Cat is scratching her face off

[jaxlife]

My cat is 2 1/2 years old she is fixed. When she turned a year old she got fleas we gawd a little trouble getting them to go away with walk to walk carpeting it took us a month at least but once they were gone I noticed my cat was still scratching. In the last year I have risen her to 3 vets and paid rediculous amounts for nothing, not one vet can figure out why my cat scratches only her face and a little under neck to the point that she is missing CHUNKS of skin and flesh. All vets were mortified and have never seen a cat look as bad as she has done to herself. I have noticed changes in the house will get her scratching more and tried to tell the vets I think it's her nerves but I was dismissed. Prednisone was prescribed and did NOTHING to deter her scratching, when she has gotten her face so bad she bleeds everywhere I put a cone on to help clear it up and she keeps everyone awake with the constant " tick tick tick" of that scratching cone noise ! I'm at the end of my rope and am considering bringing her to shelter. I can't afford another $400 vet to tell me it's an allergy , we think, but everything we tried didn't work.
We have switched food several times over 1.5 years,
Switched litter
Gave in and let her go outside
Prednisone,
Kitty calming treats
We do the antibiotics, the antibiotic cream etc for her wounds.
Any ideas would love to hear them UNLESS you say food or litter ...

 

[hbunny]

It could be behavioral, or it could be physical.  I'm not an expert on this--but wanted to let you know our experience.  I cannot tell you a thing about behavior modification though!

My oldest cat did something similar, just not near as bad as what you are describing, although he would scratch until he was bloody on his head and neck, taking out hunks of fur. I finally had to spend the $$ and take him to a specialty vet for allergy testing.  He is severely allergic, mainly to seasonal pollen in the air--just like we suffer from in our area, and is now on an oral antihistamine during the peak times of year.  If it's an allergy, it could be anything in the environment doing it, from dust mites to your carpet fibers to, well, anything.  It might be worth a shot to find a specialty clinic that will do allergy testing.  It solved my cat's issues, and we look at the cheap antihistamine he is on now as our miracle drug.  We had to drive 2 hours one way to get to the clinic, but it changed his life.  He had been given prednisone in the past as well and it did nothing to help, but that's all our local vet kept wanting to give him.

I'm so sorry your poor kitty is going through this.  I watched mine suffer with his issues for a long time and was very frustrated at the vets. Please keep trying other vets, call a veterinary university if one is near you and ask them for a referral or advice as well.

 

[jaxlife]

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• jaxlife
• Feb 8, 2017

image.jpeg

• jaxlife
• Feb 8, 2017

I'm not sure if you can see this one sore but I have been very diligent on putting anti biotic cream on recently to help clear it up as she bleeds all over the house and my husband, who is not an animal person, thinks it's best to give her up as the blood, skin, hair etc she leaves in her trail might be dangerous for kids. I am not wanting to give her up as im a cat person and since I was a kid all of our cats we got as kittens and had till the passed away, but this is getting frustrating even for me.
The last vet we went to called an allergen vet and sent her the slides from the scrapings, it will start at $1,000 just for first visit and the amount of tests to round it down will bring that number up for sure. The big problem vets are having is WHERE she scratches most they say also bite their tailbone removing hair and skin there also but Rosy ONLY scratches her face from eyes to mouth mostly cheeks and it didn't start till she was over a year old when 2 major events happened, 1 was she got fleas, 2nd was while we were out another cat got in by a small tear in kids room screen, we came home to another cat running out of house and Rosy hiding on top of the refrigerator shaking it took me an hour to calm her down.. She doesn't like change, a couple months ago my daughter and her young daughter came to stay with us in the spare apartment attached to our house, since then Rosy has taken to pooping in the bathroom once every 2 weeks or so, which didn't go over well with my husband, sigh.
I'm now wondering since it isn't a common problem she has maybe I'm not helping her by keeping her I can afford normal vets and we have programs for emergency help should that ever arise but I cannot of fire several thousand dollars for allergies.

