Skin allergy - any advice welcome

[Angiew]

how long have you had the sofa and where did it come from? There are rumours about the stuff they use on sofas potentially causing alllergies in animals.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Some flea products need the flea to bite for them to be killed and that would activate an allergy.

[weesilvie]

My Silvie also has a skin allergy which has developed recently.  My vet said that it's likely to be a flea allergy, even though she doesn't have fleas and hasn't had for years.  Apparently flea eggs etc can live in carpets for up to 10 years, and survive being cleaned!  So I am in the process of Indorex-ing the whole house and hope it will have the desired results.
Inorex is expensive - search online for where to get it cheapest, its not a prescription product so is readily available. Very worth it if it works though.

[Millys Mum]

Whiskas pouches did change earlier in the year, to my eye and smell anyway 

[pinkpandora]

Good idea about the steam clerner. I can borrow one from the dry cleaners.

I usualyl feed all of the cats Whiskers Chicken or Felix Chicken pouches and purina One (Maybe I will stop giving him purina one - just to see)

[Fire Fox]

There is no rhyme or reason with allergies - I am allergic to things on my face that I can use on my body, and I have a longstanding patch of eczema on one elbow that is aggravated by shampoo when I wash my hair ... why not both sides?? I have a biological sciences background (pharmacy, research labs, fitness and nutrition) and I don't understand it fully.  I think the allergy tests need a blood sample sending away, so hopefully this vet could be trusted that much! It's a shame you are not having a good response, it isn't healthy (tho sometimes necessary) for an animal to be on steriods long term.

Are you able to borrow/ hire a steam cleaner and do the carpets? This should kill any dust mites, or at least knock their numbers back. Also you haven't said what you are feeding? If you have eleven it will be difficult to control what one eats I am sure. My Noah was soooooo itchy when I gave him a sample of RC, and his 'doings' are when he has some other premium dry foods. He doesn't smell at all when he has raw meat, I was shocked at the difference in just a day or two.

[pinkpandora]

Thank you both for the good advice. I do intend to get rid of the carpets next year and change to laminate flooring. Meesy loves to go out as he is ex-feral so does tend to stress if he can't get out. I am going to ask the locum if I can up the steroids. I think that you are right in
that it may not be anything outside as we are in a  different season now so will have to start thinking of other things he could be allergic to. I have 11 cats in total and none of the others have developed any allergies. The allergy on his ears and mouth cleared up really quickly so it isj ust the tummy that is proving difficult.  He tends to sleep in the windowledge, on my bed and on the leather sofa. None of my animals are insured as I have never had a good experience with an insurance company but I put money away each month into a separate account just for vet bills.

One thing it may be worth mentioning is that I resccued him and his brothers and sister from the field when they were babies and they were all ill with flu. He does suffer from time to time with the feline herpes virus. I did point this out but it wasn't really taken any further. I think that when my vert comes back he will need allergy testing.

[Millys Mum]

Good point about cross seasons FF.
Have you changed washing powder/liquid to biological?
Changed brands of food?

Things i know to have helped other people with allergy cats are changing their carpets to laminate or wood, getting a good hoover, spraying the house with indorex as it kills dust mites and raw feeding.

Can you speak to the locum about upping the steroids to keep meesy comfy til your own vet gets back and then try to implement a different approach

[Fire Fox]

  sorry to read you and kitty are both in distress. I know from my own allergies that once you get into a cycle of open skin you tend to be sensitive to other things. If the allergy is ongoing from June to December it is less likely to be something in a field as we are in a completely different season?? I know he is ex-feral, but what happens if you keep him in for a day or two, is there any healing or does he just then over-groom?

Is Meesy insured and have you been offered any allergy testing? Are there any cleaning products you are using around the home that the cat might be being exposed to, anything scented, anything you put on carpets, residue of laundry powder or conditioner on fabrics where he sleeps? What are you feeding - cats can be allergic to fish, some meats, soya, cereals?

[pinkpandora]

Back in June my ex-feral Siamese Cross Meesy developed a small spot on his tum and mouth which gradually spread. I took him to the vet and was told he had an allergy. It couldn't be decided what the allergy was due to because we have a large overgrown field at the back of us where all of my cats play so he has been treated with various doses of Prednisolone. This has helped but the dose has had to be upped and reduced because too high the allergy would almost clear but he put on weight and too low the allergy would come back again. He is now on 1/2 am and 1/2 pm. From time to time he has also had to have antibiotics due to an infection setting in. It was starting to get better although still visible until about a week ago. It is now getting worse again and is very red because Meesy keeps on licking it. My vet is away until 4th January and Meesy, being ex-feral does not like strangers. The locum vet only seems inyerested in trying to sell us products and making as much money out of people as he can whereas my regular vet has gained Meesy's confidence but even so he gets extremely stressed when he has to go to the vet. Even with the vet's help I am beginning to be very afraid that this allergy will never go away and would be grateful for anyone's experiences of this, whether there is anything homeopathic I could put onto the skin or even if I could put some sort of bandage onto the skin. We are putting Fuciderm cream onto it but still he licks it off. The one thing that I know would not be aceptable due to the kind of cat he is is a collar. I am so distressed about this and would be so grateful for any help. Thank you