Egg Allergy in Cats

When referring to a food allergy in your cat’s diet, it may occur for a food even if your cat has always eaten it previously. Some of the most common food allergies are surprisingly fish, beef, eggs and wheat. Once an allergy occurs towards a certain food, it is advisable to eliminate it from your cat’s diet, as it will not get better, only worse. As a rule, eggs are normally beneficial to your cat’s diet in moderate amounts, and often best cooked to avoid any bacteria or infection within the raw egg.  A dry or wet cat food diet may also contain eggs as an ingredient.

An allergy is defined as a misplaced reaction to a normally harmless substance such as an egg, with the body producing an immune response against it.

• The cause of an allergy is your cat’s immune system when it overreacts to a substance such as eggs, and the immune system mounts an immune defence response against it 
• Commercial made cat food with additives and spices can produce allergic reactions from your cat 
• Dried foods can sometimes cause an allergic reaction, especially if your cat’s diet is predominantly dry food 
• Treats or table scraps for your cat can produce reactions as your cat’s system is not designed for human types of food 
• Your cat can become allergic to a food it has eaten often over a long period 

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Although a food allergy may be suspected, it can be quite hard to isolate which food is causing the allergic reaction. Your veterinarian will help you to rule out other causes that produce similar symptoms, such as flea infections and bites, or poisoning from inhaling a toxic product. The veterinarian may suggest a skin scraping, blood tests, urinalysis, and fecal sample evaluation in order to test for those conditions, and others like parasites or gastrointestinal disease that may present with similar symptoms. Your cat specialist will give your furry friend a thorough examination and ask about your cat’s dietary history. Foods that your cat has eaten often can suddenly become an allergy cause.

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Altering the type of food your cat eats can be a powerful way of managing your cat’s allergies. Although it does take time to first change the diet and review those results, then reintroduce old favorites and monitor to see what reactions if any that produces, the time is well spent to see your cat happy and well again. With an allergy, you always must be aware of the food you are feeding your cat. Remember the cat throughout history has been a hunter, an eater of meats, birds and even insects. Grains and flavourings may sound fine for humans but it is not always about the taste for your cat, it is about what is good for them.

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