Got a 9 y/o Domestic male , Not able to determine his alleregy... Not done blood test yet.

sebastian007

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Hello all! Thank you for having me on this forum, I got a cat , male about 9 years old. This has been going on since August 2019 , basically I noticed a patch on his leg of fur missing, and we went to the vet which got him a steroid shot , and some to take home in form of pills. We completed the pills , and up about feb/march i notice he has been itching again and the patch has reappeared. From that point I tried switching food , dry to wet , and dry for a while. Treated apartment for bugs( I only have two carpeted bedrooms, and I check carpet there all time for any signs - found none ) , and indeed I did find a dried up larvae in a carpet but only once ( it was like 1 or 2 of them ) and havent seen it since. Next thing i tried the collar for fleas on him , which made him itch badly and I actually took it off after about 3 days , because he kept on scratching it and actually tightened it on his neck , I was afraid he may choke. So this brings me to bringing him to dermatologist in start of July. Doctor rulled out all other allergies and determined it was due to pollen , yet they did check him for any flea presence what not. So he prescribed Atopica. ( it was sort of in rush due to covid their system wasnt working so he couldnt look at my past visit , nor he ran any blood test yet ) I administered it for few days srtating in food , then he wouldnt eat the food. I had to gave him through syringe which he hated me for and peed all over bed and stuff afterwords for days. Now I only used the 100mg bottle, which did not help. He is still itching - his belly , legs and sometimes scratches ears. I have noticed that he sort of suddenly does this at night , not much during the day anymore. I am afraid to give him more atopica because he is already overweight cat and I read many sideeffects from it that it makes really scared of this medication. Should I continue it , or maybe you guys can recommend a more natural remedy .... Thank you in advance please ask away any questions you may have !
 

Furballsmom

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Hi! Welcome!!

because he is already overweight cat
Fit or Fat: Your Pet's Body Condition Score (BCS)
scroll either left or right in the topmost photos and then click on the chart to get it into focus

Try this, (both for the itching and for the possible weight issue) -- eliminate the kibble completely and feed him only canned/wet food.
Start weighing him every couple of weeks so you can keep track - weight loss for cats should occur very slowly.
Begin playing with him as much as you can - this will help him both emotionally as well as physically. Many cats lose weight naturally and slowly by being only on canned food and with more exercise. You could start really gently, by holding his just-filled food dish in your hand and walking around the house, with him following you :)

Also utilize this for his skin discomfort - it isn't a cure but it will help;
From Mamanyt1953 Mamanyt1953
Chamomile tea is GREAT for this. It is extremely soothing, as well as being antibacterial and antifungal. DO use the commercial tea bags, as those are all German chamomile, medicinally active and safe for cats. (The English variety typically found in gardens, is useless and toxic to cats). ALL COMMERCIAL chamomile tea bags are German, so just grab a box at the grocery store, brew a cup, and chill before using by dabbing on his skin with a clean cotton swab or similar.

By the way, it can also be used internally for anxiety and stress. Brew a cup, chill it to at least room temp, and administer 1-3 teaspoonfuls (tablespoonfuls if he is over 11 pounds) up to three times a day via syringe. It is gently calming without being sedating.

How Much Food Should I Feed My Cat? – TheCatSite Articles

Stress in Cats – The Ultimate Guide – TheCatSite Articles

Playing With Your Cat: 10 Things You Need To Know – TheCatSite Articles

17 Best Toys For Lazy Cats – TheCatSite Articles

CatFoodDB's Best Wet Cat Foods
 

mrsgreenjeens

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Now I'd like to ask you a couple of questions. just HOW did the dermatologist determine it was pollen ONLY? Did he do allergy testing, which I assume would be something similar to the prick test on humans, where they inject us with multiple stimuli and see which ones cause reactions? And if so, WHICH pollens? Usually they can break it down to the exact plants for you. otherwise I'm at a loss to figure out how they made that determination. And was Atopica the very first thing they prescribed? Additionally, have you told them you are unable to give it to him? They might be able to offer an alternative. (I know in another thread that someone gives their cat the dog version because it comes in capsule form) Does your poor guy ever NOT have this issue? Vegetation and the resulting pollen does not bloom 12 months out of the year, so if this problem has now been going on for 12 months, then I'm thinking it may be pollen, but may also be something else in addition to that, depending on how you respond to my very first question.

Lastly, for the moment, when you switched up his foods to see if that was the issue, did you keep him on each individual food for at least 8 weeks, preferable 12 before noticing any relief? And were you using a limited ingredient food?
 
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sebastian007

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mrsgreenjeens mrsgreenjeens , Doctor determined pollen since I told him that I did treat house for any bugs with multiple things like I washed the carpet completelly with hot water vacuum , then applied d-earth waited...so on. So they didnt do any tests doctor just sort determined that looking at the cat, and saying since its around his stomach area, legs, and paws. But no other tests were done. He determined atopica because they said steroid shot may put him into high risk for diabetes. I will certainly contact vet next and led them know about Atopica. I am in doubt it may be pollen as he doesnt sneeze much , and he had this stuff in winter around jan/feb. With food I tried with natural , limited ingridients , but no we havent stayed on it for long 8weeks , maybe week max. But now I switched him to slowly to whole earth farms which he seems to like , because he is very picky with other ones too even though I introduce it by little portions.
 

mrsgreenjeens

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Ok, I definitely understand why they wanted to steer clear of more steroids, especially in an overweight cat. But I'm not at all convinced it's pollen. How about his litter? Was that discussed at all? Since this is only happening on his paws, legs and tummy, those are areas that are exposed to the litterbox. Are you using a natural litter? If not, you might try one and see what happens.

Did the Vet mention the use of allergy pills, things like Claritin or Zyrtec? Some folks use those for their itchy cats. Here's a thread about it:

Has Claritin worked for your cats itching?

Did you just adopt him last August? Did this start up as soon as you got him? If so, have you talked to the place you adopted him from? Try to figure out what is different from what they were doing.
 

MissClouseau

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Cats can be allergic to anything humans can be allergic to. But there is no reliable allergy test for them. (There are some tests but literally every vet I know says they are not reliable.)

I myself have dust mite allergy, cockroach allergy, and some pollen. Dust mite allergy alone is difficult to manage and the biggest enemies for that, and really airborne allergies in general are carpets and fabric. Read about different allergies and how they manifest in humans, then maybe you might notice some similarities in your kitty and understand what he might be allergic to. e.g. My dust mite allergy gets worse in humidity and if I took longer than at most 2 weeks to wash my curtains/beddings. Pollen allergy gets worse on windy days.

If possible, I would first get rid of the carpet. (Honestly I would get rid of the carpet even if there was no problem. They are germ havens.)
 
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