Allergic reactions to food, cosmetics, flowers of various plants, and medications occur not only in humans. Also Cats often develop allergies, it causes deterioration physical condition. Cats suffer because of this, and it is up to humans to help the animal cope with the problem.
Allergy is a common disease, it occurs in every fifth cat. And responsible owners always turn to the veterinarian with the question of what can be given to their cat for allergies. Before prescribing treatment, the doctor determines the cause of the ailment and the factors that cause the reaction.
Experts identify several types of allergies, the main one is food. Cats may have a reaction to a certain brand of food or to natural products(fermented milk, vegetables or even fish).
Allergic reactions also exist for artificial materials(plastic, rubber) from which toys for animals are made.
An attentive owner can find out the cause of the disease in kittens or an adult animal; difficult cases special tests help veterinary clinic. Depending on the causative agent of the allergy, the doctor decides how to treat the cat and how to restore health..
Symptoms in cats
food allergy
Symptoms and treatment allergic reaction interconnected.
Each form of allergy can manifest itself with certain symptoms, diseases of certain body systems.
INTERESTING! Light-haired cats are more likely to react negatively to certain foods than their dark-haired counterparts. Therefore, owners of such pets should choose food very carefully.
There are many symptoms, and it is sometimes difficult to distinguish an allergy from another disease. The main ones are rash, itching(the animal scratches the skin vigorously until wounds appear), skin redness(This is especially visible in the ears).
ATTENTION! Sphynx cats are the most susceptible to allergic reactions. But signs of the disease are immediately visible on their skin, so the owner can begin treating the pet at an early stage.
U fluffy cats rash and dermatitis are complemented severe loss wool. A clear sign, uncharacteristic of a healthy animal, is dandruff.
British cats or other breeds with long hair need to be examined more closely, since scratching wounds may be in hidden places (under the chin, on the tummy).
Symptoms of diseases
bee sting
An accurate diagnosis would help quickly determine the cause of the allergic reaction. But complex allergy tests are not performed on cats, the procedure is too expensive Moreover, many allergens can only be introduced to an animal under anesthesia.
In the absence of special tests, the source is determined by excluding provoking factors.
In this diagnosis, an important role is given to the person who will observe the pet’s reaction to food and filler.
After such a diagnosis, it will be easier for the veterinarian to decide how to cure an allergy to a particular substance.
ATTENTION! A reaction to a product, flea bites or litter material sometimes does not appear immediately.
Accumulate in the body for a long time harmful substances, endogenous, and only the appearance of a strong allergen causes a surge in the disease. Especially often long time the signs don't show themselves food allergies. But attentive owners will be able to notice in time that the cat looks unhealthy, constantly scratches its skin, and shows irritation.
Treatment of allergies in cats
The veterinarian prescribes both antiallergic medications and those that relieve complex symptoms.
It is necessary to immediately relieve itching, inflammation on the pet’s skin, and treat scratched wounds.
It is important to calm the cat, after all skin diseases lead to severe irritation.
Each product is selected individually, since the animal may have a negative reaction to medications.
- Antihistamines for cats they are necessary for all types of allergies, they soothe, reduce skin manifestations, swelling, irritation.
- To restore good skin condition, a special healing and soothing ointment. If there are wounds, the product should also have a disinfectant effect. To prevent the cat from licking it medical supplies from the skin, you need to put a special collar on it during treatment.
- If you have a food allergy, it is important to follow a diet that includes neutral and fresh products. The diet is needed for a long time, and the provoking product is excluded in the future, so as not to cause food allergies again. Reveal negative reaction you can pay for the product if you replace chicken with fish or store-bought dairy products for cottage cheese, home-made yogurt. Most often, proteins of animal or plant origin become allergens in a cat’s body.
- Available for sale a large amount of dry food of different brands, and it is this type of nutrition that leads in the field of food allergies. You need to carefully monitor your pet’s reaction to a new food; when the first signs of illness appear, you should change the brand of food and try a different composition.
- Antihistamine and corticosteroid tablets are prescribed for atopic dermatitis. A medicine that completely cures this disease has not yet been created, so it is important to regularly monitor the manifestations of the disease. Atopy is especially difficult to manifest in spring and autumn; you need to help your cat survive such seasons. Dermatitis may also be accompanied by a bacterial or fungal infection.
- With atopy, the skin first becomes dry, severe itching, exhausting the pet. In places where scratching occurs, the wounds even turn into wet ulcers, complicated by infections. Any factor can provoke an allergy - a new product, some kind of grass, a powder that was used to wash the bedding. The disease cannot be cured, but the cat’s symptoms should be alleviated, itching should be relieved with medications, and ointment should be applied to the wounds.
