Need advice about taking off cone with food allergies

[alysker]

Hi hi!
So my cat most likely has an allergy for something in the food we gave her for a week. Might be the yucca extract since that seems to be toxic to animals anyways. But we are not sure of course and don't know if she's not allergic to the food we are giving now.
Anyways she has had to wear a cone for the last two weeks because she would scratch open wounds on her head.
Now I'm slowly taking off the cone a few times a day for a bit untill she starts to try to scratch again, then I put it back on.
Does anyone have experiences with taking off a cone while not being sure if the allergic reaction is over?
I don't know if she just wants to scratch because it randomly itches or if it still continuesly itches from the allergies.
I'm worried that she's just going to cut herself open again :/ but I also can't forever have her wearing a cone, it's time for her to start cleaning her own butt again xD
Thanks in advance!
Here's a pic of the cutie in question

 

[Antonio65]

I am in a similar situation as yours with one of my two cats.
Cats licking her leg obsessively
She's been wearing the cone for nearly two weeks now because she would lick her leg raw if I removed it. She licks her leg because it was shaved by the vet, and I am sure that she will lick it until her hair grows back fully, but so far no luck, this morning her skin was still mostly smooth and hairless, so I'm starting to worry that she will have to wear that cone for a very long time.

One of the suggestions that I received is to remove the cone occasionally while I can monitor her and make sure she doesn't damage her skin again, to give her some comfort.
As for cleaning her butt, I wipe her back every now and then with wet wipes, and brush her to relieve her coat.

 

[alysker]

I am in a similar situation as yours with one of my two cats.
Cats licking her leg obsessively
She's been wearing the cone for nearly two weeks now because she would lick her leg raw if I removed it. She licks her leg because it was shaved by the vet, and I am sure that she will lick it until her hair grows back fully, but so far no luck, this morning her skin was still mostly smooth and hairless, so I'm starting to worry that she will have to wear that cone for a very long time.

One of the suggestions that I received is to remove the cone occasionally while I can monitor her and make sure she doesn't damage her skin again, to give her some comfort.
As for cleaning her butt, I wipe her back every now and then with wet wipes, and brush her to relieve her coat.

Thanks for the advice! She was doing very well for two ours and just the second I took my eyes off her she cut herself open again. It's so upsetting to see the progress go away again

 

[FeebysOwner]

She is a cutie!! Food allergies can take weeks to resolve, and it sounds like that has not happened yet in your case. I would take a look at all the ingredients in the food that you think started this and compare it with the food you are currently feeding her, just to see commonalities. If she was on some other food before you gave her the 'suspected' culprit food, it might be better to revert back to that for now.

There are other causes of allergies besides food and a big one is seasonally related, so you might consider that as a possibility too - pollens, grasses, trees, blooms to name a few more common ones. Other environmental allergies can arise from cleaning products, air fresheners/candles/perfumes, litter changes, new furniture/flooring/rugs - many of which have protective treatments applied. This is just a few examples of environmental allergic reactions. These types of allergies might be able to be treated with antihistamines. A course of steroids might help, giving your cat some temporary relief while you continue to search for the cause.

 

[iPappy]

Where at on her head is she causing damage by scratching? Is she scratching herself all over, or is it localized to one area?

 

[alysker]

Where at on her head is she causing damage by scratching? Is she scratching herself all over, or is it localized to one area?

Very localized near her ears. We went to the animal hospital when it got pretty bad and the vet there said she's seen it hundreds of times and it's always food allergies