Itching from allergies or reaction to Methimazole?

[grzina]

I've been dealing with a cat with multiple problems which may or may not be related. Boots started itching last fall and was also having behavioral issues like pooping outside the litter box, acting nervous, and over grooming. I have two cats and both were over grooming which I attributed to being visited by and outdoor cat that would taunt them in the middle of the night. Both cats were treated with Amyltriptlyne for behavior and also because it is a slight antihistimine. This worked for the other cat. Not at all for Boots who continued itching, making scabs and as an added bonus, began peeing the perimeter of the basement. Again, I'm thinking this is behavioral and he is disturbed by the other visitor cat and marking his territory. Went back to the vet because by this time he was making large scabs. Vet gave him the Depo shot but explained it had side effects so he didn't want to use it often. Also gave Prosac for the litter box issue. Also noticed a weight loss and decided to do some blood work.

Overnight, Boots became a completely different cat, due to the Depo shot. He was so chill, it was wonderful to have him back to normal. Also, the litter box issues stopped immediately. However, blood work came back and showed slightly elevated thyroid. So then he was given methimazole and has been on it for nearly two months and his thyroid is back to normal.

In the meantime the itching has returned. Along with that, he is back to licking his inner thigh clear of fur. Back to the vet. The vet who had been treating him was off at a conference so I opted to see a different vet in the office. What the heck, a second opinion can't hurt. Guess what? She found a double ear infection. Treated that with a medication in the office, also gave an antibiotic shot for the scabs. Suggested treating with Frontline just in case. Also suggested that we may need to take him off methimazole if the itching doesn't subside. Facial itching is a side effect of the thyroid medicine and it is hard to know if he is having a side effect or not since he was itching long before the medicine was started. So right now the goal is to get the itching to subside (hoping the antibiotics and the medicine in the ears are helpful) and if the itching has not improved in three days she will give him another Depo shot just so he can heal while we are figuring this out.

Looking for opinions:

Is this food or seasonal allergies? He has no GI upset, eats grain free Iambs canned food primarily. Different varieties (chicken, beef, tuna, etc.). He is 13 years old and has had zero health problems up until this fall when all of this started rather suddenly.

Possible to be fleas, lice or mites? Both cats go outside on the deck when the weather is nice. Possible to get some sort of bug when they are not even on the ground? 

Anyone have an itchy cat before or after taking Methimazole? It is my understanding that the itching would be even more severe if due to the medicine.

Anyone think an ear infection can trigger this kind of itching? He does shake his head a lot. The itching is centered around his ears, neck and chin although he has one spot behind his shoulder that has a small scab.

It is really frustrating to have all of these issues and to not know if they are related. And to not know what is causing the issues because it could be so many things. I really liked the vet I saw today and she said she felt confident we would find the issue but it may take some time. I'm ok with that but I just want some relief for the cat who is a very sweet lap cat but cannot even sit on my lap or play with a toy without being distracted by the urge to lick or scratch himself!

 

[cat princesses]

If it's seasonal allergies perhaps, has your vet suggested trying claritin ( regular, NOT decongestant ).   Be careful with depo - I have used it before for my allergy kitty while we were trying to pin point what was wrong and though it works great - like any steroid it can cause instant diabetes!  it's nothing to mess with.  I ended up going to a specialty center animal dermatologist and we finally got a diagnosis.  I know how distressing it can be to see them so itchy! My little one was making sores on her legs due to excessive licking.  

 

[grzina]

Yeah, I know the Depo is bad. The vet doesn't want to use it again.

Since we have now discovered an ear infection, and she is treating that, I think she is hoping that will reduce the facial itching. 

If not, the next thing to try is taking him off the thyroid medicine. If that doesn't stop it, then we are on to seasonal or food allergies. I'm all for trying claritin but this cat is impossible to pill. Will need transdermal or liquid.

Process of elimination. Ugh.

 

[cat princesses]

Have you tried pill pockets or chicken?  The key with a pill pocket is first rip off about half - one full one is way too big for a cat.  Second, never touch the pill pocket with the hand that touched the pill.  I used to flatten the pill pocket first and then put it in the palm of my hand and with the other hand that I touched the pill with drop the pill in the pocket and with the clean hand close it up.  My cat would eat anything in a pill pocket.  I also like to buy those roaster chickens from costco and sometimes I would make a small chicken meatball with the pill inside and then of course give other pieces of chicken that are plain.  Both my cats were on claratin for a while and they both ate it very easily - I don't think it has a bitter taste like other stuff does.  

