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Cat Allergies and Atopy

A cat who is allergic to something will show it through skin problems and itching, i.e., pruritus.

It may seem logical that if a cat is allergic to something she inhales (atopy) like certain pollen grains, she will have a runny nose; if she is allergic to something she eats (food allergy) such as beef, she may vomit; or if allergic to an insect bite (urticaria or hives), she may develop a swelling at the site of the bite.

In reality, the cat will seldom have these signs. Instead, she will have a mild to severe itching sensation over her body and may develop a variety of skin lesions.

The skin lesions of the allergy are often the ones the cat produces by mutilating her skin through chewing, licking, and scratching.

Allergic cats often groom excessively and pull out large amounts of hair. Their skin may appear sensitive, often twitching.

The lesions they have on their skin can be very small crusts to large areas of oozing red skin. It is very common to get secondary bacterial infections of the skin due to these self-inflicted lesions.

Such infections may be treated with antibiotics.

In cats, the more common symptoms of allergies are:

* Pulling out tufts of hair

* Miliary dermatitis (crusty papules)

* Eosinophilic plaques (look similar to hot spots in dogs)

* Linear granulomas (long, thin, red lesions)

* Hair loss

* 'Twitchy' skin

* Mutilated skin

Allergens

When a cat is allergic to something, her body is reacting to certain molecules called 'allergens.' These allergens may come from:

Trees
Grass
Weed pollens
Fabrics such as wool or nylon
Rubber and plastic materials
Foods and food additives such as individual meats, grains, or colorings
Milk products
House dust and dust mites
Flea bites

The body's response to an allergen

The reason that all these allergens cause itchy skin is that, simplistically, when allergens are inhaled, ingested, or come in contact with the cat's body, they cause the immune system to produce a protein referred to as IgE. This protein then fixes itself to cells called 'tissue mast cells' that are located in the skin. When IgE attaches to these mast cells, it causes the release of various irritating chemicals such as histamine. In cats, these chemical reactions and cell types occur in appreciable amounts only within the skin.

Remember that pets must be exposed to the allergen for some time before the allergy develops. Exceptions may occur such as an allergy to insect bites, which may develop after only a few exposures. The pet's body must learn to react to the allergen. It is a learned phenomenon of the immune system that is genetically programmed and may be passed from generation to generation.

In pets, allergies usually start to develop between one and three years of age. They may start as late as age six or eight, but over 80% start earlier. To make matters worse, as the animal ages, it usually develops allergies to additional things and the response to any one allergen becomes more severe.

Diagnosing allergies

Confronted with a scratching pet and frustrated owner, it is too easy for a veterinarian to miss a diagnosis or at least fail to make the owner fully understand the problem.

Most allergies are the inhalant type and are seasonal (at least at first). The cat may be allergic to a certain tree pollen that is only present in the environment for three weeks out of the year. This case is easy to handle. No matter what you treat the animal with, she will start getting better in four weeks. In cases in which the allergy is mild but the irritated skin has become infected with bacteria, a broad-spectrum antibiotic will eliminate the infecting organism and the skin may return to near normal appearance even though the treatment has in no way been directed toward the allergy.

A definitive diagnosis of an allergy and determination of exactly what the animal is allergic to can only come in one of three ways. They are:

* Allergy testing (intradermal or blood testing)

* Eliminating things individually from the animal's environment until the culprit is isolated

* Response to therapy

Atopy (allergic inhalant dermatitis)

Description	Allergic reaction to something the cat inhales such as pollen, house dust mites, and mold
Symptoms	Licking of feet, inflamed ears, itching, redness, and hair loss; sometimes development of infection or hot spots
Diagnosis	Intradermal or serologic (blood) testing for allergies
Treatment	Reduce exposure to allergen (what the cat is allergic to), steroids, fatty acid supplements, biotin, antihistamines, shampoos, immunotherapy