Allergic Reaction

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KyloKitty

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Hello all, I am Lauren and my kitty's name is Kylo. He is a 9 month old male. He has been having urinary issues so i took him to the vet and found out he had crystals built up. Not quite causing blockage yet but enough to put him on antinflamatories and antibiotics, plus Hills c/d multi care urinary dry food for stress. He was on this food for 2 weeks but did not get any better. Upon the return visit the vet said the cause of the illness was probably stress so she put him on .5 mg of xanax every 12 hours and gave me a couple more days of antinflamatories. He ended up having a reverse reaction to the xanax and it made him bounce off the walls all night. I gave him another half pill in the morning and he slept all day. Like super drowsy, falling asleep standing up. He seemed to mellow out but now we are on day 3 of the xanax and the space between his ears and eyes are covered in little red splotches and he is scratching them like crazy. I gave him his xanax for the night and he is calm now but I cant afford to keep taking him to the vet. I have taken him before for what I thought was an ear infection but it turned out he just had allergies so I'm wondering if this is the same and the stress his just making it worse? Please help. I attached some photos I found online of what looks like his red spots but the pictures had no descriptions of what was causing them
 
Furballsmom

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Hi! Welcome!!

Just a quick question, you don't have/see fleas? That's what those spots look like, but that's not your kitty, right?

So, can you try a couple things;
Tell the vet the Xanax seems to be causing a major rash/skin reaction, or it's the food, but probably it's the med.

Can you start feeding him canned or pouch food?

Can you check if you have animals, either in other living units or outside your house? This is the most typical stress trigger, the other being either chicken, or starches in food.

Get some chamomile tea, the little bags (not loose leaf) brew it, cool it and apply with a cotton ball or similar. It's anti fungal, anti bacterial, will ease the itch and if he licks it, it's safe.

It's good to help your stress too :)

Can you look into calming products? Feliway is popular but the diffusers are expensive and sometimes don't have much of an effect, but there are a lot of others.

For example, Only Natural Pet has a spray product called Just Relax Calming spray with essential oil (catnip oil).

There are also treats, collars, and diffusers made by many companies.

There's this one, be sure and scroll all the way down the page;
Bach Flower Remedies - Rescue Remedy Pets Dogs Cats Horses Birds

Music can be useful in helping a cat to relax (not 24 hours a day though, just now and then for a couple hours or so).
Low volume classical harp music, there is an app called Relax My Cat, and there's MusicForCats . com as some sources.

You could try one of these, only a small selection of a fast-growing section of pet products;
Richard's Organics Pet Calm-this one is drops that you put on the tip of the tongue. Also, Quiet Moments Cat treats, there is Calming Care, Calm-o-mile, Sentry, Natures Miracle calming spray, Vetri-Science's Composure is another item to look at, Pet Remedy (it has valerian) is yet another, as is Essential Pet Pet-ease, Only Natural Pet (brand and website) has calming products, Pet Naturals also has one I believe.

Also Thunderease has diffusers as does Sentry, Comfort Zone and feliway although diffusers are expensive and not always the answer.
If it's legal where you are, you might want to check with your vet but some people have good results with CBD oil, plus there are vet-prescribed calming products too.
Lambert Vet Supply is a website to look at, and of course chewy, also there's Petwishpros, animaleo, Petco and PetSmart, and other pet stores.

There is also a product called a lickimat which could be helpful, as cats can be calmed by the process of licking. The LickiMat - Food Puzzles for Cats

This discussion's post talks about some other products;
Calming Treats For A Very Picky Cat
 
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LTS3

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Sedation is a side effect of Xanax: Alprazolam (Xanax) - Veterinary Partner - VIN

Call your vet in the morning and discuss the side effects you are seeing while your cat is on Xanax. Ask if it is ok to stop giving the Xanax and use something else instead. Email the pictures of the red spots to the vet. To calm a stressful cat, you can try Feliway or some of the tips here: Six Surefire Strategies To Reduce Stress In Cats

2 weeks isn't usually enough time for diet to somehow magically work. Give the diet time. Most urinary issues can be managed with a canned food only diet, prescription food not needed at all.
 
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Furballsmom said:
Hi! Welcome!!

Just a quick question, you don't have/see fleas? That's what those spots look like, but that's not your kitty, right?

