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Treatment Of Allergies In Cats

How Veterinarians Test For Allergies In Cats

Treating Flea Allergies in Cats

Food Allergy

In cats with a suspected food allergy, a dietary elimination trial is the main diagnostic method. While you can purchase saliva test kits online or submit blood work to test for food allergies, there is currently no reliable data to suggest these tests are accurate.

A diet trial is typically done in one of two ways:

remove the inciting allergen and instead offer the cat a new, or novel, protein that their immune system has never seen and, therefore, likely will not have a reaction to. Common novel proteins include whitefish, salmon, turkey, kangaroo, rabbit, duck, and venison.

Hydrolyzed protein diets contain ingredients that have been broken down into the smallest possible molecular weight so that they do not elicit an immune response.

Diet trials may take two to three months before there is a clinical improvement. They can be frustrating and difficult to interpret because of concurrent other types of allergies and compliance. During the diet trial, the cat cannot have any other food, treats or human food without affecting the outcome.

Atopic Dermatitis

Veterinarians use two main tests to diagnose specific environmental allergens:

A serology allergy test measures allergen-specific reactions in the blood. This is a simple test that most general practitioners can readily perform.

Flea Allergy

Finding fleas and flea dirt can help diagnose a flea allergy but is not required. A flea comb is useful to identify fleas.

Allergic Contact Dermatitis

Allergic Bronchitis

Are Allergies And Asthma Related

Sensitivity to environmental pollutants, pollen, and stress can cause asthma attacks in cats. For short-term relief, your veterinarian may prescribe medications that will open up breathing passages. For long-term treatment, though, corticosteroids may be used. And please remember, no cat should be exposed to cigarette smokebut, if your cat has asthma, cigarette smoke is an absolute no-no.

Signs And Symptoms Of Allergies In Cats

No matter the allergen, Evans says that allergic reactions in cats can share a lot of the same symptoms. Symptoms of allergies in cats include:

  • Red, irritated skin
  • Chewing, biting, or licking at the paws

Wondering how to know if your cat has a cold or allergies? Unlike a kitty cold, “cats with allergies tend to have skin issues whereas upper respiratory infections stay within the nose and eyes,” Evans says. When it comes to asthma, differentiating between an allergy attack and an asthma attack can be tricky. That’s because some forms of asthma can be triggered by an allergen, but the hallmark of an asthma attack is difficulty exhaling accompanied by wheezing sounds.

The bottom line, if your cat is displaying any unusual behavior or signs, she should see her vet for a check-up.

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Symptoms Of Allergies In Cats

Allergic cats most often exhibit symptoms of skin irritation, showing scabbing, itchiness, and over-grooming.

Cats with allergies often have a skin reaction called miliary dermatitis. This causes hundreds of little rash-like, scabby lesions on your cats skin, especially along the back and neck.

They are also itchy- you may see them itching with their paws or grooming more often. Overgrooming their itchy skin can also lead to patches of hair loss. Some cats will be more prone to ear infections.

Cats that are allergic to airborne allergens such as pollen might also show allergy symptoms such as runny eyes, itchy eyes, sneezing, or even coughing and fast breathing.

Lastly, cats with allergies to their diet may have some gastrointestinal symptoms as well, such as loose stools, excessive gas, and occasional vomiting.

The Only Downside Of Spring

Herbal Remedies For Cats With Allergies

Whenever spring rolls around, you might notice your cat starts sneezing a lot more than normal.

Seasonal allergies are pretty common in humans, so you might be wondering if cats can get them, too.

The Dodo reached out to Dr. Lydia Harbour, a veterinary dermatology resident at Dermatology for Animals in Phoenix, to find out more about cat seasonal allergies and what to do if you suspect your cat has them!

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Most Common Cat Allergens

Flea saliva is by far the most common cat allergen.

Cats can also have hypersensitivity reactions to mosquito and other insect bites, but this is less common than flea bite hypersensitivity.

The next most common allergy is environmental allergies.

