cat with allergies skin issues

[tracycycle1012]

Hi all...
Quick background...back in October, Mr. Peabody (female calico LOL), started with a odd crust on outside of one ear. Off to the vet who told me it was an ear infection, gave her an injection of anitbiotics and some ear ointment. Several days later, I noticed it was worse and notice scabbing on belly...back to vet, gave her predisone injection and told me she would be better in 24 hours. Three days later she was worse, back to the vet, more ear crust, more belly crust, nose crust...they didn't do a fungal culture but put her on antifungals. While all this was going on she was still eating and using litter box. She got worse so I took her to another vet. They did a fungal culture told me it would take 10 days (ended up being negative)...in the meantime, her belly started to look horrible...they wanted to do a $1000 skin biopsy. I asked them if there was anything else, they gave me baytril in a chewable form (she wouldn't take it)....I ended up grinding it up and mixing it with water in a syringe. She got better within 10 days. They gave me a liquid flavored (seriously) form and I continued. She got so feisty and was looking good so I stopped (I know bad mom). Within 2 weeks everything started again with gross paws, so back on baytril and a steriod spray she went but this time I wasn't seeing anything change (except the foot got better) .I went to another vet to get a recommendation about the biopsy...she told me that we would have to take her off all antibiotics to get a true biopsy result. In the meantime, she asked if I ever did lyme sulfur dips.....so we ended up doing that....nothing really expect a stinky pissed off cat.... BACK TO THE VET we went...apparently the FIRST vet wrote something in the file about a food trial but never gave me the prescription. This vet gave me a script for Hills Zd...several days we mixed it in and last friday was the 1st day of total prescription only food. So we haven't been on it quite a week yet. She licks ALOT and had pulled out a bunch of fur that previously had scabs attached. Her feet are a little swollen and the front one is pretty swollen. My question is this........... everything I have read states that if it is a true food allergy, when it manifests as a skin issue, it can take weeks to see a difference is that true....can anyone share their story with me. This vet also gave me an unflavored version of the Bayril but I haven't given it to her yet because I wanted to make sure she was eating the new food.....taking her off the baytil BTW hasn't made a difference expect the food is gross again, so I am wondering if it is a true food allergy and then she has a bacterial infection.Going to restart the baytril tonight.

Im attaching some older pics so you can see how this has gone. I have updated the file names of the pics so you can get a timeline

 

[tracycycle1012]

OH and I forgot to add, no one thinks it is automimmune because when they gave her the steroid shot she got worse instead of better,

 

[LTS3]

About 13 weeks if not longer for a food trial:

Per My Vet: How Long For Food Allergies Test

For what it’s worth, my vet said he just returned from a conference and the most recent information about the length of time to feed a single protein to see if a cat’s itchiness is caused by food allergies/sensitivities is 13 weeks. He said 84% will show an improvement after eight weeks but if...

thecatsite.com

You need to feed only the Z/D for the duration of the food trial. No treats or table scraps or anything. This is to make sure that nothing is affecting the food trial.

Z/D is hydrolyzed chicken which isn't supposed to cause a reaction. But if your cat continues to have the skin issues, you'll need to eliminate possible food sensitivities one by one . Fillers like gums and starches and herbs can cause reactions in super sensitive cats. cheeser 's cat has multiple food sensitivities and it was a long slow process to find foods that wouldn't cause a reaction.

A raw or home cooked diet may be helpful and worth looking into. There's a forum on those diets here on TCS with more info.

Has environmental allergies been ruled out? Dusty cat litter, dust mites, and other things can cause skin issues.

You may want to look for a veterinary dermatologist who might have better ideas what is causing your cat's skin issues.

 

[tracycycle1012]

About 13 weeks if not longer for a food trial:

http://[URL]https://thecatsite.com/threads/per-my-vet-how-long-for-food-allergies-test.377510/

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You need to feed only the Z/D for the duration of the food trial. No treats or table scraps or anything. This is to make sure that nothing is affecting the food trial.

Z/D is hydrolyzed chicken which isn't supposed to cause a reaction. But if your cat continues to have the skin issues, you'll need to eliminate possible food sensitivities one by one . Fillers like gums and starches and herbs can cause reactions in super sensitive cats. cheeser 's cat has multiple food sensitivities and it was a long slow process to find foods that wouldn't cause a reaction.

A raw or home cooked diet may be helpful and worth looking into. There's a forum on those diets here on TCS with more info.

Has environmental allergies been ruled out? Dusty cat litter, dust mites, and other things can cause skin issues.

You may want to look for a veterinary dermatologist who might have better ideas what is causing your cat's skin issues.

so overall though, it is common for it to be that long to see results in the skin.....yeah if the food test doesn't pan out the current vet wants t do the biopsy

 

[Peachiekitty]

Hi how’s the diet going? We are just a few days into hydrolyzed protein food as well. I really hope it works. My poor girl has had to go on steroids multiple times now.