What is Flea Allergy Dermatitis?

Flea allergy dermatitis (flea bite hypersensitivity) is the most common skin allergy in cats. As the name suggests, it is caused by an allergic reaction to a flea bite. There are 15 known allergens in flea saliva, each one is capable of causing an allergic reaction in the cat. Just one bite from a flea is enough to trigger an allergic reaction in your cat.  FAD is one of the major causes of miliary dermatitis in cats.

Symptoms of Flea Allergy Dermatitis:

Symptoms vary depending on the degree of sensitivity. Some symptoms include:

Treatment of Flea Allergy Dermatitis:

Your veterinarian will be able to diagnose flea allergy dermatitis. This can be done visually. Signs of fleas on your cat are a good indicator. However, extremely sensitive cats will have few if any fleas on them. This is due to excessive self grooming.   In such cases, to get a definite diagnosis that your cat is in fact allergic to flea bites & not something else then a intradermal skin testing is required. Treatment involves several areas:

Eliminating fleas from your cat & environment, and preventing re-infestation of fleas.

Treating secondary skin infections caused by excessive biting & scratching of the skin. This may involve a course of antibiotics, medicated shampoo & or a topical medication.

Antihistamines or steroid injections & or ointment may be prescribed by your veterinarian to control inflammation & reduce itching.

Anti-inflammatory injection to reduce the itching.

Hyposensitisation (desensitisation). This involves injecting minute amounts of flea antigen into the cat in the hope that it will re-programme the immune system so it's not hypersensitive to flea antigen.

Prevention of Flea Allergy Dermatitis:

Strict flea control is the best way to avoid/limit your cat's exposure to fleas & therefore flea bite allergy.

Also see:

Head Lice

Eczema