No idea what my poor girl is allergic too

Hi,

My cat is about 5 years old now. For the last 3 years I have been dealing with her self inflicting a wound underneath her neck. Initially, the vet gave her steroids and it went away. About 6 months later it came back and never went away again. It got to the point that I went to a second vet for a second opinion and even saw the dermatologist as well. The dermatologist said her slide was clean of any mites. He put her on a steroid and the royal canin hp diet. I was so happy that she finally started to get better and the wound actually closed. Unfortunately, as soon as we stopped the steroids she reopened the wound even on the hp diet. According to the dermatologist it doesn't seem to be a food allergy at this point. He would like to do allergy testing. When I asked questions they said that they are only about 70% accurate and potentially may not give me any answers. Not to mention between the visit and the testing its going to cost a pretty penny. My cat is young and I want her to be healthy. I just don't know what else to do. I have changed litter, household cleaners, detergents, have gotten get groomed. She's not in any visible pain, she eats and drinks fine I just don't know what else it could be and what the next step would be. Has anyone had blood work done with actual results? I hate to spend all that money and still be left in the dark. I feel like I'm failing this poor cat. I have also tried just cooking plain chicken and feeding her that thinking maybe it's a preservative in the food. Unfortunately, she will not eat it unless she is spoon fed which is totally not realistic. Even with feeding it to her she doesn't take in enough to be considered a meal. Any thoughts greatly appreciated!

I am on the same boat as you, my kitty seems to have an allergy and we can't pin point what it is, I have changed foods and no luck. Rigth now I am trying Hills Z/D, but I don't think that will be it.

After a 4th doctor, he swears it is flea allergy, He showed me a paper which stated most allergies are to fleas, the interesting thing is that in a study, despite the fact that no fleas were observed the cat stopped symptoms after flea treatment AND fumigation of the household.

So I am going to try that before doing the allergy testing. Have you done this? Maybe you can try it, it can't hurt.

Good luck and keep me posted

Thank you for your response. I feel like I'm going crazy. Everyone in the house is living in a bubble because we can't figure out what's wrong with her. Everyone of the doctors have said no to fleas. No one in the house has any bites so I have no idea what it could be. Also she had the same allergies at my current house, my moms house and my old apt and there was no fleas there either. I'll keep you posted if I find anything else out. Thanks again!

Yeah please let me know, I will try the flea thing, this dermatologist said some cats are extremely sensitive and out of a 100 allergic cats 40 are to fleas. If it works I will let you know, but sound like your only option is an allergy test.

Have you tried:

Bathing her regularly? If not, try it. If you do, maybe she is allergic to the shampoo.

Filtered water

good Quality HEPA Air purifier

Good luck

So I took her to the dermatologist and he basically said its not a food allergy and it's not any kind of mite. He said cats don't typically get contact allergies it's mostly airborne. He said that he wouldn't do the blood allergy testing at this time as it's mainly used to tell u what specific allergy it is and what allergy shots to give her. Since I am not currently looking to do allergy shots he didn't think it was necessary. He also started her on atypica medication. He said that whether it was pollen or dust the treatment would be the same medication. So I'm trying it. It has some scary stuff in the pamphlet but then again so does a Tylenol warning label if you read that. I will see what happens and hopefully it works with no adverse effects or issues. I just want her to be comfortable and live a long healthy and happy life.

I am a human doctor, not a vet.  The best advice that I can give you is DO NOT try to treat this yourself.  You must persist even if the dermatologist appears to be getting nowhere. 

Certainly try a second opinion if you wish, but these nonspecific allergies may take a long time to sort out.  Steroids will have a nonspecific effect, regardless of the cause, and it may be that this medication may be the answer, long term, if the cause of the allergy is not found -  but this must first be discussed with your vet.

Please let us know how your poor cat goes,

With best wishes,

Geoffrey

Thank you for your response. The dermatologist was my third opinion. After multiple visits with him and a strict food trial, we discussed all options and determined the allergy medicine was the next step. So will see what happens .

Have you tried an air purifier?

How is the derma so certain it is not a food allergy? Cats can be allergic to many ingredients, particularly items that are not part of their normal natural diet- fish, beef, corn, soy, wheat, milk, etc. I would try an elimination diet. Coming from one who just went through a very bad allergy situation with one of my cats, that Hills stuff is pretty crappy in my opinion. I did an elimination diet starting with rabbit for six weeks- no treats, no other proteins; you start with a protein the cat has never had so you know the slate is clean so to speak. I used Natures Variety canned rabbit and Primal raw nuggets. It cleared up her allergy and then I started adding another single protein for a couple of weeks, watching for symptoms. Turns out she is allergic to fish. Now if I keep her on chicken or turkey, she is fine. I read labels- many commercial canned foods have fish added for flavour (they do not get dry food at all). Friskies chicken pate or chef's dinner is fine, as is President's Choice if you can find it. Many high end foods are great also- from better pet stores. Good luck!

Also it's worth having a look at your cleaning products. Clean more regularly, use a steamer, swap to all natural cleaners etc. As ej x said try an air purifier.

My boy gets sniffly if I don't keep the place spotless.

Good luck.

We took her off of all food and treats she was put on a special food that basically had nothing in it it was a hydrolized protein diet. She did fine on that until we took off steroids. Since we eliminated all foods and treats and the wound came back its not the food. So the vet says

Not to disagree with the vet's diagnosis, but from my research the hydrolyzed protein foods are not all they are cracked up to be when it comes to allergies.