ATTENTION! Peeling of your cat's paw pads may indicate an allergic reaction to the litter in the litter box.
D For all breeds, veterinarians recommend choosing a litter without odor or small particles. It is advisable to read on the packaging what kind of wood this product is made from, because a reaction is possible. a certain breed wood Peeling of the pads may also indicate an allergy to household chemicals or washing powder.
Skin irritation in a kitten or adult animal caused by insects is also a health problem. You can protect your pet from fleas with a special collar and anti-flea shampoo.. Swelling and even difficulty breathing in a cat after a wasp or bee sting are possible. In this case, you need to quickly give your pet antihistamines and sedatives.
At home with proper treatment and following the doctor’s recommendations, it is not difficult to cure allergies. Manufacturers produce tablets, ointments, drops. You can choose the form of medication that is more convenient for treatment.
Table
Useful video
Recognizing allergies in cats
koteiki.net
In professional terminology, an allergy is a symptomatic manifestation hypersensitivity the body's immune system, caused by exposure to a certain group of substances (allergens).
These allergens can be completely different for each animal, but their mechanism of action is similar: Once in the pet’s body, the immune system perceives these bodies as potentially dangerous and reacts to them with the occurrence of an inflammatory reaction.
It is difficult to predict how allergies will manifest in cats: symptoms and signs of the disease can be individual for each animal.
- SYMPTOMS AND SIGNS OF ALLERGIES IN CATS
- HOW TO TREAT FOOD ALLERGY AT HOME?
- EFFECTIVE MEDICINES AND PREPARATIONS
- TREATMENT WITH FOLK REMEDIES
Allergy symptoms in cats:
- Redness of the skin, presence of rash. This is especially noticeable in the ear area and on the pads of the paws.
- Focal or diffuse loss wool
- The presence of ulcers, pimples, abrasions on the skin in the face, neck, abdomen, groin.
- Development of secondary otitis: the pet often scratches its ears, they look hyperemic.
- Strong itchy skin whole body, inflammation of the eyes, mucous discharge from the nose.
- Sneezing and coughing.
Highlight different types diseases:
- Food allergies in cats or food allergies. Caused primarily by improper feeding, when one type of food predominates in the diet.
Food allergens include chicken, milk, eggs, and, less commonly, vegetables like carrots and pumpkin.
Vitamin supplements can also cause the development of the disease.
Sometimes dry food is not suitable for pets due to large quantity dyes and preservatives, the cat’s body simply refuses to accept it normally, without symptomatic manifestations.
- Allergy to flea saliva. Observed exclusively during flea infestation.
It’s easy to cure; you just need to rid your pet of fleas and their larvae, after which the body will recover on its own.
- Allergy to objects and substances in the external environment. Accompanied by atopic dermatitis.
It can be caused by anything: dust particles in the air, pollen, chemical household products, litter, collars, shampoos, tablets.
This type of disease is the most unpleasant - it is difficult to say what exactly causes the inflammatory reaction and irritates the immune system.
How to treat food allergies at home?
Before telling you how to treat different forms of this disease, you need to mention:
Identify and correctly diagnose allergies - difficult task, which must be decided by a veterinarian based on test data and laboratory diagnostics.
Only he will be able to figure out what type of illness your pet has and what foods should be removed from his diet.
More often, to treat the food form of this disease, chicken and dry food are removed from the pet’s diet, replacing them with special Royal Canin food, which contains hydrolyzed protein, which is not dangerous for sick animals.
Any hypoallergenic cat food is suitable: Purina: Veterinary Diet, Hills, Farmina.
For positive dynamics, veterinarians recommend adhering to the prescribed diet even after the clear clinical condition has disappeared.
Food allergies are a disease that is extremely difficult to cure completely. Having eaten something “forbidden”, the cat runs the risk of relapses.
Effective medicines and preparations
The first priority is to get rid of the causes that contributed to the development of the disease.
Flea infestations are treated with specialized medicated shampoos for cats, drops on the withers, and sprays.
If the disease occurs due to the filler of the tray, then it is changed or ordinary sand is used.
To treat severely advanced cases, drug therapy is used.
Antibiotics are rarely used to treat allergies, with preference given to antihistamines and hormonal drugs.
The following medications are most often given to cats:
- Diphenhydramine- a medicine with a pronounced antiallergic, antihistamine effect. It has a slight sedative effect on cats, so apathy and lethargy are often observed after use.
