Itchy Cat Problem

alleycat, did you recently start using a different detergent for clothes, blankets, etc? Or a different cleaning product? Wondering if that could be a problem.

Wish I could help. Give her some catnip from me.

I had a similar problem with one of mine (long haired/indoors only), turned out to be a lack/decrease in his skin oils. Being long haired, it's almost impossible to get to see his "skin", try giving him some of the oil from tuna fish, or change his diet.

I've had a similar problem....I even started to notice that she had dandruff like flakes in her coat...I mentioned it to the vet, and she prescribed a omega3 oil food additive and we're running humidifiers in the house. It seems to have really improved.

She's even starting to regrow, albiet slowly, the hair on her belly.

The hair on her belly never grew back from being spayed, from all the licking, although she's never had a hairball until the last few weeks. She'll be four years old this June. I thought I was going to have a bare-bellied kitty forever, but it looks like there has been improvement. The vet said she thought it was dry skin, hence the food additive and the humidifiers. I've even noticed that MY skin isn't as dry as normal in the winter since we've been running a humidifier.

Just some additional info that might be useful:

http://www.catinfo.org/

I'm going to go on a bit of a rant here, and I'll apologize ahead of time.

My family actually runs a pet food business, and I worked there for a number of years, advising people on cat food as well as other pet and farm animal foods. My father even makes feed for market animals in bulk for large farms as well as by the bag. I grew up around this. While I'm not a veterinary expert, I've fed dogs, my cat, hogs, and horses myself, as well as advising customers. My philosophy, and I daresay my father's as well, has always been to help the pet owner to decide on the right food for their situation, rather than to sell the most expensive food.

I will say the same thing here that I would say if I was still working for him...Dry food is not a bad choice. For some people it is the right choice. I also have a cat who does not and WILL NOT eat canned or wet food. I've given it to her, and provided no other option...she leaves it in the bowl until it goes bad. She won't eat tuna out of the can. I've tried. Rather than starving her, I feed her a very controlled, but not overly restrictive, diet, according to my own knowledge as well as the vet recommendations, and I read every label on every food I give her. She gets carefully measured portions morning and night. I have never been more grateful that she will not eat wet food than during the recall last year.

My cat is a grazer. She doesn't bolt an entire meal at once, but returns to the bowl several times a day. I would not want to leave wet food or canned food out all day; I'd be more afraid it would go bad sitting out all day.

Cat food needs to fit the needs of the owner as well as the needs of the cat. If your cat will eat wet food and it fits your lifestyle as well, then it's a good choice, but it does not fit my lifestyle, or my cat's eating habits. I work crazy hours at work, and then come home in the evening to write at home. I don't have the time, even if I do have the know-how to prepare home-cooked meals for my cat. Heck, I don't always have the time for a home-cooked meal for MYSELF all the time. I'd rather spend what free time I have giving her plenty of attention and exercise. I refuse to feel bad about that, and no pet owner should feel bad about that either.

That said, if you feed dry pet food, whether for a dog or a cat, you need to be extra careful that there is always plenty of water for them, even more so than if they eat canned food. I fill her water bowl at least once, and sometimes twice a day, and have, on occasion set out extra water bowls if I'm going to be home late. As long as the water is FRESH, most cats will get into it. If it has been sitting out for too long, they will avoid it.

One of my cats gets skin problems. Last year it was so bad he also licked himself bare in places, plus he got "kitty acne" on his chin. The vet determined he has flea allergies, so I put him on Advantage and that's helped tremendously. Also, he might have seasonal reactions, too, because it usually gets worse in spring.

A friend of mine had a cat who also licked himself bare. Eventually they determined he was allergic to either corn or rice, both of which are staple fillers in dry cat food. Once they changed his diet he was all right.

Good luck!

Oh, an FYI...mine also has a flea allergy. She's on Frontline.

