Clinically, feline atopy and food allergy appear indistinguishable. Various studies have demonstrated effects of seasonality as well as the common allergens involved in the disease, which are likely affected by geographical variations and cultural differences that affect patient lifestyle. Increased numbers of dermal mast cells, the predominance of CD4+ T-cells in lesional skin of cats with allergic dermatitis as well as increased CD4+ T-cells in non-lesional skin of affected cats compared with the skin of healthy cats are comparable to findings in the skin of human atopic patients ( 8).Īs would be expected in an allergic patient, indoor and/or outdoor environmental allergens including insects play a role in exacerbating symptoms. Histopathologic studies have helped us to understand the pathogenesis and similarities to atopic dermatitis in other species, including characterization of infiltration of activated antigen-presenting cells and T-lymphocytes in the skin of atopic individuals. While cutaneous changes on skin biopsy from atopic cats are well-described and histopathologic findings of feline atopy have been studied in detail ( 8), it is not a reliable diagnostic tool. As in canine atopic dermatitis, feline atopy seems to be caused by an exaggerated IgE and immunoglobulin G (IgG) response to environmental allergens ( 5, 6), but measurement of allergen-specific IgE does not help discriminate between normal and atopic cats ( 7). Increasingly, similarities between feline atopy and atopic dermatitis in humans and dogs are being documented.
In a retrospective study with data collected over 11 years (2001 to 2012) disease prevalence of feline atopy was reported to be 12.5% ( 4).
Feline atopy is regarded as the second most common allergy in cats after flea allergy dermatitis ( 3). Feline atopy (also called non-flea non-food allergic dermatitis or feline atopic dermatitis) is a type 1 hypersensitivity reaction causing pruritic skin disease in cats associated with the presence of skin-fixed or circulating immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies specific to environmental antigens (allergens) ( 1, 2).
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