- Diphenhydramine- antihistamine and antiemetic of the first generation. Characterized by quick action: easily penetrates the blood, after which it is eliminated from the body without complications.
- Pipolzin- prevents, but does not cure skin lesions (rashes, ulcers).
- Chlorpheniramine- potent antihistamine wide range actions.
Also used: hydroxyzine, clemastine, tavegil, cyproheptadine (Peritol).
Hydrocortisone or dioxidine ointment is used to treat the skin.
Remember! The use of all of the above products is allowed only under the supervision of a veterinarian or with his permission!
These drugs are sold in regular pharmacies and are intended for people, so they are given to cats with caution.
For the same reason, the dosage should not be determined according to the instructions.
Cats need much less active ingredient than children for the medicine to have the necessary therapeutic effect. Your veterinary clinic should advise you on the dosage.
If the mucous membranes are affected, cats are given steroid medications to relieve swelling and ease breathing. The affected areas of the skin are treated with special ointments and gels that accelerate regeneration and relieve itching.
Treatment with folk remedies
It is better not to independently treat allergies in cats at home, due to the lack of a clear diagnosis.
Some types of allergies manifest themselves in the same way as skin diseases (dermatitis), so the use of folk remedies can only aggravate the situation and not help the cat.
Give to an animal folk remedies allergies that are intended for people should also not be used.
The cat's body is significantly different from the human body. Some drugs that people use to treat their illnesses are poisonous to pets, like most of the food we eat.
pitomec7.com
Veterinarians note that allergies in cats are not such a rare occurrence. An animal can react to pollen, plants, various fabrics, plastic and rubber objects, food, food additives, dairy products, house dust, dust mites, flea bites, and household chemicals. Antihistamines for cats, originally created for humans, are used to treat many types of allergies. Experts have developed a technique that includes their use in combination with fatty acids and an evasion method (eliminating possible allergens).
Each antihistamine has a different dose and can cause different side effects, so they must be prescribed by a veterinarian. It is also not recommended to use H2 blockers, for example, Claritin, Hismanal, which are very effective for humans, but useless for treating cats. Doctors advise using medications containing H1 blockers. These include:
- 1st generation antihistamines (diphenhydramine, tavegil, donormyl, dimenhydrinate, diazolin, bicarfen, pipolfen, teralen), which have a pronounced sedative effect and a short duration of action.
- Antihistamines of the 2nd generation (astemizole, fenistil, tinset, terfenadine, claritin, kestin, soventol), among the side effects, have a cardiotoxic effect.
- 3rd generation antihistamines (cetirizine, fexofenadine), which have a more selective effect on histamine receptors, more long term actions do not depress the nervous system.
A list of the most common allergy medications for cats includes:
Diphenhydramine
It has an antihistamine, sedative, hypnotic and analgesic effect. The dosage of the drug is strictly individual; at the same dose, it causes sleep in some animals, in others there is no sedative effect, and in a certain group it can provoke a state close to delirium. The drug is available in capsules and tablets.
An effective antihistamine for allergic reactions and insect bites.
Has a sedative effect. It is an analogue of diphenhydramine, available in capsules of 25 and 50 mg. Not used to treat allergies in pregnant and lactating animals. It is also undesirable to combine it with taking antipyretic and cold medications.
For one kilogram of animal weight, 1-4 mg of the drug is needed, which is taken after 8-12 hours and is not mixed with food.
It has antihistamine, sedative, psychotropic, antiemetic effects. It belongs to piperazine derivatives, weakens skeletal smooth muscles, has a bronchodilator and analgesic effect. Not addictive.
Injection drug, basic active substance– 1% chlorpheniramine maleate. Used to treat allergic dermatitis and urticaria in cats. It is administered only intramuscularly; if it comes into contact with the skin, it may cause irritation.
Simultaneous administration during or after feeding reduces the irritant effect on the gastrointestinal tract. It is forbidden to combine with alkaloids. The drug is only suitable for removing acute symptoms and should not be used for more than 3 days.
Relieves allergy symptoms in animals: eye irritation, runny nose, sneezing. It has a long-lasting effect by blocking histamine receptors. Side effects: thirst, hyperactivity or, conversely, apathy, diarrhea. Strengthens the effect of sedatives; combination with other drugs is undesirable.
It is used regardless of the weight of the animal, 1/2 tablet every 12 hours.
It combines a strong antiserotonin substance with antihistamine activity, which is why it is effective for itchy dermatitis. Relaxes the muscles of the bronchi. Calls by-effect in the form of increased appetite.
