Cats can be allergic to a variety of things that they can breathe in, eat, or touch. Veterinarians recognize six major types of allergies in cats:

• Environmental allergies: Substances that cause environmental allergies include pollen, grass, fungi, mold, and dust. Your cat may also have allergies to things like cigarette smoke, perfume, and some cleaning products.

• Flea allergies: When a flea bites a cat to consume a blood meal, it injects saliva into the skin. The saliva from a flea bite can affect a cat’s entire body, not just where the cat was bitten. Flea bites cause cats to have irritating allergic reactions including hair loss, redness, and itching.

• Food allergies: Some cats may have allergies to certain foods. Any protein, carbohydrate, preservative, additive, or dye can be potentially allergenic. Typically, a cat’s immune system is overstimulated by a protein. The most frequently reported allergies are beef, fish, and chicken. While cats can have allergies to grains, corn, or gluten, it is far less common than the main protein sources.

• Seasonal allergies: Substances that cause seasonal allergies include pollen, grass, and weeds. Symptoms of seasonal allergies in cats include hair loss, redness or inflammation of the skin around the chin, paws, mouth, or anus, and skin and ear infections.

• Allergic contact dermatitis: This occurs as lesions on the skin after exposure to a certain trigger such as pollen, yeast, or mites. The location is typically where the cat has made contact with the allergen.

• Cutaneous drug eruptions: This is a skin reaction to a medication that the cat is taking.

It is important to note that cats can have varying responses to irritants, so they may only exhibit one or many symptoms. If you suspect that your cat has allergies, it is best to consult with a veterinarian to determine the cause and appropriate treatment.