What would you do? (FIV, allergies, ugh)

[minka]

Oops, sorry for the lack of updates, I kinda forgot this thread was here.. xD

So, I switched him to Natural Balance Duck and Pea and he's been on it for 10 days. I'm honestly not sure if he is any better though. I mean it doesn't look like he's missing More fur but I'm not sure he's gained any back either..

Do you guys think switching to the Venison kind would help? I made sure to pick Duck and Pea because there is no duck in any of his food so I knew it wouldn't be an allergen he's come into contact with, but now I'm thinking maybe it's poultry in general... :/

 

[barbb]

My foster boy is FIV+ with food allergies. His itching is around his neck and ears.
He was fine one day and then suddenly the itching started to where he was gouging. I posted videos of him on another post in this feed.

All my cats eat Natural Balance and so I went directly to the NB special diets and they did not work. I did not try prescription food since it looked as if they contained ingredients that he reacted to. I ended up feeding my boy BG Turkey canned. It is the only one I could find that has no other ingredients (chicken, fish) that Curly reacts to. I am very happy with the BG, albeit it is expensive.

I also got whisker city cat wipes at petsmart, they are hypoallergenic and they seemed to give him relief. I also brushed him to remove the debris, he likes it but I don't think it stops the inflammation.

I am going to sound like a salesperson for these allergy pills at this point because I am posting this all over, but hey, these worked and they saved the day for me and Curly, the 2 docs allergy pills on this site. http://www.2docspethealth.com/blue-l...-capsules.html. The pills come in capsules, the ingredients are listed on the site, and they are beef/liver flavored. I take them apart and sprinkle half on Curly's food.

The pills are all anti inflammatory ingredients and Curly has not had to get steroid shots since June. He was gouging his neck until it was bleeding, and it was really awful.

Anyhow, I hope this helps. Also on the advice from someone on this site, I joined a yahoo group dedicated to people who have cats with FIV. You need to get approval to join the group. It has been a very big help for me with Curly. http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/fiv-healthscience/

 

[barbb]

I forgot to add, and you probably already know this, the skin allergies are pretty common with FIV+ cats, somehow related to their immune systems being haywire.
I also went through the entire list of possible allergens, hoping against hope that it was not food-related and starting with his litter, bought him a new cat tree (on sale at costco, woo hoo) in case it was flea dirt or dander, removed all the bedding in his room, and swept every day in case he was sensitive to dust, bought the hypoallergenic wipes to clean his fur and make sure and remove any contaminant that might be getting on his fur. Cha-ching, cha-ching :-(.

In the end it was definitely food and the only thing I know is that this one food works for him. If they stop making 2 docs allergy pills or BG turkey wet food I'm not sure what I'm going to do

.

 

[minka]

Originally Posted by BarbB

My foster boy is FIV+ with food allergies. His itching is around his neck and ears.
He was fine one day and then suddenly the itching started to where he was gouging. I posted videos of him on another post in this feed.

All my cats eat Natural Balance and so I went directly to the NB special diets and they did not work. I did not try prescription food since it looked as if they contained ingredients that he reacted to. I ended up feeding my boy BG Turkey canned. It is the only one I could find that has no other ingredients (chicken, fish) that Curly reacts to. I am very happy with the BG, albeit it is expensive.

I also got whisker city cat wipes at petsmart, they are hypoallergenic and they seemed to give him relief. I also brushed him to remove the debris, he likes it but I don't think it stops the inflammation.

I am going to sound like a salesperson for these allergy pills at this point because I am posting this all over, but hey, these worked and they saved the day for me and Curly, the 2 docs allergy pills on this site. http://www.2docspethealth.com/blue-l...-capsules.html. The pills come in capsules, the ingredients are listed on the site, and they are beef/liver flavored. I take them apart and sprinkle half on Curly's food.

The pills are all anti inflammatory ingredients and Curly has not had to get steroid shots since June. He was gouging his neck until it was bleeding, and it was really awful.

