Cat Skin Allergies

The most common disease which cats suffer from, is a skin allergy. When allergens come in contact with or enter the cat's body, the immune system of the cat produces a protein called IgE. This protein attaches itself to 'tissue mast cells' which are present in the skin. This releases some chemicals like histamine. These are the chemicals which produce rashes and itching. There are mainly three types of allergies seen in cats.

Flea Allergy Dermatitis: It is one of the most common allergies in cats. It is caused due to sensitiveness to the saliva of the fleas. Fleas are blood-sucking creatures which bite cats and leave behind their saliva; it is this saliva which causes allergy in cats. Cats are not allergic to all fleas. This disease can causes secondary infections.

Symptoms

• Severe itching
• Hot spots on hips or face.
• Chewing and biting of tail and legs.
• Lesions, oozing from chewing.
• Severe skin damage due to scratching

Treatment

• Prevention from flea bites. This is most important because the removal of fleas from your cat's environment is necessary. But make sure that the spray control which you are using for eradication of fleas is not harmful to your cat's health.
• Frequent vacuuming and carpet cleaning will ensure removal of flea eggs.
• See your veterinarian promptly if your cat has developed secondary skin infections and lesions. Antifungal and antibiotic drugs may be necessary for their treatment.
• If your cat is feeling intensely itchy and very uncomfortable, a short course of steroid may be required to break the itching cycle.

Inhalant/ Contact Allergies: It is an allergy caused by inhaling or absorbing an allergen such as pollen, dander, etc. It produces atopy or allergic dermatitis. An atopy is an inflammatory, non-contagious disease. It is also pruritus (intense chronic itching in the anal region).

Symptoms

• Mutilated Skin
• Excessive hair loss
• 'Twitchy' skin
• Pulling out tufts of hair
• Red, long lesions.
• Eosinophilic plaques (similar to hot spots in dogs).
• Crusty papules

Treatment

• In this type of allergy, no special treatment is required. If your cat is allergic to a pollen of a seasonal tree, it will recover from the allergy within 3 to 4 days.
• You need to take some easy but very important precautions like keeping the cat away during vacuuming. Keep the cats in uncarpeted rooms and wash their beds regularly. Keep the cats out of basements. Use air-conditioners. Avoid stuffed toys and dusty pet food. Limit the number of plants near the house.
• Topical therapy consists of cleaning your cat with a shampoo, rinses and topical anti-itch solutions. This will give your cat an instant but short-term relief.
• Visit the veterinarian if secondary and bacterial infections have developed.

Food Allergies: Firstly, one should learn to differentiate between food allergies and food intolerance. Food allergy is one which shows symptoms such as itching and skin problems. In food intolerance, there are symptoms like vomiting, diarrhea and no allergic symptoms are shown. Research shows that the most common food of your cat is the most common offender, for example, fish, dairy products and beef. Though all proteins are similar, there are some which are more antigenic than others. Allergic reactions may be associated with the amount of exposure to proteins.

Symptoms

• Itchy skin
• Miliary dermatitis
• Hair loss
• Scratchy skin
• These symptoms are the same as seen in other allergies; but one way of differentiating between them is that symptoms of food allergies are present for the whole year and mostly start appearing in winter. This is not the case with other allergies.

Treatment

• Once a proper diagnosis of the allergy is made, the treatment is very simple. You can either choose special cat food available in the market or plan a diet yourself.
• In case, you choose the latter, eliminate the food items from the cat's diet one by one, in order to determine the 'culprit'. For instance, if you feed your cat, chicken and vegetables for two weeks and if there are no symptoms; then feed it beef for two weeks and if symptoms are clearly visible, it may be assumed that your cat is allergic to beef. Now just remove beef from your cat's diet. Also make sure that the diet is balanced one, with the right proportion of vitamins and minerals.

Most people don't take allergies seriously. This is a big mistake since an allergy in itself may not be fatal but the complications developed because of it are certainly dangerous. For the good of your beloved pet, take the necessary care.