Well these last 2 months have been bad for Kattie. Her allergies are getting out of control. She is constantly grooming and scratching. She has scabs on her neck and back. It seems to fluctuate through out the year as to when it gets super bad. I hate giving her the cortizone shot, but that might have to get done til the other stuff starts kicking in. I took her in to the vet friday before last and got bloodwork and a health check up. Her bloodwork is fine, kidneys and liver in tip top shape. Her eosinophils are elevated because of the allergic response. She has no fleas and never has.
I've had her on a decent food, a mix of Orijen and Wellness Chicken and Rice. I was leary about going completely grain free. She was also eating canned. It was a mix of the higher end stuff and stuff like Fancy Feast or Friskies when she was being picky. I took away the lower brands and she only gets grain free canned. I am also in the process of converting her to raw, or partial raw. She likes radcat and is eating it, but I won't be able to completely convert her til after my vacation in 2 weeks, cause my parents won't be able to handle feeding raw. during that time she will have to be on the grain free canned til I get back. I doubt it is completely food related and possibly inhaled as we are all kinda sneezy and itchy in the summer here.
The doctor wanted to start her on fish oil supplements which we are doing. He also told me to get rid of the canned foods with wheat gluten which we did(no cuts in gravy fancy feast, good thing she likes the wellness chunks in gravy) He also didn't want any foods with fish or fish meal in her diet as that is a common allergen in cats. Next is chicken. He and I agree we aren't doing the Hills allergy diets. I will convert her to raw before doing that. I believe Hills diets are garbage but that's another post.
Other thinks I'm doing is giving her a bath in an aloe and oatmeal shampoo once a week. It is super gentle and soapfree. I have pure aloe gel to put on the worst sores and I even did and apple cider vinegar rinse with her bath on Sat. It was a diluted water and vinegar mix and safe for cats. I've done it for my dog before with results. Sadly it hasn't worked for her. I've even given her half a chlorotab which seems to make her sleepy more than anything. She will scratch a little less but I still see her do it.
She is going back in to her vet today to see what else wee can do. I know converting her to a raw diet and adding the fish oils have a good chance of working, but I need something in the interim till those can have their affects cause she is starting to chew her hair. I've noticed it getting thin by her tail and between her shoulders where she will vigorously lick.
Any ideas will be greatly appreciated. We are going to convert to a raw diet eventually but can't completely at this point, We are both tired and frustrated, I hate to see her uncomfortable and i hate being the bully telling her not to scratch, but it's crazy.
I've had her on a decent food, a mix of Orijen and Wellness Chicken and Rice. I was leary about going completely grain free. She was also eating canned. It was a mix of the higher end stuff and stuff like Fancy Feast or Friskies when she was being picky. I took away the lower brands and she only gets grain free canned. I am also in the process of converting her to raw, or partial raw. She likes radcat and is eating it, but I won't be able to completely convert her til after my vacation in 2 weeks, cause my parents won't be able to handle feeding raw. during that time she will have to be on the grain free canned til I get back. I doubt it is completely food related and possibly inhaled as we are all kinda sneezy and itchy in the summer here.
The doctor wanted to start her on fish oil supplements which we are doing. He also told me to get rid of the canned foods with wheat gluten which we did(no cuts in gravy fancy feast, good thing she likes the wellness chunks in gravy) He also didn't want any foods with fish or fish meal in her diet as that is a common allergen in cats. Next is chicken. He and I agree we aren't doing the Hills allergy diets. I will convert her to raw before doing that. I believe Hills diets are garbage but that's another post.
Other thinks I'm doing is giving her a bath in an aloe and oatmeal shampoo once a week. It is super gentle and soapfree. I have pure aloe gel to put on the worst sores and I even did and apple cider vinegar rinse with her bath on Sat. It was a diluted water and vinegar mix and safe for cats. I've done it for my dog before with results. Sadly it hasn't worked for her. I've even given her half a chlorotab which seems to make her sleepy more than anything. She will scratch a little less but I still see her do it.
She is going back in to her vet today to see what else wee can do. I know converting her to a raw diet and adding the fish oils have a good chance of working, but I need something in the interim till those can have their affects cause she is starting to chew her hair. I've noticed it getting thin by her tail and between her shoulders where she will vigorously lick.
Any ideas will be greatly appreciated. We are going to convert to a raw diet eventually but can't completely at this point, We are both tired and frustrated, I hate to see her uncomfortable and i hate being the bully telling her not to scratch, but it's crazy.