Hi,
I got my kitten (Clover, a beautiful little calico) in January 2016 from a friend who found her under a bush in Ohio. She's approximately 6 months old now and is the best cuddler and is so energetic! When I got her, she had some nasty scabs on her neck that were very itchy. She also tested FIV+ (though she needs to be tested again now that she's older because it could have just been FIV antibodies from mom and she could be FIV-).
She was being fed Friskies adult food (a variety of flavors) before she came into my care. As soon as she came home with me, she was switched to Wellness Core Kitten/Wellness Kitten wet foods with some supplemental Wellness Core Kitten dry food. Her neck issues got better but didn't go away. On top of that, she developed a swollen lower lip which has since traveled to the corners of her mouth. Her lower lip is no longer swollen and the corners of her mouth look pretty good except for a little scabbing in the left corner.
I've brought her to the vet many times (racking up a serious bill for this little kitten I've only had for 5 months!), and they prescribed me an antihistamine that I feed her once in the morning and once at night in a Greenies salmon flavored pill pocket. I think it's helping because her neck looks great (just the tiniest scab), though she continues to itch around her neck and loves to lay on the cool hardwood floor (which I think might be because it helps with the itching).
Over the past week, she's developed a habit of licking at her hind end a LOT. Sometimes she growls when she does it. I brought her to the vet a few days ago and they prescribed me a powder that I have to "poof" on her hind end twice a day. She licks it off and doesn't seem to notice that there was powder there at all.
The vet now thinks that it's a food allergy and has suggested that I try a salmon-based diet for the next few weeks to see if that changes anything (we are suspicious that fowl-based protein may be the culprit, though it honestly could be any number of things). I have done so much food research over the past few months and every time I think I've made the right decision diet-wise, I read something that tells me that it's not good to do this, that or the other thing. I just can't seem to find a straight answer and I'm worried about Clover!
I am just starting a salmon-only diet using Tiki Cat, a human-grade brand of wet food that has real chunks of salmon in a salmon gravy. However, I read that if kept on a fish-based diet for too long, cats can develop a vitamin B1 deficiency or have issues with mercury, but I'm willing to try this diet for just a couple of weeks to see if it makes a difference. If it does, then I can switch to another type of food that just doesn't have fowl in it. If it doesn't work, then I'm back to square one and am willing to switch her food again to something different.
This poor kitten has some weird allergy that I can not figure out!! Has anyone experienced similar symptoms with their cats? I just want to do what's right for her and give her what she needs, it's just very frustrating that I don't know what that is!
Help!
I got my kitten (Clover, a beautiful little calico) in January 2016 from a friend who found her under a bush in Ohio. She's approximately 6 months old now and is the best cuddler and is so energetic! When I got her, she had some nasty scabs on her neck that were very itchy. She also tested FIV+ (though she needs to be tested again now that she's older because it could have just been FIV antibodies from mom and she could be FIV-).
She was being fed Friskies adult food (a variety of flavors) before she came into my care. As soon as she came home with me, she was switched to Wellness Core Kitten/Wellness Kitten wet foods with some supplemental Wellness Core Kitten dry food. Her neck issues got better but didn't go away. On top of that, she developed a swollen lower lip which has since traveled to the corners of her mouth. Her lower lip is no longer swollen and the corners of her mouth look pretty good except for a little scabbing in the left corner.
I've brought her to the vet many times (racking up a serious bill for this little kitten I've only had for 5 months!), and they prescribed me an antihistamine that I feed her once in the morning and once at night in a Greenies salmon flavored pill pocket. I think it's helping because her neck looks great (just the tiniest scab), though she continues to itch around her neck and loves to lay on the cool hardwood floor (which I think might be because it helps with the itching).
Over the past week, she's developed a habit of licking at her hind end a LOT. Sometimes she growls when she does it. I brought her to the vet a few days ago and they prescribed me a powder that I have to "poof" on her hind end twice a day. She licks it off and doesn't seem to notice that there was powder there at all.
The vet now thinks that it's a food allergy and has suggested that I try a salmon-based diet for the next few weeks to see if that changes anything (we are suspicious that fowl-based protein may be the culprit, though it honestly could be any number of things). I have done so much food research over the past few months and every time I think I've made the right decision diet-wise, I read something that tells me that it's not good to do this, that or the other thing. I just can't seem to find a straight answer and I'm worried about Clover!
I am just starting a salmon-only diet using Tiki Cat, a human-grade brand of wet food that has real chunks of salmon in a salmon gravy. However, I read that if kept on a fish-based diet for too long, cats can develop a vitamin B1 deficiency or have issues with mercury, but I'm willing to try this diet for just a couple of weeks to see if it makes a difference. If it does, then I can switch to another type of food that just doesn't have fowl in it. If it doesn't work, then I'm back to square one and am willing to switch her food again to something different.
This poor kitten has some weird allergy that I can not figure out!! Has anyone experienced similar symptoms with their cats? I just want to do what's right for her and give her what she needs, it's just very frustrating that I don't know what that is!
Help!
