Allergies - Need advice

Gus is a 2 1/2 year old Siamese. When he reached his first birthday he began licking bald spots on his front legs and was given a shot of Depomedrol. With the first occurence I began investigating different cat foods and switched him to Wellness canned chicken and turkey from the Purina cat food he was eating. I also have switched his litter several times and am currently using Elsey's Precious Cat. He continued to have the licking episodes every 2-3 months for the next 6 months and received Depo shots with each occurrence. At 1 1/2 years old and a new Vet he was switched to Hills DD Venison and has been on that food for the last year. The problem is that he is still having those licking episodes every 2 to 3 months. The time before last he was given A Depo shot and had a bad reaction (listless, lathargic for 3 days). The last episode the Vet gave him a Vetalog injection (because of the previous bad reaction to the Depo shot). The shot lasted a month and began licking hinself raw on the leg again. At that point the Vet prescribed 5mg Prendisone (20 pills) - 1 pill a day for 7 days then one pill every other day. He finished that medication a week ago and today I discovered he was licking himself bald on his leg again.
At am at my wits end. Tomorrow we'll be off to the Vet again. I don't know what else to do to end this problem. I would appreciate any advice anyone on the forum could offer.

Originally Posted by FreddyF

Gus is a 2 1/2 year old Siamese. When he reached his first birthday he began licking bald spots on his front legs and was given a shot of Depomedrol. With the first occurence I began investigating different cat foods and switched him to Wellness canned chicken and turkey from the Purina cat food he was eating. I also have switched his litter several times and am currently using Elsey's Precious Cat. He continued to have the licking episodes every 2-3 months for the next 6 months and received Depo shots with each occurrence. At 1 1/2 years old and a new Vet he was switched to Hills DD Venison and has been on that food for the last year. The problem is that he is still having those licking episodes every 2 to 3 months. The time before last he was given A Depo shot and had a bad reaction (listless, lathargic for 3 days). The last episode the Vet gave him a Vetalog injection (because of the previous bad reaction to the Depo shot). The shot lasted a month and began licking hinself raw on the leg again. At that point the Vet prescribed 5mg Prendisone (20 pills) - 1 pill a day for 7 days then one pill every other day. He finished that medication a week ago and today I discovered he was licking himself bald on his leg again.
At am at my wits end. Tomorrow we'll be off to the Vet again. I don't know what else to do to end this problem. I would appreciate any advice anyone on the forum could offer.

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Could he be allergic to the peas on hills D/D? Try Hills Z/D and see what happens... It is as anti-allergenic as you can go... Also, an antihistamine might help as well, instead of steroids... you might try that... Pred IMHO is definitely better than Depo; I had bad experiences with Depo, only the side effects with my cat lasted nearly a month.

Some cats are allegic to Clay litter( scented more but I have one that is allergic to the most" hypo" of clays .... )

Are you feeding the wellness along with the DD?
I agree zd would be worth discussing..

What cleaners are used in the home>?

I am only feeding him Hills DD Venison. I have tried several different litter including Worlds Best Cat Litter and Feline Pine.
We use Tide for clothes and Palmolive for dish washing. I shampoo my own carpeting using a hypoallergenic rug shampoo.

Tide free or one of the others?

This will not likely make sense but ... venison is a Hot meat ( to digest gives off and uses heat)thus in the case of allergies it can actually worsen the inflamation

tide ultra regular sent and tide with bleach alternative.
I'll discuss the Hills ZD with the Vet tomorrow.
I picked The Hills DD Venison because the Wellness I was feeding him were the chicken and turkey varieties.

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I'm sorry you're dealing with allergies with your cat. From experience, I know that it is not an easy road. But, thankfully, it seems I am coming out on the other end, relatively unscathed, with my year old cat, Finn.

About 3 months ago (maybe longer), Finnegan started licking the inside of his hind legs raw. We initially tried an oral antibiotic which did not help. Following that, we turned to more aggressive treatment with a longer lasting antibiotic injection. At that time, we also did a skin scraping to look for mites as well as a fungal culture to rule out ringworm or another skin infection. And, while the antibiotics did help the secondary skin infection that had set in, they did not help the primary issue. Following bloodwork and additional testing, we determined it was likely an allergy issue and started him on .3cc of Prednisolone 2x daily for 3 days which was then tapered to .3cc 1x daily and then .3cc 1x every other day. The Prednisolone worked wonders, but there were a couple instances where we needed to up the dose and start tapering down again. However, at that time, we also made the decision to start him on a food trial since we did not feel it was an inhaled allergy or contact dermatitis. Please note, before changing his food, I had gone through and made other changes in the home to no avail. We also had ruled out most other common (and some uncommon) medical issues. The food trial was the way to go.

Finnegan was put on Hills Z/D food -- the dry kibble as well as the canned. His diet consists of 75% wet food and 25% dry. All of his treats were removed and switched to the hypoallergenic treats by Hills. Between the food change and the Prednisolone, which he is now completely off of, he has improved dramatically. He no longer has any lesions and has returned to his previously naughty self. I had not noticed it at the time, as the changes were very slow to come about and subtle, but he had not been acting like himself as he felt poorly. However, he is almost a different cat now and I attribute that to the new food that he is on. I know that Hills Z/D can be expensive at around $24.99 for 4 pounds, but there are often coupons available on their website. Another option, which I have switched to, is Royal Canin's hypoallergenic food. I work at a vet's office and the RC food is preferred for allergies here, but I only switched to it after ensuring that it would not affect Finnegan negatively. The cost is approximately the same, but, as an employee, I get a sizable discount. The Royal Canin does not come in a wet food and I continue to use Hills Z/D for that and, knock on wood, we have had no recurrences.

Allergies in cats is a tricky subject. I was warned against using a duck or venison protein and became aware that peas, which are often prevalent in such foods, are also a potential allergen. I also was informed that rabbit as a protein may be a good place to start as it is different from most other animal proteins found in foods, but I found it to be expensive and difficult to find. And, when it was all said and done, I didn't want to switch to anything since what was working, well, worked. But, before anything, I would discuss other possibilities with your vet. Many health issues can mimic the symptoms of allergies and vice versa. But, a conversation about a food trial should be something to begin talking about. It has definitely helped my cat. Now, with three others, there it is time and financially more expensive, but it is worth it to have my kitty back to himself. Not only am I relieved, but I am certain that he is too.

If you have any other questions or concerns, please feel free to PM me. Otherwise, please keep us up to date on how your cat is doing. Good luck...to both of you...