Omega 3's and Allergy Shots in Diabetic

[Domino and Puff]

My vet prescribed a pet omega 3 capsule twice a day for my diabetic cat Domino who was pulling the hair out of his back and scratching sores on his neck. He now also has a rodent's ulcer. Domino has allergies to about 25 different things -- several grasses, house flies, beef, eggs, and potatoes just to name a few. We tested his blood to figure this out and I am now considering giving him allergy shots to help with this. My question is can I give him omega 3's (fish oil) made for humans instead of buying the expensive vet version? If so how much should I give him? Also, has anyone every tried the allergy shots? Any thoughts?

 

[Phoebe_TiggyGA_NortonGA]

Probably a human omega-3 supplement would be fine. That is what I tried with my cats, but they didn't like the smell (they also rejected salmon oil, the picky devils!)

One of my cats has allergies. He is not diabetic. We avoid foods with gluten, fish and beef. He still gets flare-ups occasionally.

When he has a raw scratched area, I apply an antibiotic ointment that contains a pain reliever. (he likes the pain reliever aspect - hates vaseline or ointment / cream with No pain reliever)

If we can't get him healed up, we go to the vet for a steroid shot.

The steroid shot calms down the outbreak and he heals up within a few days.

 

[Domino and Puff]

Thanks for the info. Do you remember how much you gave him? Domino does not like the smell of the fish oil either, I have to hide it in his food. He does usually let these spots heal up after a couple of days -- but a lot of the time he scratches another one.

When I had him allergy tested and took away the things it showed he was allergic to and that I could logically keep from him (the beef, eggs, potato, etc.) he did get a lot better. Then all of a sudden he was back to scratching again and I have no idea what set it off this time. Unfortunately, he has had these allergies pretty much all his life. They are probably what caused him to become diabetic (my first vet gave him several steroids for the allergies), but I did not know they were bad at the time. Now my new vet knows that steroids can cause diabetes, and because Domino is already diabetic we do not want to give him those.

 

[Phoebe_TiggyGA_NortonGA]

I don't remember measuring the oil. The gel capsules for humans - i just used one (poke the end and squeeze the oil out)

If you get desperate, it is ok to give steroids to a diabetic -- you just may need to increase the insulin a little to compensate.

When Norton had problems with a brain tumor, he started on steroids to reduce the inflammation. The steroids definitely helped him to feel better. We carefully monitored his blood sugar, expecting it to go up, and it did not increase from the daily dose of prednosolone.

So... goes back to "Every cat is different"

 

[Gia and Quirk]

Allergy shots have been the answer to our prayers. They are expensive and we needed them for close to two years before I was willing to try doing without. Folly still has flareups and we use cyclosporin (Atopica) when he scratches aggressively, but that, too, has become less frequent.

Folly's allergies are almost all environmental, but I have also scaled way back on fish, beef and all grains and gluten just to be sure. For the pollens, grasses. mold, dust mites et al I find that an air purifier helps a lot. In the winter we run humidifiers nonstop and that helps too. I buy the equipment from allergybuyersclub.com . Their site is worth a visit because they have run lab comparisons on all the machines they sell.

As for the fish oil, unless he has fish allergies they should be fine.

Gia & Quirk (GA)

Guilt trips are a detour from life

 

[Domino and Puff]

Thanks! I am having the vet to order me the allergy serum. He said he would like to give the first couple to make sure there was no reaction and then I can give the rest at home. Maybe these will work.