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Cat allergies, advice needed
Hi ladies, I am normally just post around The Bump but I am in desperate need of help for my kitty. She is having a recurring allergy that causes her to scratch herself - she does it so much that she creates open wounds. It has been going on since October 2011. Each time I find one of these spots on her, I take her to the vet and they end up giving her a cortisone shot and an antibiotic shot. Within a month, there is a new wound that she has created by scratching. The spots are always around her head/face/neck area.
Even though she is an indoor-only cat, the vet's first thought it was fleas so we have been treating her with Revolution. She is still having the problem so now the vet has us giving her a special diet (rabbit and green peas) to see if it is a food/protein allergy. She has no vomiting or bathroom problems, though, so while I am trying to remain hopeful, I don't feel like this is going to solve the problem. We just started it yesterday so we will have to wait a few more weeks to see if it does anything.
We have been paying a $100-$200 vet bill almost monthly since October. I gave birth to my first child in November and, as you can imagine, money is very, very tight. I am looking for advice, suggestions, similar stories... I'll also add in that sometimes it looks like she has kitty dandruff. I don't bathe her or anything but I'm willing to start if someone can recommend something safe to use. TIA
Re: Cat allergies, advice needed
Normally just Science Diet for indoor cats. For the last 2 weeks she has had the Science Diet "Ideal Balance" Grain free food.
I recommended this in the post below, but check out petfoodratings.net. There are far better grain-free foods out there than Science Diet that will end up costing you less (SD is massively overpriced for the quality! I'd never recommend SD unless there was a specific prescription formula necessary for a major health issue).
It's also possible your cat has environmental allergies, not food-related. It'd be something good to ask your vet about, and possibly bathing her or wiping her down with hypoallergenic wipes (probably way easier than bathing!) would help remove any irritants from her fur/skin. You might try to find a soothing spray at the pet store, too; I know they make them for dogs to help sooth itchiness from bites or hot spots, so something like that might help make your kitty feel better, too.
B/w 1/8: betas 17,345, progesterone 25.6
One of our cats has a pretty bad food allergy which presented in the form of chronic ear infections. her ears would itch, she would scratch and bacteria from her paws from the litterbox would get in there. Yuck.
Rather than ruling out potential allergens one at a time we went whole hog and put her in Natural balance duck and potato. It completely solved the problem and I prefer the natural balance to the prescription stuff b.c. it is less expensive and the ingredients and protein % are better, which is really important for cats.
If it winds up not being food I would pay for allergy testing and get her on allergy shots. It costs a fair amount right out of the gate, but it will keep you from having to pay for constant secondary infections and treating symptoms long term.
Thanks for the help. I'll give the wipes a try since bathing kitty is particularly hard.
Kellbell, Natural Balance rabbit and green pea is what we started on yesterday. Thanks for sharing your story because it makes me feel better about it possibly being a food allergy.
The vet has mentioned that the animal dermatologist can do an allergy test but I don't see us being able to do that anytime soon without going into debt. My family is making me feel guilty for spending this much money on a cat when my child needs a new carseat, among other things. It's all very stressful but you guys are making me feel better.
You can always put it on care credit and pay it off over the year. I will keep my fingers crossed that the food switch works for you, it has been awesome for us. In fact, she is going to the vet today b.c. she snuck some chicken and her ears blew up. Which reminded me how dang healthy she is without chicken or fish in her diet! (we have always been grain free in our house)
Thanks so much, you are really making me feel less worried about this working now! I'll look into the care credit if we have to go the dermatologist route.
Definitely sounds like some sort of allergy either environmental or food. In our clinic we can do the allergy testing, its just a blood sample that is sent out to BioMedical labs and they do the testing. I've often wondered why other vets don't go this route instead of sending their patients to a referral doctor... anyways, not the point.
Most of the times for kitty allergies a steriod shot is given which isn't great for the cat since steroids can have horrible effects on the entire body system. We have recently started using a new product called Atopica which is a cyclosporine that targets the specific allergy cells instead of the entire body (kidneys, liver, etc). We have had amazing results so far especially with cats. We had one patient whose entire neck and side of face was one big, open scab. After 3 weeks of being on Atopica, the cat was completely healed.
The initial treatment of Atopica can be expense (at least in our clinic, prices will vary from clinic to clinic) and it's given based on the cats weight. The initial dose is given daily (which is why it is so expensive) but eventually it tapers off to every other day and then every couple of days! This isn't something that needs to be given for the entire life of the cat, especially if you are dealing with seasonal allergies. You can start the medication when you know your cat typically starts to flare up then taper off when the seasonal allergies are gone.
I personally don't like food trails because it can be expensive and takes way too long to get any conclusive results. Even if you eliminate a certain protein that does not mean your animal may or may not be allergic to some of the lesser components of the food. I would seriously consider visiting www.atopica.com as well as www.bmslab.com for more information of the drug Atopica as well as the allergy testing!
My vet said that we would begin using Atopica if she starts scratching again. She has had at least 4 steroid shots in the past 6 months. Poor kitty.
It probably wouldve been more cost effective to do the allergy test from the get go instead of waiting to see how other things work. But this last appointment was the first time she mentioned it.