Help with Food Allergies?

[Nicola (RockysMum)]

Thanks for all the advice!

Bailey normally eats either Purina One or Felix senior pouches, all flavours. Occasionally prawns as a treat. We haven't introduced anything new that could have caused this. He has a Catnip treat twice a day with his pill in it.

I've ordered some of the hypo-allergenic food from zooplus which is single protein (venison) Thankfully he's not a fussy eater so I imagine he'll like it. I'll limit him to that for the next 4-6 weeks and see if there's any change.

Kay, I'm confident it's not the felimazole as he's been on it for over a year now and it's only when we reduced the dose that he's started scratching again. If it was the meds, reducing it should have helped. Like you, I do wonder if the scratching was a side effect of the HT though and nothing to do with allergies. His T4 was within the normal range numbers wise when it was last tested (8 weeks ago), but I do wonder if he's still a bit hyper and thats why he's scratching. I've noticed he's obsessively grooming his front paws as well and his coat seems more prone to knots since we reduced the dose - exactly as it was before we treated the hyperthyroidism. Although I haven't found anything or anyone who's experienced this scratching thing in a hyperT cat.

Really hope we can get to the bottom of it, the last thing I want is the poor wee mite to end up with baldy ears and neck again. If changing food doesn't help and it's being on lower meds that's causing it I'll be at a loss. The last thing I want is his felimazole dose to go back up as I felt like I'd lost my cat. He barely moved and gained a dangerous amount of weight when he was on the higher dose. If it's not improved by our next vet visit, i'll discuss the possibility of changing to vidalta, perhaps a higher dose of it wouldn't zonk him out the way the felimazole did.
 

[Kay and Penny]

if the scratching had started with the Felimazole, the cause would be fairly apparent

http://pets.thenest.com/allergy-methimazole-cats-10886.html

but even though it started before he was prescribed it, it might not be as helpful as your vet seems to think - it is not inconceivable that the original irritation was a side effect of the  HT and the Felimazole has made it worse

it could be worth seeing how he does on Vidalta instead - at least for a trial period - starting of course with a low dose

[onyx]

definitely try changing the food!

you can try an elimination diet, so pick one protein source at a time and then see what happens. hypo allergenic foods may still cause allergies as they may contain corn, soya, dairy, wheat, rice etc... all things which can cause allergies. zooplus has a good selection of one protein source foods.


i found success getting fonzie off heavily process and manufactured food and limiting his allergies. i also had a homeopathic allergy test undertaken (and im usually really against homeopathy!) and that, plus the remedy has meant he hasn't had any shots since at least august.

you can also undertake a more traditional allergy test but it involves more costs and time.

what is bailey fed on usually?

[fluffybunny]

Milly didn't scratch, she overgroomed, so it was quite subtle to notice if she wasn't grooming so much and it took a few weeks after the swap to notice that fur was starting to grow back...so several weeks in total because I swapped the food in gradually, so the initial change was quite subtle as I phased the original food out.  You could ask your vet about trying some antihistamine - don't know if that would be possible with the other meds, but if the scratching stops pretty quickly with antihistamine then it pretty much confirms that it must be some kind of allergy.  I think some blood markers can also give an idea of this, there were certainly things picked up in Milly's bloods which were indicative of allergy. 

Yes I'd say it's best to stick with one kind of food at a time, there was a certain amount of trial and error for me, and some other kinds which I thought would be really helpful turned out to be just as problematic!  You also have to build in time to swap foods over so it's not a quick process really.  Good luck xx

[Nicola (RockysMum)]

Thanks. That's really helpful.

I take it it would be best to stick to one type of food and see if it makes a difference before trying another?

Also, how quickly should I expect to see results if the change of food works?

I just hate seeing him scratching himself like this, and it must be so unpleasant being itchy all the time!

[fluffybunny]

Milly had been using the same food for ages when she suddenly developed these too. I looked at the packaging and discovered that the recipe had changed at about the same time! It now included wheat. I've tried several things although some hypo allergenic foods still set her off. I find bozita sensitive and James wellbeloved the best, although I'm now trying both on a raw food diet (natural instinct) to see if that makes any further difference.

[Dawn F]

I know someone who used this with good results

http://www.petplanet.co.uk/product.asp?dept_id=784&pf_id=50502

[Nicola (RockysMum)]

Hi All,

About a year ago we took Bailey to the vets because he was scratching his neck and ears till they were bald. Around the same time he was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism and as soon as he started on felimazole the scratching stopped.
However, his dose was far too high and he was very lethargic so we've reduced it in recent months.

Unfortunately, now that his dosage is lower and working for his thyroid - the scratching is back, although not as extreme, his ears are looking a bit bald and the long hair under his chin is all broken with him scratching. There are no sores, rashes or lesions. Just itchy skin.

My vet is convinced it's a food allergy and that him being OD'd on thyroid meds stopped him reacting to the itch as much. At his visit last week he decided we should give it another 4 weeks and monitor it before we start looking at treatments.

I'm just wondering if we should try different food with him. he's always eaten the same stuff but I know they can develop allergies later in life.

Does anyone have experience of a good hypo allergenic wet food? Anyone ever had a similar problem with their cat? I am really hoping we can nip this in the bud early. I would hate to see him scratching himself bald again.