Allergies

[LeoOllie]

This is going to sound very strange but I believe that my naked kitties are allergic to cats with hair.

Three weeks ago we took in a 4 month old stray that was outside my house. He had an upper respiratory infection. We kept him isolated to one room of our home until a week ago. After getting his shots, being neutered and getting a clean bill of health from the vet we allowed him to interact with Leo and Oliver.

A few days ago I noticed some bumps on the chin and lips of my 2 and a half year old Leo. I took him to the vet and was told they were rodent ulcers. She said that this is caused by an allergy. She suggested that I try to change his diet, eliminating chicken and fish as they are common allergies. I have followed her orders since then. Now new ulcers have popped up. Today I see that my 2 year old Oliver has developed the same condition.

Now I don't believe it's possible that they both developed the same food allergy at the same time so I assume it is a change to their environment that is causing the allergic reaction. Leo has shown some signs of seasonal allergies in the spring and fall, but never anything more than runny eyes and nose.

Does anyone have experience with rodent ulcers? Is the idea of the new kitten being the allergen ridiculous?

I'm sick over this. I hate to see my babies so sad and uncomfortable. I will be calling the vet again in the morning.

 

[GoldHazel]

@LeoOllie hello and welcome.

That's so nice that you took in a stray from outside your house. Sorry to hear about the bumps on Leo and how strange that now Oliver has them too. It would be odd that both of them would develop the same allergy and same reaction at the same time, so it may not be caused by an allergy.

Recently rodent ulcers was brought up. Take a look at this link: help! sick sphynx

Have you googled rodent ulcers in images to see if that looks like what Leo and Oliver have now?

I hope you get answers and they feel all better soon. Please come back and update. Wishing you the best with them.

 

[LeoOllie]

Thank you for your response!

The photos in that thread look exactly like what my cats have. I have been researching rodent ulcers for days, even before the vet confirmed my suspicions.

My vet said that the only way to clear them up right away would be steroids, but she doesn't recommend it as a first option with a sphynx cat because it is very likely to cause hair growth. If their condition doesn't get better soon I will certainly get the prednisone. As long as my babies are healthy and happy I don't care about a little hair.

A friend will be taking the kitten in permanently (I have my hands full with two cats, two dogs, and a parrot). Hopefully she will be able to take him tomorrow. I'm hoping that if the allergy has something to do with the kitten (food, flea shampoo/medication) taking him out of the house might help.

 

[Hairless Blessing]

Welcome to sphynxlair, good to have you.
Hopefully, your babies, will heal up, after, the
other cat is gone.
My girl, Izmae, has allergies and I have, to give, her
shot's, for, the rest of her life.
She has allergies to food and inhalents.
Here, is the link, about the story.
Izmae's allergies journey

 

[LeoOllie]

This forum is great. I have gotten a lot of good advice here, I don't know why I didn't sign up sooner.

Sorry to hear about Izmae's allergies.

I think I will be switching to the cat litter you mentioned in your post. The Amazon reviews are great and it doesn't hurt that its unscented and dust free.

 

[Hairless Blessing]

It is a great site, with, great people and information..

 

[Toa and Ross]

@LeoOllie great advice already given so I only chimed in to sent healing vibes to Leo and Oliver.

 

[admin]

This is going to sound very strange but I believe that my naked kitties are allergic to cats with hair.

Three weeks ago we took in a 4 month old stray that was outside my house. He had an upper respiratory infection. We kept him isolated to one room of our home until a week ago. After getting his shots, being neutered and getting a clean bill of health from the vet we allowed him to interact with Leo and Oliver.

A few days ago I noticed some bumps on the chin and lips of my 2 and a half year old Leo. I took him to the vet and was told they were rodent ulcers. She said that this is caused by an allergy. She suggested that I try to change his diet, eliminating chicken and fish as they are common allergies. I have followed her orders since then. Now new ulcers have popped up. Today I see that my 2 year old Oliver has developed the same condition.

Now I don't believe it's possible that they both developed the same food allergy at the same time so I assume it is a change to their environment that is causing the allergic reaction. Leo has shown some signs of seasonal allergies in the spring and fall, but never anything more than runny eyes and nose.

Does anyone have experience with rodent ulcers? Is the idea of the new kitten being the allergen ridiculous?

I'm sick over this. I hate to see my babies so sad and uncomfortable. I will be calling the vet again in the morning.