The active ingredient is promethazine hydrochloride. Antagonist of histamine H1 receptors. Available in the form of an injection solution, it is used to relieve allergy symptoms. It acts longer than diphenhydramine and produces a mild sedative effect. The dose is calculated depending on the weight of the animal.
allergolife.ru
Every day, a cat’s body is attacked by many viruses and hostile microorganisms. Just like us, our furry pets can get sick if their immune system is powerless against a particularly aggressive agent.
Our furbabies are susceptible to allergies a little less than people, but their the immune system structured almost identically to humans. When an allergen enters an animal’s body, the immune system begins to produce antibodies. But it does not always manage to strengthen the blood cells and then the cat, like us, develops allergy symptoms. And the fact that your pet is fluffy and walks on its feet, and also has a tail, does not change matters significantly. The cat experiences discomfort, sometimes even pain, and more often than not our pets suffer this illness much more severely than we do. And only because the owners do not pay attention to the condition of their pets in time.
What can cats be allergic to?
Most often, allergies occur in young animals under 3 years of age. It is believed that until this age the animal’s immunity is not strong enough. Kittens raised on artificial feeding. These babies, even if their owners lovingly fed them with mother's milk substitute, have a weaker immune system.
The cat may be allergic to food agents. Thus, milk or formula can cause serious consequences in a kitten. Cats with allergies are especially common among purebred animals. For its beauty and special, say, fluffiness, a cat pays with reduced immunity from birth.
Cats react sharply to odors, particularly cosmetic ones. Perfumes, deodorants,
sprayers of any kind, air fresheners - all this poses a direct threat to both humans and their pets. Allergies can even cause detergent, such as cat shampoo or flea treatment. Potty litter can also hide the threat and even cause dermatitis.
Sometimes cats have a hard time with some plants, and this can only manifest itself during their flowering period. Pollen floating in the air gets into the nose of the fluffy beauty, causing irritation of the mucous membrane. How far this process will go depends entirely on the resistance of the pet’s immune system.
Allergy symptoms in cats and cats
There are many signs by which you can easily understand that your pet has an allergy. It is much more difficult to determine the aggressive agent that became the source. And yet this is possible if the owner treats the cat carefully.
With food allergies, the cat begins to suffer from unstable stools and often itches. Her fur becomes different in appearance: it stops shining and shiny, tangles and dandruff may appear. The pet may feel sick or vomit after eating. This is extremely dangerous condition, since it affects internal organs. On skin A rash may appear in the form of red dots, which the cat constantly scratches. In kittens they are most noticeable in the area of the chin and mouth. In some cases, rashes are evident in the neck or ear area, both in and around the shells.
Respiratory allergies have severe symptoms, they are hard to miss. The cat is breathing heavily, her eyes are watery, she sneezes often, and may cough. A rash appears on the skin, the animal is constantly itching. Often the mucous membrane suffers so much that the cat is forced to open its mouth to breathe. It is important to immediately take your pet to the clinic, as these may be symptoms of asthma or. In this case, the cat's life is in mortal danger.
Dermatitis allergies, caused by direct skin contact with an irritant, have additional symptoms. In cats, the anal area may become inflamed if a hostile agent is hidden in the litter, scratching post or shampoo. With such an allergy, the symptoms are similar to dermatitis, when those parts of the cat’s body that have the least fur are affected. Often these turn out to be paws that begin to peel off. Usually this initial stage, in the future, the skin on the paws may crack and peel off.
Treatment of allergies in cats
Treatment begins with the veterinarian making an accurate diagnosis based on what symptoms are presenting. If cats or cats have severe swelling of the mucous membranes, medications that reduce swelling are needed. More often these are steroid drugs that act almost instantly, stopping the development of the disease.
The veterinarian then carefully examines the furry patient for skin rashes. Sometimes special ointments are prescribed to reduce itching and improve the healing of wounds that are inevitable when scratching. The therapy is complex, it includes restorative and immunostimulating drugs.
If it is a food allergy, then a special diet is prescribed. Antibiotics may be part of the treatment regimen, especially if the cat already has severe scratching or open wounds. This is due to the high risk of cat infection through skin lesions. It is necessary to remove from the cat’s life everything that can cause allergies: flowers, plants, change litter, detergents and cleaning products. If this is not enough, then the owner will have to reconsider his household items; perhaps perfume or something else provokes seizures in the pet.
Sometimes, with age, allergies cease to manifest themselves as such, and symptoms may decrease. The animal can generally “outgrow” and the problem will disappear, as it seems. But in reality, the cat will be in danger for the rest of its life, so it is advisable to protect such an animal from all possible types of infection and contamination.
