struggling with food allergy for over ten months

Hey Cat Site People! I am finally posting after lurking on this website for a few months reading. I have grown to really appreciate the amount of knowledge many posters have and I use this site as a learning tool for dealing with my special needs cat.

I am asking for help with this issue that I have dealt with for many months. Please forgive the detail but I want to give the most information possible.

Carter was adopted from an animal shelter in South Carolina on 10.06.11. I picked him from two kittens, and his brother was noticeably larger than Carter was. We were told they were found under a house without their mother. The night we adopted him, the vet was giving them an antibiotic for an upper respiratory infection. Everything was very good for the first couple of weeks, and then we began to notice that he was losing his hair on his ears. We took him to veterinarian #1, who said the hairloss on his ears was because of ringworm. They gave us a prescription and told us to put cortisone cream on his ears. It went away and then we had no further health problems for a couple of months. 

During this time we fed him the shelter recommended food ( precise brand ) for the first two or three weeks. Carter stopped eating the precise brand when he was about 10 weeks old so we switched him to Solid Gold flaked tuna wet food and dry food. He would also eat friskies appetizers occasionally and LOVED fish. 

Around Christmas of 2011 I noticed black spots in the fur under Carter's chin. I took him to veterinarian #1 and they said it was cat chin acne, nothing to worry about, and I should dab his chin with acne pads and get rid of plastic bowls, and keep them very clean. I followed all of these directions, but his condition started to worsen and he began to have a LOT of black gunk in his ears. I took him back to the vet, they cleaned his ears thoroughly and gave us cortisone ear drops. He then began to worsen with his chin acne and began to rub the skin around his eyes until it was raw and bleeding. We continued to go back and forth to this vet and they did a full workup of all upper respiratory illnesses and he came back with no issues whatsoever. 

In the Spring of 2012 this began to really worsen as he started to kick at his chin with his back feet furiously. It is so severe that I come home to blood spattered all over the walls, blood all over his white paws, all over my bed, the floor, etc. This was completely terrifying and as a college student, I didn't have much money to spend on his care. A friend suggested we put an e-collar on him so in May we started putting this on him all the time. He would find ways around his e collar and rub his face on the corners of tables, walls, etc. I read about food allergies and decided maybe he needed a better quality of food, and decided on Orijen. I foolishly changed to the fish formula, as I now believe the fish cause his allergies. He continued to wear the e collar until July. I took him to vet #2 in July and they recognized this as a food allergy immediately. They switched him to royal canin rabbit and pea formula and we took him off the food. I did not see an immediate improvement with the new food, and the vet #2 also told us to use chlorephramine for inflammation and that helped relieve him. It is also important to note that by this time Carter's entire face and neck were raw, scabbed and bleeding every single day. At the end of the 8 week food trial vet #2 referred us to a specialty dermatology veterinarian.

This is currently who we are seeing. The first visit she checked his tissue for any signs of an autoimmune issue and that was negative. She did say she found bacteria and that we had not been previously prescribed the right amount of antibiotic for his needs. She gave us an antibiotic, told us to try salmon oil, and to continue the chlorephramine. She also gave him a steroid shot in her office that day. We came home, ran the course of antibiotics, found that Carter HATES salmon oil, and saw very little in the way of results. The steroid shot did offer him quite a bit of relief in the first couple of days. We went back to her office and she gave him another shot. Still, it was not enough to completely heal him. Her theory was that he had such deep wounds from the months of kicking and his face that he was still doing it because the scabs were painful to him. The third time I requested a steroid shot she gave him another shot, and gave him an oral steroid to take everyday for ten days and then every other day for ten more doses. He is currently still in this course of medicine and it has helped him tremendously. 

He was completely healed up while on the steroids two weeks ago, and we got to enjoy two weeks of no wounds. But, he recently ripped into my roommate's dog treats and now his neck is worse than ever. Now, we have secured all other foods and are being strict about his diet and pill regimen, and trying to get him back to two weeks ago.

My questions to everyone is, what else can I try for him? Is there anything I can do that I am not already doing? I am going to continue on the royal canin as we think it is a food allergy with severe wounds. I am open to trying anything. 

Please, anyone who has a cat with food allergies, help!! 

