Allergy to cat food: symptoms and treatments

Allergic reaction to dry food in cats is more common than in dogs. It is necessary to be able to distinguish between food allergy and intolerance of certain products. The allergy to cat food in the symptoms is multiple, but more often it is irritation and other skin problems. Food intolerance leads to nausea or diarrhea, not provoking a characteristic of the reaction of the animal organism for the allergy. In cats, food intolerance is similar to a human reaction to an intestinal or diarrhea disorder from consuming toasted or spicy food. But there is a possibility to avoid it, however, like allergies, finding out the cause and eliminating the ingredient from the cat's diet.

Allergy to cat food: symptoms, causes

Allergies in cats can appear for various reasons, but most often it's food. And regardless of what it eats - natural or dry food. Studies have shown that certain ingredients contained in dry food cause an allergic reaction. Cats have some allergens.

Allergens

• Bull meat.
• Meat of ram.
• Seafood.
• Corn.
• Soy products.
• Dairy.
• A hen.
• Wheat and stuff.

Based on this list, it is easy to guess that these products are often a significant part of the cat's diet. This dependence is not accidental. In dry food included a large number of additives that contribute to an inadequate digestive reaction. This is due to the fact that some proteins are most antigenic than others, and they are identical in form. That is why the frequency of allergic reactions depends directly on the number and duration of their effects. In addition, in addition to the listed products, the animal may have its own preferences, for example fruits, which are also capable of causing allergies.

Food allergy

To distinguish an animal suffering from a food or other type of allergy is not easy according to its physical characteristics. Nevertheless, there are signs of allergy in cats to feed, symptoms that indicate the presence of an animal reaction. If you are allergic to food, it can cause a very strong irritation on the skin, which can not be removed even with steroid medications.

This type of disease is very cunning, it is due to the fact that it manifests itself not unexpectedly, but in connection with the continued use of a certain type of dry food and the accumulation of harmful substance in the feline organism. It is difficult to find this substance and exclude it, since the animal can eat the usual food for several years without any signs, and then at one point the food allergy will appear on the fodders of cats, the symptoms of the disease that have not been manifested before. Especially the allergy in cats at the age of 12 months is aggravated.

An allergic reaction can occur on any dry food, but most often this happens when eating with protein content. The problem can also be exacerbated by changing the feed. According to statistics, when you use even the most high-quality and expensive product in some animals also manifests an allergic reaction. Pay great attention to what your cat eats, only so you can identify the disease in time and change the nutrition of the animal.

Symptoms of food allergy in cats

How does the allergy to cat food develop? Symptoms are similar to those of other types of the disease. The main manifestation is a skin itch. In addition, there may be miliary dermatitis and much more.

Allergies in cats for dry-fed symptoms have the following:

• The cat may have hair loss and dandruff.
• The cat constantly rubs against the walls, gnaws paws and itches.
• Experiencing aggression or, on the contrary, complete apathy.
• From the pet's hair comes an unpleasant smell.
• Intensive sweating in the underarm zone.
• On the body of the pet, jaundices and combed red spots may appear.

Such a symptomatology can inform not only about the onset of allergies, in the same way a number of other diseases appear.

Possible diseases

• Disrupted work of the endocrine glands.
• Fungal or bacterial infections.
• Atopy.
• Reaction to flea bites.
• Supersensitivity to parasites of the digestive tract.
• Avitaminosis.
• Cat's scabies (notoedric mange).
• Seborrhea.
• Lishay and stuff.

Therefore, it is necessary urgently to contact the veterinary clinic for an accurate diagnosis.

By the way, the localization of spots can be affected by the nature of the allergic reaction:

• The appearance of spots in the back and tail zone often informs about the reaction to flea bites.
• When reacting to the cat's filler, paw pads and paws swell.
• Ears swell with allergies to medications, it is also possible the appearance of sores in the area of the superciliary arches.