In dogs, this is generally termed atopy or atopic dermatitis, but in cats its usually called non-food, non-flea hypersensitivity dermatitis.

This is an allergen to things in the environment- pollen, cleaning products, weeds, trees, dust mites, dander, and cigarette smoke are all possible allergens your cat might have a hypersensitivity reaction to.

Food allergies make up about 1-5% of skin disease cases in cats.

Food allergies are built up over time- a cat can have eaten chicken-based food his whole life and still develop an allergy to chicken!

The most common food allergies in cats are beef, chicken and fish- all of which are common in feline diets.

Symptoms Of An Allergy To Cats

The symptoms of a cat allergy are typically similar to those of other allergies such as hay fever1, as well as the common cold or flu1.

The best way to tell if your symptoms are from a cat allergy or a cold is when they occur1. If they only flare up when you’re around fluffy animals, the chances are it’s an allergic reaction to cats, not a cold1.

Within minutes of exposure to dander, or just seconds in some cases, sneezing may start, then a sudden runny nose and itchy, watery eyes.

Ongoing nasal stuffiness, sinus pressure over the eyes or cheeks and an itchy throat can follow.

The most common symptoms of a cat allergy include1:

  • Itchy, watery eyes
  • Hives raised, red patches on the skin

If you have asthma, your symptoms may also trigger2:

  • Difficulty breathing
  • An audible whistling or wheezing when exhaling
  • Trouble sleeping due to shortness of breath, coughing or wheezing

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Other Allergies That Can Affect Cats

Most allergic pets fall into one of the above categories. But there are other possibilities.

Contact allergies affect some cats. For example, a fairly common condition happens when a cat is allergic to plastic. For these kitties, plastic food bowls lead to chin acne, or skin lesions caused by their chin touching the plastic while they eat. Certain fabrics, laundry detergents, cleaning products, etc. can also cause contact allergies.As described above, anaphylactic reactions are also possible.

And some pets may suffer from reactions to other inhaled substances like perfume, scented kitty litter, or smoke.

Treatment: Cat Allergy Medicine

Cat Skin Allergies Symptoms and Treatment

The first goal of treatment for allergies in cats is to control the itchiness. This will make your cat more comfortable, prevent damage to the skin, and will help you feel better.

Avoidance of what is causing the allergies is usually not practical. The allergens are common in the environment and there are usually several allergens causing problems for your cat. Since dust is a common cause, use a dust-free litter and wash bedding weekly. Vacuum 2-4 times a week and change or clean the bag frequently. A HEPA air filter may help as well.

If your cat will tolerate bathing, giving a bath once a week will help to remove dust and pollen from her coat. Use a shampoo to help with itchiness and use something to moisturize her skin. Allergens are absorbed easier through dry skin.

A good diet and fatty aqcid supplements will make the skin healthier and make it more difficult for allergens to be absorbed. Fish oil can improve the skin and has anti-inflammatory effects. However, it can take a couple months to see improvement so dont give up too quickly.

There are a few different categories of cat allergy medicine:

Unfortunately, this is only effective about 60% of the time and it may take many months before you see improvement. However, it may be worth trying. When it is effective, it can make a significant difference.

If you need more information on giving your cat allergy medicine, check out this article.

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Therapeutic Trial With Special Diet

A food trial or Elimination Diet Trial , offering only a special limited antigen diet with a restricted protein source) for 6 12 weeks is the only definitive way to rule in or out food allergy.

The cat must have access to nothing else other than the special hypoallergenic diet for this duration. If the cat improves during the elimination trial, then the diagnosis is confirmed, while if the cat continues to show signs of inflammation then the diagnosis is ruled out.

Sometimes at the end of the trial period, a dietary challenge may be tried, deliberately stopping the exclusions and feeding the suspected offending allergen to see if there is a reaction. Often, however, this is not done because understandably, pet parents do not want their cat to develop signs again.

