Cockroach allergy??

pf.growleypants

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Hi friends,

Has anyone out there ever heard of experienced a cat being allergic to cockroaches??

We finally bit the bullet and paid ($415) to have Growleypants tested for allergies via blood test. Our vet assumed it was a food allergy, but none of our diet trials provided any relief and Growley's neck was all torn up from his constant itching. Well he does have a mild food allergy to rice , not a protein, so now we know and will be switching him to grain-free Innova EVO or Wellness CORE. However, his most severe allergy is to cockroaches (5 on a scale of 1 to 6). I've never seen any cockroaches in our apartment, so we don't have an infestation, but since we live in a city, they are probably hiding somewhere in the walls or pipes.

Anyway, I wanted to write to see if anyone else has experienced this and could provide tips. We'll do some obvious things like not leave the cat food out, put all pantry food in an airtight tupperware, disinfect the kitchen counter and dinner table each night, take the trash out and vacuum more often, but since we don't have an infestation I'm wondering if there is anything else we can do to reduce the little buggers that are hiding somewhere, sight unseen.

Thanks, and I'll write up our whole allergy saga later so that people can learn from our experience with Professor Growleypants.
 

tarasgirl06

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Originally Posted by Pf.Growleypants

Hi friends,

Has anyone out there ever heard of experienced a cat being allergic to cockroaches??

We finally bit the bullet and paid ($415) to have Growleypants tested for allergies via blood test. Our vet assumed it was a food allergy, but none of our diet trials provided any relief and Growley's neck was all torn up from his constant itching. Well he does have a mild food allergy to rice , not a protein, so now we know and will be switching him to grain-free Innova EVO or Wellness CORE. However, his most severe allergy is to cockroaches (5 on a scale of 1 to 6). I've never seen any cockroaches in our apartment, so we don't have an infestation, but since we live in a city, they are probably hiding somewhere in the walls or pipes.

Anyway, I wanted to write to see if anyone else has experienced this and could provide tips. We'll do some obvious things like not leave the cat food out, put all pantry food in an airtight tupperware, disinfect the kitchen counter and dinner table each night, take the trash out and vacuum more often, but since we don't have an infestation I'm wondering if there is anything else we can do to reduce the little buggers that are hiding somewhere, sight unseen.

Thanks, and I'll write up our whole allergy saga later so that people can learn from our experience with Professor Growleypants.
ADORABLE NAME -- sure would love it if you could share some pix of The Professor!


The kind of reaction you mention is common in cats with flea allergy (also known as military dermatitis, but don't ask me why -- I dunno!) and these cats don't have to even have fleas to itch and develop a rash -- one exposure is all it takes! My Tashi angel had it, and from time to time, she'd get a rash and itch, itch, itch (scratch, scratch, scratch) but I used a veterinary itch-relief spray on her, which helped. She'd been rescued from outside, where she'd been found covered in fleas; that was all it took for her to have a lifelong reaction even when no fleas were present. It's apparently the saliva of the fleas that they're allergic to. No, I've never heard of an allergy to roaches in cats, but it's not impossible! As to the source, maybe it's like the flea allergy and Prof. Growlypants had exposure to them in the past but is reacting now. It's a mystery to me, though -- good luck and I hope you are able to isolate the problem and get relief for your little guy!!!
 
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