Cat allergy options

My 7 year old cat is on Prednisone for an unknown allergy. He started loosing his hair and was causing damage to himself he was so itchy before the meds. I first started with the shot, now he is on half the dosage the vet gave me because he wasnt acting right on the full dosage. Butters started acting calmer and sneezing constantly. I halfed his pills but now my other cat is sneezing so i think he got a cold and gave it to the other cat.

The vet told me if i buy the single protien foods from a pet store it wont help i need to buy the vets brand. Is that true?
Second, is there a safer allergy option. Maybe one that wont kill my cats liver over time!???

It was my first time with this new vet, i moved 4 hours away form the best vet i have ever had this new one seems to want to do everything the heavy med way and i dont want to take years of my cats life with strong pills.
Thank you

Maybe you could ask your vet about Benadryl? Millions of people take it daily for allergies, and I know they give it to cats for it's sedative properties. Just like people, after a while they adjust and won't be so sleepy, or the dose can be adjusted. If you find a cure, please tell us, I have a cat that is miserable too, but is doing a little better, I think his reaction came from a topical flea medicine. He still doesn't have much hair on the back of his neck, and had a severe rash for months. When he was neutered I told the vet about his reaction, but nothing was really done as it was better. All the luck!

The single protein foods can help if you identify the allergy.  Identifying the allergy can be a long tedious process.  You have to feed one protein exclusively for several weeks to figure out if it is the issue then move on to another protein.

Most of the vet prescription foods have hydrolyzed proteins.  The proteins are broken down to the basic amino acids so the kitty's body doesn't recognize them as what they are and it doesn't cause a reaction.  The food that you are feeding now could well have the offending protein in it but the kitty's body doesn't recognize it.

My kitty has been on a steroid for almost 5 years now for IBD and he is still doing well.  I know it doesn't always go that way.  Diabetes does sometimes happen with long term use.  If I had a viable option I probably would try to get him off of the steroids.  With allergies I would probably try to find out what is causing the allergy.  I would start with one of the unusual proteins that kitty hasn't eaten before and then at some point move on to the more common ones to figure out what the cause is.  Chicken is a very common cause of food allergies and sensitivities in kitties.  I personally think it is because it is so common in cat foods.

That sounds suspicious to me, about only the vet brand "working." Maybe he means, because the vet brands have hydrolyzed proteins (they're already broken, so supposedly won't trigger an allergy) rather than whole proteins. But, if you're avoiding the allergen, it doesn't matter if the protein is hydrolyzed or not (so non prescription diets should work).

He is a picky eater and always had chicken food so i switched him to samon. He eats it but he is not a happy camper. My next step will be more testing and sudated. He is a wild cat and very aggressive so this prossess is hard. I think my neighbors might have food out as well. I saw a house with 7! Cats on the front lawn, im sure he has food out for them.

I was thinking about that. If it has less side effects i will jump on that band wagon!