Heck,
this one made me laugh  my sox off, cuz I would have thought in
exactly the same way/ thing!! The implication's are quite double
edged, Lol
Sheelagh>"o"<

Well, to be honest, I'm not exactly sure what kind of allergies my cat
suffers from or if he's truly allergic at all.  He began getting these sores
on his mouth.  Like rodent ulcers...but he never has had allergies problems
like lesions on his legs, etc. like you see on other cats with allergies.
(My vet says he's lucky.)  He itches a bit more than usual, but not really
excessive.  Vet still thought that the sores on his mouth might be allergy
related...not sure if it was food allergies or environmental.  We were
fortunate...treated him with antibiotics and not the typical steroid shots.
We also decided to put him on a limited ingredient diet, thus the venison
and peas.  Sores cleared up.  Then he began having issues with the pads on
his paws...swollen, sores...along with sores on mouth.  Vet thought again it
may be allergies or may be a immune system problem (but then again, isn't
that what an allergy is??).  Once again, we treated him with antibiotics, no
steroids, continued with the allergy food.  Problem cleared up.  I think his
problem is seasonal...he has these issues in the spring and fall (oops,
spring is here...I'll have to keep an eye on him).  Anyway, I've told you a
long story...and the bottom line is, I'm not sure if feeding him the allergy
food has helped at all, but I figure it couldn't hurt.  He loves the NB
venison and peas canned food (They use to make a dry version until the whole
pet food recall....yes, it was one that was recalled.  They stopped making
it now.  For dry, I have to get the Royal Canin from my vet but fortunately
I don't feed him much dry and the bag lasts awhile).
He's been eating this food for close to 2 years now.

S.

I know that many here have strong feelings about Atopica
(cyclosporine) but Shamrock has been on it for probably almost 3
years now, but I can't remember right now exactly when he started
it.  I don't know if it would work for food allergies, and unknown
about asthma, but for Shamrock's EGC it has been a miracle. Last
year he needed a little extra help from a Depo shot for a flare-up,
but other than that he has been shot-free for about 2 years.  This
from shots every 2-3 months. I've even been able to get his dose of
Atopica down to 2x per week which is good because it's expensive
and a little hard on his stomach depending on timing of his last
meal, but very effective. I have the vet do a full blood panel
every 6 months on him and only one thing has been a little
abnormal, and that is his cholesterol is a little high. Cats don't
have the same problem with high cholesterol that humans do but it
could be a sign of something else. I also read that high
cholesterol is a side-effect of humans taking cyclosporine for
organ transfer therapy. We're watching it, but so far his quality
of life has improved 1000%.

Good luck with the prescription food and let us know how it works.