My cat recently developed a skin allergy. No sores or redness, just very itchy skin. Vet is not sure what the cause is. I was to try eliminating chicken to see if that helps, but she needs to eat chia seeds twice a day for high calcium and only takes them with liquid treats. Is there a liquid treat that is chicken and fish free (I suspected fish might bother her IBD in the past, so I avoid it now)?
-
Too many ads? Join our community of cat lovers now to reduce ads by 90%! Click here to join for free!
Is there a liquid treat that does not contain fish or chicken (possible allergens)?
- Thread starter Tea Maria
- Start Date
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #2
I should probably say a skin “irritation.” I’m unsure if it’s actually an allergy. My cat has been licking her legs and shaking her head at sudden times for about a year and a half. The vet doesn’t know the cause because her ears seem normal. She did sometimes scratch at ears & neck, but in the last few days her scratching and chewing became more incessant and compulsive. She also has early CKD, high calcium, and arthritis. She now licks and chews more places than just her legs and stomach. She chews and licks pretty much all over and scratches her neck and head.
I don't know of any liquid treats that fit what you're asking for, though I use a "mousse" food to give medications to one of our cats. The Nulo food Ireland loves has chicken and duck so I realize that particular food may not work for you. It's the style of food I want to suggest: the consistency of the Nulo food is a lot like Churu-style treats.
The sort of licking you're seeing is tricky. Ireland licked the fur off her back leg in late 2020. Our vet put her on a transdermal antihistamine though I was more convinced the barbering happened because of stress, particularly since our cats are anxious little rescues who squawk at us if we sneeze or cough. (I was convinced the barbering came about because Ireland caught and killed a mouse that I immediately took away from her. That caused days of confusion and consternation.) We'll never know what caused the barbering but my point in mentioning Ireland's case is that it's hard to sort out the causes of barbering. And it's worth looking at your cat's stress level, particularly since stress can contribute to inflammation that can worsen other health issues. We've been giving Ireland Solliquin calming chews for the last month or so and they work very well for her.
Since you mentioned head shaking, I notice that our cats shake their heads a lot when the barometric pressure falls or rises quickly. They apparently sense those changes in their ears. I know this sounds a bit odd but we've noticed that both our cats tend to have more health incidents (the cat with presumed IBD vomiting, Ireland having lung symptoms, both of them a bit cranky) when the pressure changes or the weather's unpleasant. When I heard a holistic vet speak about that, she said that cats like to be in control and when they're not in control of something -- like the weather -- it can stress them. We've had a lot of extreme weather in the last year so that vet's talk was, as they say, a game changer for me.
Fingers crossed that you're able to find something good for medicating your cat!
The sort of licking you're seeing is tricky. Ireland licked the fur off her back leg in late 2020. Our vet put her on a transdermal antihistamine though I was more convinced the barbering happened because of stress, particularly since our cats are anxious little rescues who squawk at us if we sneeze or cough. (I was convinced the barbering came about because Ireland caught and killed a mouse that I immediately took away from her. That caused days of confusion and consternation.) We'll never know what caused the barbering but my point in mentioning Ireland's case is that it's hard to sort out the causes of barbering. And it's worth looking at your cat's stress level, particularly since stress can contribute to inflammation that can worsen other health issues. We've been giving Ireland Solliquin calming chews for the last month or so and they work very well for her.
Since you mentioned head shaking, I notice that our cats shake their heads a lot when the barometric pressure falls or rises quickly. They apparently sense those changes in their ears. I know this sounds a bit odd but we've noticed that both our cats tend to have more health incidents (the cat with presumed IBD vomiting, Ireland having lung symptoms, both of them a bit cranky) when the pressure changes or the weather's unpleasant. When I heard a holistic vet speak about that, she said that cats like to be in control and when they're not in control of something -- like the weather -- it can stress them. We've had a lot of extreme weather in the last year so that vet's talk was, as they say, a game changer for me.
Fingers crossed that you're able to find something good for medicating your cat!
