Cat has allergies?

[otto]

You're welcome.

If she wasn't on flea treatment before (somehow I missed that) it could very well be a flea allergy.

I keep forgetting to answer your question about how long to give a food trial. My vet always gives 6 weeks on a new food before any judging or testing, unless of course, the cat becomes noticeably worse rather quickly after the change.

 

[mycatpaulie]

Thanks for the info I didn't know it could take that long for his itching to come back. I am so confused on what to do. I don't want to put him on the royal canin prescription food if this food doesn't make him itch but I don't know if it's worth waiting six weeks to see if he gets bad again. Do you think if he is allergic to chicken since it's only chicken fat listed as the 7th ingredient it's far enough down the list where it won't effect him? I did find this on a yahoo site "Some cats are severely allergic to guar gum, which is used to bind the canned food. Finding canned with the guar gum way down on the ingredient list, or not listed at all would help" but that's all I could find. One good thing about this food is when he was on the Z/D his stools were always soft and blob shapped now they look normal. I don't think he has a grain allergy because the natural balance he was on for about six months was grain free, I'm so confussed!
I think he probably did have fleas this last time because after the revolution was put on he stopped itching a lot less. I don't think his whole allergy is from fleas because he was on revolution from December to early spring, we just stopped using it when he started the z/d food trial.
Thanks again for your help!!!!

 

[otto]

It's a lot to sort out, that's for sure. How long has Paulie been on the Wellness now?

That is very interesting about the guar gum in canned foods. So have you thought of cutting out any canned good with guar gum in it, while continuing with the Wellness?

Stop all canned food until you find one with no guar gum.If there is such a thing.

Run that by your vet.

 

[mycatpaulie]

He started eatting wellness on 8/22 but I mixed in the old food for a week so it's only bee 100% wellness since last saturday. He hasn't ate any canned food since May when he started the z/d food trail but I did give him some laxaton over summer a few times which had thinkening agents in it. When he does break out it's always on his neck, my vet said that's a sign of a food allergy do you know if that's true?

 

[otto]

Originally Posted by MyCatPaulie

He started eatting wellness on 8/22 but I mixed in the old food for a week so it's only bee 100% wellness since last saturday. He hasn't ate any canned food since May when he started the z/d food trail but I did give him some laxaton over summer a few times which had thinkening agents in it. When he does break out it's always on his neck, my vet said that's a sign of a food allergy do you know if that's true?

I imagine breaking out on the neck can be a sign of food allergy, though skin conditions in cats are complicated and it could probably mean many other things too, but I think it is better to focus on one thing at a time. I am not a vet, of course.

Are you keeping a journal of everything that goes into him, to look for patterns?

If you feel that thickening agents may be the culprit I say go with your gut on that and avoid them completely and see what happens. I believe in listening to one's gut feelings.

Ask your vet about using plain vaseline for hairball remedy.

 

[mycatpaulie]

Thanks so much Otto

! I am so thankful I found you, I will keep you updated with how he's doing and write everything down.

 

[ummm]

I'd be interested in seeing what you find. I started this thread last week, and am wondering if my cat is allergic to her food too. I'd been keeping a food diary on her - the day after I found it under the chin, I decided to just keep feeding her boiled chicken breast and rice (instead of her usual dry food + every so often canned) in case if it was a food allergy, before we could take her to the vet.

By the time we took her to the vet (Tuesday afternoon, we found the lesion on Saturday night), the redness was gone so it was getting better. The vet told me to keep her on the dry food (EVO Salmon/Herring) for a while since she hadn't been on a stable diet after we adopted her (I was slowing transitioning her to EVO from the previous dry food. I'd eventually add more canned food but I suspect she has a sensitive stomach so don't want to add too many diff type of canned food too fast). Then yesterday (Friday), I noticed the spot under her chin had gotten red again! And there is another balding spot starting near her mouth (not red yet). So she is scratching herself again and she is always asking me to scratch her. This morning I fed her a Wellness canned chicken instead with rice. She was still itching 6 hours later. So tonight I decide to feed her boiled chicken/rice again to see if the redness will go away again... it may be something in the EVO Salmon/Herring that's bothering her

If not, back to the vet on Tuesday...

 

[lil annie]

Your cat could have allergies, I know Marigold has an allergy to protein the vet tells me. She gets very itchy ears and its not ear mites or anything. I had to switch her to duck,fish and brown rice cat food and she hasn't had anymore reactions..

 

[mycatpaulie]

Ummm, I wonder if your kitty is allergic to canned food too, was the wet food you gave him the same as the dry? I hope he gets better so you don't have to take him to the vet but if you have to please let me know what he says. Maybe ask him if it could be an allergy to guar gum or something in wet food. I
Lil Annie, is your kitty allergic to all protein or just certain ones, do you know how your vet knew that, I was thinking about allergy testing since I'm pretty sure Paulie has both food and inhaled allergies because even when he was eating only Z/D his itching wasn't completely gone. Is the duck,fish and brown rice food you feed her dry, maybe I could try that.
Thanks for the replys!!!

 

[lil annie]

not sure but i switched her to a different food and the itching came back she was on a few different types before this one she is currently on and has not touched her ears at all. The vet figured it was food related as we could not find anything else, we checked her for ear mites and the ears were clear of that. She suggested I try this food with minimal protein and it should keep her from scratching her ears.