Kitty with severe allergies. Any help is appreciated.

BeauttysMom said:

 
Sorry I have not given an update sooner. I was without electric or internet until this afternoon. I have very unfortunate news. The vet that we saw informed me she has a form of autoimmune disorder that makes her body attack her own skin. We have decided to try steroids as feline immune suppressants are still in the testing stages. It is not an environmental allergy. This disease may go into remission but will continue to have flare ups. After long long long long thought and discussions with all three of the vets my kitty sees, if her quality of life does not improve we may have to take serious measures for her own good. All her life is right now is itching, eating, and sleeping. She no longer plays or responds to my interactions with her. I really do not wish to keep her on meds that suppress the issue and leave her susceptible to a serious illness that will cause her pain. We will give this treatment a try. Dealing with this has truly been one of the most difficult things in my life. I am going to cherish ever moment I have with her but I can allow her to suffer for my own selfish benefit. I hope I have explained my situation well. I again would like to thank everyone for their input. I was thinking allergies not an immune disease, definitely caught me by surprise.

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BeauttysMom said:

 
It will be more than one pill and a shot. I've put her through a lot the lasts few months. I have changed her entire environment to be all but sterile. No scents. I changed to scent free litter, scent free laundry soap, I stopped using perfume and lotions. I washed my hands with unscented antibacterial soap before petting her. I used bottle water. I got new food and water dishes. This diagnosis was heart breaking!  

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catwoman707 said:

 
I quote-

"

TREATMENT

Once a diagnosis is made, then initial therapy is immunesuppression

combined with management of secondary

bacterial infections. The most common approach is to use

glucocorticoids as the sole therapy. Success has been

achieved with triamcinolone (0.4 – 0.8 mg/kg/day),

prednisolone (4 – 6mg/kg/day), methylprednisolone (3 – 5

mg/kg/day) or dexamethasone (0.4 – 0.6mg/kg/day). In a

recent review of 44 cases of feline PF, remission was

achieved in 15/15 cats treated with triamcinolone, but only

8/13 cats treated initially with prednisone or prednisolone.

The triamcinolone group also had fewer reported adverse

effects and required fewer changes in therapeutic protocol

than the prednisone group. Both triamcinolone and

dexamethasone have longer duration of action than

prednisolone, necessitating eventual decrease to every third

day therapy. Regardless of which steroid is used initially the

patient should be rechecked every two weeks until no new

lesions are seen. As long as new lesions are forming,

remission has not been achieved. If initial therapy fails,

switch to a different glucocorticoid. In individual cases, one

steroid may work better than another.

So in layman's terms, the therapy consists of giving one of the immune supressing type of drugs, if the sores heal and no new ones appear, this is remission.

If it does not stop the sores, then the vet will switch up to another one of the meds, and so on.

They are very effective, in a shoert time she will be feeling like her old self again. Later on if you notice it starting up again, then the specific drug given before that made her heal will be given again, but at a much lower dose, and maybe even once every 3 days.

NOT impossible to deal with at all, and it has nothing to do with changing foods or anything, it's not an allergy.

When the triamcinolone is was used in a study of this autoimmune disease, 15 out of 15 cats went into remission. Once in remission your cat would likely get a pill once every 3 days for a bit. Not a death sentence, okay?? 

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lolocat said:

 
Hi there.  So sorry this is going on with your kitty.  Such a beauty, too!  

I am a very natural person myself and treat my cats as such.   I am different in that I do not use drugs unless I absolutely have to.    Everyone has their choice of how to handle these things and I respect you all. 

When I think allergies I think liver and immune system.  Same as for people!   Are you possibly using a Swiffer Mop on the floors?  This caused my friend's cat to get very sick......swollen paws, allergies.    

