allergies in cats

[felinechums]

I have a cat who is FIV positive, who broke out in a most horrendous rash around his neck. Antibiotics healed his neck but the rash broke out again over his back and head. He scratched it, and it became infected. He has been on antibiotics for two weeks now and is likely to be on them for some weeks to come. Vet did a hair pluck test and biopsy and found no evidence of fungal infection, cancerous tissue or other major skin problems, so he has concluded that the problem is due to a food allergy.
Does anyone have any experience of this problem? At present, he is on Whiskas and water, and there are no new lesions, although the old ones are taking a long time to heal, but that is most likely due to the FIV.
Any else with a cat with food allergies?

[kaylamay]

I'm assuming your vet has said it is not ring worm. Has rash been scrapped and tested? Ring worm can be very nasty looking in cats(some of mine have had it) it appears as lost patches of fur and then red raw areas/lesions that get worse because the cats licks and licks. It can be dangerous because of the risk of infection, and it is highly contagious to other animals and humans. Ring Worm can and will come back every now and then. Is the vet sure these are food allergies? what tests were done or is the Vet just supposing? If this is truly allergies then you might want to switch your kittys food to something specifically made for cats with food allergies, they usually tend to run a little more in cost, but it can save you more on vet costs from repeated visits. My cats get wet food(Friskees, once a day) and dried purina (a bowl down all day) plus fresh clean water down all the time. There are treatments for Ring Worm, just ask your vet if this might be what is wrong with your cat. Wring Worm eventually clears up on its own, but can take a week or two and you will want to be careful to wash your hands a lot and any bedding the cats sleeps on.
DO NOT use any human over the counter creams or medications on your cat unless recommended by your vet.
OOOPS! i'm retarded, i didn't read you whole post and missed the part about the vet doing fungal tests. Well if the vet is sure it is not Ring Worm then your best bet is to change to an allergy specific food or the problem will continue.
Good Luck!
Mikala

[felinechums]

Hi Mikala, Many thanks for your advice - yes, the vet did the tests necessary (hair and skin biopsy) and all came back negative. I had been worried about ringworm, because some of my other cats had it this year and were on Itrafungol, but there was no sign of fungal infection on this boy. On the day I posted this question, I started him on a diet of poached chicked breast and fresh fish (steamed) and the scratching stopped immediately. His wounds began to heal and scabbed over. Foolishly, three days ago I tried him with some tinned sardines, and he scratched for about twelve hours, so back to square one with the healing process. He also scratched when he ate a tiny bit of fresh mince - so it seems that his allergies may include red meat and any processed food. It is two steps forward, one step back all the time, and the FIV complicates matters by slowing down the healing, but so far he seems to be ok on the chicken and fish, and his wounds are healing.
I suppose it will be a matter of healing his wounds, then trial and error to find out what he can and cannot eat. He is a very affectionate, loving boy, and is only about ten months old so he is well worth the effort.
Thanks again