Ask a Vet: Allergies in Cats
September 30th, 2008 by Dr. Donna SpectorQ: My 6-year-old cat Emma has been scratching her head behind the ears, on her neck quite often, and she also has been shaking her head. When I pet her on the head/ears, she shakes her head or moves away. Any ideas as to the causes? Also, how can this be treated?
A: Cats don’t exhibit the same classic allergy symptoms that people do. The same grass pollen that might make you sneeze and have watery eyes, is likely to cause severe skin itching that causes your cat to scratch and rub excessively.
Cats also commonly develop allergies to food and flea bites, and each type of allergy has unique symptoms. Click here to read more about allergies in cats and help your cat become itch-free!
Dr. Donna Spector, DVM, DACVIM
Do you need vet advice? Post a comment with your veterinary questions and we will send them to Dr. Donna Spector to be answered in a future column.
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September 30th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
Hi, we brought our five year old cat Sterling to our vet due to constipation and poor appetite (he always ate dry food and generally wouldn’t touch wet). He was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy (4 out of 6 scale, up from 2/3 at previous visits), high calcium, and kidney failure — and the prognosis of living about a year more at best. After enemas and flushing, she prescribed a special diet of food with the ingredients below. Can you share your opinion about if that diet seems on the right track, or what diet we should be seeking? Thank you!
Sterling’s Mom
Ingredients from the prescribed food(dry):
Rice, ground corn, chicken fat, corn gluten meal, chicken meal, natural flavors, cellulose powder, dried egg powder, potassium chloride, calcium carbonate, brewers yeast,
choline chloride, potassium citrate, taurine, vitamins [DL-alpha-tocopherol (source of vitamin E), niacin, biotin, riboflavin (vitamin B2), D-calcium pantothenate, pyridoxine
hydrochloride (vitamin B6), thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), vitamin B12 supplement, vitamin A acetate, vitamin D3 supplement, folic acid], trace minerals [zinc oxide,
ferrous sulfate, copper sulfate, manganous oxide, sodium selenite, calcium iodate], preserved with natural mixed tocopherols, rosemary extract, and citric acid.
December 11th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
[...] Ask a Vet: Allergies in Cats [...]
December 15th, 2008 at 5:11 pm
[...] Ask a Vet: Allergies in Cats [...]
January 4th, 2009 at 8:50 pm
Hi, I have a 7 year old French Briard named Murphy. 3 months ago he started having loose stools with alot of mucous I called my vet and he recommended Immondium and metamucil. It worked when I gave it but as soon as Murphy ate the mucous came back. I have always fed him and our Jack Russell, Courage Innova dog food with missing link vitamin powder. Murphy has to have his food moistened because Briards are prone to bloat. The breeder told us to never give him dry food. Now the vet has him on Science diet W/D and I am so worried it will only add to the problem. I was feeding he and courage a variety of vegetables, brown rice, sweet potatoes, lamb/chicken and the vet said it might not be digestable for Murphy. I am at my wits end and need to know the natural food I had him on is not going to hurt him. He is just the sweetest dog. I am an animal person and will do whatever I can for him. He does need to loose weight but the mucous must be a healing crisis of some kind and it would be great to know how to help him through it. I don’t know if Murphy having surgery twice last year once in December to have a toe amputated and then in May to have a torn ACL and meniscus repaired may have caused this due to the drugs he was on for inflammation and pain and of course the antibiotics as well. My vet is a great guy but he doesn’t believe in natural feeding or giving your pets the food you eat. We are very careful what we give them we eat organic and have an RO water system so the animals don’t even get tap water. I use homeopathy for my family and when I know what is going on with the animals I treat them as well but this has me stumped.
Thanks for any help you can give,
Michele
Thanks, Michele