Most often, treatment takes place quickly and without serious consequences, because the owners take care of their furry children. But in some cases, when the symptoms are not so obvious or do not appear fully, the owner needs to be very careful. This is especially true for those who have a purebred representative of the cat world living at home.
Causes
Food allergy is a skin disorder that is associated with eating certain food components. This type of allergy does not have the pronounced seasonality that is sometimes typical. The disease causes itching in 100% of cases.
Foods that often cause allergic reactions:
- milk and dairy products;
- eggs;
- meat: chicken, beef, pork, lamb.
Most often, allergies occur in young cats 4-5 years old. A predisposition has been noted, but more often gender and breed do not matter.
A reaction to a certain product does not develop immediately, but after feeding it for a long time (“cumulative effect”). There is a widespread belief that allergies are caused by exotic or synthetic products: dyes and flavors, shrimp or crab meat. But in fact, a pathological immune reaction is always observed to those food components that the cat received most often.
Signs
Skin lesions due to allergies can be expressed in varying degrees. Typical symptoms are:
- itching in the face, ears, neck;
- bald spots due to excessive licking in the abdominal area, on the sides;
- miliary dermatitis;
- appearance .
Occasionally, urticaria and rashes in the form of pustules and papules occur. There may be systemic disorders: , lethargy, .
If a cat injures the skin with its claws in an attempt to relieve the itching, primary symptoms joins, aggravating the picture.
Diagnostics
If based on clinical signs and medical history, the doctor suspects a food allergy, and an elimination diet is prescribed. The minimum period is 4 weeks, but most often observation lasts 8-12 weeks. Improvements appear no earlier than after a month.
During this period, the pet should receive only the selected food and water. The cat should not be allowed outside, fed from the table or given to it from a pet store.
Laboratory tests are not informative for diagnosing allergies:
- may be completely normal;
- Carrying out intradermal tests and skin biopsies is pointless.
Treatment
Diet selection should be carried out individually for each animal based on information about the previous diet. A new source of protein could be:
- duck,
- turkey,
- venison.
Food should not contain dyes or preservatives.
The ideal option is a diet prepared by the owners at home. However, it is difficult to balance such food; it is almost always necessary to add taurine and calcium.
Commercial hypoallergenic food is not a "clean" diet, but is well suited for busy owners and provides all of the cat's nutritional needs.
The only treatment skin problems caused by allergies is to avoid contact with the allergen.
Identifying foods intolerant to animals can be very difficult. This takes a lot of time, during which the owner must strictly follow the recommendations veterinarian and keep a diary. Not all cat owners are motivated to do this hard work.
Each new control product is added every 10 days. Based on the data obtained, a long-term diet is selected. This can be either homemade food or a proprietary diet that does not contain any of the identified allergens.
Antihistamines or glucocorticoids (prednisolone) are rarely used and are not successful. As adjuvant therapy Omega-3 fatty acid supplements are more beneficial.
Industrial diets for allergies
Home-cooked food is difficult to balance for a cat, and it can be even more difficult to get her to eat it. By nature, cats are slaves of habit, and often reject unusual foods. Then a food containing an unusual source of protein is recommended.
Often, owners begin to feed “holistic” foods, which are positioned as grain-free, instead of the usual diet. They usually do not contain chicken, using turkey, duck, fish, and lamb as a source of protein. Potatoes, peas, and lentils are sources of carbohydrates. But these diets contain too many components, and often whole eggs and exotic fruits are added to them.
An elimination diet should contain one source of protein and one source of carbohydrates. For example, Sensitivity Control - rice and duck.
Other medicinal foods are created on a different principle: the protein molecules in them are artificially split into such small fragments that they no longer provoke an immune response from the body. Feeds based on hydrolysates:
- Purina HA;
- Royal Canin Hypoallergenic.
If a food allergy manifests itself violently, accompanied not only by skin damage, but also digestive tract, you need special food. They use bird feathers as a source of protein. For example, Royal Canin Annalergenic.
All such diets are complete, in other words, you can feed your cat with them for the rest of its life.
Conclusion
It can be very difficult for owners to maintain an elimination diet, and long periods of time reduce motivation for treatment. Successful fight against food allergies is possible only with the cooperation of the cat owner and.
Although it is not easy to confirm such a diagnosis, the disease itself is not as dangerous as is commonly believed. Complete exclusion from the diet of components that provoke the reaction causes recovery.
