Cutaneous Food Allergy in Cats: A Retrospective Study of 48 Cases (1988^|^ndash;2003)

Abstract

Cutaneous food allergy was diagnosed in 48 cats and these represented 3.4% of the feline dermatology cases and 0.2% of all cats examined over a 15-year period. No age or sex predilection was found, but Burmese, Himalayan, and Maine coon cats were over-represented. Cutaneous reaction patterns -in descending order of prevalence -included initially lesionless symmetrical pruritus which led to excoriation (especially face, ears, and neck), self-induced hair loss with normal-appearing skin (especially abdomen, legs, and back), miliary dermatitis (especially back and neck), and eosinophilic granuloma complex (especially lips). Multiple cutaneous reaction patterns were present in 54.2% of the cats. Secondary bacterial infections occurred in 18.8% of the cats. Only 2.1% of the cats had concurrent gastrointestinal disturbances. Concurrent atopic dermatitis was present in 18.8% of the cats. Systemic glucocorticoids were ineffective in 60.9% of the cats in which they were used. Dietary management was successful for follow-up periods of 6 months to 11 years.

Critically appraised topic on adverse food reactions of companion animals (3): prevalence of cutaneous adverse food reactions in dogs and cats

“…Twenty-seven articles were identified from the search of the CAB abstract database, while 18 of these 27 papers (67%) were also found in the Web of Science archives; none was uniquely detected in the Web of Science query, while one additional publication was identified from scanning the references of selected articles [ 14 ]. There were nine studies reporting information on the prevalence of CAFR in cats [ 1 , 3 , 5 , 10 , 22 , 24 – 27 ] and 22 on that in dogs [ 1 – 4 , 6 – 21 , 23 , 28 ]; three reported data usable for both dogs and cats [ 1 , 3 , 10 ]. Studies were reported from 1990 [ 1 ] to 2015 [ 28 ].…”

“…The selected articles reported information from small animal patients from all over the world: cats came from Australia [ 26 , 27 ], Canada [ 1 , 3 ], New Zealand [ 5 ], the UK [ 10 ], the USA [ 24 , 25 ] or from a worldwide survey [ 22 ]. Dogs with CAFR had been diagnosed in Brazil [ 18 , 19 , 28 ], Canada [ 1 , 3 ], the Czech Republic [ 16 ], Hungary [ 14 ], Iran [ 23 ], Italy [ 13 , 20 ], the Netherlands and Belgium [ 4 , 7 ], Slovenia [ 15 ], Switzerland [ 9 , 17 ], Sweden [ 12 ], the UK [ 6 , 8 , 10 , 11 ] and the USA [ 2 ]; there was also a large worldwide survey [ 21 ].…”

“…2 ). In cats presented to a university hospital [ 24 ], the prevalence of CAFR was reported to be very low (0.2%), while it was fairly homogeneous in cats with skin diseases (median: 5%; range: 3 to 6%); it was higher in cats with pruritus (12 and 21%) than in cats with allergic skin disease (median: 10%; range: 5 to 13%) (Fig. 2 ; Additional file 2 ).…”

An Open Clinical Trial on the Efficacy of Loratadine for the Management of Allergic Pruritus in 27 Cats

“…All cats exhibited one or more of the following cutaneous patterns typical of allergic cats 6,11,12) : initially lesionless symmetrical pruritus (involving the face, pinnae, and/or neck) often leading to excoriation (cases 1, 5, 7, 8, 10-13, 19-23); self-induced hair loss (involving the abdomen, back, and/or legs) with normalappearing skin (cases 2-6, 13, 14, 17, 19-22, 26, 27); miliary dermatitis (papulocrustous dermatitis involving the neck and back) (cases 9, 12, 13, 17, 23); and eosinophilic granuloma complex (eosinophilic plaques and granulomas of ventral abdomen, caudal thighs, and upper lips) (cases 15, 16, 18). The duration of clinical signs varied from 2 months to 3 years.…”

“…Skin biopsies were not performed. Twenty-one cats (cases 1-12, 15-17, 19-23, 26) failed to improve while being fed an appropriate home-cooked or commercial novel protein diet for 4 to 6 weeks 6,12) . In six cats (cases 13, 14, 18, 24, 25, 27), a strict novel protein diet was impossible.…”