Allergies flaring up?

A few months ago I took one of the cats to the vet for sores that he got from itching. It turned out he had not only sores on his neck, but feline acne and possible some sort of paw fungus too. (I thought it was all the same thing) It all started right after he got vaccinated (which he reacted badly too). The vet thought that he had allergies so he was tested for them. He was cleared from environmental allergies and since that meant he probably had food allergies I was told to put him on a special food and see if it got better. He switched foods and I started treating his acne and he was back to his normal self.

Now he's got a big sore (smaller now since I put a cone on him so he can't scratch it) under his chin and he's got some hair loss on some places where he used to, before the treatment and food switch. What I'm wondering now is if his allergies are flaring up or if it's something else. Could he have developed environmental allergies as well? At what point should I take him to a vet? 

I would be happy for any help I could get!

What kind of food and water bowls do you use? One of the most common causes of feline acne on the chin is bacteria from food and water bowls, especially plastic ones.

What is the food that he is on now? What kind of treatment? If it was a steroid shot, it may have worn off which is why the symptoms are back, most likely because the cause of the allergies has not yet been addressed.

vball91 said:

What kind of food and water bowls do you use? One of the most common causes of feline acne on the chin is bacteria from food and water bowls, especially plastic ones.

What is the food that he is on now? What kind of treatment? If it was a steroid shot, it may have worn off which is why the symptoms are back, most likely because the cause of the allergies has not yet been addressed.

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He's using ceramic water bowls and a metal food bowl. No plastic. I did some reading up on feline acne when I found out that he had it. 

The food he's on now contains hydrolyzed salmon protein. We were told not to give him any meat protein.

Now that you mention it, he was given a shot that was supposed to last 10 weeks I think. That must be it right?

So it's back to the vet to figure out what it is that he's allergic to?

Honestly, allergy tests for cats are not very effective. I would talj to your vet about a novel protein, limited ingredient diet. Basically you want to eliminate as many possible common allergen triggers as possible. Those are chicken, beef, fish, grains, starchy vegetables. Even though you are feeding a hydrolyzed protein, I bet there are other triggers in that food.

I would also add a high human grade probiotics, something like Natural Factors Double Strength Acidophilus and Bifidus or Nexabiotic 19 strain. So much of a healthy immune system is tied to gut health.

I would also recommend reading the below two articles about what a holistic vet has to say about food allergies and hydrolyzed protein diets.

http://healthypets.mercola.com/site...012/05/07/protein-diets-for-pets-allergy.aspx

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2011/12/01/allergen-free-pet-foods.aspx

vball91 said:

Honestly, allergy tests for cats are not very effective. I would talj to your vet about a novel protein, limited ingredient diet. Basically you want to eliminate as many possible common allergen triggers as possible. Those are chicken, beef, fish, grains, starchy vegetables. Even though you are feeding a hydrolyzed protein, I bet there are other triggers in that food.

I would also add a high human grade probiotics, something like Natural Factors Double Strength Acidophilus and Bifidus or Nexabiotic 19 strain. So much of a healthy immune system is tied to gut health.

I would also recommend reading the below two articles about what a holistic vet has to say about food allergies and hydrolyzed protein diets.

http://healthypets.mercola.com/site...012/05/07/protein-diets-for-pets-allergy.aspx

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2011/12/01/allergen-free-pet-foods.aspx

Click to expand...

Thank you!

I'll watch/read those and take him back to the vet and see what we'll do next.