How long until my cat's allergies improve on a prescription diet?

That is good that you are looking into food allergy. It is important to rule out all causes of allergies. You should not expect to see any changes in his behavior for AT LEAST 4 weeks minimum. A food trial is a full 16 week event and you will not know the full effects until then. Make sure you are conducting a proper food trial and keep your veterinarian updated. Don't stop the diet without talking with your vet. If Jorge seems uncomfortable, your vet can provide medications to make him feel better. I hope this helps.

Hi there. This is a good question! When we do a food trial, we're normally using one of two types of diets - either a hydrolyzed protein diet, or a novel protein diet. A hydrolyzed protein diet is specially processed so that the protein molecules in the food are too small to trigger an allergic response. A novel protein diet, on the other hand, contains unusual ingredients that your cat has never eaten before - often the main ingredient is something like kangaroo, rabbit, etc. that isn't in most over-the-counter diets. Having a food allergy requires previous exposure to the ingredient that's causing it, so it's impossible to be allergic to something you've never eaten before. So with either one of these types of diets, it's essentially impossible for your cat to be allergic to them. So when we do a food trial, we're looking to see if there is improvement in the allergy symptoms after switching to the prescription diet. If so, then that's pretty good evidence that your cat has a food allergy! If not, then she probably doesn't. The diet trial doesn't tell us *what* she's allergic to - only whether she has a food allergy, or not. If she responds well to the diet, you can either choose to just keep her on it indefinitely (many clients choose this option, since it's easier!), or cautiously start re-introducing specific foods one at a time and watch for a recurrence of her symptoms. This is how you would go about determining what specific foods she's allergic to, if this is something you want to pursue. But you can also just feed the prescription diet long-term if she does well on it.

I would recommend to wait up to 8 weeks before thinking about other causes. If not working, a skin scrape and more dermatological tests (including allergic testing on bloods) are required to determine if other causes are possible. Three main type of allergies are usually affecting pets: food allergies, flea and parasite related ones and environmental type (allergens coming from trees, pollens, dust etc etc). Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair any possible skin lesions (like steroids and antibiotics). Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

If Maze was previously diagnosed with food allergies and they don't seem to be better yet, then they were not adequately diagnosed. First, it can take several weeks for the allergy to go away after a diet change. So, if it's been less than six weeks after the diet was switched, then you'll need to wait a little longer before you know if it worked. Food allergies are due to certain proteins and they are usually animal proteins (beef, pork, dairy, etc.). To find the actual protein Maze was allergic to, you must have done an elimination trial. If there was not an elimination trial done, then you would be only guessing at the source of the allergies. One way I often bypass the elimination trial is by recommending a hydrolysed protein diet such as Hill's i/d. In these diets, the proteins are broken down, so there is minimal chance of them causing an allergy. This would have to be prescribed by a veterinarian though. In the meantime, you may consider starting a diet trial to see if that helps to relieve the problems Maze is having. Here is a link to a good article that explains how to do the diet: http://communityvet.net/2010/03/diy-elimination-diet-for-the-dog-an-cat/ Keep in mind that your diet trial will cease to work if she is getting any treats or table scraps. Make sure that there is no possibility of this happening - especially if there are kids in the house. As always, it's recommended to do these things in consultation with your vet.

One important fact to remember is that grains are very rarely the cause of any allergies in pets. Additionally, grain free diets have been linked to heart disease though it is not fully understood at this time. If Stella does respond, it will be 12-16 weeks before you will know if it helped or not. Additionally, she cannot have any other treats/foods/flavored supplements during this trial period. The best way to rule out a food allergy is with a hydrolyzed protein diet. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

Food allergies can be frustrating to deal with. A cat may show signs such as vomiting or diarrhea within hours of eating a food they are allergic to or it can take weeks to see a problem, Skin issues such as hair loss and scabbing sometimes will not occur until 2-4 weeks after a cat eats a food they are allergic to. Food allergies are typically seen in pets older than 1 year, but can be seen as young as 8-12 weeks in rare cases. If you are concerned Sweetie may have a food allergy, I would recommend discussing this with your veterinarian as they will be able to guide you in a food trial to confirm a food allergy.

It can sometimes take up to two months to fully see results of a new food before any symptoms are completely gone if it is a food-based reaction. I would hesitate to keep switching foods as you won't be able to accurately judge if a food is causing it and may just cause added GI upset on top of the itching and scratching. If Jax is still breaking out very badly it would be best to contact the vet doing the food trial with you so they can take note and make suggestions on whether a change should happen or if you should stay on the food for a while longer.