Are you using tresaderm for the ear infection?  

Are you using one of those soft cones or the blow up donut cone?  I like either of those vs. the hard plastic cone - it makes them much more comfortable and at least they can put their head down to rest with those options. 

I know, it's hard....it took us almost a full year of trying different foods, medications, etc....I got the double whammy, I have 1 cat with allergies and the other was just diagnosed 2 weeks ago with diabeties so I'm now giving insulin shots 2x per day!  Good news is, if I ever need a career change, I have all of this down pat -I'm half way to a vet tech already! LOL

 

[grzina]

Tried pill pockets and cat will not eat them. He is sneaky. But thanks for the good tips on how to use it. May need that for the future. The other cat takes a pill wrapped in american cheese. He is easy. Terrible cranky personality but lets you throw a pill down his throat. Go figure. 

The vet used something called BNT? for the ear infection. I think. One treatment in the office. So, I don't have to do anything with his ears other than clean the goo that is leaking out.

I'm not using a cone. 

Did you do a food elimination trial only to find out the allergies were seasonal and controlled with Claritin? 

 

[cat princesses]

Well the issue with my cat was she was grooming like crazy - this happened immediately after her spay surgery so we initially thought it was a reaction to the internal sutures possibly.  We tried steroids and afew other things and that didn't work. I literally had to google how to make a cat baby onesie and I went to walmart, got a tank top style onesie and had to doctor it up and put that on her to protect the areas she was licking.  This got us thru for months- she would lick the onesie but couldn't get all the way to the skin.  I was feeding raw as well and the suspicion was possibly either the beef or chicken which are common known allergens so we only fed the turkey and lamb for months but that didn't help either.  Then we thought hmmm maybe she's really unique and is allergic to the egg in the raw so we went off raw entirely and started on the weruva grain free.  Licking didn't ease up so we did a depo injection and started her on claratin 1/2 pill in am, 1/2 pill in PM in addition to 3 treatments 1x weekly of the flea/tick advantage just incase that was an issue.  It sorta helped for afew months so we really were thinking it was seasonal but eventually, it got worse and I had her up to 1.5 pills of claritin daily which I felt was way too much.  We did try the RX food from the vet - Science Diet, I forget which one, w/d maybe?  I can't remember but it was the special food for elimination diets.  She didn't care for it and was refusing to eat so i had to stop that and go back to the weruva.  

I also tried a holistic vet which did absolutely nothing but waste my time and money for 3 months.  They did a clipping of her fur and ran some panel from that and said she had "weak skin" and gave me some hemp oil mixture to give her 3 drops 1x daily and this other supplement.  I hung on for 3 full months doing that because he said it can take up to 3 months before you see any changes - to me that was just hocus pocus and I shouldn't have ever wasted my time and money with that clown.  

We decided to stop playing around and just bite the bullet and take her to the dermatologist.  They did the blood test and determined the dust mite/storage mite allergy.  We could take it a step further and do an inter dermal test but they have to put her under for that, shave an area and inject her like they do with humans.  My concern with that is after the test is done, she will be licking that shaved area and cause the same issues as we had after the spay surgery so the dermo agreed.  I guess it's possible she has other allergies in addition to the ones the blood test found but I'm not wanting to risk the other test to find out.   We are still working with the dermo to reduce her atopica dosage slowly and eventually she will hopefully go on allergy shots ( which are life long ).  

It's been a very long journey to figure this out - hang in there - eventually you'll find the cause.

 

[cat princesses]

I should mention, we also tried the amaly. and benezupril ( probably spelled that wrong ) for months and they didn't help much.  The only thing it did help with was the dynamic between the 2 cats - they came from the same shelter but were not crazy for each other so the medicine being used on the itchy cat did help to keep her from wanting to chase her sister around the house.

 

[cat princesses]

Sorry one more thing, I wouldn't repeat the depo shot again so soon, that depo shot is supposed to be good for at least a month or longer - it's too soon to repeat it after only 2 weeks.