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

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/285588/hydrolyzed-protein-vs-novel-protein-diets

http://veterinarynews.dvm360.com/food-hypersensitivities-performing-elimination-diet-trial

Personally, (and despite what most vets say about raw- most of their arguments are really about food safe handling practices to prevent bacteria) I would go with a commercial raw food like Primal nuggets, in a protein she has not had before- rabbit worked for me. If you need to leave food out, use a single ingredient canned food- I used Nature's Variety Instinct rabbit. See what happens. Isn't it worth two or three weeks to see how she responds? At least that way you can confirm whether it is an allergy or not. Have you had a second opinion? 

Also, do not discount the possibility of additives like carageenan which is in most foods. There are also dust/inhalant allergies and flea allergies to think about.

The dermatologist was my 3rd opinion. I saw two different vets before them. I have tried to just feed her home made food to see if maybe it was the preservatives in the food but she will not eat it. She also will not eat wet food. She responded well to the hp diet which was done for 12 weeks, however it was in a combo with steroids once steroids done she started scratching again. No fleas she has been checked many times. He thinks it's dust/environmental allergies honestly.

This may seem weird, but the hard cold truth is cats,are allergic to a lot more things than what we typically find online or from our vets.
Domestic indoor mold I have had too much experiencec with, and other indoor allergans such as dust mites, can severely impair your cats' health and cause anaphillaxis shock resulting in death.
If you can answer yes to any of these questions, please contact a Licensed Certified Environmental Hygeniest and gave your home tested.
1. Do you have visible signs of mold any where on your home?
2. Do you have problems/ have had problems with leaky pipes, water intrusion/ damage, or any flooding issues?
3. Do you have excessive condensation anywhere in your home, causing mildew or odors? (When moisture is visible on the inside of your windows in living areas and bot just after showering or bathing)
4. Does your home smell musty?
5. Do you have to change your HVAC system filter regularly, but forget to change it as often as recommended?
6. Do you have moisture spots on ceiling or beams?
7. Are there lumps, bumps, raised areas, or oozing under any flooring such as tile and linoleum?
8. Does your carpet have an odor while vacuuming, or rust spots where the carpet tacks are placed?

If you answered yes to one question, it may be a good idea to have your home tested. If you answered yes to more than one question, I cannot urge you strongly enough to TEST YOUR HOME NOW! A Hygienist may work with you on price and payment options but it is critical for you and your pet's health to find out if in fact mold and things that go along in a moldy environment are in fact present.
There is very little scientific data about mold and your animals' health because little if any research has been done on this except for ingesting moldy grain and foodstuffs.
I know from experience however, after researching what killed 2 of 4 beloved cats, whose symptoms and onset of distress where identical, but no correlation whatsoever to the events leading to their respective deaths.

The first cat was a 5 year old spayed female, had been outside with me all day, with her mother, aunt, and uncle, also there with us, and 20 minutes after we came back inside she was in visable distress, labored breathing, writhing in pain,and unable to move and not wanting to be touched. Of course it was a Saturday, so it took 10 minutes to find an er clinic available to see her. She died en route 25 minutes after exhibiting her first symptoms. The prognosis was Anaphylactic Shock, unknown causes.
I was devestated, and returned home heartbroken. The 3 survivers and I were seemingly doing fine, when 10 days later I arrived home from work five hours after I had left, to find a second cat in crisis exactly as the first cat exhibited. I got her to the same clinic within 15 minutes, where she was briefly examined, diagnosed with Anaphyllasis shock symptoms and placed immediately inside an oxygen cage after receiving an injection to combat the shock. She remained in the oxygen cage for 24 hours, then was placed back inside it after 1 hour out, for another 1w hours. She continued to improve enough to go home another 18 hours later. Frankly the bill was off the charts and would have left her under observation for another 24 hours but simply could not afford it. The cost for those 48 hours plus was over $5000.00. I was in debt for 5 years following that visit, but was starved for information as to the cause. After hours studyi g everything available it was definitely the possibility of mold. My landlord confirmed my suspicions and admitted it had been an ongoing problem. What he neglected to inform me was he knew the unit had not passed Habitibility inspections for 10 years prior to the 10 years he owned it, and knew it was an illegal unit when he rented it to me. I hired a Hygienist and the results were staggering. There were 3 typez of very dangerous molds present in elevated levels that were confirmed to be very dangerous and all known as potentially harmful and causing health issues in humans. We had only lived there 2 months and I had been hospitalized a month prior with a dangerous skin condition from an unknown cause.
Needlessly to say, I was so grief striken, I failed to notice that I was suffering from the effects as badly as my animals, and immediately brought in a dehumidifier, and 4 large air purifiers to round the clock clean the air until.I could afford to move. The landlord and I started an ongoing battle, which is another story, and only one cat out of 4 survived. The landlord, not the mold, killed the 3rd cat.
Seven years later the,sole survivor is still with me, now 15 years old, who suffers health issues never before experienced including asthma, and there is no known treatment to date from any studies I have been able to find. But there are stories shared on other mold survivor websites that indicate more needs to be learned as in my experienced opinion our pets living in that environment are akin to canaries in a coal mine and the first to be affected even before us.
Dust mites, toxic chemical residue from past efforts to clean up the problem are also possible contributing factors. But first know whTat is environmentally present that may be causing health issues,with unknown origins.
Please! At least consider the possibilities!

@Trish711,

You may recall that on the 7th of November I suggested that there may be a case for treatment by long term steroids.  Your subsequent experiences appear to confirm this and I suggest that you discuss the possibility of this treatment, either with your vet or the veterinary Dermatologist.  No other treatment has been successful and long term steroids would at least keep the cat comfortable.

With regards,

Geoffrey

T trish711 ej x How are your kitties doing these days? Any improvements or breakthroughs? I am trying to figure out my cat's allergies, too.