Hey everyone. I am sort of new here, posted a couple questions here and there. I am curious about signs and help with a cat with possible allergies. I have combed through the post here with searching cat allergies and some seemed more severe than what I see and different stuff. So here is the story:
I posted a few weeks ago about my cat Abby having twitches/skin rolls now and again, had a few replies about possible FHS. I read over the FHS stuff, but within a couple of days, my other cat Harley started the same thing, except his were very very frequent and seemed more harsh for him.....he would try and run and lick and bite at his skin. Well Harley wasn't better with a day or so, so we took him to the vet. I mentioned the FHS to her and even offered to show her a video and she wasn't interested. She said it was most likely allergies. She said his skin was a little red and said we can try a shot of cortisone and see if that helps but she "didn't think it would". We talked about why where and when he gets this, her stupid reply was "well we don't know why we get allergies, I don't know what my seasonal allergies are from etc etc" So she gave Harley a shot of cortisone and we went home. His itching definitely calmed down and finally stopped within 24 hours, that was about a month ago. Until Saturday....he is starting the same thing, running and itching and looking like he is "scared of the itching" so to speak. The last time this happened after I took him to the vet....we went over the last week of what we did with Harley, and the only thing we did that was out of character was buy him a new bed, and that seemed to make it all happen. About 2 weeks ago, he laid curled up with a stuffed animal and started it briefly when we removed the bed and animaland of course with that and the shot, all seemed to go away.
So after reading some post from here about food allergies etc...I couldn't find any similar stories. Just some brief facts
He was adopted 5 yrs ago and came home with feline flu (which laid dormant until 2 weeks ago where he started sneezing constant,. took him to the vets and he was put on meds for a week, he is all better now, apparently feline flu stays with them forever and just flares up)
The food he eats doesn't seem to be causing his itching, he eats the same food all the time, I would assume if it was the food it would be a constant thing going on with him.
The itching just started a month ago, this is his second outbreak that we have seen in the 5 years he has been with our family
Nothing in the home has changed, we use the same detergent, same plug in scents, same feeding bowls, we don't use chemicals (deodorizers) when we vacuum etc., we also don't use like room sprays or anything
He recently moved into my home with his owner in January, but we both used the same detergent etc when we lived apart and when he came here he came with the same stuff he had (bed, bedding, blankets etc)
He doesn't go outside
I have two other cats, he only gets close to one, the other one they are working very SLOWLY on becoming friends
Someone asked if it could be stress.....Harley and his owner lived with someone with 3 dogs a couple of years ago, moved to an apartment with his owner last year and moved in with me and his owner in Jan, and was introduced to two cats, one that doesn't get along with him etc...so I assume if it was stress related, he would have been doing this long before now, anyone who has just simply moved from one place to another with a cat knows how stressful it can be on the kitties, and also with him being around other cts for the first time and one who doesn't like him right now, would be stressful...so I would say as much changes that has happened before now he would have been super stressed already and showed this as a sign.....but this is the first we have seen it, so not thinking it is stress related.
I have read a lot about raw diets etc, but again he doesn't seem to need that. The cortisone shot did seem to help, so I was wondering is there cortisone meds you can give cats, or some type of medicine to give them for allergies? I read a few where people talked about the wipes, where they wipe the cat down and that seems to help, but if it is allergies, I would assume it was in the dander under his fur, does the topical wipes really relieve the itch?
Thanks for listing to my ramble.
Paula
I posted a few weeks ago about my cat Abby having twitches/skin rolls now and again, had a few replies about possible FHS. I read over the FHS stuff, but within a couple of days, my other cat Harley started the same thing, except his were very very frequent and seemed more harsh for him.....he would try and run and lick and bite at his skin. Well Harley wasn't better with a day or so, so we took him to the vet. I mentioned the FHS to her and even offered to show her a video and she wasn't interested. She said it was most likely allergies. She said his skin was a little red and said we can try a shot of cortisone and see if that helps but she "didn't think it would". We talked about why where and when he gets this, her stupid reply was "well we don't know why we get allergies, I don't know what my seasonal allergies are from etc etc" So she gave Harley a shot of cortisone and we went home. His itching definitely calmed down and finally stopped within 24 hours, that was about a month ago. Until Saturday....he is starting the same thing, running and itching and looking like he is "scared of the itching" so to speak. The last time this happened after I took him to the vet....we went over the last week of what we did with Harley, and the only thing we did that was out of character was buy him a new bed, and that seemed to make it all happen. About 2 weeks ago, he laid curled up with a stuffed animal and started it briefly when we removed the bed and animaland of course with that and the shot, all seemed to go away.
So after reading some post from here about food allergies etc...I couldn't find any similar stories. Just some brief facts
He was adopted 5 yrs ago and came home with feline flu (which laid dormant until 2 weeks ago where he started sneezing constant,. took him to the vets and he was put on meds for a week, he is all better now, apparently feline flu stays with them forever and just flares up)
The food he eats doesn't seem to be causing his itching, he eats the same food all the time, I would assume if it was the food it would be a constant thing going on with him.
The itching just started a month ago, this is his second outbreak that we have seen in the 5 years he has been with our family
Nothing in the home has changed, we use the same detergent, same plug in scents, same feeding bowls, we don't use chemicals (deodorizers) when we vacuum etc., we also don't use like room sprays or anything
He recently moved into my home with his owner in January, but we both used the same detergent etc when we lived apart and when he came here he came with the same stuff he had (bed, bedding, blankets etc)
He doesn't go outside
I have two other cats, he only gets close to one, the other one they are working very SLOWLY on becoming friends
Someone asked if it could be stress.....Harley and his owner lived with someone with 3 dogs a couple of years ago, moved to an apartment with his owner last year and moved in with me and his owner in Jan, and was introduced to two cats, one that doesn't get along with him etc...so I assume if it was stress related, he would have been doing this long before now, anyone who has just simply moved from one place to another with a cat knows how stressful it can be on the kitties, and also with him being around other cts for the first time and one who doesn't like him right now, would be stressful...so I would say as much changes that has happened before now he would have been super stressed already and showed this as a sign.....but this is the first we have seen it, so not thinking it is stress related.
I have read a lot about raw diets etc, but again he doesn't seem to need that. The cortisone shot did seem to help, so I was wondering is there cortisone meds you can give cats, or some type of medicine to give them for allergies? I read a few where people talked about the wipes, where they wipe the cat down and that seems to help, but if it is allergies, I would assume it was in the dander under his fur, does the topical wipes really relieve the itch?
Thanks for listing to my ramble.
Paula