Cats are one of the most common types of pets. Both adults and children all over the world suffer from intolerance to cat allergens. To get rid of the unpleasant manifestations of cat allergies, there is a wide variety of tablets.
Allergy to cats is characterized by unpleasant symptomatic manifestations: nasal congestion, painful cough, irritated and inflamed mucous membranes, itchy skin. They can bother a person with varying intensity: from allergic rhinitis to asthma.
Causes of the disease
Allergy is a complex typical immunopathological process, expressed in the body’s immune response to exposure to a dangerous element (allergen) with the production of antibodies. A specific reaction occurs when fighting a foreign protein and is accompanied by the release of histamine.
The “aggressor” can be any substance, even a harmless one. So, the most common causes of allergies are:
- Food;
- chemicals;
- pollen, mold, dust;
- medications;
- litters used for cat litter boxes;
- waste products, saliva of parasites and blood-sucking insects;
- fur from other pets;
- the body's own cells.
Based on the factors that provoke allergies, several types of pathology are distinguished:
- atopic (foods, medications, mold);
- infectious (fungi, viruses, bacteria);
- parasitic-insect (parasites, worms);
- chemical (household chemicals, etc.).
Allergies according to the method of exposure are divided into autoimmune (reaction to one’s own cells), contact, and respiratory.
Preventive measures
The best prevention of the disease is the absence of a cat in the house. But, if you are determined to get a pet, make sure that adults or children in your family do not exhibit allergic symptoms to animals. This can be easily checked by creating conditions for communication with the cat and observing the reaction.
Experts believe that the sooner a child begins to communicate with a pet living in the house, the less likely it is to develop unwanted reactions to allergens. Adaptation processes occur in the body, excluding inadequate reactions to external factors.
Experience and observations of specialists have shown that males emit more allergens. Therefore, if you dare to have a small pet predator, give preference to a cat. It will cause less trouble and bring more positive emotions.
Having a pet in your home will be a pleasure if you follow safety precautions. Installing a reliable ventilation and air conditioning system, using air purifiers, regular ventilation, and quartz treatment will prevent the development of a pathological condition.
A well-groomed, healthy animal will only bring joy. Timely vaccinations, a permanent place in the house, and proper organization of the toilet will prevent the spread of allergens. Maintaining hygiene when communicating with family members will minimize the risk of disease.
Clinical picture
The clinical picture of allergies is not pronounced, so the pathology can be easily confused with many skin pathologies.
Symptoms:
- rashes, peeling and redness on the skin of various locations;
- itching, alopecia, swelling, scratching;
- constant sneezing;
- rhinitis;
- lacrimation;
- vomiting (in some cases);
- fever;
- swelling of the trachea, bronchi;
- anaphylactic shock (in severe forms);
- dyspnea;
- interdigital eczema.
Allergic pathology can be expressed either by several signs or by a complex of symptoms. Basically, the reaction appears some time after contact with the allergen, which makes diagnosis difficult, but it also happens that the allergen acts instantly.
Allergy to cats: where is the “dog buried”?
Strictly speaking, there is no allergy to cats. More precisely, their fur, which is usually blamed for all the most unpleasant allergic symptoms, has absolutely nothing to do with it. An allergic reaction in a person is caused not by the animal’s fur itself, but by its saliva and, sorry, urine. And also the smallest particles of skin. There is a special type of protein in saliva, urine, and skin - this is the allergenic culprit of all troubles. So the belief that hairless cats or cats with super-short, dense hair are not dangerous for allergy sufferers is fundamentally wrong. There are no hypoallergenic cats - they all “wash themselves” and go “to the toilet” as one, which means they are all, by their nature, capable of causing painful symptoms in humans.
The most common symptoms include:
- Cough and wheezing, difficulty breathing;
- Skin rash such as urticaria;
- Redness and irritation of the eyes (so-called allergic conjunctivitis), watery eyes;
- Redness of the skin and itching (can be especially obvious in direct contact with an animal);
- Runny nose, and often nasal congestion without signs of a runny nose;
- Sneeze.
Diagnostics in a veterinary clinic
To make a diagnosis, it will be necessary to conduct research that will help differentiate it from other diseases - infectious and internal non-infectious. Allergies masquerade as other pathologies, making them difficult to diagnose.
The most common way to determine the nature of the disease is an allergy test, but this is not practiced for cats. And this is due not only to its high cost, but also to insufficient information content. Cats will need to be injected with more than 20 allergens subcutaneously, which is impossible without general anesthesia and additional manipulations. The substances react with test allergens, so the test shows a false result.
The diagnosis is made on the basis of a visual examination, questioning the owner about the contents, nutrition, and pedigree of the patient. Determination of the allergen is possible only by exclusion.
