Thank you for the additional information.

Of course there are always risks with using steroids long term, however these risks are reduced if they only have to be given every three months rather then monthly or daily. Risks of long term steroid use can be problems with the liver, diabetes and a condition called Cushings disease.
Senior cats are prone to both diabetes and problems with the liver so blood work should be done preferably every 6 months.

A new medication recently approved for use in cats is called Atopica. This has proved very effective in controlling itching and hair loss due to allergies. In the beginning this is given daily for 2-3 weeks then it is normally able to be lowered to 1-2 times per week
Now any medication has its risks but I have not seen any problems with this so far.
Click here for more on this

If antihistamines have not been tried this would also be an option and much safer for long term use. One over the counter medication that is often used is Chlor-Trimeton at a dose of 2-4 mgs once per day.

Temerial P is also helpful. This does contain a steroid but much less then an injection and many cat owners find they can use this every 2-3 days. Click here

Resicort is a leave on conditioner that is very helpful in controlling the itching Click here

As you can see there are other options, however many of them have to be given daily and that is not always convenient for cat owners.

I hope this helps, please reply back if you have additional questions.

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