- we do have 2 cats who have been experiencing similar symptoms, Coconut's case being a bit more extreme
- Coconut
- turning 5 y/o in October
- male
- neutered
- British Short Hair
- 18 lbs
- energy and appetite are great, he plays throughout the day and night. some behavioral issues toward his sister particularly when he's hungry
- on a raw diet (beef + beef bones and organs cat food) since a week and a half ago
- received vaccines as a kitten, is due for his 5 year shots
- the main issue here is itchiness primarily around the head and ears causing hot spots/broken skin, chewing at paws and sometimes tail/backside, and generally overgrooming all over the body. we changed their diets back in December of last year which tipped off this chain of events and have not been able to get to the root cause. after a lot of research, we decided to put the cats on a raw food diet to eliminate any additives/toxins that could be causing this reaction
- haven't been able to find much of a pattern for the reaction, it is pretty consistent although some days he is more uncomfortable than others but this did all come about at the same time as we were going through some food changes. although our vet believed the allergies to be environmental there has been no pattern with the seasons, cleanliness of the house, windows open/closed, etc.
- no
- we have tried diet changes, antihistamines, Frontline in case of mites or fleas
- Coconut was eating more dry food until January of 2023, then we switched to a limited ingredient rabbit based, primary wet food diet with 1/8 cup of dry food overnight. they had been on that plan for all of this year but the itchiness has remained, leading me to believe there's a sneaky ingredient in the wet and/or dry food that was causing this sensitivity. we switched them to the primary wet diet because coconut was having occasional episodes where he would gag as if he were going to throw up but nothing would come out except for a little bile or saliva sometimes, as well as occasional diarrhea. that has seemed to mostly go away, their digestion seems to have regulated as we have not experienced vommitting or diarrhea regularly over the past few months. i know we are only 1.5 weeks into the raw diet and it can take time for their systems to adjust and get the bad stuff out but i am here to make sure we are on the right track and to explore adding any supplements that might help with their comfort in the meantime. since the switch to raw, i have noticed improvement to energy levels and the frequency during the day we are feeding but he definitely still has some itchy days
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