I have switched to a dust free/ fragrance free cat litter   ( I use Precious Cat Ultra Premium from Amazon for our cats. )  

I have a wonderful, older book called The New Natural Cat.  I highly recommend the book.   There is probably an updated version.   In this old version, she still recommends grains which I do not approve of for my cats.   In the section on allergies----

1.  Avoid corticosteriods  ( can further damage an already damaged immune system).

2.  Eliminate from the environment all possible causes of allergy such as insecticides, flea preparations, room deodorizer, strong chemical cleaners, fabric softeners, tobacco smoke, plants.    Chemical sensitivities are common these days.

3.  Fasting is an important part of allergy treatment.  Make a broth by simmering lamb or mutton bones or    (she goes on to list recipes from her book for homemade chicken broth, etc.)

4.  Use only spring or filtered water to make the broth.

Also, Rescue Remedy, which you can get at the health food store, is wonderful to help the trauma and to soothe, calm and cheer.  Six drops in water dish.  (it is a homeopathic)

I have a feeling this may be a chemical  allergy/sensitivity of some sort---just guessing.     What are you bathing her in?    You might want to stop the baths for awhile if there are ANY type of chemicals involved as she is probably ingesting them during the bath as well.

Finely finely grate some carrot into her food and/or broth.    That will help her liver.   

I  give my cats one filet of sardine (packed in water not oil) a week for Omega 3's.     

Grow some oat grass indoors.  My cats love it and it is detoxifying for their systems.  This will help her immensely.   Very easy to do!   Sprouts very quickly.  

Good luck!     I wish you and your kitty HEALTH!  Blessings to you both.

Oh,one more question---what changed in your/her environment six months ago when she got sick?  There may be a big clue there.

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catwoman707 said:

 
I quote-

"

TREATMENT

Once a diagnosis is made, then initial therapy is immunesuppression

combined with management of secondary

bacterial infections. The most common approach is to use

glucocorticoids as the sole therapy. Success has been

achieved with triamcinolone (0.4 – 0.8 mg/kg/day),

prednisolone (4 – 6mg/kg/day), methylprednisolone (3 – 5

mg/kg/day) or dexamethasone (0.4 – 0.6mg/kg/day). In a

recent review of 44 cases of feline PF, remission was

achieved in 15/15 cats treated with triamcinolone, but only

8/13 cats treated initially with prednisone or prednisolone.

The triamcinolone group also had fewer reported adverse

effects and required fewer changes in therapeutic protocol

than the prednisone group. Both triamcinolone and

dexamethasone have longer duration of action than

prednisolone, necessitating eventual decrease to every third

day therapy. Regardless of which steroid is used initially the

patient should be rechecked every two weeks until no new

lesions are seen. As long as new lesions are forming,

remission has not been achieved. If initial therapy fails,

switch to a different glucocorticoid. In individual cases, one

steroid may work better than another.

So in layman's terms, the therapy consists of giving one of the immune supressing type of drugs, if the sores heal and no new ones appear, this is remission.

If it does not stop the sores, then the vet will switch up to another one of the meds, and so on.

They are very effective, in a shoert time she will be feeling like her old self again. Later on if you notice it starting up again, then the specific drug given before that made her heal will be given again, but at a much lower dose, and maybe even once every 3 days.

NOT impossible to deal with at all, and it has nothing to do with changing foods or anything, it's not an allergy.

When the triamcinolone is was used in a study of this autoimmune disease, 15 out of 15 cats went into remission. Once in remission your cat would likely get a pill once every 3 days for a bit. Not a death sentence, okay?? 

Click to expand...

BeauttysMom said:

 
It is pf. I have been avidly researching. I am more comfortable with treatment options I have found online. Feline Pemphigus is what I understand the diagnosis at this moment, multiple tests need to continue to be done. We did not do any allergy testing because the symptoms are no longer behaving as an allergy. The initial response to steroids is what sparked the interest in testing.

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BeauttysMom said:

 
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this information. So I have called two pharmacies in  my area and they only have that triamcinolone as a cream. If you have the website this came from I would greatly appreciate a link. I will talk to the vet asap also. You have cheered me up for the day. I see a twinkle of light at the end of the tunnel.

 

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