I need help!

[momto4kitties]

Hello:

I know Lucas's condition and food allergies is an old topic here, but I need help.  I  gave Lucas chicken on Thursday to see if he was allergic to it and he starting getting red, but he is worse today, he  is having an awful allergic reaction!  I need to give him something to stop him from scratching, my vet doesn't want to prescribe something for that so i wanted to know,  can I give him zyrtec?  If so, how much?  I have some here and I'm  too scared to give it to him, I wanted to give him 1/4 of a pill, but I don't know.  I know someone once told me here that I could give him zyrtec, I just don't remember how much.  He is on 2.5mg of prednisolone, which is obviously not helping. 

If someone knows, please help.   I don't want to give him benadryl because he starts salivating and he feels bad enough right now.

As of today, he is allergic to duck, chicken and turkey.   But I will wait a month or more before trying new food, can't stand seeing him like this.   The only reason I'm doing it is because I need to find the right food for him, I think he is having an allergic reaction to the hills z/d, so I need a new plan.

Take a look at how he looks right now, I just took the pics.  I feel so awful because I did this to him! 

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f328/Tammy28/PB052944.jpg

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f328/Tammy28/PB052943.jpg

Tammy

 

[bastetservant]

Poor you!  Poor Lucas!  What an awful problem this is.

I have no advice, I know nothing about any of this.  I wouldn't give him the drug unless you vet says it is ok.  I don't know what to tell you to do.  I hope someone who does know replies soon.

Robin

 

[barbb]

It sounds like you need to talk this through with your vet. I have been doing research on the internet to better understand this area, and I found this pdf (attached) that explains it pretty well. You may already know all this but it is new to me so I am sharing in case it is useful to you as well. :-)

It appears that the z/d and other diets given to pets with allergies may contain the food that our pets are allergic to, but the protein in the food (chicken for example), which is what our pets might normally react to, is broken down into smaller proteins (i.e. hydrolyzed) to make it somehow less allergic. Also z/d etc. add ingredients that are anti-inflammatory. 

The article attached suggests that the best course of action for pets with allergies is to find a food that they have never before eaten, because it has the least chance of provoking an allergic reaction. This probably explains why my Curly does not seem allergic to turkey, because he probably never had it before.

I did see that Royal Canin also has veterinary prescription diets- maybe one of these would be preferable to the z/d(?) and you can talk it over with your vet? I don't know if they have a hydrolyzed wet food but they seem to have a long list of veterinary-prescribed diets. One of the hypoallergenic foods is rabbit and green pea which looked interesting to me. Here is the link in case you end up needing to try this area http://www.royalcanin.us/cats/Veterinary_Diets.aspx
https://statich.thecatsite.com/e/ec/ec852e1d_H2-4_Food_Allergies.octet-stream
You probably also have seen my links for the allergy pills I am using for Curly. They have helped him tremendously but it took a while for his fur to grow back and inflammation to subside. When I took Curly to the vet, he had gouged his neck pretty badly (he is a 4-paw polydactyl!) and had scabs all over his neck and behind his ears, so the vet gave him a steroid shot. This may not be the best thing to do on an ongoing basis for a cat with FIV, but Curly's symptoms were pretty intense and the vet said it is better than the stress of his itching and his immune system going haywire with the allergy. My feline FIV support group also confirmed this, and the head of that group is a resource around the world for his collection of research in, and knowledge of, treating cats with FIV.

I started giving Curly his allergy pills at the same time he had the steroid shot because I didn't want to have to give him more shots. After the first shot, Curly did not need any further shots and he responded to the pills, probably together with his food and the shot. It did take at least about six weeks for Curly to really show improvement, during which time I was fiddling around with foods. At a certain point I realized that it was most important to give him food he would not react to, and get him stable and fortify his system with the pills which also contain vitamin C which he needs being FIV+. Skin conditions are common in cats like him with FIV.

