4/26 Zoey PMPS 124, +2 85, Skin issues?

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Emily and Baby

Emily and Baby

Member Since 2013
Good afternoon!!

Yesterday's Condo

I hope everyone is having a fabulous Friday! It's still chilly out but the sun is shining today! Zoey started super high (in comparison to his new norm) but has dove into the lagoon! I added a bit of HC to his raw to make sure he surfs instead of continuing to drop. Gryffin is eating a bit of the raw with canned mixed and freeze dried chicken crumbled on top, so that's an improvement! I'm so glad its Friday, I need a break, it's been a long week! 4 more hours and I will be done! Yay!

Have a great Furday everyone!!!
 
Re: 4/26 AMPS 173, +4 61, +5 85

Nice! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: Maybe Zoey is settling into this dose. Paws crossed! Hurray for Furday! :-D :-D
Liz
 
Re: 4/26 Zoey PMPS 124

Thanks Liz! It seems like he is settling in! He has just settled onto my lap also :razz: His skin is a mess as he's been getting some Friskies, which has wheat, when he is low. I bought some HC FF now so hopefully that goes away. Although I'm nervous now that it's chicken that he's allergic to because I've never seen it get this bad this fast! He's lost a whole line of fur down his back and his skin is scaly and oozy... Poor guy! He's soooo itchy! I'm praying it's not from the raw food... I guess I will keep him away from Friskies from now on and see if it gets better!

I hope everyone's day has been awesome and that you all have amazing weather this weekend!!!
 
Re: 4/26 Zoey PMPS 124

Oh no, poor Zoey! That sounds miserable. You might use the question icon to ask others about their experience. I am always amazed at the great suggestions that people have. There might be some good ideas to relieve the itchiness. Great PMPS! :-D :-D
Liz
 
Re: 4/26 Zoey PMPS 124

Great numbers on Zoey!! It does look like he is lovin' this dose. Hoping you get warm weather this weekend,

Sorry to hear about the itchies. No suggestions here. I know Neko gets a little loose in the poo department if she gets too much gravy. (or something else with wheat that I wasn't planning on giving her!). If Zoey has had chicken before, that may not be the issue. Take a look at what else is in the Friskies. Fish and eggs are also allergens.
 
Re: 4/26 Zoey PMPS 124, +2 85

Thanks Wendy and Liz! He's diving into the green now!! Good suggestion to ask others about itchiness! I've tried a few products for animals that are supposed to relieve itch, but no luck so far. I put Polysporin (Canadian version of Neosporin) on him to help with pain relief and that helped a bit but I don't want him licking that off. He can't really reach it, but as we all know, cats can surprise us with their agility at times! Kitteh yoga to get those itchies! Maybe you're right Wendy, it could be fish or eggs... I haven't been feeding them any fish flavours recently, but that doesn't mean the ones I feed them a bit ago hasn't done it. Also, it could be egg... I'll check the cans. My assumption was gluten or wheat because he was finally doing well on Blue Buffalo Freedom dry (which I know is horrid now, lol) and didn't have ANY skin issues! His fur was actually growing back after years of struggles!

Does anyone have experience with allergies or itchy kitty skin? My mom gives her dog a little bit of childrens allergy medicine every day, is that safe for cats?

Thanks!!!!!!
 
benadryl liquid for children can be given to cats but you need to consult with your vet....
I don't remember the dose. Benadryl is good for hive type reactions/body reactions as well as nasal allergies.

Sienne has experience with zyrtec . You might pm her and ask her.
 
Since you said the skin/allergy issues were better on the Blue Buffalo Freedom, here is one suggestion.

If you still have the bag of Blue Buffalo Freedom dry or if not go to the manufacturors website. I'd look at the ingredients and make a quick list of the first few ingredients, skip the vitamins and minerals. Then compare to one of the foods you are feeding now. What is different? What does the new food have that the old food did not?

Sort of a visual first pass on an elimination diet.

You say you don't feed any fish flavors. How about Fancy Feast Chicken? It has fish in it even though it says Chicken. Who would have thought. Read labels thoroughly, you'll be surprised what is in some of the foods.

One of my cats was allergic to rice! Even the Hill's Z/D diet caused her endless issues. She would check and pluck out her fur endlessly. Then we switched to grain free. That did the trick.
 
Fish, beef, and gluten are the big three when it comes to food allergy for kitties. Like Rhiannon said, there are some Fancy Feast (and I'm assuming other brands) that may say they are poultry but actually do contain fish. You may also need to be careful if omega-3 has been added. (Omega-3 is usually fish oil.) If you can find LC foods that contain novel proteins (e.g., duck, venison, rabbit, kangaroo), you may want to try them and see if Zoey's skin problems resolve. (I believe Ziwi Peak has a kangaroo product.)

Gabby is sensitive to gluten so it's rare that I will use gravy to steer her numbers. Instead, I use a couple of drops of either Karo (corn) syrup or honey on top of her LC food. For anyone who's cat is gluten sensitive or has IBS, this is a much better option than dealing with the GI or skin effects of gluten.

Gabby does seem to get itchy from seasonal allergies. Below is what my vet recommended:
There are several options—there is a product called Allerderm which is applied once weekly to the skin which can be quite helpful for itchy or dry skin. Additional fish oil omega-3 fatty acids, 200-250 mg daily, are often helpful, but may take up to 2 weeks to really have an effect. Antihistamines are often helpful—we seem to have the best success with Zyrtec, which is over-the-counter, or hydroxyzine which is a prescription medication.

We have Allerderm here, but you may be able to order it online. Zyrtec dosage is ½ of a 10 mg tablet by mouth (in food…) twice daily, or about every 12 hours, try for 7 days. Watch for drowsiness or restlessness, although side effects from Zyrtec are not likely or are very mild. Use plain Zyrtec, or cetirizine, only—no combo meds. The fish oil product we use is AllerG3, or you can use human products.
Click to expand...

If you opt to use benedryl (diphenhydramine), be aware that it can cause a cat to foam at the mouth. Apparently, it tastes pretty awful. I don't know if this is the case with the children's benedryl.
 
Poor Zoey! I hope you get some good suggestions, Emily. We haven't had any allergy problems (yet), but I've read that coconut oil can help, both applied topically and ingested (which will happen anyway if you put it on Zoey's skin). Also, someone else on the board whose cat is allergic to chicken was looking into the Nature's Variety Instinct rabbit formula (if I remember correctly, it is 8% carbs, which isn't as low as some of the other flavors but is still below that desired 10%), so that might be an option if you're looking for a canned food that doesn't contain poultry or fish. You can find that post here: viewtopic.php?f=28&t=93852. Nature's Variety also makes a line of limited ingredient canned foods, but you would have to contact the company for the nutritional breakdown. Good luck! :mrgreen:

Phyllis >^..^<
 
Hi Emily....numbers looking great! I hope you can figure something out for the allergies. He must be miserable poor boy.
 
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