 

[bloop123]

image.jpeg

• jaxlife
• Feb 8, 2017

image.jpeg

• jaxlife
• Feb 8, 2017

I'm not sure if you can see this one sore but I have been very diligent on putting anti biotic cream on recently to help clear it up as she bleeds all over the house and my husband, who is not an animal person, thinks it's best to give her up as the blood, skin, hair etc she leaves in her trail might be dangerous for kids. I am not wanting to give her up as im a cat person and since I was a kid all of our cats we got as kittens and had till the passed away, but this is getting frustrating even for me.
The last vet we went to called an allergen vet and sent her the slides from the scrapings, it will start at $1,000 just for first visit and the amount of tests to round it down will bring that number up for sure. The big problem vets are having is WHERE she scratches most they say also bite their tailbone removing hair and skin there also but Rosy ONLY scratches her face from eyes to mouth mostly cheeks and it didn't start till she was over a year old when 2 major events happened, 1 was she got fleas, 2nd was while we were out another cat got in by a small tear in kids room screen, we came home to another cat running out of house and Rosy hiding on top of the refrigerator shaking it took me an hour to calm her down.. She doesn't like change, a couple months ago my daughter and her young daughter came to stay with us in the spare apartment attached to our house, since then Rosy has taken to pooping in the bathroom once every 2 weeks or so, which didn't go over well with my husband, sigh.
I'm now wondering since it isn't a common problem she has maybe I'm not helping her by keeping her I can afford normal vets and we have programs for emergency help should that ever arise but I cannot of fire several thousand dollars for allergies.

Hi, my cat has the same problem! She scratched her face right where your cat did and it looked exactly like the picture. My cat never bled a lot though, she never bled at all. Instead, she has scabs where she scratched cuts in her face. I took her to the vet and they said when cats scratch the face in those areas it's because of allergies. They switched her to a non allergenic food, and said it takes two weeks to see a difference once on the diet. She never stop scratching. She only stopped when they gave her a steroid shot. I bought a calming diffuser that you plug into the wall, the brand is Feliway. It diffuses a calming pheromone that makes the cat relaxed, it worked like magic, I could see a difference right away in her behavior, even my other cat. Normally she would hide if the doorbell rang or if my niece would play and jump in the room, my cat would hide, but with the diffuser in she was completely relaxed and just laid on the floor instead of hiding. The vet said she might have anxiety and recommended I buy one. It helped at first, and she scratches less now and I don't see cuts anymore but she still has scabs and I don't know what else to do.
But this helped it at least a little bit, maybe you can try it. Or anyone else with the same problem. What did you end up doing?

 

[Etarre]

When we first got Juniper, she was scratching excessively over her eyes and biting her tail just below the base until she had a bald spot. We think that she has a chicken allergy (one of the most common in cats, I'm told). Once we switched her to a chicken-free food, it cleared up.

When you switched her food, did you try single-protein foods or non-poultry foods? The vast majority of dry and wet foods contain some sort of chicken, so switching foods might not rule out food allergies if you haven't tried to eliminate specific things from her diet.

Does your husband have any basis for fearing that your cat's bleeding could harm your kids? It seems farfetched to me.

All that said, the incident with the other cat and the problem with her not using her litterbox might mean that she's feeling insecure and stressed out. Can you move her box to a safer, quieter space and provide her with some quiet hiding places that she can retreat to?

 

[silkenpaw]

I had a similar problem with my Java. She’s a failed foster. She had been dropped off in her carrier by the door of the local shelter with a note: “Java, I can’t afford to take care of you anymore.” She had a cheek abscess. That was treated and she then proceeded to scratch her neck until it looked like hamburger.

Her neck looked ten times worse than the photos you posted. When she continued to self-mutilate after her ringworm got treated, my vet referred her to a dermatologist. She now gets allergy shots and takes Zyrtec. It took about a year of shots before she stopped itching. In the meanwhile, she wore a jacket and nail caps. The nail caps, especially, really helped, and they are not expensive.

Good luck with your kitty. I know another consultation would be expensive, but can you imagine itching so much you have to cause yourself pain to get relief?