If cortisone helped this is probably the most common condition with these symptoms... a fea allergy. Cortisone probably worked while it was there, it wore off and the condition worsened again. It may even have been given as a diagnostic measure--did you discuss with the vet why s/he gave cortisone? I suggest returning to the vet and discussing longer acting treatements. For example, what flea treatment is the cat on? Perhaps a more effective method is required.

I had one with a flea allergy and he also had the symptoms you described. Aggressive flea treatment worked for him with steroids to help when he had a serious flare-up.

Hey ac! Could Anna be stressed from something new? A change of some sort; environmental, physical, personal? Have you changed in her eyes? Or could she be bored? If she's bored, you'd have to find something to distract her from her new "favourite" pastime. Maybe a new toy with a cat treat embedded in it. If it's stress, you may have to calm her down with sedation first, to get her over the hump of whatever's bothering her.

Here is something I found about excessive licking. Hope you find what you need to help her. Hugs to you both!

Have you thought of food allergies? If a pet eats the same food for a long time, it can become allergic to it.

There are blood tests, but the real test is probably switching to a food like duck or lamb. Just a thought.

Exactly what I was gonna say, so I'll just quote veinglory for emphasis:

veinglory said:

If cortisone helped this is probably the most common condition with these symptoms... a fea allergy. Cortisone probably worked while it was there, it wore off and the condition worsened again. It may even have been given as a diagnostic measure--did you discuss with the vet why s/he gave cortisone? I suggest returning to the vet and discussing longer acting treatements. For example, what flea treatment is the cat on? Perhaps a more effective method is required.

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Allergies can be a tricky thing. Heck, that goes for any skin issue. In many cases you can't get a diagnosis with just one visit (though you might get lucky). Go back to the vet.
Did they do a skin scraping? What other tests did they do? What does the skin look like? Is your cat the nervous type?

Your cat was ill for 3 days and you didn't take it to the vet and tell them you accidently poisoned her? You realized she could have died? What was in that spray and was it labeled for cats?

What happened shortly before the cat started licking her fur off? Stress triggers can cause this reaction: loss of another pet, addition of a new pet or family member, new bed or bedding--yours or the cat's, household cleansers changed, did you get the houe painted, shampoo the rugs or use a wood polish? Did the cat get into any chemicals, or cleansers? Did you go on vacation and leave her alone, in a kennel, or have someone come over who's not your regular pet sitter?

Fortunately cats don't tend to stay as stressed as dogs. The increased humidity in winter will be beneficial to you as well as your cat, the change in diet, and maybe a longer course of steroids-low dose by pill

I had a cat who licked a big spot on her tummy bare in 2 days, a cortisone and lots of TLC helped.

I didn't look up the ingredients for that product, but I see it is for cats. Some research might tell you if there was something in it that could make your cat react, but it is of course water under the bridge.

Sorry to hear ya'll get stressed going to the vet and sorry if I came off strong- just worried for your cat. There are some products out there that won't make a dog bat an eye but can knock a cat out for good. Glad you were at least able to discuss it with MM and all is well.

Good luck chasing down the skin problem...

Have the vet fit her with an Elizabethian collar. She won't be able to lick herself and make the problem worse while you are treating her.

To get more effective prescribed flea treatment you don't need to take the cat in. If they are not already on a systemic flea treatment, e.g. a spot on, this would be the best bet to fix it.

Don't give her tuna--IIRC it's too high in taurine for cats. Ask your vet about a good wet food.

moonslice said:

Have you thought of food allergies? If a pet eats the same food for a long time, it can become allergic to it.

There are blood tests, but the real test is probably switching to a food like duck or lamb. Just a thought.

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I had those itchy bald spots happen in a dog once, alley. I switched brands and it went away.

I had a cat with seriously bloody stools. Changed food and it went away. (I think it was the artificial colour).

It can be something as weird as one, single ingredient. With my one cat, it was artificial colour and even worse - it was his favorite kind of dry food. But I couldn't give it to him - it really was frightening in the amount that he passed ...