What Should I Do If I Think My Cat Has Allergies

Visit your veterinarian. After taking a complete history and conducting a physical examination, your veterinarian may determine the source of your cats allergic reaction. If not, your veterinarian may recommend skin or blood tests and/or a special elimination diet, to find out what’s causing the allergic reaction.

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How Does Your Vet Determine The Cause Of Your Cats Skin Allergies

It is important to note that figuring out the cause of your cats skin allergy will require multiple visits to your veterinarian. Typically, your veterinarian will want to see your cat every two to three weeks until your cat gets better. These are the steps your vet will take to determine why your cat has skin allergies.

How Pet Allergies Affect Health

NATURVET Aller

People suffering from pet allergies will have symptoms consistent with an inflammation of nasal passages. This includes a runny or stuffy nose, sneezing, itchy or watery eyes, and shortness of breath. Coming into physical contact with pet dander can cause contact dermatitis, hives or triggers a persons asthma.

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Home Remedies For Pets Allergies

There are home remedies that can help alleviate certain symptoms. Lifestyle changes that can make a difference include:

  • Home improvements: Making your home as hypoallergenic as possible can help. Consider installing an air cleaner with a HEPA filter and cleaning fabric surfaces regularly.
  • Soothing baths: Your veterinarian might recommend bathing your dog or cat with a pet shampoo that contains oatmeal, Dr. Marsella explains.
  • Dietary supplements: Supplementing your pets diet with fish oil can reduce flaky or itchy skin. Probiotics can also offer pets relief from skin allergies by restoring balance to bacteria levels in their GI tract, Dr. Marsella says. By improving the health of their GI tract, probiotics can help reduce allergy symptoms.
  • Physical blockers: A simple intervention for itchy pets is to have them wear a T-shirt, since it appears it may reduce their drive to scratch, suggests Dr. Sypniewski.

Treatment Of Food Allergies In Cats

The treatment for food allergies in cats is to provide a diet that does not contain any allergy-inducing ingredients. The specific food sources you may be able to feed your cat can vary greatly. Prescription diets are recommended when performing a hypoallergenic food trial because they have stricter quality control, while over-the-counter cat food can contain contaminant proteins.

Most cats are very itchy when starting a hypoallergenic food trial, so symptomatic treatment may be necessary. Low-dose corticosteroids, such as prednisolone, are often used for this purpose. Any secondary bacterial or yeast infections must also be treated with antibiotics and/or antifungals, and repeated treatments may be necessary.

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Relieving Allergies In Cats

If your cat suffers from seasonal allergies, steroids and other medications are easily available treatment options. However, if you want to use natural remedies, there are several options available that can help your kitty.

Natural remedies help fight the symptoms and build the immunity. They may also help eliminate the need to deal with any potential side effects that may be caused by traditional allopathic medications.

Note:

Here are 10 home remedies for allergies in cats.

Can Cats Have Allergies

Allergies to Cats in Humans : Treating Allergies

Yes, and some types of allergic reactions in cats are more common than you might think. Whether your cat is an indoor or outdoor cat, Evans says theres a wide spectrum of allergens and your cat is likely to come in contact with at least one type. Plus, a cats exposure to allergens can increase if they share their home with a dog or two.

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Environmental Allergies In Cats

Allergies due to flea bites are the most common cause of allergies in cats. Cats can also be allergic to food and to things in the environment. The techincal term for environmental allergies is atopy.

However, many people are referring to this when they talk about pet allergies. To make it easy, whenever the term allergy is used in this article it refers to atopy and not to flea allergy or food allergies in cats.

This used to be called inhalant allergy. We thought cats were breathing in the things causing allergies. Now its known that cats are absorbing allergens through their skin.

Humans with allergies tend to sneeze, have itchy eyes, and a runny nose. Cats scratch, but there are things besides allergies that cause itchiness. Your cat can also have more than one thing going on at the same time.

Pet allergies are a chronic and progressive disease. You cant cure it. Most of the time it can be managed well enough with cat allergy medicine to keep your cat reasonably comfortable.