I hope Carter gets better soon and I hope someone on this site has an answer for you  

<3 

Oh poor baby!!!! :rub: I have allergies, and the hives and itching can drive me right up a wall. I have itched myself to bleeding - but not like that! I'm so glad you worked - and are working - so hard to help him.

Questions:

1) Is the RC you're feeding him dry or wet?
2) You didn't see any improvement after 8 weeks on the food?
3) He healed up while on steroids. What was the dose of oral steroids? Was it prednisone?

A couple of quick observations. He didn't like the salmon oil. It seems like you're able to pill him pretty easily at this point? I would try two things: 1) NOW Neptune Krill oil (500mg). There are benefits to krill oil above and beyond salmon oil. If he doesn't like it on his food, just pill him with it. It's a little large, but it's a soft gelcap and goes down easily, especially if you follow it with a meal of wet food. 2) Evening Primrose Oil (500mg). I doubt he'll notice this in his food, but again, if it's an issue, just pill him with it. Evening primrose oil is high in GLA. This is technically an omega 6, but it is one with anti-inflammatory properties (like omega 3s) that help their skin and fur, especially when allergies are an issue. Cats CAN convert the GLA to DGLA, the "usable" form of the fatty acid. Neither of these will solve the problem, but they should help him.

Now... as to what to do going forward. It depends on the approach you want to take.

Assuming it is food allergies, you can keep him on the RC rabbit and pea, and see if it keeps him stable once he's healed after this dose of steroids.

My theory on "food allergies" in cats has evolved over the years.

Most people work to find the problem protein by using Limited Ingredient Diets (LIDs) with single-source proteins. Many people help their cats with this approach.

We rescued a kitty with - a lot of health issues. He's FIV+ so has a compromised immune system. He had explosive, chronic diarrhea. With the help of our traditionally-trained vets, over a period of six months, we were able to turn that into "just" diarrhea. He began itching. And itching and itching. We did not think it was just obsessive overgrooming - he was in a lot of discomfort. He had bald spots on his front legs, and mowed his abdomen clean. On the advice of the vet, we put him on the prescription Hill's hypoallergenic z/d food. The chicken protein is hydrolized, which means it is broken down so shouldn't trigger an allergy. We saw no change or improvement. To be fair, we used both the dry and wet food. The dry food, as it turns out, is not hypoallergenic, just "low allergan." The difference? It has brewer's rice in it, and it can be a trigger.

When six months had passed and we were no closer to a solution, we looked for a holistic vet. We found a vet (a D.V.M.), trained in Chinese Medicine, acupuncture, western herbs, and nutrition. She was "only" 45 minutes away. The first thing she did when we had our first appointment was review his history and his diet. She gave us a lecture on kibble, and a short lesson in nutrition.

Some of what she told us is summed up here: http://www.catinfo.org

The bottom line? Cats are obligate carnivores. Their bodies are designed to eat small mammals. Small mammals are comprised of meat, bones, and organs. You don't put up a fence around your garden to prevent cats from raiding it. They have no use for vegetables, and lack digestive enzymes to utilize a number of plant-based things. Cats have no dietary requirement for carbohydrates - none. They need protein, fat, minerals, and moisture in their food. Our domestic house cats are descended from desert animals, and have almost no thirst drive. They are used to getting the moisture they need from the food they eat, not from drinking water. Their bodies are designed to eat raw meat.

And while so many cats live long, happy, and often healthy lives on "cat food," the highly processed cat foods we feed them - often with very inappropriate ingredients for the species - just does not work well for some cats. Just like some people can't have gluten, or are very sensitive to highly processed foods and need whole grains and healthy fats in their diets, some cats need a more species-appropriate diet, because anything else causes inflammation that gets expressed in different ways. For some cats, this is expressed as IBD; for other cats it's "allergies." Yet if you switch them to a diet they were meant to eat - a raw food diet - their allergies (or IBD) are resolved. Cats allergic to chicken when feeding canned can eat raw chicken, etc. Not always - but usually - especially if you make the switch before it's taken too much of a toll on their system. It's not a "must," and it's not a cure-all. But it is often a rather quick, simple solution for very frustrating situations where our kitties are suffering. :rub:

I was against a raw diet when the holistic vet recommended it. I researched it, and as a result, I argued against it here on TCS.

