Home          Site Map

 

 

 

 

Food Allergies in Cats

Your Lifestyle: Home, Parenting, Gardening, Pets, Food, Money & More!!!

What are allergies?

The word allergy means 'altered working'. Just like humans, cats can have allergies too. Allergies are a common cause of skin disease in cats.

The purpose of the immune system is to keep infectious microorganisms, such as certain bacteria, viruses, and fungi, out of the body, and to destroy any infectious microorganisms that do invade the body. Allergies are caused by an inappropriate response to a substance which would usually be considered harmless. In an allergic animal, the immune system over reacts to the substance & mounts an immune response against it.

Eosinophilic Granuloma Complex & Miliary Dermatitis have been linked to allergies.

Food Allergies

This is caused by an allergic reaction to one or more ingredients in the cat's food. The most common causes of food allergies are fish, beef, eggs, wheat &  milk.  Cats can become allergic to foods they have eaten for a long period of time.

Symptoms of food allergies:

  • Non seasonal itching, especially on the front half of the body, head, face, ears & neck.

  • The ears may also be swollen & or infected

  • Hair loss (due to excessive scratching, grooming etc)

  • Vomiting & or diarrhoea

Diagnosis of food allergies:

Your veterinarian will place your cat on a food trial which usually lasts between 8-12 weeks. During this time, you must not give your cat any other foods, vitamins, minerals or chewable medications apart from the prescribed diet. If any other foods or vitamins are given during this trial it will invalidate the results. If the allergy clears up after the specified time then a food allergy is the likely cause. The diet given to your cat during the trial will be a food the cat has never had before such as rabbit, duck or venison. The diet may be home made or a special 'prescription' diet.  This is known as 'elimination food trial'. After the trial, if the cat's allergies have cleared up it will be placed back onto it's regular food & if after a short period of time the allergies return then it is safe to conclude that the food was the cause of the allergy.

After the trial you may be asked to 'challenge' your cat by  re-introducing one ingredient back into the diet. If after 2 weeks the re-introduced food hasn't caused a flair up then add another ingredient & so on. If the allergy returns with the re-introduction of the ingredient then this is eliminated from the diet once again.

Occasionally new food allergies develop over time, if this happens then it will be necessary to re-evaluate the new diet.

Treatment of food allergies:

Avoiding the food which caused the allergies is the best method of treatment. This may either be a home made diet or a commercial one. If you are feeding a home made diet it is important to ensure that your cat is receiving the correct nutrients in the diet. 

Also see Food Intolerances in Cats

 

Google
Web www.cat-world.com.au
 

 

 


Cat-World cat forums
Join our online cat community with over 9,911 members for advice and friendship.
We also have classified forums for breeders to list cats for sale.

You must be registered to login. Register here.

 
Your Lifestyle: Home, parenting, gardening, recipes & more!
Visit our new home & lifestyle forum. Click here.


Check out our extensive listing of Australian & international cat breeders.
Also see;
Veterinarians (new), Boarding Catteries, Pet Sitters, Pet Groomers (new).
 

Advertise your cat related product or service on Cat-World.
Click here for more information.
 

Ringworm in Cats
Removing Cat Urine Odour
Catnip
Cat Enclosures
Ticks

 
 


 

 

Unless otherwise stated, all articles on this site are written by myself & are the sole property of Cat-World.
No part of this website may be copied unless you have written permission to do so.

Copyright 2002 - 2008  Cat-World.  All rights reserved.
Disclaimer       Privacy Policy       Site Map      Contact Cat-World      Advertise on Cat-World       Goods & Services Directory       Your Lifestyle      Celebreast

Hosted by EZPZ Hosting