Completely eliminating the itch may not be a reasonable goal, but improvement is.

Infections Caused By Cats

Allergies are a manifestation of the immune system’s over-reaction to a non-infectious substance. But you can also get an infection due to cat exposure, such as ringworm, or an infection due to a cat scratch.

A parasitic infection caused byToxoplasma gondii is spread by cat feces. This parasite is very dangerous for pregnant women because it can cause birth defects.

Infections caused by cats are different than allergies.

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Diagnosis Of Cat Allergies

With good flea control, your cat improves, a flea allergy will be presumed- but not diagnosed, as it could be a coincidence.

Diagnosing cat allergies is theoretically simple, but it can take a long time. Since flea allergy is the most common allergy, the first thing to do is to rule out flea allergy as a cause of your cats symptoms.

This means applying prescription-strength flea treatment to every animal in the house for at least 12 weeks without any break in cover. This is necessary to ensure that the flea life-cycle is broken. If, with good flea control, your cat improves, a flea allergy will be presumed- but not diagnosed, as it could be a coincidence.

If your cat doesnt improve despite flea control, the next rule-out is food. To diagnose a food allergy, a hypoallergenic exclusion diet must be fed.

This must either be a prescription hydrolysed diet or a novel protein diet. This diet needs to be fed exclusively for eight weeks to see whether your cat is going to respond- its usually necessary to shut them in for this time to ensure they arent eating at a neighbours house.

If your cat improves, food allergy is likely- feeding a bit of their old diet and watching for a return of the allergic symptoms is enough to be sure.

In some cases, referral to a veterinary dermatologist may be necessary, especially if your clinic doesnt have the appropriate equipment for skin tests, or if your cats case is difficult.

What Is Food Allergy And How Is It Treated

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Food allergies in cats are caused by an immune reaction to a food or food additive. The allergy most frequently develops in response to the protein component of the food for example, beef, pork, chicken, or turkey. Vegetable proteins such as those found in corn or wheat, as well as food additives and preservatives, may cause food allergies in some cases. Food allergy may produce any of the clinical signs previously discussed, including itching, digestive disorders, and respiratory distress.

Food allergy testing is recommended when the clinical signs have been present for several months, when the cat has a poor response to steroids, or when a very young cat itches without other apparent causes of allergy. Testing is conducted by feeding an elimination or hypoallergenic diet. This means a diet in which the ingredients have not previously been fed to the cat . Because it takes at least eight weeks for all other food products to be removed from the body, the cat must eat the special diet exclusively for a minimum of eight to twelve weeks. If a positive response occurs, you will be instructed on how to proceed.

If the diet is not fed exclusively, it will not be a meaningful test. This means absolutely no treats, other foods, people foods, or flavored medications during this period. This cannot be overemphasized. Even accidentally providing a tiny amount of the offending protein can result in invalidating the test.

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Allergies In Cats Faqs

How can you tell if your cat has allergies?

Cats with allergies typically have skin issues and are itchy. This doesnt mean they have allergies, but it is a possibility. Only testing with your veterinarian can determine if your cat has allergies.

What can I give my cat for allergies?

Always talk to your veterinarian before administering any medications or supplements. Based on your cats specific allergy, it may be treated with a combination of food and medications.

What are the most common allergies in cats?

Food allergy and environmental allergies are the most common.

Cat Allergies In Humans: Symptoms And Treatment

There are many things to love about cats: their unique personalities, cute antics, and cuddly naps. But cat allergies are not on the list. Many cat owners and cat lovers struggle with allergies and are looking for ways to treat their allergies so they can continue loving their feline friends.

Luckily, by understanding the symptoms and treatment for cat allergies in humans, you can understand how to manage your allergies and hopefully live a long and comfortable life with your furry friend.

Read on to learn more about cat allergies in humans, including their symptoms, how to know if you are allergic to cats, what can cause cat allergies in the first place, and how to treat and reduce allergens in your home.

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