I don't know what advice to give you for Lucas other than sharing your concern that the z/d hydrolyzed chicken might not be the best hydrolyzed formula since Lucas seems to be allergic to chicken, and asking him about trying a different hydrolyzed formula. Let me know if you need the link for the allergy pills. If I were you, I would maybe try the rabbit and pea food, or maybe a lamb and rice food. BG  brand food is really good, you can buy it at PetCo, and they offer a lot of very unique wet foods. The BG beef does not show any other ingredients besides beef- unfortunately Curly reacted to it. 

Last but not least, if you have a Petsmart, you should get those Whisker City hypoallergenic cat wipes. They are all natural ingredients and you can wipe Lucas' tummy with them, it should give him temporary relief. 

 

[barbb]

Oh, I wanted to add that I found information online that says the most common food allergens in cats are the proteins found in beef, soy, and dairy products, and that less common but still other allergens are pork, cereal, grain, chicken, egg, and fish. The article said they are common allergens because they are so often used in pet food, thus increasing likelihood of exposure.

Also, I haven't figured out why the hydrolyzed z/d diet doesn't break down a more obscure food protein like duck instead of chicken, since it appears the single goal of the diet is to stop the allergic response -but I'm sure there is some reason (availability?)

 

[momto4kitties]

Thank you!  Thank you Barb, yes I've  read all the information about allergies and food and everything.  I know the z/d has hydrolized protein, but he seems to have a little allergic reaction when he eats the canned z/d, now the dry he tolerates it better, this is a recent thing because he was doing perfectly well with tha canned.  I ordered Natural Balance salmon and green peas, I also ordered a natural food that it rabbit.  I want to try different meats  since he seems to be allergic to all birds.  I forgot to order lamb, but I will later.  I have to wait until he gets better to try another food.

My vet is against giving Lucas any meds for his allergies, he just wants me to work with the food.  I thank God that Lucas is looking a little better this morning, I was so scared last night, I was worrying about his throat closing or something, I didn't sleep last night.

I'm hoping with all my heart that some of the food I ordered will work, I can't take this anymore.  BUt I'm happy because now I know the main problem with Lucas is the food, once I get that solved I"m sure he will be just fine.

I had the links for that pills I think, but I lost it, yes can you please post it?  Thank you soooo much. 

Tammy

 

[ldg]

Oh Tammy, I'm so sorry!

The zyrtec: it has to be the plain zyrtec, not the one with the decongestant. Start with a quarter pill in the morning, and a quarter pill at night (I know, they're that odd shape. ). If you don't see any improvement after a few days, you can bump it up to half pill in the morning and half at night (Assuming Lucas weighs about 10 pounds or more).

 

[stephanietx]

I give Hannah generic Claritin (loratadine), 1/2 of a 10mg tablet once a day for her airborne allergens.  Otherwise, she'd be sneezing all over the place all the time!  I buy the Wal-Mart brand, Equate.  If you get the tablets in the foil push out pouch thing, they dissolve easily in water so I add a bit of water to her wet food in the AM let it dissolve then mix it all together.

 

[barbb]

http://www.2docspethealth.com/blue-label-formulas/allergy-defense-90-capsules.html

Here is the site :-), it is one capsule per 20lbs weight, or half etc. 

 

[momto4kitties]

Hi everyone  I thank you all for your help and thank you barba for the link, sorry i made you piost it again, I'm kind of a mess lately.

Thank you Stephanie and Laurie, I didn't know about the Caritin, I will keep it in mind I do have the plain zyrtec, Thanks Laurie

Thank God I didn't have top give him any meds for his allergies and he looks better today.  Once I started giving him the dry z/d he got better.  I will keep him on it for now.  It is so traumatic for me to see him get so sick  I keep telling my baby to forgive Mommy and that I'm doing this for his own good.  In a way I"m happy because if all his health problems are caused by his food allergies, he will be able to be fine and he will be able to stop taking his medicines, specially I want him off the prednisolone soon. 

He had a fever yesterday, 105, but I think it was also caused by his allergic reaction, which is great because that would explain all his fevers.  Today his tem is back to normal.

I don't regret all the things I've tried to help Lucas and I appreciate all the help from my dear friends from this site who had helped us.  My baby has had the best care possible and I feel great about that.  I feel I'm getting close to ending Lucas's suffering. 

HUGs to all

Tammy