To establish the cause of the body's increased sensitivity, all elements considered as allergens are removed from the animal's environment. This method works well for food allergies.
If you know for sure that your cat is susceptible to seasonal allergies, there is no need to look for the source of irritation. It is enough to give your pet antihistamines once a year for a certain period of time until the allergen stops its harmful effect.
Medicines to combat allergies
Treatment for cat allergies varies depending on the symptoms that occur. An allergist can help determine which treatment is best to reduce your allergies.
Nasal symptoms can be managed with steroid nasal sprays, oral antihistamine tablets. Eye symptoms are treated with antihistamine eye drops.
Respiratory or asthmatic symptoms may be treated with inhaled corticosteroids or bronchodilators to prevent or relieve respiratory symptoms.
For your information! To alleviate allergies, you can resort not only to traditional medicines, but also to homeopathy. To determine effectiveness, you need to try different options one by one.
Treatment, prognosis
To successfully treat an allergy, it is necessary to identify the irritating substance and isolate your pet from it. However, the evasion method is sometimes not enough; drug therapy is required. The goal of treatment, which lasts at least a month, is to eliminate the symptoms and prevent their recurrence. If the treatment does not give the desired effect, the doctor makes the necessary adjustments.
To eliminate itching, shampoos with hydrocortisone are used, which give an immediate but short-term effect. Ointments with this substance acting as an active component also eliminate itching well, and in addition, are not absorbed into the blood and practically do not give such reactions. However, their use is permissible only in areas that are difficult to lick.
Regardless of the type of allergy, antihistamines are used. They can be used both as first aid and to reduce and eliminate allergic symptoms.
In critical situations, when all treatment methods have been used and have not helped the animal, it is advisable to use corticosteroids. Steroid drugs have many contraindications and side effects, so compliance with the dosage prescribed by veterinarians is essential. As a rule, experts prescribe Dexamethasone, Flumethasone, Methylprednisolone, Betamethasone by injection.
To eliminate itching, dry skin, and seborrhea, vitamin B7 (biotin) and preparations containing it are prescribed. Combining biotin with fatty acids and antihistamines will reduce the need for corticosteroids in most cases.
If the cause of the allergy is insect bites, then the first thing that needs to be done is to destroy all parasites not only on the cat, but also in the entire room where it is kept. Next, deworming and antihistamine therapy are carried out.
To relieve local symptoms - swelling, itching, lacrimation - drugs such as Tavegil, Claritin, Suprastin have proven themselves. They must be given strictly according to the schedule, otherwise side effects cannot be avoided. In case of an overdose, a cat may experience diarrhea, dry mouth, vomiting, weakness and lack of appetite.
To avoid infection of skin rashes, scratches should be treated regularly. Gistan cream works well in treating skin lesions caused by allergic reactions. Its advantage is that once it enters the digestive tract, it does not cause harm to health and does not cause side effects.
During the period of seasonal allergies or for the treatment of year-round atopy, the veterinarian may prescribe a drug with H1-blockers Cyclosporine (Off-label). You need to take it for at least 3 weeks. The drug can cause side effects - nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, but it helps well with allergies.
You need to understand that atopic allergies cannot be cured.
All therapeutic actions come down to eliminating symptoms, reducing the number of relapses, alleviating the cat’s condition and, accordingly, improving the quality of life. For other types of allergies, one course of treatment is sufficient. To avoid a re-outbreak of the disease, the provoking allergen must be excluded from the cat’s environment.
What to do at home
The owner must strictly follow the veterinarian's instructions. Self-medication can cause serious damage to the health of the animal.
Food allergies require dietary adjustments. It is necessary to switch the cat to medicinal hypoallergenic food. If dry food causes an allergic reaction, then you need to switch to natural feeding. Each new product is introduced gradually, while observing how the body perceives the innovation. If the allergy is caused by chicken, then not only poultry is removed from the diet, but also by-products and fats; if it is meat, then it is replaced with fish, etc.
If the replacement does not produce results, then the diet should be changed completely. The therapeutic diet includes lamb, veal, rabbit, and rice.
If the allergen cannot be identified, it is advisable to switch the cat to food with hydrolyzed protein, broken down to the level of amino acids. It is easily digestible and the body does not perceive it as a threat.
The tricky thing about allergies is that they are cumulative. Even a product from the diet that is used for a long period can cause a violent reaction, but it will give a reaction when the body is brought to a critical state.
In a house where a cat is kept, it is necessary to wash the floors, vacuum the carpets and upholstered furniture, and wipe the dust as often as possible. Detergents that may have caused allergies are replaced with safer ones.
To eliminate itching, the cat is washed with medicated shampoo. To enhance the therapeutic effect and protect against pathogenic microorganisms, antibiotics are added to the detergent.
