Treatment depends largely on the length of the cat’s allergy season. It involves one of two approaches.
The first approach involves the use of steroids and shampoos. Steroids will dramatically block the allergic reaction in most cases. These may be given orally or by injection, depending on the circumstances. As stated previously, the side-effects of steroids are much less common in cats than in people. If steroids are appropriate for your cat, you will be instructed in their proper use. Some cats are helped considerably by a hypoallergenic shampoo. It has been demonstrated that some allergens may be absorbed through the skin. Frequent bathing will reduce the amount of antigen exposure through this route. In addition to removing surface antigen, bathing alone will provide some temporary relief from itching and may allow the use of a lower dose of steroids.
The second approach to inhalant allergy treatment is desensitization with specific antigen injections or “allergy shots”. This is not to be confused with injections of corticosteroids. Once the specific sources of allergy are identified, very small amounts of the antigen are injected weekly. This is in an attempt to reprogram or retrain the body’s immune system. It is hoped that as time passes, the immune system will become less reactive to the problem-causing allergens. If desensitization appears to help the cat, injections will continue for several years. For most cats, a realistic goal is for the itching to be significantly reduced in severity. In some cats, itching may completely resolve. Steroids are not used with this treatment protocol, except on an intermittent basis. On average, approximately half of the cat’s receiving desensitization therapy will experience a significant decrease in their clinical signs. This therapeutic approach is usually recommended for the middle-aged or older cat that has year round itching caused by inhalant allergy. This approach is not used with food allergy.
Although desensitization is the ideal way to treat inhalant allergy, it does have some drawbacks and may not be the best choice in certain circumstances.
Cost: This is the most expensive form of treatment.
Age of Patient: Because many cats develop additional allergies as they get older, young cats may need to be retested one to three years later.
Success Rate: About 50% of cats will have an excellent response. About 25% get partial to good response. About 25% get little or no response. The same statistics are true for people undergoing desensitization.
Time of Response: The time until apparent response may be two to five months, or longer.
Interference of steroids: Cats must not receive oral steroids for two weeks or injectable steroids for six to twelve weeks prior to testing. These drugs will interfere with the test results.
Food Allergy
Cats are not likely to be born with food allergies. More commonly, they develop allergies to food products they have eaten for a long time. Food allergies are now estimated to be the second leading cause of allergic dermatitis in cats. The allergy most frequently develops in response to the protein component of the food; for example, beef, pork, chicken, or turkey. Food allergy may produce any of the clinical signs previously discussed, including itching, digestive disorders, and respiratory distress. Food allergy testing is recommended when the clinical signs have been present for several months, when the cat has a poor response to steroids, or when a very young cat itches without other apparent causes of allergy. Testing is done with a special hypoallergenic diet. Because it takes at least eight weeks for all other food products to get out of the system, the cat must eat the special diet exclusively for a minimum of eight to twelve weeks. If a positive response occurs, you will be instructed on how to proceed. If the diet is not fed exclusively, it will not be a meaningful test. We cannot overemphasize this. NO table food, treats or vitamins can be given during the testing period.
Because cats that are being tested for inhalant allergy generally itch year round, a food allergy dietary test can be performed while the inhalant test and antigen preparation are occurring.