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An allergic reaction as a response of the immune system to a certain irritant is possible not only in humans, but also in animals. About 10% of all cases of allergies in cats are due to food intolerance, and the reaction is manifested not by disruption of the gastrointestinal tract, as one might assume in the case of food allergies, but by dermatological problems. Why do cats develop food allergies and how to treat them?
Causes of food allergies in cats
A food allergy is a common reaction to any food that can occur in any cat. There is a widespread belief that an allergic reaction occurs mainly to unusual and exotic foods that the animal has never tried before, for example, crab meat. Also, many owners are afraid to give their pet food containing many dyes and additives.
However, a cat's immune system is different from a human's. Exposure to allergens has a cumulative effect, so intolerance does not appear immediately. An animal can eat the same food for several years, and only then will it develop allergy symptoms. Because of this feature, it can be difficult to find the cause of a pet’s illness.
Under the influence of an allergen, the body becomes sensitized. With the constant supply of a provoking agent, excessive release of free histamine, a neurotransmitter of allergic reactions, begins. Free histamine affects smooth muscles and capillary walls, causing characteristic allergic symptoms.
What foods are the strongest allergens? Various proteins cause an inadequate response of the immune and digestive systems. The composition of dry and wet food includes a lot of protein products, and even if the pet is fed homemade food, it gets a lot of protein. Frequent exposure to an allergen leads to allergies.
The most common allergens:
- beef;
- veal;
- mutton;
- chicken and eggs;
- soy meat and other products;
- dairy and fermented milk products;
- cereals;
- seafood;
- vegetables and fruits.
If you read what cat food is made of, these are the additives most often included in their composition. Many owners feed their pets boiled chicken, milk or sour cream, not suspecting that this can provoke the development of an allergic reaction.
Symptoms and behavior of a cat with allergies
The main symptom of an allergic reaction to food is dermatological lesions. Despite the fact that the allergen is presented food product, dysfunction gastrointestinal tract are secondary and do not always occur.
Description of dermatological symptoms:
- milliary dermatitis, or cat scab - areas of the skin are affected by a rash resembling millet grains;
- hair loss;
- pustules and papules;
- non-healing ulcers.
Wounds on the skin formed due to constant scratching contribute to the proliferation of bacteria and the occurrence of inflammatory processes. The animal's body temperature rises by 1-2 degrees. The wool begins to smell bad. Inflammation spreads to other organ systems, primarily to the respiratory organs. Due to swelling of the mucous membrane, the cat snores during sleep. Breathing is accompanied by whistling, coughing and sneezing occur. When an infection gets into the eyes, they begin to water and the mucous membrane swells. In some cases, the paw pads become swollen. What does it look like allergic dermatitis, can be seen in the photo.
Can allergies interfere with work? digestive system? Stomach and intestinal upset occurs. The animal feels sick and vomits, and diarrhea appears.
Dermatological symptoms affect the cat's behavior. The animal becomes restless due to constant itching, rubs in the corners, scratches, gnaws and pulls out fur. Behavior changes towards aggressiveness and irritability, the cat does not give in to hands, avoids people, because any touch causes her discomfort.
Kittens, on the contrary, become lethargic and apathetic. They hide in hard-to-reach corners, lie there exhausted, refuse food and water, and do not respond to human voices.
Diagnostic methods
Diagnosing a food allergy is complicated by the fact that its signs are very similar to the symptoms dermatological diseases. Many owners do not suspect that the cause of bald spots, hair loss, and wounds on the skin is not a fungus, but an allergic reaction to regular cat food.
Only a veterinarian can determine what caused the dermatitis. Diagnostic methods, which could 100% answer the question of what exactly is an allergen does not exist. In animals, unlike in humans, skin prick testing and other allergy tests are not performed. Food allergies cannot be detected with a blood test, so you should not torment your pet with injections. Intradermal tests to detect the triggering agent are also ineffective. According to research results, they give an accuracy of only about 40%.
One of the diagnostic methods is to exclude possible allergens from the cat’s diet. The animal is transferred to a special dietary food and monitored whether the reaction has changed or remained the same.
How to treat a pet?
What to do if you domestic cat an allergic reaction to food or homemade food? It is impossible to leave a pet without treatment - this is fraught with serious consequences. If the itching is not eliminated, the cat will continue to scratch the skin and pull out fur, resulting in large bald spots. Scratched skin becomes a vulnerable place where fungi and bacteria begin to multiply. Often the animal has non-healing purulent wounds throughout the body, which are much more difficult to cure than to prevent their appearance in the early stages of dermatitis.
