:

  1. February 13, 2016 — Cleo is born
  2. June 11, 2016 — Cleo is purchased by me
  3. Some months later (I can't find the exact date at the moment) — September of the same year, I believe — I finally got Angel (a British Shorthair Chinchilla) as Cleo's playmate. I'd been trying to get them around the same time, but couldn't pull it off.
  4. Here's where things get muddy. Soon after this, I'd say within months, Cleo's hair started falling out. She would get large patches of itchy scabs that she would just constantly scratch.
  5. I took her to the vet and they gave her antibiotics and a steroid shot. As their standard practice, they tried to get me to buy the Science Diet food that they sell. I said no, because the cats won't eat it. The said try anyway. I tried. They didn't eat it. Moving along....
  6. Cleo's hair grew back and everything was fine for a short while. Suddenly, Angel developed the same issue. So, back to the vet. Rinse and repeat. No science diet, this time. However, they did suggest I put them on a flea and tick vaccine.... the dreaded Revolution.
  7. Now, I didn't know about the pitfalls of Revolution at this time. I figured they knew best and went along with the program. I figured maybe my cats picked up something from going into the basement that one time. Boy, was I WRONG.
  8. Within a week, Cleo started bleeding in her eyes. They were completely bloodshot and she was very weak. The signs were there that this was coming, but I shrugged them off (examples: no longer meeting me at the door, no playing, lethargy, and finally hiding in the closet.)
  9. I rushed her to the hospital. About $1,000 in bills later, Cleo's back at home and recovering. Whew!
  10. Meanwhile, Angel's fit as a whistle. We have a super cat here. She fights for her food, is fearless, and immune to Revolution's side-effects, apparently.
  11. Some time goes by. Not long. The itching starts, again. It's only Cleo and it goes on and on.
  12. I try changing the litter. No luck.
  13. I try changing the food... over... and over.... and over. I've almost been through every brand of catfood, at this point, including the raw kinds. No luck.
  14. Back to the vet. More shots. More medicine. More blood tests. A culture sample, this time. More attempts to get me to buy the Science Diet. More refusals. More failure. More itching and scratching and itching and lesions to the point of absolute raw and bloodiness.
  15. I bought Dr. Gold's Fast Acting Itch Relief, at some point, and started using that. It worked WONDERS, but I can't keep using it, because of the steroids. The itching and scratching continues. It's STILL going on, today.
So, my conclusion is that Cleo is allergic to Angel. It's probably her fur. I don't know what to do. What else could it possibly be?

Cleo (these are mild, in comparison of how bad it sometimes gets. My wife had to cut her claws to stop it from getting horrible):





Angel:
 

Erinlynn

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I think that is what's going on here. Kitty is my DSH, nearly nine year old cat. She's always been a bit hyper, but sweet natured.
My soul kitty, Saber had to be put down a little over a year ago
Finally feeling ready, I went to the shelter and found Leo, a DSH kitten.
It was bad timing on my part because Kitty and I just moved. But I felt like I was supposed to bring Leo home.
So I did

Difficult were/are the days that lie ahead. But the most difficult part is Kitty's aggression. And not just towards Leo. Leo still has all his claws, Kitty was front declawed as a kitten (I already know why it's bad!) So naturally I've been keeping a close eye on that til he learns to better use them. He's beyond playful, and always wants to be near her. She loved Saber, and always seemed lonely after he was gone. But Kitty continues to get meaner and meaner. Not always though...when we are alone at night, door closed for bedtime, she's her gentle self

Okay...

Then her eye started turning red around the outside. No claw marks, the eyeball is in tact, but it's almost puffy. Like an allergy.
And the weird thing? She does this thing like she's trying to get his smell out of her nose whenever I've pet him or he gets too close to her.
After doing research, my only logical explanation is....she's allergic to Leo!

But I'm obviously not 100% here. But seems legit
 
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