Unless something new has come on the market, I couldn't find anything last year that didn't have either or both of those ingredients. Our cat, Buddy is allergic to Chicken and at the time we thought he also might have a fish allergy. I think we are safe that his food allergy is just chicken and possibly other poultry as well.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #5
Mousse is an idea. Maybe I could find that in a limited ingredient formula. The liquid treat without those flavors doesn’t seem to exist. My vet actually told me I could either try prednisone or gabapentin for the over grooming. I didn’t want to risk the side effects of prednisone and with her kidney disease. She isn’t at the point where she has lost fur from doing it, she just seems very uncomfortable and I’m trying not to let her groom herself too much if I’m around. The gabapentin actually did help a lot, but it also made her very sleepy. She is still grooming somewhat, but not as long or as intensely. She is also still scratching. I’m thinking of trying an allergy or oatmeal anti itch spray to use at night (I have only been giving her one dose of gabapentin 20mg during the day because she seems very sensitive to it). Maybe I just jinxed it. The gabapentin should still be in her system and she’s having a very chewy grooming session right now. She was good all morning and afternoon, though. Maybe she’s adapting to the sleepy side effect of gabapentin and it’s wearing off faster. Have you tried anti itch sprays before on your cat? I will also look into the calming chews.
My vet thought the head shaking might be neurological. She always seems to do it after lifting her head (like after eating, drinking, or sometimes grooming) and after jumping down off something. Her ears are waxier than they used to be and sometimes she scratches them. I thought originally her head shaking was an ear infection, mites, or allergies. She has no ear redness or signs of mites, though. Weird thing is her brother also shakes his head, too, but not nearly as often as she does.
I also wondered if the itching could be from stress, too. She is a cautious cat and scared of other people, but comfortable with us. We left her alone for the first time two nights before it started when we went to see the eclipse and I couldn’t get anyone to watch her and her brother. She was gated upstairs with a double gate and an automatic feeder or her brother would eat all her food. We were only leaving for one day and one night. I set up cameras to make sure they were okay and had a friend who would check on them if needed. She got stressed out from being locked upstairs and squeezed between the two gates and got downstairs. My friend came to feed her and she ran and hid. We came home the next morning and she seemed okay, just sleeping a lot. She didn’t start the grooming until two days later, so hard to tell if it’s related. Do stressed cats or cats with hyperesthesia also scratch as well as over groom?
My vet thought the head shaking might be neurological. She always seems to do it after lifting her head (like after eating, drinking, or sometimes grooming) and after jumping down off something. Her ears are waxier than they used to be and sometimes she scratches them. I thought originally her head shaking was an ear infection, mites, or allergies. She has no ear redness or signs of mites, though. Weird thing is her brother also shakes his head, too, but not nearly as often as she does.
I also wondered if the itching could be from stress, too. She is a cautious cat and scared of other people, but comfortable with us. We left her alone for the first time two nights before it started when we went to see the eclipse and I couldn’t get anyone to watch her and her brother. She was gated upstairs with a double gate and an automatic feeder or her brother would eat all her food. We were only leaving for one day and one night. I set up cameras to make sure they were okay and had a friend who would check on them if needed. She got stressed out from being locked upstairs and squeezed between the two gates and got downstairs. My friend came to feed her and she ran and hid. We came home the next morning and she seemed okay, just sleeping a lot. She didn’t start the grooming until two days later, so hard to tell if it’s related. Do stressed cats or cats with hyperesthesia also scratch as well as over groom?
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #6
I just checked her neck in the spots she’s been scratching a lot. It actually does look like her fur might be starting to thin there and it does look pink. She’s a very fluffy girl, so I didn’t notice fur thinning at first. The problem only started last Weds. I put a little Vetericyn anti microbial gel on her skin because it says it relieves itch and skin irritation. It’s all I have on hand, but I want to try to find something else for the itch (it was expensive and a small bottle). I like that it’s lick-safe, though.
If there's a pate food she'll eat, you could try processing some in a mini-processor with a little water. Some foods will come out lickable that way.
No, I've never tried an anti-itch spray. (And couldn't with that cat, she has asthma so a spray could irritate her lungs.) Vetricyn products are pretty good, though; I used their eye gel when Ireland had a flare of herpes. It really helped with the itching.
Your cat is beautiful! I hope you're able to figure something out for her soon.
Personally, I'd start by figuring that this -- a form of stress -- is what happened. I often take a "path of least resistance" approach to cat problems, starting with the most obvious causes. I'm often wrong, of course, but very often starting with what seems most obvious yields quick results. The key ingredient in the Solliquin treats, by the way, is L-theanine. There's another product with that: Anxitane. I opted for Solliquin because I like the ingredients better. I feed the chews in three pieces, throughout the day. They really take the edge of Ireland's stress/anxiety.
No, I've never tried an anti-itch spray. (And couldn't with that cat, she has asthma so a spray could irritate her lungs.) Vetricyn products are pretty good, though; I used their eye gel when Ireland had a flare of herpes. It really helped with the itching.
Your cat is beautiful! I hope you're able to figure something out for her soon.