Anyhow, I hope this helps. Also on the advice from someone on this site, I joined a yahoo group dedicated to people who have cats with FIV. You need to get approval to join the group. It has been a very big help for me with Curly. http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/fiv-healthscience/

Originally Posted by BarbB

I forgot to add, and you probably already know this, the skin allergies are pretty common with FIV+ cats, somehow related to their immune systems being haywire.
I also went through the entire list of possible allergens, hoping against hope that it was not food-related and starting with his litter, bought him a new cat tree (on sale at costco, woo hoo) in case it was flea dirt or dander, removed all the bedding in his room, and swept every day in case he was sensitive to dust, bought the hypoallergenic wipes to clean his fur and make sure and remove any contaminant that might be getting on his fur. Cha-ching, cha-ching :-(.

In the end it was definitely food and the only thing I know is that this one food works for him. If they stop making 2 docs allergy pills or BG turkey wet food I'm not sure what I'm going to do

.

Thanks so much for replying!! I didn't think there were any other FIV and allergic kitties out there. I thought I just had bad luck.

Don't remember if I mentioned this in the first post, but the only things that had changed when this first started were his food and his litter and I got rid of both of those right away and I think maybe it's helped? I really don't think it's anything else I'm using, though I did change my cleaners to natural 7th Generation stuff, and he's never had fleas so I know the carpet or cat tree aren't contaminated.

Huge question though... When we went to the vet, he was going to give him a steroid shot/something similar to it/something that would basically suppress his immune system; however, that could not be done because he is apparently in the 'actively suppressed' stage of FIV. Will allergy pills be okay for a cat that is actively suppressed? Do allergy pills suppress the immune system further?

I might try those wipes though, who knows, they might help.

If I remember correctly, the Turkey flavor of BG is a different texture than the other flavors right? He was on Innova and BG Chicken & Quail before, but he really didn't like those BG flavors/textures, and I do need him to eat every day..

*visits allergy link* WOW, they are so inexpensive too! Thanks!!

Also, he luckily isn't gouging anything, just nibbles the hair real short on his tummy, licks the fur off on his front legs and scratched a patch of fur out behind his left ear.

 

[barbb]

http://www.fivtherapy.com/ Here is the website that has the most FIV information that I have found online. The forum listed on this page is the one I joined. I have not been on there frequently, but the information there is VERY helpful and I can go online whenever I have a problem and it is a godsend. I learned on that site that the ingredients in the allergy pills are the same as many that are listed as good for FIV cats.
I can't answer your question about whether the homeopathic anti inflammatory ingredients would act in an immunosuppressive way and therefore be somehow detrimental, but they are non-steroidal and I do not think harmful for FIV cats, even in a suppressed condition.

 

[minka]

Originally Posted by BarbB

http://www.fivtherapy.com/ Here is the website that has the most FIV information that I have found online. The forum listed on this page is the one I joined. I have not been on there frequently, but the information there is VERY helpful and I can go online whenever I have a problem and it is a godsend. I learned on that site that the ingredients in the allergy pills are the same as many that are listed as good for FIV cats.
I can't answer your question about whether the homeopathic anti inflammatory ingredients would act in an immunosuppressive way and therefore be somehow detrimental, but they are non-steroidal and I do not think harmful for FIV cats, even in a suppressed condition.

Definitely going to contact the owner of that website to see if the allergy pills are alright for my cat.

I was going to change his food, but since he's only been on the new food for just over two weeks AND the little rascal keeps getting his paws on naughty foods (spaghetti sauce, Goodlife Treats, his old dry food...), I think I will stick to what I've got for some more time. It's so hard seeing him with bald patches though.

 

[nekochan]

When my cat Mr Grey was having allergies issues, my vet said to go for a food with no chicken, fish or grains. We decided to try the Natural Balance LID first because it looked like it had better ingredients, but he refused to eat it. He will usually not eat canned food so we had to use a dry food, and there were very few that fit the criteria. So we went with the prescription food, which was Royal Canin LID rabbit. I think the ingredients are better than the Science Diet or Iams vet foods. It helped his symptoms some but not completely. I also have tried Instinct Rabbit canned food but he usually would only lick the juice off it.
Instinct also has recently come out with new limited ingredient dry foods.

 

[minka]

I'm still fighting that struggle between finding a food that is allergy friendly (especially since i have no idea what he is allergic too) and one that is high protein/low carb. He just reached 16lbs flat today and I'm so proud and it's so hard to say screw it to all that effort.

AND it doesn't help that I'm still struggling with keeping him out of other food!! He's so good at finding the empty plates left over from food and licking them clean... And I'm sure each time he does that basically restarts the whole process.

So I guess still looking into the allergy pills and NB for now..