Diagnosis of food allergies in cats

To conduct effective treatment it is required to establish the type of disease correctly. If the animal has typical signs of an allergic disease, such as itching, spots, bald patches, poor condition of the coat and the like, it is necessary to consult a specialist as soon as possible. You can also inspect the pet yourself and make sure that there is an allergy to cat food. Symptoms, photos of skin diseases, presented in the literature, compare with the existing damage. It is especially important to establish the presence or absence of parasites, such as fleas, withers, and so on. It would be superfluous to further treat the animal against fleas and ticks.

The reaction to insect bites can be detected only after a blood test. When determining the diagnosis should be disinfected premises, the animal is assigned special droplets or a collar of fleas, the damaged areas are treated with ointments.

Conducting a diagnosis of the disease - the procedure is simple, complicated by the fact that other diseases can provoke similar symptoms, and the cat at the same time can suffer from other diseases. It is very important to detect and cure others before the diagnosis of an allergic disease is established. Only after a thorough check and treatment can begin to identify allergies to food.

Cats, unfortunately, do not put allergic tests, such kits are available, but they have a very limited number of allergens. In the process of communication, the veterinarian will ask several general questions: about nutrition, whether plants are available to the animal, medical products or means for cleaning, how the hygiene procedures, treatment, etc. are carried out.

Diagnostics

How is the allergy to cat food diagnosed? Symptoms, for example, all are present, the diagnosis is food allergy. In this case, the pet is prescribed special nutrition. You can buy cat food, which is designed specifically for pets with sensitive digestion, or prepare food yourself, watching the symptoms and including various components gradually. If the cat, on the contrary, used domestic food and ate mostly chicken, it should be excluded from the diet for several days. In addition, it is necessary to reduce the consumption of dairy products.

To ease the itching, the veterinarian can prescribe steroid preparations (in the form of ointments or injections), antihistamines, and washing with a special shampoo. If the cat has combed the wound heavily, it is possible to enter the infection, in this case it is necessary to undergo course treatment with antibiotics.

For its part, you can also help the pet, namely:

• Carry out regular cleaning in the room, wipe the dust.
• House plants and flowers clean up.
• Keep cleaning and cleaning products out of the reach of the public.
• Thoroughly think over the cat's diet.
• Conduct treatment for ticks and fleas according to the rules, that is, systematically.

If the symptoms do not disappear, you need to take tests to detect the allergen.

Allergy to cat food: symptoms, treatment

After the diagnosis of food allergy is established, an exception mode should be used. When the results of the survey revealed the components that stimulate an allergic reaction, they are completely eliminated from the ration of the animal. With the use of steroid and antihistamines and fatty acids, a short effect can be obtained, but it is possible to solve the problem only by eliminating harmful ingredients. If there is an allergy to cat food, the symptoms are how to treat? Perhaps only two options - a special pet food for allergies or self-cooking for a cat.

homemade food

With natural lure from time to time, you can experiment and add new foods, keeping track of the body's response. For example, if there is an allergy to cat food, the symptoms do not appear when you eat potatoes with a rabbit, you can try to introduce chicken into the diet. If after a couple of weeks there will be no reaction, you can give beef. If there is an allergy, accordingly, it provoked beef, and you need to exclude the product. In a similar way, you can enter and exclude different products, setting allergenic.

When cooking independently, there is a significant drawback, it is very difficult to achieve a balanced diet, the correct ratio of the right ingredients, mineral and vitamin substances, so the diet should be made with a veterinarian.

Note that in some animals, an allergic reaction to new ingredients may not occur immediately, but after a long time.

Conclusion

Every cat owner should remember that when an animal has a strong reaction to a particular product, it is necessary to take special care with the choice of diet. Study the composition of dry food, follow the reaction of the body. Carry out regular treatment from ticks with the help of injections, which are done in veterinary clinics, protect the pet's access to medical and disinfecting drugs and so on. When following these simple rules, you can avoid allergy symptoms and save the health of your favorite cat.