My Cat has seasonal Allergies....should I keep him inside?

Have had my cat since he was 8 weeks old and showed up almost dead on my doorstep. During his first year with me he started getting ear infections, would get them every few months or about 3-4 times that year. Poor guy would scratch the fur away from his ear and leave a small bare area. First time this happened was in the springtime (maybe March) and I noticed when the weather got colder the ear infections stopped, so I figured he has seasonal allergies.

Here is my dilemma...I have an enclosed screened in porch that I would let him out on and oh how he loved it and would spend hours out there watching the animals. I would also open my windows in the house and he would do the same. This year I have purposely kept him out of the porch and closed all windows and he has yet to have any ear infections! So my Q is...which is worse? Keeping him out of the porch he loves so much to decrease his ear infections? Or letting him enjoy the porch and outdoors and treating 3-4 ear infections a year? TIA

Have you discussed with your Vet giving him allergy meds?  Many people give their cats things like  Zyrtec, so if he can have his cake and eat it too, why not?  (IF it works )

mrsgreenjeens said:

 
Have you discussed with your Vet giving him allergy meds?  Many people give their cats things like  Zyrtec, so if he can have his cake and eat it too, why not?  (IF it works

)

Click to expand...

Thanks I may try that. Anyone here give Zyrtec to there cat? Should I crush it up? TIA

I give Zyrtec to one of my cats who has horrible, horrible seasonal allergies. It has made a huge difference for her. The pills we have are the generic version, Cetirizine HCl 10mg, and the pills are very small. She gets a half of a pill (5mg) at night before bed. Don't crush the pill.
The half pill is so small, I can slip it behind a treat and she swallows it without even noticing. I get 4 -5 treats and feed them to her one by one. On the 3rd or 4th treat, when she's really snarfing them down, I give the treat and the pill simultaneously. Pill Pockets work well, too, or you can wrap it in a tiny piece of deli meat.
It's always a good idea to call the vet before giving any medication they have not prescribed. Allergic reactions and drug interactions can happen, and some medications can have adverse effects on cats who have certain medical conditions.

Does anyone give Zyrtec for skin allergies??

Thought I would give an update for anyone interested. Started giving him 5mg of Zyrtec the day before letting him out on the enclosed porch... and I have also limited him to 1 hour at a time. Also, I check the pollen count daily and try to let him out on low pollen count days and during the evenings. So far so good!

my cat overgrooms.  The vet thinks he has allergies, but suspects food.  I dont necessarily...wondering how one distinguishes between seasonal and food allergies when the symptoms are overgrooming, and then hairballs/ 

myrnafaye said:

 
my cat overgrooms.  The vet thinks he has allergies, but suspects food.  I dont necessarily...wondering how one distinguishes between seasonal and food allergies when the symptoms are overgrooming, and then hairballs/ 

Click to expand...

If it is seasonal allergies then I would suspect his symptoms would be much less during the winter months which is the case with my cat.

he's always been a hairball vomiter, but it started increasing badly end of February, which ws still the dead of winter here - but I assume in theory he could have some other kind of environmental allergy, and I have changed his food to rabbit.

myrnafaye said:

 
my cat overgrooms.  The vet thinks he has allergies, but suspects food.  I dont necessarily...wondering how one distinguishes between seasonal and food allergies when the symptoms are overgrooming, and then hairballs/ 

Click to expand...

Food allergies do usually manifest with itching, particularly around the face and stomach, so if you are seeing hair loss from over grooming in those areas, it's likely food.

CatBuck said:

 

myrnafaye said:

 
my cat overgrooms.  The vet thinks he has allergies, but suspects food.  I dont necessarily...wondering how one distinguishes between seasonal and food allergies when the symptoms are overgrooming, and then hairballs/ 

Click to expand...

If it is seasonal allergies then I would suspect his symptoms would be much less during the winter months which is the case with my cat.

Click to expand...

Depends on what they are allergic too.  MY allergies are actually worse in the winter   But seasonal means just that...worse certain times of the year than others.

myrnafaye said:

 
he's always been a hairball vomiter, but it started increasing badly end of February, which ws still the dead of winter here - but I assume in theory he could have some other kind of environmental allergy, and I have changed his food to rabbit.

How long ago did you change his diet to Rabbit, and is it a limited food? (like Instinct?)  It can take up to 8 weeks for food changes to take effect in cases of allergies

Click to expand...

Thank you for that valuable piece of information.  Yes, he has been overgrooming on his belly.  Not his face, but he always washes his face after he eats, normal cat stuff.  The overgrooming is not severe, but causes a lot of hairballs