Chester is allergic to dogs!

Chester has always been very itchy. The vet figured it was food allergies, so I tried different foods with no success. So, we had a blood test run to find out what was causing his itchies. It turns out that Chester is allergic to timothy grass, two molds, and dog dander! Who would have thought that a cat could be allergic to dogs!!!

Anyway....since I live in an 80 year old house with a leaky basement, we have a mold problem that won't go away, so we have just started Chester on every-other-day injections that should come close to curing the allergy. It was incredibly expensive to do the blood test and have the syrum developed, but if it will help him feel better it is worth it!

I never would have thought cats would be allergic to dogs either, but I suppose why not. I have a cat with asthma, which seems to be related to allergies. I always thought about having him tested for which particular things he was allergic to. Do they do that 40 skin scratches and several shots like they do to humans? I don't know if it is so worth putting my cat through that. I don't know if his medications would be changed no matter what he was allergic to. But, allergy shots is something to think about.

One of my kitties who is now at the Rainbow Bridge developed asthma when she was eleven years old. This cat had started acting lethergic(sp?), breathing with her mouth open after exertion, and coughing. The vet diagnosed asthma after a lung x-ray and confirmed the diagnosis with a blood test. The kitty was treated with the lowest possible dose of Prednizone, and we saw definite improvement. The vet told me that cats do develop allergies as they get older. Also, the vet didn't mention allergy testing or seem to be concerned about finding out what the cat was actually allergic to. The vet's main concern seemed to just be for the comfort and well-being of the cat, and I agreed with the vet in this respect.

They tested for allergies with a blood sample. They had to ship the sample to a lab in California where they tested for about 100 different allergens. Then a different lab developed a syrum that contains trace amounts of the things he is allergic to. For about 2 months I will inject the syrum every other day and then it will be every 20 days (I think). The whole idea is to desensitize him to the things he is allergic to. Hopefully this will help!