Could Food Allergy Cause Ear Problems

Could a food allergy cause ear problems? It's possible since most food allergies surface as skin irritations around a cat's head and neck. Share one visitor's situation.

One of my four cats has recently developed ear problems. In the past few months, the food I had been feeding my cats had a change of formulation. Three of my four cats seemed relatively un-phased by the change, but I noticed that one of my cats would mess with her ears, shake her head and was bothered when her ears were touched.

I took her to the vet. After they scoped her ears they found that she had ruptured both ear drums. They proceeded to clean them, and they gave us ointment to help it heal. She seemed to be doing well on her follow up visit a couple of weeks later. They scoped and cleaned this time as well, and told us to keep an eye on her.

About a month later, another cat started to have ear issues, and the first cat began to shake her head again. I took them both in to see the vet. They told us to do home cleanings on the second cat, and changed the cat food to a low-allergen cat food to see if it would help them all.

Today I brought the two cats back for a check up from the appointment three weeks ago. The second cat seems to be doing well, but the first cat is worse again. They had to scope her again, and found that both ear drums had re-ruptured. They cleaned them, and have put us on a home regimen. We will follow up with them in a few weeks.

I have contacted the food company to see if they have been contacted by any other pet owners having similar experiences, and I am awaiting a response. I know that cat litter can sometimes cause problems for cats. We are trying to find a reason why my cat is having these horrible ear problems. I know that she is in pain, and discomfort. The vet and I are equally as stumped, I was hoping that you might have some insight.

Thank you so much for your time and attention~~ Amelia

Expert Reply

Hello Amelia,

I am so sorry to hear about what's happening to your cats.

It would have shown if your cat had a parasitic infection, so it really does sound like there's a food allergy in play. If your cat is doing a lot of head shaking due to a food allergy, it could result in ear drum damage. However, there's still a chance that other inhalant or contact allergies could cause this problem. The trouble is, it doesn't sound like your vet has tried to isolate the exact agent that may be causing the reaction. Putting your cat on a low-allergen formula isn't enough. Testing needs to be done on the cats showing the reactions.

I would take your cats off the commercial diet completely, and temporarily substitute a diet of fresh cooked meet and brown rice. You can begin with boiled chicken. Serve that for a week, then rotate to ground beef, and then salmon. This will offer some variety as well as more nutrition. Add a feline multi-vitamin to their rations, and they'll have everything they need.

The reason for cooking fresh foods yourself is to give the cats time to detox from any food allergens in their systems. If their ear problems go away, then at least you know it's the commercial cat food causing the problems. And yes, even the most highly regarded commercial brands are turning out not to be as good as advertised.

You might also consider taking your cats to another vet. Sometimes a fresh eye is needed when one vet appears to have hit a road block.

I hope you find these suggestions helpful, and that your cats are soon on the road to recovery.

~~ Kelly

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