...and at that point, I was in no rush, because we were no longer pulling our hair out with Chumley's situation (as he was no longer pulling his hair out!). Because she was trained in Chinese Medicine, she diagnosed him on that basis, and advised us on several treatments for him. We used an herbal pill, a tincture that required a couple of drops a day, and an easy concoction of slippery elm bark, aloe vera juice, and a probiotic. This resolved his diarrhea inside of four days, and within two weeks it was quite clear his itching was subsiding. We had pulled the dry food altogether, and we were using expensive, high protein, limited ingredient, single-protein, low carb, grain-free wet foods. I saw a very visible improvement in all of the cats (we have 8 indoor kitties). And I thought they were thriving before.

...but as I was still interested in nutrition at this point, I continued to research. And it was in the course of arguing against raw here on TCS that I came to the conclusion that it was actually safe for the cats, and the diet they were designed to eat. So in January of this year, we began to transition our cats to raw food. I used commercial raw. In February, now comfortable with it, I began making my own. And the same kitties that I thought were thriving on the all canned diet - well, I saw another dramatic leap in their energy, behavior, fur, etc. on this diet that I saw when switching them to all canned. And perhaps more importantly, Chumley didn't want his supplements and herbals any longer - so I stopped giving them to him. And he's doing great! He is on no medication at all.

I have learned that traditionally trained vets are absolutely wonderful - except when it comes to autoimmune disorders. Western medicine doesn't know how to treat them very well. It is expressed beautifully in this post: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/244200/...allergies-rabbit-lamb-or-venison#post_3260778 and discussed in this thread: http://www.thecatsite.com/t/249644/been-dealing-with-a-food-environmental-allergy-for-over-a-year (yes, I blather in that thread too).

So if you live in the U.S. or Canada, you can search for a holistic vet here, if you want to try that approach rather than relying on steroids to reduce his inflammation: http://www.ahvma.org

And if you want to consider exploring a raw diet, we can help you in the raw sub-forum.

LDG - Thank you for responding. I have thoroughly read your message and I plan to find a holistic vet in my area and I have posted for help in the raw feeding subforum.

To answer your questions, 1) I am feeding Carter a mixture of dry and wet RC food. I have read a lot of literature saying that dry food is bad for cats and they need this moisture from their raw food...I have just been so reluctant to try it because I do not want to further compromise his health in any way. I am SO scared of losing him after all this struggle. Also, I have purchased a stainless steel water fountain for him..will this help the potential dehydration? 2) I saw an improvement in comparison to his eating fish everyday, but I have not seen a full improvement. It is hard for me to tell just how much he has improved because for so long he was in the e-collar. It is VERY noticeable if he gets into some food that he shouldn't be eating that he has, which tells me the elimination of those is working?? 3) The bottle says prednisolone. I believe it is a 10 mg dose. 

Again, thank you for all of your help. Do you have any advice for cleaning his wounds? I usually just use cotton balls and sometimes vaseline in his cuts. I am going to locate a holistic vet and try the raw diet!

Hi! Welcome to The Cat Site!

My cat has food and environmental allergies. Maybe 5-6 years ago it got bad and I also had to go through the steroid shot and prednisone route. It gets so frustrating! . We eventually did get her stabilized on the RC limited ingredient diet. We have to be very strict with treats, etc. I will only give her duck, venison, lamb or rabbit treats, which can be hard to find. A few times a year, she will flare up, probably the environmental allergies kicking in. Ironically it is normally the same time my allergies flare up. She starts scratching her face and ears more as well as pulling the fur from her back. I have to start the human OTC allergy meds at the first sign at that will nip it in the bud before we get to the raw, bloody open sores.

Good luck! I hope you can find something that works for her. :cross:

Abbysmom, what kind of Allergy medicine do you use for your cat? Your story is inspiring, thanks for the kind words

The same as you, the chlorephramine. We tried benadryl, but Abby hated, and I mean hated it! :lol3: I can get her to take a chlorephramine in a pill pocket with no problems. Those are the only two my vet recommended, but I know others on here have been told by their vets to use zyrtec and possibly claritin.