Expert: Dr. Louis N. Gotthelf - 6/20/2008

Question
QUESTION: We have a 2-yr old neutered male cat.  He is constantly biting the inside of his legs.  We ran a blood test and he was rated high for fosarium roseum, a mold spore.  I thought my bathroom wallpaper was the cause of mold spores that he was inhaling.  I removed the wallpaper and painted the walls...he's still biting.  He has been given by our vet cortisone shots (about one every 3 months) and they seem to help.  His hair even manages to grow back. Then, as the shot wears off, he starts biting again.
I did some research on the net and read that most cat allergies are grain and dairy. So, I started feeding him grain-free food.  He seemed to have improved a bit but now that the summer is here and pollen is in the air, his rash and biting is in full bloom.
I am not sure if the grain-free food is of any help.  
I am not sure if his allergies are airborne-related or food-related ...or both.
I don't want to keep giving him the cortisone shots because I know they have deleterious effects later on down the road.
Can you suggest anything else?  Are there other tests I could have done?  Would air purifiers help?
I am at my wit's end trying to rule out what this could be.  I feel so sorry for the little guy.  What other things could I do?
Thank You!
Linda


ANSWER: If you are giving the cat a shot every three months, he probably will never have a side effect from the steroids. Cats are very tolerant to them. Some allergic cats will respond to low dose twice a day chlorpheniramine, an antihistamine and others may respond to bathing or using a wet wipe on the skin to remove the allergens. There is anew drug called Atopica that has had some success in allergic cats.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: A follow-up question...if he were allergic to airborne pollen and such, would he have other signs such as sneezing and watery eyes (like humans have)?  It seems as if his only symptom is itchy skin.
Thanks
Linda

Answer
Where the allergies show up is a function of where the mast cells are located. Mast cells have the ability to "degranulate" and release the chemicals that cause the symptoms of allergy, like histamine. In people they are in very high numbers in the nose and in cats they are on the skin.