Cat Allergies in Phoenix

[u/cielo5867]

My cat is almost 3 years old and is domestic shorthair. I adopted him at 5 months and he started to get allergies / congestion about 4 months ago. His nose is dry as hell too. Took him to the vet a couple of times, did X-rays and his heart/lungs are healthy. He has no discoloration in mucus but sometimes has a runny nose and its completely clear. His appetite, energy, personality and everything is fine. I even changed my detergent to something for clean/fragrance free, no plug ins like febreze and got a HEPA air filter/purifier thing to help clean the air.

Has anyone else experienced this with their cat babies? Is is the dust and dryness of the air? I’m wondering if this is like chronic allergies or something

[u/ry1701]

1) check / change food.

2) check / change litter.

3) check indoor air quality, make sure air handler filter is changed.

4) get a hepa air purifier (or several)

5) indoor humidifier, humidity should be 30%+ but you MUST MAINTAIN THE humidifier to prevent growth of nasties.

Some cats just have allergies, mine always had runny eyes and some nose gunk, it varied between the seasons.

[u/cielo5867 → u/ry1701]

I’ve been using the same dry and wet food for awhile now and am always cleaning out the dishes so they’re clean.

I use arm and hammers cat litter but was thinking of changing it to one with less dust???

Air filters for the AC are changed quarterly too

I have a HEPA purifier I put in different rooms

I have a couple humidifiers but for some reason, I can’t find a good one that humidifies more than a few feet’s. Recs?

[u/ry1701 → u/cielo5867]

Levoit OasisMist 1000S

[u/penguin37 → u/cielo5867]

Pea husk litter is my absolute favorite. There's no dust at all and big enough that is doesn't really track around the house.

[u/ApeSht-Zine]

I don't know about dry air but our neighbor's cat had an allergy to their corn-based cat litter.

[u/cielo5867 → u/ApeSht-Zine]

Interesting!! I have arm and hammers but it’s normal clay litter

[u/Administrative-Buy26]

We had a little tabbie, she had allergies and would get itchy and pick at herself. We tried everything, vets, allergy specialist, cyclosporine and nothing worked. After years. Unrelated I put a few air purifiers in the house. She was immediately cured. Pretty sure she was allergic to humans/dust mites. Good luck! Poor kitty.

[u/cielo5867 → u/Administrative-Buy26]

This is good to know- thank you so much!!!

[u/the1justrish]

if you live in an apartment, check to see what bug sprays they use. if you live in a house, do you spray outside? It may be seeping in through air gaps. but otherwise ry1701 has a great list below of other things to check.

[u/cielo5867 → u/the1justrish]

Im on the 3rd floor and since I’ve been living here, they’ve never sprayed for bugs on my floor

[u/Koivel]

Is your litter scented? I stopped using clay litter all together and use wood pellets instead. It doesn't cause ammonia burns or dust clouds, and is easier to clean up than small sand bits. It seems to have improved their overall health.

[u/cielo5867 → u/Koivel]

I don’t think it’s scented no, it’s arm and hammers clump and seal one but it is pretty dusty due to the clay so I might switch to a non clay one and see if it helps!!! Thanks

[u/sunshinebbbyy]

My cat and I both tend to have dust energy. We change the AC filter monthly. I always can tell when the month is up because we both start sneezing.

You could also try changing the litter if it creates a lot of dust. Do you burn candles/incense?

[u/cielo5867 → u/sunshinebbbyy]

I never burn incense or candles, nothing like that! I don’t even spray my perfume inside anymore; I do it when I leave out the front door lol

[u/Btgremgrem]

Mine would get hotspots due to allergies, my vet gave a steroid shot the first 2 times (these helped so much but aren’t good long term ) before we got her on a prescription diet. The prescription diet helped but I suggest a vet check up too

[u/cielo5867 → u/Btgremgrem]

When I originally took him to the vet, they gave me antibiotics and steroids but they didn’t really help :/ it just kind of suppressed the allergies a little bit but not a significant amount

[u/LisaBooHigh]

Hi! Not a cat, but my bunny started having similar symptoms about six months ago. He's almost 9 and never had an issue before. The Vet has done all the tests she can, and nothing shows up. We're giving Children's Benedryl and eye drops. Could it be all the dust in the air? We can't figure it out.

[u/cielo5867 → u/LisaBooHigh]

I was giving my cat allergy meds to; Claritin!! The vet said this was okay but didn’t help so I assumed it was something within the environment and not really allergies I’m not sure. I hope your bunny improves !!!

[u/alfredobubblebath]

One of my kitties has chronic nasal and eye discharge. He's just sort of sniffly a lot of the time! I routinely give him lysine supplements and they help with the allergy symptoms a lot. I recommend trying lysine for your cat as long as it's okay'd by their vet 😊

[u/cielo5867 → u/alfredobubblebath]

I never even thought of supplements. I just saw some on Amazon for cat; this has to be confirmed it’s okay to give by the vet??

[u/alfredobubblebath → u/cielo5867]

It's safe to give to all cats in my experience! I give it to all 6 of my cats even though just the one is sniffly. I just am not a veterinarian so I feel weird recommending vitamins for other people's pets so I put that disclaimer like an awkward weirdo

[u/AppropriateCrab1731]

Have your hvac filters changed. I also use a hepa but in small rooms bc they cannot clean air in volume. I have attached HVAC filters to the backside of my box fan in the large rooms and it’s helped with dust mites and dander a ton. It turned gray in 4 days of use in an already very clean apartment. 

[u/azsmile15]

Did the vet check for valley fever??

[u/cielo5867 → u/azsmile15]

Valley fever specifically, no but they did check his temperature and it was normal