So, can you try a couple things;
Tell the vet the Xanax seems to be causing a major rash/skin reaction, or it's the food, but probably it's the med.

Can you start feeding him canned or pouch food?

Can you check if you have animals, either in other living units or outside your house? This is the most typical stress trigger, the other being either chicken, or starches in food.

Get some chamomile tea, the little bags (not loose leaf) brew it, cool it and apply with a cotton ball or similar. It's anti fungal, anti bacterial, will ease the itch and if he licks it, it's safe.

It's good to help your stress too :)

Can you look into calming products? Feliway is popular but the diffusers are expensive and sometimes don't have much of an effect, but there are a lot of others.

For example, Only Natural Pet has a spray product called Just Relax Calming spray with essential oil (catnip oil).

There are also treats, collars, and diffusers made by many companies.

There's this one, be sure and scroll all the way down the page;
Bach Flower Remedies - Rescue Remedy Pets Dogs Cats Horses Birds

Music can be useful in helping a cat to relax (not 24 hours a day though, just now and then for a couple hours or so).
Low volume classical harp music, there is an app called Relax My Cat, and there's MusicForCats . com as some sources.

You could try one of these, only a small selection of a fast-growing section of pet products;
Richard's Organics Pet Calm-this one is drops that you put on the tip of the tongue. Also, Quiet Moments Cat treats, there is Calming Care, Calm-o-mile, Sentry, Natures Miracle calming spray, Vetri-Science's Composure is another item to look at, Pet Remedy (it has valerian) is yet another, as is Essential Pet Pet-ease, Only Natural Pet (brand and website) has calming products, Pet Naturals also has one I believe.

Also Thunderease has diffusers as does Sentry, Comfort Zone and feliway although diffusers are expensive and not always the answer.
If it's legal where you are, you might want to check with your vet but some people have good results with CBD oil, plus there are vet-prescribed calming products too.
Lambert Vet Supply is a website to look at, and of course chewy, also there's Petwishpros, animaleo, Petco and PetSmart, and other pet stores.

There is also a product called a lickimat which could be helpful, as cats can be calmed by the process of licking. The LickiMat - Food Puzzles for Cats

This discussion's post talks about some other products;
Calming Treats For A Very Picky Cat
Click to expand...
Furballsmom said:
Hi! Welcome!!

Just a quick question, you don't have/see fleas? That's what those spots look like, but that's not your kitty, right?

So, can you try a couple things;
Tell the vet the Xanax seems to be causing a major rash/skin reaction, or it's the food, but probably it's the med.

Can you start feeding him canned or pouch food?

Can you check if you have animals, either in other living units or outside your house? This is the most typical stress trigger, the other being either chicken, or starches in food.

Get some chamomile tea, the little bags (not loose leaf) brew it, cool it and apply with a cotton ball or similar. It's anti fungal, anti bacterial, will ease the itch and if he licks it, it's safe.

It's good to help your stress too :)

Can you look into calming products? Feliway is popular but the diffusers are expensive and sometimes don't have much of an effect, but there are a lot of others.

For example, Only Natural Pet has a spray product called Just Relax Calming spray with essential oil (catnip oil).

There are also treats, collars, and diffusers made by many companies.

There's this one, be sure and scroll all the way down the page;
Bach Flower Remedies - Rescue Remedy Pets Dogs Cats Horses Birds

Music can be useful in helping a cat to relax (not 24 hours a day though, just now and then for a couple hours or so).
Low volume classical harp music, there is an app called Relax My Cat, and there's MusicForCats . com as some sources.

You could try one of these, only a small selection of a fast-growing section of pet products;
Richard's Organics Pet Calm-this one is drops that you put on the tip of the tongue. Also, Quiet Moments Cat treats, there is Calming Care, Calm-o-mile, Sentry, Natures Miracle calming spray, Vetri-Science's Composure is another item to look at, Pet Remedy (it has valerian) is yet another, as is Essential Pet Pet-ease, Only Natural Pet (brand and website) has calming products, Pet Naturals also has one I believe.

Also Thunderease has diffusers as does Sentry, Comfort Zone and feliway although diffusers are expensive and not always the answer.
If it's legal where you are, you might want to check with your vet but some people have good results with CBD oil, plus there are vet-prescribed calming products too.
Lambert Vet Supply is a website to look at, and of course chewy, also there's Petwishpros, animaleo, Petco and PetSmart, and other pet stores.

