Atopic Dermatitis (Atopy) in Cats

What is atopy?

Atopy, also known as inhalant allergy, is a common cause of skin problems in cats. When a cat with allergies inhales a protein to which it is allergic, this sets off a reaction leads to skin problems. While the incidence of atopy is hard to define, due to challenges in diagnosis, approximately 10-15% of cats treated by veterinary dermatologists are diagnosed with atopy.

What causes atopy?

Cats with atopy are often allergic to the same allergens that tend to affect humans: tree pollens, grass pollens, weeds, molds, and dust mites. While these allergens cause watery eyes and a runny nose in humans, cats respond differently and often develop skin inflammation in response to these allergens.

Although there are certain breeds of dogs that are predisposed to atopy, there are no known breed predispositions in cats. Atopy can develop at any age; the onset of new cases of atopy has been reported in cats as young as six months old and as old as 14 years old.

What are the signs of atopy?

Affected cats often have a history of chronic or recurrent itching, which may be seasonal or non-seasonal. Cats with atopy also tend to have a history of repeated infections of the skin and/or ears.

In many cases, affected cats are so itchy that they create significant trauma to their skin. Affected cats may have severe scratches or abrasions, large areas of fur that have been licked away or pulled out in clumps, and color changes to the skin due to chronic licking and inflammation.

How is atopy diagnosed?

Your veterinarian will begin with a thorough physical examination of your cat. Your veterinarian will also take a complete patient history, asking you a variety of questions about your cat’s skin disease in an effort to better characterize the condition. From the physical exam and history, your veterinarian may begin to suspect atopy as the cause of your cat’s skin disease.

Unfortunately, there is no definitive test for atopy. It is a diagnosis of exclusion, meaning that your veterinarian will rule out other, similar skin conditions in order to arrive at a diagnosis. The signs of atopy are identical to many other skin diseases. Your veterinarian will likely perform tests to rule out skin parasites (such as fleas, mites, and lice), bacterial skin infections, and ringworm. Biopsies may be performed to rule out autoimmune skin disease and other conditions. Your veterinarian may also recommend a food trial to rule out food allergy as a source of your cat’s skin issues. Ruling out other skin conditions is essential in order to arrive at a diagnosis of atopy.

Your veterinarian will also likely perform tests to assess your cat’s overall health. These tests will help rule out underlying medical conditions and also determine whether your cat can be safely treated with medications. Laboratory tests will likely include a complete blood cell count, serum biochemical profile, and urinalysis.

How is atopy treated?

There is no single best treatment for the management of atopy in cats. Allergies are managed, not cured, and therefore the optimal method of management varies depending on the individual patient and owner.

For cats with chronic skin inflammation from atopy, a number of management options exist. Some cats can be managed on daily low doses of prednisolone or cyclosporine (immunosuppressive drug called Atopica), although these medications may have side effects. Fatty acids or antihistamines may also be helpful in some cats, although they appear to be less helpful in cats than in dogs or humans.

Depending on the allergen, there may also be environmental measures that can be taken to decrease exposure. For example, a cat who is allergic to dust mites may benefit from changes in household cleaning practices. Check litter for levels of dust.  Also scented cleaning or household products may be a cause. Cats allergic to food storage mites should be changed from a dry diet to a  canned diet, which will not contain these mites.

Special Hypoallergenic diets can help with food allergy components , but can also build the skin barrier to resist these environmental allergens.  Hypoallergenic HP is the recommended diet. This needs to be the only diet they eat.

In many cats, their skin issues only flare up periodically. This is often the case in cats who are only allergic to a small number of allergens, resulting in a brief 'allergy season'. In these cases, a short course of oral prednisolone may fully resolve their skin problems and keep them comfortable until their next allergy flare-up.

If your cat has a secondary skin or ear infection, caused by allergies, this will also require treatment. Skin infections are often treated with oral or injectable antibiotics. Ear infections will likely be treated with drops applied to the ears.

What is the prognosis for atopy?

Unfortunately, the signs of atopy tend to worsen with age. Once your cat has been diagnosed with atopy, it is safe to assume that your cat will require lifelong treatment to manage her atopy and resulting secondary infections.

Fortunately, there are a variety of medical treatments available for atopy, with new drugs constantly being developed. Therefore, it is typically possible for atopic cats to have a good quality of life with ongoing care.