cat with food allergies

[lalaland]

I have an 2 yr old female cat, sweeter than anything, who has ear problems that have gotten worse. When I got her as a young cat, I thought she had the worst case of ear mites I had ever seen. When I couldnt get rid of them, I took her to the vet who said she had a bacterial ear infection and prescribed a med that was combo of antibiotic, steroid, etc.

That didn't clear it up, but I thought perhaps I hadn't been diligent enough with the twice daily application for 10 days. I gave it another go around, and her ear were better, but stil with some debris.

For the past 6 months, I've been using an ear wash to clean out her ears. Nothing is working and now she is having bright red, almost sunburn appearing skin between her eyes and ears - you know, that patch that is almost furless.

ANyone had this? From what I can tell it sounds like a food allergy -

 

[matt44644]

What exactly are you feeding her?Did you get as a baby?Was she from a outdoor cat?

 

[matt44644]

What exactly are you feeding her?Did you get as a baby?Was she from a outdoor cat?

 

[matt44644]

What exactly are you feeding her?Did you get as a baby?Was she from a outdoor cat?

 

[matt44644]

What exactly are you feeding her?Did you get as a baby?Was she from a outdoor cat?

 

[matt44644]

Sorry i think i had comp glitch

 

[lalaland]

I got her when she was about 3 months old. She had some problems with diareaha as a kitten, and I tried all kinds of grain free foods, etc to see if anything would help. Also probiotics. I think about 9 months of age, her digestive system settled down.

I have always fed my cats a rotating diet of various feeds because I never wanted to be in a situation where they wouldn't eat because the one and only food they would eat wasnt available. She and my other cat were getting half dry, half canned foods - usually grocery store variety.

For the past week, she has been getting only Petguard fish, chicken & liver, which has no by products, no corn, no soy, no wheat, no glute, no preservatives, flavorings colors sugars or sweetners. No improvement yet.

I know chicken is one of the more common allergens for cats...but thought I would try eliminating grain stuff.

 

[matt44644]

Bacterial infections are very hard to get rid of.Are you using a Q-tip and cleaning it out also?
Most ingredients I've had in pets that had food allergies are not in what your feeding .

 

[lalaland]

yes, a zillion q tips. I've used the ear wash , squished it around in the base of the ear, q tipped it out, repeat daily. Always gunk in the ear. Also tried witch hazel. She is miserable and I'll probably have to take her in for steroids but would really like to avoid that.

I've read cause of bacterial ear infections can be allergies, and now that she has developed the skin thing (bright red like a sunburn, and welts, etc) I feel odds are good it is an allergy problem. Can't afford the foods I am looking at -

 

[matt44644]

I had a cat that had the same type of ear infection,it took 6 months.If one little piece is left in their it will never go away.And they don't like their ears messed with.
She might be red from the cleanings or could be from the previous food.I stay away from meat and bone meal,By products,food coloring. BHT/BHA.
People that i know that have had pets with allergies were mostly eliminated when them ingredients were eliminated.I'm not a vet but i've hat cats for 35 years
they all came from unwanted abandoned situations ,so they always came with issues.This is the only feed i can find without them ingredients that isn't organic or has a $2-$3 per lb price.

http://www.catchow.com/Products/Naturals It usually is about $1 a lb.