My cat has recurring dermatitis and fur loss (through overgrooming on his belly) due to allergies we have never been able to pin down.

The vet has given him steroids in the past, but I was wondering if any of you have had experience with giveing cats antihystemenes (either provided by the vet or over-the-counter products for humans).

I've seen on American websites people saying that it's Ok to give cats human anti-allergy tablets (broken down into smaller doses of course) but I wouldn't dare do anything like this without discussing it with the vet as I know many human medicines can be fatal to cats.

Just wondered if anyone has an experience with this?

Our dog is on the same antihistamines I am, they don't work in the same way in cats and dogs though as they do in humans, it's much less likely they will work in a cat or dog. Sometimes we think they are working and sometimes not. So steroids permanently have been the answer to our problems.

About ten years ago we said we'd have a lovely long haired cat from a rescue centre. Then they said that it came with another cat, as they'd been handed over together and the centre had promised they'd not separate them.

The other cat, Freddie, was 6 years old, fairly unattractive and with a bald belly. As it happened Freddie turned out to be loveable and the smartest cat we have ever had.

His over grooming seemed to be stress induced and once he settled in at home his fur grew back. Occasionally over the years we'd notice he'd started licking his belly more than usual and we'd worked out that it was time to get out the flea treatment.

It might be worth seeing if there is anything that might be stressful for him. Feliway is supposed to have a calming effect on stressed cats. It was pretty expensive then but is more affordable now that buying online is the way to go.

Hi there, thank you for that. We have long since ruled out fleas, and we've tried Feliway (and a hundred other things, including cleaning the house top to bottom, flea treatment, chucking out the mattress, changing the suite...).

This has been going on since about 2006, but it comes and goes. just before Xmas his belly was so raw and sore with him overgrooming (and this at the END of a course of steroids) we resorted to putting a medical collar on him to make him give himself some respite. the belly is a bit better now, but it's pretty certain he'll start to lick and gnaw at it again.

He has a happy life but we do have two cats, and the other cat is the dominant one. they get on fine generally, but of course when the bigger one is the boss there might be a constant level of stress.

it's just simply that we've tried everything and wondered if antihistimenes might be worth trying.