Hello everyone, I'm new here and am looking for a bit of advice really.I have two cats from the same litter who are now 6 years old. Just under a year ago the female started holding down and scratching her ears and shaking her head a lot. A couple of months later the male started doing it too. I have had both of them on restricted diet for about 6 months but this hasn't made any difference. There doesn't seem to be any pattern to when this happens, some days they are fine, other days their ears appear really irritated. The vet has checked them over and said internally their ears are fine and they are in good health generally. Over the last week they've now both started sneezing also! My vet doesn't appear to be that concerned and has not offered any tests etc. but this is obviously a long term issue that is causing them distress. Also, is it strange that they both have the same symptoms? Has anyone had a similar experience or any ideas what I should try next? Should I see a different vet? I'm at a bit of a loss! Thanks! EJ
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Are my cats allergic?
- Thread starter ejkit
- Start Date
Oh boy, you have a number of things to consider here. It sounds like you initially assumed allergies and switched their food to control it. You also have a possibility of a genetically based illness. And odd, their discomfort is in their ears. And is it coincidence that they are both sneezing right now?
I have had a number of litter mate pairs over the years, and I've yet to find an illness that struck them in the same way. I've had them respond negatively to things (such as food allergy causing inflamation), but the outward signs have never been the same. But that's not saying that it can't happen.
Food allergy? Perhaps, but it is odd that it is only showing up in their ears without any outward sign. I've had dogs with food allergies that caused yeast infections in their ears, but it was obvious when looking at them that there was an imbalance in their ears. Again, not saying that this isn't the case. If you switched to a new food, take a look at the ingredients in both the old and new foods to see what is common between them. There is a HUGE trend towards grain free foods because many cats have allergic reactions to the corn/wheat grains in most commercial and prescription foods. I've also noticed more and more cats allergic to common proteins such as chicken.
Sneezing? It's rare in my household when one cat starts to sneeze and another doesn't follow suit within the next week. It could be a spring allergy, or it could be a mild cold that is being shared. I've never seen a correlation between an allergen causing skin issues and then causing sneezing, but if it can happen in humans, it could happen in cats. Now that I think about it a bit more, the times when my ears get itchy is when I have extensive sinus congestion and the pressure from that inflamation goes into my ears. With that said, it's odd that the itchy ears started long before the sneezing.
Allergy testing is hit or miss and unless you want to spend a long time ruling out potential allergens, you may not ever find anything. It is not uncommon for cats to develop allergies later in life. If the condition isn't very discomforting, what I've done in the past when I suspect allergies is to start ruling out things one by one to see if it helps. Sometimes I find the source and other times not. If they are in discomfort, I start medical testing to work thru the process quickly. Food is the first thing that I always look at.
Sorry for the ramble, was just throwing out some thoughts for you to consider. Assume that this is going to be long process even if you start medical testing on them.
I have had a number of litter mate pairs over the years, and I've yet to find an illness that struck them in the same way. I've had them respond negatively to things (such as food allergy causing inflamation), but the outward signs have never been the same. But that's not saying that it can't happen.
Food allergy? Perhaps, but it is odd that it is only showing up in their ears without any outward sign. I've had dogs with food allergies that caused yeast infections in their ears, but it was obvious when looking at them that there was an imbalance in their ears. Again, not saying that this isn't the case. If you switched to a new food, take a look at the ingredients in both the old and new foods to see what is common between them. There is a HUGE trend towards grain free foods because many cats have allergic reactions to the corn/wheat grains in most commercial and prescription foods. I've also noticed more and more cats allergic to common proteins such as chicken.
Sneezing? It's rare in my household when one cat starts to sneeze and another doesn't follow suit within the next week. It could be a spring allergy, or it could be a mild cold that is being shared. I've never seen a correlation between an allergen causing skin issues and then causing sneezing, but if it can happen in humans, it could happen in cats. Now that I think about it a bit more, the times when my ears get itchy is when I have extensive sinus congestion and the pressure from that inflamation goes into my ears. With that said, it's odd that the itchy ears started long before the sneezing.
Allergy testing is hit or miss and unless you want to spend a long time ruling out potential allergens, you may not ever find anything. It is not uncommon for cats to develop allergies later in life. If the condition isn't very discomforting, what I've done in the past when I suspect allergies is to start ruling out things one by one to see if it helps. Sometimes I find the source and other times not. If they are in discomfort, I start medical testing to work thru the process quickly. Food is the first thing that I always look at.
Sorry for the ramble, was just throwing out some thoughts for you to consider. Assume that this is going to be long process even if you start medical testing on them.
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many thanks for taking the time to post such a thorough reply! it does look like i need to go down the route of trying to eliminate allergens. in terms of food i have done this over the last 6 months and have come to the conclusion it isn't a food allergy so i think you're right in that i have a long road to travel! the fact that they both have the same symptoms does concern me in terms of a genetic disorder but as they are healthy other than this at the moment i'm not getting overly concerned about that. fingers crossed i'll be lucky and find the cause in the not too distant future 
I was doing some digging into cat allergic responses yesterday and read something interesting in my Cornell University Veterinary Cat book. Cats and humans don't respond to some allergens the same way. What will cause a human to sneeze or get hives may cause itching in cats, and one of the places that tends to get itchy is on their heads. Are they really scratching their ears, or are they just scratching their faces close to their ears? Just something else for you to ponder.
I'm not sure if this will help, but my cat has both environmental and food allergens. She is on a limited ingredient diet for the food allergens - Royal Canin. When her environmental allergens kick in (scratching just in front of her ears until she draws blood) I start her on human OTC allergy meds per the vets advice and dosage. It really seems to help her. It's mostly spring and summer that are issues with her, so I expect the scratching to start again at any time.