There is also a product called a lickimat which could be helpful, as cats can be calmed by the process of licking. The LickiMat - Food Puzzles for Cats

This discussion's post talks about some other products;
Calming Treats For A Very Picky Cat
Click to expand...

Hi! Thank you for the response. I am contacting the vet in the morning to tell her about the skin reaction. My kitty seems back and forth on xanax. Sometimes it makes him crazy and sometimes it knocks him out but either way I dont like it. She said during his last visit that she was keeping him on xanax for a week or two while the infection goes away and then she suggested I look into other stress relief options so thank you for all of the products! Also yes there is another kitty in the house but he is very comfortable with her.

The vet did have him eating a prescription wet food at first but he is drinking plenty of water now so she said it was no longer necessary (also because it is very expensive) and I asked about other wet foods but she wants to keep the minerals in his urine down so more crystals dont form so she only wants him to take the prescription diet.

Also related to the food not working, I know it will help him long term, but typically urinary crystals go away in 3-10 days after treatment and he was still peeing blood and the urinalysis showed it had just gotten worse.
 
Burts

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Id flip out if a vet tried giving my boy antidepressant for presumed stress for cystitis...Heck no
 
jen

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KyloKitty said:
The vet did have him eating a prescription wet food at first but he is drinking plenty of water now so she said it was no longer necessary (also because it is very expensive) and I asked about other wet foods but she wants to keep the minerals in his urine down so more crystals dont form so she only wants him to take the prescription diet.
Click to expand...
Please please read through this: Cat Urinary Tract Diseases: Cystitis, Urethral Obstruction, Urinary Tract Infection

It is typical of vets to only stick with the prescription diets and that is ok at first. This cat should never ever be on dry food again if he is already having urinary issues this young. Yes prescription canned food is expensive, it is also junk to feed them long term. This site I linked you to has a WEALTH of information on cat diets in general and also specifically with urinary health in mind. There are MANY better options out there then prescription dry food. No more dry!
 
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jen said:
Please please read through this: Cat Urinary Tract Diseases: Cystitis, Urethral Obstruction, Urinary Tract Infection

It is typical of vets to only stick with the prescription diets and that is ok at first. This cat should never ever be on dry food again if he is already having urinary issues this young. Yes prescription canned food is expensive, it is also junk to feed them long term. This site I linked you to has a WEALTH of information on cat diets in general and also specifically with urinary health in mind. There are MANY better options out there then prescription dry food. No more dry!
Click to expand...
Thank you for the information! I'm going to start weaning him off of the xanax and get a feliway diffuser (I really dont like the way the xanax is making him act), a water fountain, and also work wet food into his diet. I feed him twice a day, about half a cup in the morning and half a cup at night, so I will probably do 1/4 cup of wet and 1/4 cup of dry twice a day and hopefully move to an all wet diet down the road. Is there any kind of long term urinary tract health wet/dry food that you suggest? My mom uses Purina one dry food for her kitty but his issue isnt as serious.

Thank you
 
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Burts said:

Id flip out if a vet tried giving my boy antidepressant for presumed stress for cystitis...Heck no
Click to expand...
There is nothing wrong with prescribing cats who suffer from certain forms of cystitis antidepressants or anti anxiety medications. Recent research shows that sometimes cystitis is a symptom of another mental illness in a cat. OP shouldn't worry about a week or two of xanax if it is helping manage her cat's condition. :)

I personally like this article because it gives a lot of environmental enrichment ideas for managing interstitial cystitis (if that is what your cat has): http://veterinarymedicine.dvm360.co...hinking-our-approach-idiopathic-cystitis-cats
 
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Wile said:
There is nothing wrong with prescribing cats who suffer from certain forms of cystitis antidepressants or anti anxiety medications. Recent research shows that sometimes cystitis is a symptom of another mental illness in a cat. OP shouldn't worry about a week or two of xanax if it is helping manage her cat's condition. :)
Click to expand...
Yes, I wasnt super worried about him being on xanax for a week or two as his pain was causing him to be stressed out even more, but I do know some cats have paradoxical reactions (again, kind of rare) to the drug and it can actually cause more stress which I think may be the case here. He is always jumping off the walls for a few hours after he takes it and tires himself out so much that he passes out afterwards.

Xanax can help in some cases, but some cats dont react well to it
 
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