In much the same way that some people have a peanut allergy, or a seafood allergy, or get hay fever, a cat may be allergic to one substance and be fine with another.
If your cat has an allergy to pollen, you may notice their over-grooming becomes worse in the seasons when that pollen is around, such as in the spring for trees, or summer for grasses. There is also a wide overlap in reaction to many pollens and so it might be the cat only gets relief in the winter, when there are very few pollens around to trigger the reaction. Other substances act as irritants (subtly different from an allergy, but producing the same effect). This might be things like spray deodorants, perfumes, or hairspray that are used near the cat and land on their coat, causing irritation.
The effectiveness of this approach may be limited if the cat reacts to pollens, in which case drug therapy may be required.
If the cat is pulling its fur out and making the skin inflamed, red, infected, or ulcerated, then drug therapy is indicated. If it’s a case of a few shorter furred areas, then it probably isn’t. The decision to treat or not is one for you to decide in consultation with your vet. The drugs commonly used are anti-inflammatories. Corticosteroids such as prednisolone are cheap and effective. An average-sized cat is usually given a 5 mg tablet once daily with or after food for 5 to 10 days (depending on how itchy they are) and the dose reduced to one tablet every other day for the duration of the pollen season. Where possible, medication is stopped over the winter. Whilst cats are relatively resistant to the side effects of steroids, when compared to people or dogs, the risk includes increased thirst and appetite (leading to weight gain), and an increased risk of developing diabetes mellitus (sugar diabetes). You should discuss your cat’s individual risk of side effects with your veterinarian. [4] X Research source Plumb’s Veterinary Drug Handbook. Donald Plumb. Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
You can help at home by gently bathing the infected area twice a day with a saltwater solution and then patting the skin dry. To make up a saltwater solution, boil the kettle, then dissolve one teaspoon of regular table salt into one pint of previously boiled water. Keep this solution in a clean container and soak a clean ball of cotton wool each time. [5] X Research source Plumb’s Veterinary Drug Handbook. Donald Plumb. Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
The easiest way to put your cat on a hypoallergenic diet is to speak to your vet about a prescription diet. Diets such as Hills DD, Hills ZD, Hills ZD ultra, or Purina HA are made in such a way that the protein molecules it contains are too small to physically bridge receptors in the gut wall that trigger an allergic reaction. The alternative is to analyze all the food your cat eats and then find a food that contains NONE of those previous ingredients. It can take up to 8 weeks for the previous allergen to clear the system and the symptoms subside, so don’t expect a quick result. Whilst on the dietary trial, you must feed the hypoallergenic diet exclusively, so that you don’t accidentally give a treat containing an allergen. If the cat does have a food allergy, your choices are either to continue feeding the hypoallergenic diet or to add in one new food every fortnight and wait to see if the itching restarts, before declaring that food is OK for your cat.
Examples of effective products are fipronil, available without a prescription, and selamectin, which is called Revolution in the US and Stronghold in the UK, and is available with a prescription only. [7] X Research source Use a treatment regardless of whether you see evidence of fleas or not. This is because it only takes one flea bite to trigger the reaction, and since the flea doesn’t live on the pet, he may be long gone and yet the cat is still itchy.
Try to identify why the cat is stressed. Perhaps there has been an intruder cat in the house, or you’ve recently got a new pet. Addressing the underlying cause is likely to be the answer. In addition, you can use Feliway, which is a synthetic version of the feline pheromone (chemical messenger) which makes the cat feel safe and secure. Feliway comes as a spray and a room diffuser, and the later is the best option because it works constantly in the background. [9] X Research source
