Help Is This Allergies

[imjustacatmom]

Aloha everyone I am in need of some help, info, and some suggestions...my baby girl Duchess has been scratching at her ears and around her face for sometime now...a few of months ago I was taking care of a stray and some fleas transferred...I found one flea on each of my cats and promptly went to vet for flea medicine...haven't seen a flea since...except Duchess has been scratching...I have scoured her fleas and there are none AT ALL...anyhoo in the last week she really has amped up the scratching around her ears...2 days ago I noticed her ears where a tad bit red and then yesterday from her scratching there are a couple of patches where the fur is now gone...I put coconut oil on last night and today...as coconut oil is good for many things...also to bring her some relief...here is my predicament...due to some unfortunate circumstances we are literally tapped out until end of next month...so I cannot afford to take her to vet...I also take them to the cheapest vet in my area...I am reaching out for help not criticism so if anyone has nothing nice to say please don't say anything at all...attached are some pictures...thank you so much for your help

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

It's really impossible to say if this is allergies or just what. I certainly could be. Have you changed her food lately. Sometimes food allergies or even food intolerance will manifest this way. AND, just to make matters more difficult to detect, they can develop food issues toward food they've eaten for years . PLUS, if food is the problem, it takes weeks of being off it to see a change. You need to to elimination diets to try to figure out the issue, but often cats have sensitivities to corn, wheat, soy, fish, and even chicken and beef!

Sorry, not much help, am I?

 

[huxleysmom]

It could be an allergy. The question is is it to food or environmental? Think about recent changes you may have made. Move to a new place? New litter? New detergent? If yes to the last two, change back to what you were using before and see if there is any difference. As far as food is concerned, has Duchess been eating the same protein for a while? If yes, she could be allergic to something in it. Generally cats are allergic to proteins like chicken, beef or fish, but they can also react to soy, peas, wheat and corn. The best way to deal with this is to put her on a protein she has never had. It is important to avoid any protein from the same family as she could have a cross reaction. So if she is currently eating chicken, stay away from poultry all together at first. Also try to select a food with as few ingredients as possible. Huxley is allergic to peas so I would avoid soy and all legumes too. Get her on this new food (and that only. No treats or flavored medication) for at least 8 weeks and see what happens. If that's what the problem is, you should see some impprovements. In the meantime, you could give her Zyrtec to try and calm her reactions. 5mg once perfay is the recommended dose.
Good luck and letus know how she gets on!

 

[imjustacatmom]

Aloha everyone I didn't think about the food...but we have changed their food quite a bit (3 different kinds) and now we are back to the one that has great ingredients, that they both like and doesn't impact Duchess's anal glands as the food I had her on since I got her was the culprit to that...now with that being said...she has taken to the count oil quite well on her ears...she hasn't scratched since I started to put it on PTL we are not gonna switch up foods as far as I know again...we were trying to find a reasonably priced food in a large amount...as I have 2 babies and I feed them 4 small meals a day...whatever you do do not buy the Costco brand cat food...it gave both my babies diarrhea...come to find out after reading reviews...they switched the bag and people who.had been giving it to their cats also got diarrhea...in fact many people's kitties got diarrhea...so right now we are feeding them Nutrish by Rachel Ray...we like the ingredients and the babies love how it tastes and the small little morsels...so hopefully we will see an improvement...Once again thank you so much...much appreciated

 

[imjustacatmom]

I guess this.photo doesn't show the oil on and in fact they look more pink...she's also.in the sun...however like I said since coconut oil she has not scratched her ears in front of me...and I am a stay at home cat mom...so she's in my line of sight pretty much up until.I go to bed...she loves to be by my side...like I said PTL