Hello all,
I have switched my cat, Gizmo, from CA Natural Dry to Orijen (I wanted a grain-free), although he is showing signs of possible food allergies. He has a strip (It looks like a landing strip) of hair loss forming from the base of his tail to the center of his back. I have read that this is a common symptom of psychogenic alopecia, where the cat overgrooms himself due to stress. This stress can be caused by a change in diet. However, he is also doing a little bit of scratching and overgrooming of his paws and feet, which are signs of food allergies. I have compared the past foods he has eaten and am suspecting, if it is a food allergy, it may be to dairy products (eggs) or potatoes... or maybe possibly turkey. The vet suggested food trials and gave Gizmo a cortisone shot for his back, but stated it may just be alopecia. My questions to the group are:
-How did you discover a food allergy? What were your cats symptoms? If he/she was scratching or overgrooming, how often did it occur?
-Did you think it was a food allergy and later discovered your cat was just stressed from the change in diet, resulting in overgrooming?
-What is your cat allergic to and how did you find out about it? Anyone ever heard of a cat allergic to eggs or milk or even potatoes?
Thanks for any input!
I have switched my cat, Gizmo, from CA Natural Dry to Orijen (I wanted a grain-free), although he is showing signs of possible food allergies. He has a strip (It looks like a landing strip) of hair loss forming from the base of his tail to the center of his back. I have read that this is a common symptom of psychogenic alopecia, where the cat overgrooms himself due to stress. This stress can be caused by a change in diet. However, he is also doing a little bit of scratching and overgrooming of his paws and feet, which are signs of food allergies. I have compared the past foods he has eaten and am suspecting, if it is a food allergy, it may be to dairy products (eggs) or potatoes... or maybe possibly turkey. The vet suggested food trials and gave Gizmo a cortisone shot for his back, but stated it may just be alopecia. My questions to the group are:
-How did you discover a food allergy? What were your cats symptoms? If he/she was scratching or overgrooming, how often did it occur?
-Did you think it was a food allergy and later discovered your cat was just stressed from the change in diet, resulting in overgrooming?
-What is your cat allergic to and how did you find out about it? Anyone ever heard of a cat allergic to eggs or milk or even potatoes?
Thanks for any input!