My cats are scratching. What's the most common cause of cat allergies?

You will want to rule out each possible allergy cause (fleas, food allergy, atopy or hyperthyroidism). It sounds like your vet wants to look into food allergies first. Make sure you conduct a proper food trial with the diet. This is the ONLY thing Cheeky can eat. No treats, flavored tooth paste....anything for 12 weeks. You will not see any changes for the first 4 weeks. Yes, you could address the laundry issue as well. Keep in mind he may not have any allergies to the detergent. Dreft is a brand that tends to be low allergen but it's not impossible to see a reaction. I hope this helps.

This is probably caused by an allergic reaction. first of all make sure you de-flea Goldie regularly every month with a high quality spot on (ex. Advantage) as fleas are by far the most common reason for these reactions. If the fleas are not the problem, it could be an allergic reaction to food or an environmental factor. this is more complicated to treat and will sometimes require medications such as Steroids, anti histamines or cyclosporin in order to stop the allergy.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is possibly due to allergies. It really comes down to figuring out what is causing her allergies so that they can be treated or the specific allergen avoided. A secondary infection is likely and also needs to be addressed. This could also be something like mange. This is something that it is typically differentiated based on a physical examination and basic cytology which your veterinarian could do. There are many things that can cause allergies though in most cases they can be broken down into 3 big categories: flea, food and environmental allergies. Allergies are usually worked up in a stepwise fashion starting with flea allergies as this is the easiest and cheapest to take care of. If not on a flea preventative, then it would be a good idea to get started on one. If already on one then it would be a good idea to change to something else (there are many new products out in the market). If not improved in 1-3 months then it is time to move on and check for food allergies by switching to a novel diet (new protein and new carbohydrate). If that does not seem to be the issue then you are left out having to check for environmental allergies which require blood and/or skin tests. Allergies can be very frustrating to deal with at first but so rewarding at the end when we are able to treat them effectively!

Although not the typical affected areas, make sure flea are controlled as this can contribute to ther allergies. A food change may make a bit different as this can be a food allergy. You want to switch to a hypoallergenic diet; royal canin, Purina and science diet all have good diets for this. From there you may need a low dose of cortisone intermittently to help but cats can build a resistance to long term use and have side effects. There is another immunosuppressive drug known as atopica that is helping some cats now. There is another drug called Apoquel that is not labeled for cats but is showing good relief in several

This is probably caused by an allergic reaction. first of all make sure you de-flea your cat regularly every month with a high quality spot on (ex. Advantage) as fleas are by far the most common reason for these reactions. If the fleas are not the problem, it could be an allergic reaction to food or an environmental factor. this is more complicated to treat and will sometimes require medications such as Steroids, anti histamines or cyclosporin in order to stop the allergy.

This is probably caused by an allergic reaction. first of all make sure you de-flea Ciciregularly every month with a high quality spot on (ex. Advantage) as fleas are by far the most common reason for these reactions. If the fleas are not the problem, it could be an allergic reaction to food or an environmental factor. this is more complicated to treat and will sometimes require medications such as Steroids, anti histamines or cyclosporin in order to stop the allergy. This isn't an emergency by any means.

Hi, and thanks for your question. This could be due to an allergy, although it could also be infection or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat with a high quality flea treatment (advantage is fine), then ask the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try to discover the cause of the allergy. 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 this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!