Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Nutraceutical diet helps cats with skin allergies and itching
By Mazzeranghi, F et al.·Published in Polish journal of veterinary sciences·2017·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Clinical efficacy of nutraceutical diet for cats with clinical signs of cutaneus adverse food reaction (CAFR).
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
An indoor domestic cat with severe itching, drooling, and skin lesions was diagnosed with a food allergy-related skin condition called cutaneous adverse food reaction (CAFR). The cat was given either a standard diet or a special nutraceutical diet for 60 days. Those on the nutraceutical diet showed a significant decrease in itching and skin problems, along with lower levels of a certain antibiotic in their blood. This suggests that a specific diet can help improve symptoms in cats suffering from food allergies.
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Abstract
Food allergies and food intolerances are clinically difficult to discriminate. Most often, along with cutaneous adverse food reactions or CAFR, they are classified as adverse food reactions, whose causes are numerous, including toxic compounds. Eighteen indoor-housed domestic cats with evident clinical symptoms related to CAFR (drooling, back and neck intense itching, neck eczema, chronic conjunctivitis and stomatitis) involving skin lesions were studied. Cytological evaluations of ear, skin and gingival swabs revealed an increased turnover of keratinocytes while the oxytetracycline ELISA determination showed an unexpected high amount of oxytetracycline in all cats at the first visit. All cats were then randomly assigned to receive a standard (SD group) or a nutraceutical diet (ND group) for 60 days. In the ND group a significant reduction of the mean serum concentration of oxytetracycline, pruritus intensity and skin lesion severity (**p<0.01, ***p<0.001, and ***p<0.001, respectively) was observed after 60 days, and associated with a significant improvement in the clinical picture. Although a direct correlation between oxytetracycline presence within cat sera and CAFR-related symptoms has never been described, this study highlights the benefit of a specific nutraceutical diet supplementation in improving clinical symptoms and skin lesions in cats with CARF.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28865210/