Feline allergy inquiry

[Guest]

Hi everyone, I have an indoor, male, neutered cat who has a tendency to overgroom. He was brought in for dermatitis on the belly 2ish years ago and started a hypoallergenic diet (royal canin hydrolized protein kibble). He recently went back in for a flare up and did 30 days on pred, he has had 3 check ups in the last 3 months so we have ruled out parasites etc.

While on pred he stopped all grooming besides licking his paws to wash his face and his bald patches eased up. Once off pred he has slowly picked up his grooming habits again, however he has yet to get another bald patch or damage the skin, so his vet has recommended monitoring.

My question is: can I imply that he is itchy now if he stopped grooming while on steroids? He is a very noisy/active groomer, he will bite and suckle on occasion as well. He also tends to stop mid play to groom, almost compulsively. He is a very brave, well adjusted cat so I do not think it is stress, but I could be wrong. I just worry that he is not comfortable and want to ensure we have crossed all avenues for the time being.

The vet said our next step would be testing followed by immunotherapy or medication, though he was transparent that testing is not very accurate

I am at a loss, and can’t find much online. Any insights or links to studies/reading material would be so appreciated! Thank you.

[Kira]

Reacting to steroids (preds) means it’s an allergy, not stress, so yes, I’d say assuming he’s itchy now is fair.

I’ve seen dogs (admittedly I haven’t seen any cat owners agree to the treatment) do amazingly well following the immunotherapy. Other options are things like cytopoint or apoquel. As much as the testing can be inaccurate, you can often narrow down the allergens. Some things can be eliminated (foods) others can only be reduced (pollen, dust etc)