Drug therapy
primary goal drug treatment- relieve itching, irritation and inflammation on the animal’s skin. To do this, the veterinarian will prescribe several different ointments, tablets or injections:
- Antihistamines. These medications block histamine receptors in the body, which leads to inhibition of the reactions it causes. Swelling subsides, itching and lacrimation decrease, breathing normalizes.
- Corticosteroid ointments. These are hormonal drugs that are prescribed for advanced cases of food allergies. They help reduce mucosal hyperemia and suppress the immune system's response to allergens.
- Anti-inflammatory and regenerating ointments and creams. These drugs have an antibacterial effect and are necessary for fast healing wounds that form as a result of constant scratching.
The table shows a list of veterinary drugs:
During treatment, a special collar is put on the cat, which will prevent it from licking the ointment from the skin and scratching the itchy areas again. Not all pets are calm about an uncomfortable accessory and at first try to tear it off. The owner’s task is to calm the animal and carefully monitor so that he does not manage to remove the collar.
You should not self-medicate or prescribe medications to your pet yourself. Only a veterinarian can choose effective remedy and calculate the correct dose.
Drug treatment will not work if a pet will continue to eat. To get rid of allergies, you need to find out what the triggering factor is and eliminate it.
Regular protein foods (milk, sour cream, chicken, eggs) should be excluded from the diet. You also need to switch from regular food to special diet food. Dietary hypoallergenic food for kittens and adult cats contains only one type of protein, so it is easy to choose exactly the product that will not cause a reaction. The proteins in this food are in a split form, so the sensitive gastrointestinal tract of an allergic animal will not experience difficulties digesting food. The disadvantage of hypoallergenic feed is its high cost.
List of manufacturers of hypoallergenic cat food: Hypoallergenic DR25, Anallergenic, Proplan NA Hypoallergenic, Hills Prescription Diet z/d, Farmina UltraHypo, Akana, Origen. Foods are divided into 3 groups depending on which protein is not digestible in the cat’s body:
- Gluten, or vegetable protein. Products contain rice and oats instead of wheat, soy and corn.
- Animal protein. As an alternative to beef, chicken and pork, the ingredients include salmon, rabbit, and venison. If you have an intolerance to dairy or eggs, you should choose foods that are labeled “limited ingredients.”
Instead of buying expensive hypoallergenic food, owners can prepare dietary food for their pet themselves. To do this, it is important to exclude from the diet those foods that cause the reaction and replace them with others. For example, give up beef in favor of rabbit or replace pork with fish.
Prevention measures
Is it possible to avoid an allergic reaction in an animal? As a preventive measure, from the first months of life, a kitten should be fed only premium high-quality food. They are easily absorbed by the body, hypoallergenic, do not contain harmful additives, and are enriched with vitamins and minerals.
This term, of course, is known to everyone. We have all encountered its manifestation in one way or another, and certainly in any home medicine cabinet Is there any antihistamine?
This disease has not spared our pets either.
Let's figure out what it is and how to deal with it.
(ancient Greek – other impact) - hypersensitivity of the body’s immune system upon repeated exposure to an allergen. An allergic reaction occurs when the immune system remembers a completely safe substance (allergen) and, when encountering it again, reacts to it as dangerous, including the mechanisms of its rejection.
Simply put, an allergy is an “incorrect” reaction of an animal’s immune system to certain substances - allergens, which, instead of simply being excreted from the body, cause an inflammatory process.
The peculiarity of this phenomenon is that each case is individual both in terms of the allergen and in the manifestation of the body’s reaction to it.
Allergy symptoms:
redness of the skin, itching (often in the head and neck area), scratching, hair loss, eczema, 
papules, blisters, nasal discharge, otitis media, diarrhea, vomiting. They can manifest themselves either individually or in combination. A rash usually does not indicate an allergy, but a secondary phenomenon - bacterial inflammation. Allergies do not depend on the amount of allergen entering the body. Sometimes even a small particle is enough for a process to occur.
Do you think that if your kitty has allergy symptoms, it means she ate something wrong? It's possible, but unlikely. In reality, everything is much more complicated.
Types of allergies
The most common in animals are allergies to flea saliva, allergies to environmental substances and food allergies.
1. Allergy to flea saliva
- the most common. Unfortunately, it is often ignored, since the owner believes that if he does not see fleas on the animal, then there cannot be fleas. But the fact is that for an allergic reaction to occur, one flea bite is enough, and this can happen simply during a walk or contact with another animal, and you should also remember that fleas can live in household items (carpets, sofas, etc. ).
