My 2 year old cat has allergies the vet says it's a food allergy. Any recommendations?

Question

When I adopted him, he was never treated with any type of flea protection. His foster owner said she fed him Iams original and sent some home with me. I live with my boyfriend who already had a cat that was fed Purina One dry food. I mixed the Iams with the Purina food until he was eventually just on Purina because that's what we were used to feeding my boyfriends cat. I think he was eating Purina and staying indoors for about 5 months without any problems then he got out a few times and got fleas. That's when the scratching started. I treated the fleas with a flea shampoo but eventually had to take him to the vet because the scratching/biting was getting worse and he developed sores, poor guy was miserable. The vet didn't find any fleas or mites on him and diagnosed him with a food allergy but cannot pinpoint the problem. He administered a steroid shot, which works wonders but last only about 8 wks. I can't continue the shots for long as it can be damaging to my cats health. Help us!

Answer 1

You need to get the cat on a better food. I'm surprised that the vet hasn't told you this yet or tried to narrow down exactly *what* food the cat could be allergic to.

Purina, Iams, Eukanuba, Science Diet, and many other of the store bought brands are loaded with fillers and problem ingredients. What you need to look for is a single protein source without corn or other cheap fillers. Natural Balance has a Venison & Green Pea that may be the answer for your cat. It's their allergy formula and has not just a single source protein, but also a single source carbohydrate as well as no fillers and it's all human grade ingredients. It comes in both dry & wet formulas. I know that some PetCo stores carry this brand, as do many private no-animal pet supply stores. It will probably be worth the cost if it means no more vet bills and no more pain for the cat. Good luck to you. : )

Answer 2

Then that is one stupid vet. If you could I woukd check with another vet as well. It would seem she shouldn't have difficulty eating dry food at all. My cats are four years and they eat perfectly fine. Have you looked into the genetic diseases purebreds seem to have? That could be a problem too If her parents had something. Or have you given her a new brand of dry food? A different flavor? I know when we switched litter on my cat she didn't use it at all. So I you changed recently you should see if changing it back would work. But otherwise I don't know how to help you. Those would really be the only to things that I can think of that woukd push her away from dry food. Good luck!

Answer 3

I am having this EXACT problem! My cat gets these infected sores on his legs and groin area. My vet said to check the food and treats for Red Dye. Make sure to change the food if it has Red Dye in it. I had to throw out a bunch of stuff and am waiting to see if it works...

Some cats are just more sensitive to food additives than others. Also, if he is drinking or eating out of a plastic bowl, he could have developed an allergy to this as well. Get stainless steel!

Answer 4

Keep in mind, steroids are not recommended for long term use. Why did your vet not recommend that you change food and put your pet on Science Diet Z/D. It is food for pets with allergies, it comes in silver or gold bags, and if my mind is working today, the gold bag is the Ultra(more intense allergies) and the silver is for lower allergies. Ask your vet also to put cat on Advantage. These OTC and especially Hartz(can cause seizures), even if the cat is an indoor cat, you need to keep shots up to date. Also you may want to consider bloodwork be done on the pet. Good Luck to you.

Answer 5

I had a cat with this problem. it can be heart-wrenching to see your cat suffering.
my vet suggested I find a cat food with ingredients my cat hadn't eaten before (lamp, rabbit). you have to read lots of labels. I know PetsMart carries all kind of different foods.
it took time, first to clear up the symtoms & get my cat healthy again. it turned out she was allergic to fish.
Good Luck!

Answer 6

What most people find works, is to get all-natural cat food. Lots of times it is the fillers and grains in the food that the cat is allergic to. I would suggest getting some Eukanuba (yes, I know, not quite as inexpensive as Purina) and try him on that to see if it works.

Answer 7

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=1&cat=1402&articleid=142

Great site about cat allergies.

Hope it helps.

Answer 8

heres your solution, boil turkey with no season and rice with no salt keep that as its food supply and it will keep the cat healthy and take care of its alergies for food. Also try and see what type of food is causing this like tuna or dry food.