Allergies/immune issues flaring up again!

This is so frustrating! Mr Grey's skin has gotten worse again.... For a while it was improving and most of the sores were healed and the fur was growing back, but recently they came back again. He was diagnosed with food allergies/immune issues and my vet thinks he has eosinophilic granuloma complex. He was also treated for antibiotics/antifungal.
I posted about him here a while back, this has been ongoing for months now but he had been improving the last few months and his fur was even growing back until recently...
I think he got into my senior cat's canned food which is not 'allergy approved' and I think that is why his symptoms have reappeared after they had been healing. They are as bad as they've been in the past if not worse. He has rodent ulcers on his lips again, worse than before in addition to sores on his feet again and he's chewed/licked the fur off his 'wrists' almost up to his elbows.
Yesterday my vet gave him a steroid shot and a topical treatment called Vetericyn to try, and did a therapeutic laser treatment. She said she does not like to do the steroids but she would because of how bad the ulcers are, that it is the best treatment for them...
He's also been on an appetite stimulant which seems to help his appetite but even though he's been eating better he hasn't gained weight since he started on that.

This is what his feet and lips look like now (one photo is his back feet, the other is one of the front feet.) Poor baby!

Just curious, you've ruled out litter as a possible cause, right? I'm asking since it's on his feet and mouth (he'd lick his feet).

Blann was on antifungals for a bit. They ruined his appetite, too. I hope Mr Grey starts eating consistently for you.
What I do with Sherman (can't let him get into anyone elses food) is feed him in the bathroom - when everyone else is done I let him out. Is feeding him in another room an option?

I like the litter idea...

What foods were keeping it down to a minimum?>

What does the other cat eat?

What if any meds or supplements are you giving?

What products do you clean with?

Actually I never thought of litter and my vet never mentioned that as a possibility, I'll definitely ask her about that. We're mostly using the Tidy Cat Breeze pellets. I think it is probably caused by a food allergy as my vet thought though-- we switched to a limited ingredient food, Royal Canin Limited Ingredient Rabbit (kibble) a few months ago and (after about a month on the new food) his sores all healed and the ulcers had gone away. His fur was even growing back... It did not start up again until recently and I found out about him getting into the other cat's food.
Also I forgot to mention, back when he was being tested to figure out the cause my vet also did a viral screen (all negative) and x-rays which showed some inflammation of the intestines which would also indicate food allergies (possible IBD but he has not shown any other IBD symptoms.) That is probably why he has had a poor appetite as that started before we started treating him with any medications, he went from a healthy non-overweight 9 pounds down to 7-something and he's still at 7.5 pounds. It is odd because since we started the appetite stimulant he definitely acts more hungry and eats more, plus he is eating more canned food which before he refused most canned and mostly only would eat the dry food. He also feels less skinny and bony than he did before, yet he weighs the same?

With the food-- I had completely switched all the cats to the limited ingredient dry food. That was easier than trying to separate them. Most of my cats won't eat canned food, but my senior cat Sneakers does and she usually would get grain free varieties of Wellness canned 3-4 times a day. Mr Grey was one who usually wouldn't eat canned food, so I was not really separating Sneakers for her canned food since Mr Grey did not like it anyway. However it seems that after he started getting the appetite stimulant he got less picky so he was going after the Wellness canned, and that is probably what triggered his symptoms again.
Since Mr Grey started to like canned food more, I have now started buying the limited ingredient canned food and giving him his own bowl of that. I had actually been doing that before but he just was turning his nose up at it until recently...
Since Mr Grey's symptoms started up again I've also been giving Sneakers the limited ingredient canned food too just in case Mr Grey goes for her bowl when I'm not looking. Or, if I want to give Sneakers the Wellness I've started putting Mr Grey in a separate area (or I will sit with Sneakers until she finishes eating) and then remove the bowl so Mr Grey can't get at it.

Originally Posted by Nekochan

Actually I never thought of litter and my vet never mentioned that as a possibility, I'll definitely ask her about that. We're mostly using the Tidy Cat Breeze pellets.

Click to expand...

A few of us constantly point it out. It's likely not the Breeze pellets - what else do you use? Any scented clay?

My thought is that one reason it's so hard for you to pin this down may be because it not just one thing that his immune system reacts to. Just like how people with bad allergies are rarely allergic to just one thing (no one gets that lucky).

Good to know you're already working on separating them. Unfortunately, food monitoring is the only thing that works in many cases.

I think we're pretty sure it is food related since he got better on the limited ingredient food. If he is allergic to something else it must not be causing most of his symptoms since his sores had been healed up for several weeks before they started again recently (and I think that was caused by him eating the other cat's food.)

Think outside of the obvious cat related things for the reaction on his feet. My Stumpy had skin allergies for close to 10 years and cleared up within a week of our dog's passing. He was allergic to that particular dog all those years and we never isolated it with any of our tests. He is fine with our current 3 dogs. Allergies are so frustrating!

I never got vets to give me real answers or solutions and I am 3k invested already. I dont think science is far enough along to help these cats. I have tried 14 high quality diets, two years of elimination processes and now he is on Z/D for 3 months with no improvement. I will not even bother with some super rare new diet out of fear of his lips swelling up again. Allegra didnt help and only made him vomit alot more. I threw out so many things that could be dust mite paradise, new bedding, plushes, pillows, old boxes, cleaned and washed everything relentlessly since the vet started to blame me and my apartment saying it was dust mites when I got angry one day showing him eight qtips of black debris just 48hrs after $80 vet bill and cleaning.

I am thinking about making videos of my cat and uploading them to youtube. Someone in world has to be able to tell me why my cat immediately starts scratching his throat, eyes, ears after ingestion of nearly every food out there including this Z/D where I am franticly trying to stop him.Why I have to feed him a dozen small portions a day so he does not immediately hurl it up on carpet. Why ever 48rs he has major new black fungal yeast issues, why he shakes his head so much even after professional monthly cleaning besides my own. Why I am up to 15 days a month of mometamax just to give him some confront. Magical dust mites that suddenly bother him the most right after eating, yeah I dont think so. Plent of litters but I keep using wheatable one so far. I only clean with dawn and water, he drinks pure culligan filtered water. You live in paranoia of every little thing yet I think back before he was ever even in my apt, when we found him outside, his ears were pure black and the test said that it wasnt mites. I think someone ditched this cat because of these problems. Apparently though he is only two his teeth are terrible, he crouches up in what I call the pain posture half the time even with small meals and I need save up for a cleaning and he pees alot with steriods treatment so he could be close to diabetes. My family thinks I need to prepare to have him put down and not to expect him to have quality of life or myself even unless we a break here.