Cat allergies and 'Cystaid'?

boombap

Hi there,

I posted on this forum last week regarding my cat and dermatitits.

I've been racking my brains to think of anything that could have caused an allergic reaction but as he's free from parasites (vet checked) and on the same diet I've been a bit stumped.

Last night however I realised that the miliary dermatitis occured shortly after I started him on a fresh pack of Cystaid. He's had it before with no probs but I'm wonering could the pack be contaminated or could he suddenly become allergic to the drug?

If anyone else (well, their cats lol) has experienced any reaction to this product then I'd be grateful to hear it.

Regards,

S.

cinderellacomplex

I have no experience with that product but on the subject of food, I fed my eldest cat the same food (Hills) for years and his dermatitis only flared up when he also became stressed (addition of a new cat, changing the furniture around in the house, neighbour's new dog.. he's easily annoyed by changes!). Following the vets advice I switched him to Hills Sensitive Skin for a few months when it was especially bad, we got it back under control and then I switched food to Applaws and have had no signs of skin problems at all, even when I brought my puppy home back in August. So from my experience, if a cat is predisposed to skin problems then outbreaks can actually be the result of many factors, not just one! With mine it seems to be foods with too much cereal etc in them that causes problems (from observation only, I didn't want to test it properly because I would prefer that he was kept healthy!)

madget_2

As cinderellacomplex writes, there can be all kinds of triggers for cat allergies, just as there are with human allergies. My two both are allergic - one to grass pollen and the other to mites, but also comes out in scabby lumps when she's stressed. Another factor for one of my cats is food - Denes is the only one I've found so far which doesn't make her ill.

Vets often initially classify allergic skin reactions as a "flea bite allergy", which is what happened to my cats. After trying a number of different measures, I evenutally resorted to having them tested, as it's generally much easier to deal with when you know what the triggers are.

Unfortunately, testing isn't particularly cheap. In my case, though, it was worth it. I now know to use a spray throughout the house at least once a year, damp dust regularly, don't give any dry food, etc. Grass pollen is a tricky one, so we're waiting for vaccines to be formulated specifically for my boy cat as his allergy has become uncontrollable otherwise. Again, this is expensive in the first year, but should be a lot cheaper once it has been developed for him - and will certainly be less harmful, stressful and expensive than taking him to the vet regularly for steroid jabs.

Have you contacted your vet re your concerns about the Cystaid. I'd definitely advise that first. Then, if that's not the culprit, you may have to experiment a little re food, etc, or even end up having him tested.

It's a nightmare, isn't it! I do hope you find out what it is soon.

boombap

Thank you so much Cinders and Madget - in my previous cat dermatitis post I'd mentioned that we'd recently moved house so I'm thinking that it could be stress even though he's fine in himself and Feliway has been utilised in the move.

I don't spose either of you have any tips to stop a cat licking a wound?

Cheers,

S.

madget_2

squee wrote: »

Thank you so much Cinders and Madget - in my previous cat dermatitis post I'd mentioned that we'd recently moved house so I'm thinking that it could be stress even though he's fine in himself and Feliway has been utilised in the move.

I don't spose either of you have any tips to stop a cat licking a wound?

Cheers,

S.

Just a veterinary "funnel" collar, I'm afraid.

If the collar needs to be on for a fairly long-ish time, then our vet recommended we use a cat collar with a good break-easy safety catch instead of the strip of bandage that's usually used to tie around the bottom of the funnel collar. We bought one of these from the Kitty Collars site (Marla, the lady who runs it was incredibly helpful and chose an especially safe, very easy to break collar catch for me). My poor boy is such a fastidious washer that he kept trying to clean himself, even with the collar on! On a couple of occasions, he licked so far inside the collar that he actually caught his lower jaw in the bandage! The safety collar has so far (touch wood) prevented that from happening again.

At least if it's stress, then your boy will hopefully calm down once he has settled in properly.