Frustrated with Kattie's allergies! Running out of ideas.

Well these last 2 months have been bad for Kattie. Her allergies are getting out of control. She is constantly grooming and scratching. She has scabs on her neck and back. It seems to fluctuate through out the year as to when it gets super bad. I hate giving her the cortizone shot, but that might have to get done til the other stuff starts kicking in. I took her in to the vet friday before last and got bloodwork and a health check up. Her bloodwork is fine, kidneys and liver in tip top shape. Her eosinophils are elevated because of the allergic response. She has no fleas and never has.

I've had her on a decent food, a mix of Orijen and Wellness Chicken and Rice. I was leary about going completely grain free. She was also eating canned. It was a mix of the higher end stuff and stuff like Fancy Feast or Friskies when she was being picky. I took away the lower brands and she only gets grain free canned. I am also in the process of converting her to raw, or partial raw. She likes radcat and is eating it, but I won't be able to completely convert her til after my vacation in 2 weeks, cause my parents won't be able to handle feeding raw. during that time she will have to be on the grain free canned til I get back. I doubt it is completely food related and possibly inhaled as we are all kinda sneezy and itchy in the summer here.

The doctor wanted  to start her on fish oil supplements which we are doing. He also told me to get  rid of the canned foods with wheat gluten which we did(no cuts in gravy fancy feast, good thing she likes the wellness chunks in gravy) He also didn't want any foods with fish or fish meal in her diet as that is a common allergen in cats. Next is chicken. He and I agree we aren't doing the Hills allergy diets. I will convert her to raw before doing that.  I believe Hills diets are garbage but that's another post.

Other thinks I'm doing is giving her a bath in an aloe and oatmeal shampoo once a week. It is super gentle and soapfree. I have pure aloe gel to put on the worst sores and I even did and apple cider vinegar rinse with her  bath on Sat. It was a diluted water and vinegar mix and safe for cats. I've done it for my dog before with results. Sadly it hasn't worked for her. I've even given her half a chlorotab which seems to make her sleepy more than anything. She will scratch a little less but I still see her do it.

She is going back in to her vet today to see what else wee can do. I know converting her to a raw diet and adding the fish oils have a good chance of working, but I need something in the interim till those can have their affects cause she is starting to chew her hair. I've noticed it getting thin by her tail and between her shoulders where she will vigorously lick.

Any ideas will be greatly appreciated. We are going to convert to a raw diet eventually but can't completely at this point, We are both tired and frustrated, I hate to see her uncomfortable and i hate being the bully telling her not to scratch, but it's crazy.

You are doing an awesome job so far, just thought I'd let you know  . 

As soon as I started reading your thread, fish oil popped in to my head (sounds like you have an awesome vet). We have a cat with sensitivities who does that same gnawing and licking on her belly causing sores now and again, and adding herring oil to her diet really helped. Not only does it aid in providing a beautiful fur coat, its an anti-inflammatory which is great for allergies, however the one negative is that it can take up to a month before you see any results. Also if you do add a fish oil supplement make sure that she's getting Vit. E in it as well, its required in order for her body to properly synthesize the Omega-3's. 

I'm not too familiar with cat allergens outside of food, the only thing I would recommend is avoiding the dry because if she is having a food sensitivity, dry food has way more ingredients so sticking to a simple wet food with few ingredients may be ideal such as Before Grain, Blue Buffalo Wilderness or Natural Balance Limited Ingredient.

All the best! 

I totally understand your concerns. Wilbur had over 30 allergies, some of them severe, and was treated by two dermatolo/gists after a vet told me how dangerous steroid shots are. I know all about the scabs you are referring to. He ate the dry Hill's and wet Royal Canin d/d rabbit/pea. All I knew was a dermatologist would not prescribe it if she did not think it helps cats with allergies, so I had no reason to think about changing his diet to something better than that.

LDG's avatar cat, Chumley, and one of Carolina's cats, Bugsy, are proof boneless frankenprey diets help cats with food allergies. I don't know why, but assume they can explain it. Commercial raw is a step in the rigjht direction. It is OK to let your parents feed grain-free wet food when you are traveling. During the transition, people feed a combination of Rad Cat and wet food, so it will not hurt to eat no raw for two weeks. Go to the raw feeding forum for help with that.

For non-food allergies, the answer is a customized allergy shot, not a steroid. The problem with steroids for chronic allergy  relief is over time, each one increases the rrisk of heart, kidney, and liver failure and diabetes. I chose the customized allergy shots because of these risks, even though the blood test to determine what Wilbur was allergifc to cost almost $200. The shots are only 75% effective but I would rather not have a diabetic cat. After receiving the weekly shots, he never licked his fur off again, but then he started having the scabs you are describing.

Update on  Kattie. I do think that she is a little more relaxed today and there is a little less scratching. I slathered Nutiva coconut oil on all her sores last night. It made her greasy, but i let it sit. This afternoon I bathed her with a gentle aloe and oatmeal shampoo. It is made by earthbath and is soapfree so can be used frequently without drying them out. I am continuing to use fish oil in her diet which might be starting to work. I did switch to salmon oil because the fish oil capsules I was using said it contained soy! I've been using them on my dog for years and never noticed that. Well I am switching everyone to the new salmon oil asap. I have to syringe the oil to Kattie because she won't eat it in the food. This is going to suck though because she probably won't be getting the oil while I am gone for  a week. My mom can't pill or syringe feed her  and she won't take it any other way. I will be on top of it though when I get back. Here is to hoping that the worst is behind us!
 

Yeah, some fish oils do contain soy, it's something to watch out for! Good idea to go with salmon oil, but if that doesn't work try krill oil!