A good video about flea dermatitis:
2. Allergy to environmental substances (atopic dermatitis)
is the second most common allergy. Usually begins to appear between the ages of 10 months and 3 years. It can be caused by anything - pollen, house dust, mold, household chemicals, hygiene products etc. This type of allergen is almost impossible to identify, and literally a microdose is enough to cause an allergic reaction. Since it is impossible to isolate the animal from the external environment, this type of allergy requires lifelong treatment(!). In most cases, you can choose a treatment and make the animal’s life quite comfortable.
3. Food allergies .
Identifying an allergen is quite difficult and often difficult to eliminate from the diet. Allergies develop as the immune response to the allergen accumulates; this requires time and the constant presence of the allergen in the diet. For example, a beef allergy may develop whole year, during which the cat calmly eats it. Therefore, in cats, allergies usually appear closer to one year of age. But repeated symptoms develop quickly - from a few minutes to several days. Therefore, it is wrong to think that food allergies occur to new foods(!). Most often, allergies develop to protein - meat, and it is strictly individual - some to beef, others to fish, etc.
The signs of all types of allergies are similar. Allergy to flea saliva most commonly affects the back, rump and tail. For food and environmental allergies – head and neck area. Seasonal exacerbation of allergies is typical for atopic dermatitis and flea allergies.
Why do some cats have allergies and others do not? Depends on the animal's immune system. Most allergies are hereditary. Therefore, one of the important factors is breed. For example, hairless breeds are more prone to allergies. The cause of food intolerance can also be diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, enzyme system, and environmental pollution.
Unfortunately, it is impossible to get rid of allergies once and for all. Having arisen once, it will manifest itself subsequently. Medications They only relieve symptoms without eliminating the cause.
Diagnosis of allergies
The diagnosis of “allergy” can only be made by a doctor, since the same symptoms can be caused for various reasons. For example, itching and hair loss can be caused by a lack of fatty acids (omega-3, omega-6), disease internal organs etc.
There is no test to confirm allergies. Since the signs of all allergies are very similar, the diagnosis adopted by dermatologists-veterinarians comes down to the consistent exclusion of one type of allergy after another (!).
The first step is to rule out flea allergies and food allergies.
What appears to be a food allergy. There is no analysis that would immediately and reliably show which product an animal is allergic to. This can only be determined by a diagnostic diet using the elimination method. The goal is to replace possible allergens with hypoallergenic products (lamb, salmon, rabbit, rice, barley, specially developed veterinary dietary ready-made food). In this case, it is necessary to strictly ensure that, in addition to special nutrition, the cat does not receive anything else. Even small piece Treats during this period can blur the picture and prevent an accurate diagnosis. The process is lengthy, taking at least two months. After the allergy symptoms subside, the cat is prescribed a challenge diet - one component is introduced and the reaction is observed. If allergy symptoms do not appear, this ingredient is replaced with another possible allergen, etc. As soon as the allergy resumes, it should be considered an allergen and permanently removed from the diet.
After ruling out allergies to fleas and food components, allergies to the external environment remain.
Allergy treatment
Allergy to flea saliva is treated with constant use of anti-flea drugs. 
Hill's diet for food allergies
Food allergies– exclusion from the diet of the product that provokes it.
At the discretion of the veterinarian, the diagnosis process may be accompanied by the prescription of medications that relieve allergy symptoms and supplements that help cleanse the body as a whole. It should be remembered that it may take from several weeks to several months until the signs of allergy completely disappear.
Atopic dermatitis. Animals with this type of allergy are not recommended for breeding, as the disease can be passed on to offspring.
It is almost impossible to cure this type of allergy (unless you move the cat to a completely different environment, and that is not a fact (!)), but it can be controlled. There are several treatment methods, but any will have to be carried out throughout the animal's life. It may turn out to be simple and inexpensive, or it may require a significant investment of time and money from the owner. In any case, treatment is chosen with the recommendation of a doctor.
And further. Cats with any type of allergy may develop secondary bacterial or fungal inflammation that will require additional treatment.
From personal experience One of my cats (Zhanna Arkadyevna) has atopic dermatitis, which we have been fighting for almost six years now. It all started with the formation of a small bald spot behind the ear at 11 months of age. She and I went through the entire diagnostic scheme to exclude other types of allergies. And for several years now, when itching and scratching appear, we immediately begin treatment hormonal drug. A couple of times Zhannochka experienced complications (a large, weeping lesion of the skin formed on her neck and chest - it looks scary), which required special treatment and the use of a course of antibiotics. Now the cat feels well, although, of course, her immune system is undermined by both constant allergies and its treatment. But here, alas, nothing can be done.