Could you share some pictures with us?

 

[GoldHazel]

Thank you for your response!

The photos in that thread look exactly like what my cats have. I have been researching rodent ulcers for days, even before the vet confirmed my suspicions.

My vet said that the only way to clear them up right away would be steroids, but she doesn't recommend it as a first option with a sphynx cat because it is very likely to cause hair growth. If their condition doesn't get better soon I will certainly get the prednisone. As long as my babies are healthy and happy I don't care about a little hair.

A friend will be taking the kitten in permanently (I have my hands full with two cats, two dogs, and a parrot). Hopefully she will be able to take him tomorrow. I'm hoping that if the allergy has something to do with the kitten (food, flea shampoo/medication) taking him out of the house might help.

@LeoOllie since this problem wasn't present before you brought the stray kitten in to your home, it might be best that your friend takes the kitten.

I was wondering about something else and you hopefully know: Being that the stray kitten was treated for fleas, is it possible that Oliver and Leo licked/groomed the stray and had gotten the harsh chemicals on their lips/mouths? If it is caused by the flea treatment to the stray kitten, then you should wash everything and every area where the kitten frequented. I'm just trying to brainstorm what common denominator suddenly came up for both sphynx to have such a reaction.

I never heard of steroids making a sphynx grow fur, but I really don't know. I'm with you on the fact that if it helps your two with this horrible issue, it's not going to be an issue if they grow some fur.

From what I have been told by my vet, cats cannot have Prednisone. Instead they give them Prednisolone.

Please keep us updated and I wish you all the very best. This looks very painful and can certainly affect them not wanting to eat and drink, so keep a close eye on that.

 

[LeoOllie]

I will try to get some pictures today.

That was definitely one of my thoughts too. As soon as the little guy is gone I will clean the things he came in contact with.

You're right about the prednisolone, my phone autocorrected to prednisone. My vet has had sphynx patients before who reacted to steroids by growing fur. It's not permanent though.

At first Leo wasn't eating at all, which was really concerning. He's back to eating again. Ollie isn't eating as much dry kibble as usual, I figured that is because the sores are causing him some discomfort. So I'm giving them a bit more wet food than usual.

 

[Nicolemorgan]

Our boy Gatsby had to be on prednisolone for almost a year due to a separate condition, not allergies.
He did not grow a bunch of hair, so I wouldn't be too worried about that. He was a kitten and was very hairless. Now he does have a bit of hair on his tail, but that is about it.

He did end up developing black heads and acne though, which can be a side effect of steroids. Once he was off it though, it did clear up. And weight gain can be another side effect.

I hope you are able to figure it out!! Sending hugs and healing thoughts @LeoOllie

 

[GoldHazel]

I will try to get some pictures today.

That was definitely one of my thoughts too. As soon as the little guy is gone I will clean the things he came in contact with.

You're right about the prednisolone, my phone autocorrected to prednisone. My vet has had sphynx patients before who reacted to steroids by growing fur. It's not permanent though.

At first Leo wasn't eating at all, which was really concerning. He's back to eating again. Ollie isn't eating as much dry kibble as usual, I figured that is because the sores are causing him some discomfort. So I'm giving them a bit more wet food than usual.

@LeoOllie did you happen to mention to your vet that Ollie and Leo may have licked the stray kitten's flea treatment?

I hope they will start to feel better real soon and won't have major issues eating or drinking. Glad to hear that Leo is back to eating again now. Giving them more wet food right now is a great idea. You are such a good sphynx mommy. Please let us know how they are feeling.

 

[LeoOllie]

They both seem to be feeling better today. Today they're much more active than they've been in a few days. Both eating pretty well which makes me very happy.

I don't believe either of them licked/groomed the kitten at any point. For some reason they just don't seem to like him. It's very strange. He's a sweet little guy, maybe too active for their liking. Or maybe it's just that they aren't feeling their best.

My vet agreed that it is probably not a good allergy, but something else they were exposed to recently. She told me to check their mouths to make sure the sores are healing (which they are).

I'm just hoping they get through this and when the kitten is gone they will be back to being themselves again.

 

[GoldHazel]

@LeoOllie I'm happy to hear that they are acting more like themselves and eating. Eating makes me happy too when it comes to these babies.

Hopefully they are totally on the mend now and it never comes back.