Sigh. Weird things going on with cats: connected?

glittercat

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Hey all

Right OK, this is really, really long so my apologies in advance. Any help or advice would be hugely appreciated.

Cat 1
Back in September my boy Anubis developed weird scabs and lost fur all round his whiskers but only on one side of his face. He also had a couple of ulcers up under his lip, but teeth etc fine. Vet diagnosis was acne. A week of antibiotics seemed to sort it out.

Last weekend I noticed a large bald patch on his chin with crusted bits. (same side again). Back to the vet, saw another one this time, who didn't think it was acne and gave a steroid injection. Seems OK at the moment.

Cat 2
Feora (accident prone!) has had a problem with impacted anal glands. We've been to the vet who, er, emptied them, said she thought there was an infection, and gave a weeks antibiotics. However Feora was still scooting about on her bottom so they then prescribed a tape wormer (no clue how she would get one of those!) and told me to leave it about a week to work. That was applied last Thursday. Feora still scooting about though . :(

Cat 3
And then we have poor little Dari. She has lost patches fur on the top of her head, back of her neck. I initially assumed these were the results of bunny kicks whilst squabbling. However took her to the vet (when I went with Feora) as she also seemed very anxious and stressed and not at all her usual self. Vet did skin scraping and took samples of the fur but couldn't find anything. I have 2 Feliway things plugged in now and although she seems much less anxious, the fur is no better. Although there is fur loss, there is no irritation of the skin, it is not inflamed or red or sore.

Around her throat / neck the fur is noticeably thin and feels quite dry and a bit brittle? The rest of her fur is thick and velvety. She has not lost fur anywhere else. I haven't seen her over groom but she is scratching a little more than I would like.


I am at a loss really as to what is causing these issues. They have regular flea and worm treatment. They are up to date with vaccs (insurance requirement). They don't go out.

Could it be food related? I did take them off Felix as the quality is crap now and tried a higher quality one, but the various issues have arisen at different times. I can't remember when I first switched. I think early September?? Dry food brand remains the same (Applaws and Canagan on occasion as Dari likes it).

Litter? One box has World's Best (using up a bag after Feora surgery), the others have their normal clumping litter that I've used for the last year.

If not food, any ideas at all? I've racked my brain and can't think of anything else

I feel dreadful that something is going on with all of my lil babies that I can't seem to fix :(

Thank you if you were willing to read through all this!
 

Jem

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A couple of questions...

With Anubis and the crusted bits, were there any little black bits?

With Feora, has her poop been soft or has she had any bouts of mushy poop since the food change? How old is she and has she ever had anal sac issues before? What and when was her surgery?

Did you also change their food bowls along with the food change?

With Dari, what's the weather like right now? Along with possible food allergies, maybe the air is really dry right now. I know my husband and I have been itchy like crazy with our weird winter weather and fluctuating temp changes.
 
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glittercat

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Hi

All three are just under 18m old. Feora and Aeldari are littermates. Anubis is unrelated.

No, no black bits, just scabby bits. The pic I have posted was taken in October and was the worst of the loss around his whiskers although the scabs had cleared due to being told to use Hibiscrub 2 x daily. Then his lip and muzzle 'thickened' and looked sore so he went back and the antibiotics were prescribed. To add, none of the scabbing or fur loss seemed to bother or irritate him at all, not on muzzle, lip or on chin, though the two ulcers must have been painful.

All litter trays have been totally normal, no loose stools or vomiting from any of the three.

Feora surgery was a repeat spay (!) . Carried out on 1st Oct but had extended cage rest for over 6 weeks due to escaping shortly after surgery and galloping around the house like a mad thing before I could catch her - caused massive swelling and herniation worries. But all OK. No previous issues at all with anal sacs.

No, no food bowl change. I have two sets for wet food and two for dry. Materials ceramic / china. No plastic. Also ceramic cat fountain for running water supply with different drinking levels.

Weather is quite mild considering nearly Xmas. Some cold spells.

I really think Dari will be back over to vet this week. She's on my chest purring away. Her poor fur :( I think they are sick of seeing me now.
 

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rubysmama

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How stressful for you, having 3 sick fur babies. :hugs:

The only thing that stood out, to me, from your posts is the water fountain. Do they all drink from it? It is cleaned / filter(?) changed regularly?

Also, have you considered taking them to a feline only vet? Here's a link to search for one in your area, if you are interested. Just be sure you choose "Feline Only" in the Practice Type Drop Down menu.

Find a Veterinarian and Practice | The Cat Community
 

Jem

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Have you gone thru the ingredient list on the new food and compared it to the ingredients on the old? If it's an allergy, that's where I would start. Or just go back the old food for a bit and see if even ONE thing clears up. Then you can try a new different food that does not contain the new ingredients that was in the new food they are currently on.

It's possible that the infection (if there was one) in the anal sac is still there, hence the scooting. Does she let you mess with her back there? Does it seem like it hurts?
Did she have pooping issues while on cage rest at all? Either constipation or diarrhea? Or perhaps the infection started because she didn't groom herself after surgery?

I'm sorry about all the questions without any answers..... :headscratch: :ohwell: but sometimes it can help something "click".

If the food didn't cause any pooping issues, then I don't think her (Feora's) case is related to possible allergies with the other two.
As for Dari and Anubis, it could be allergy, but then it's case of trial and error.:sigh:
 

stephanietx

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Are you feeding anything with chicken or fish? Those are often difficult for cats and cause allergy problems. You might try going grain-free and feeding only one kind of protein such as duck, venison, or turkey.
 

stephanietx

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Also, it could be related to the litter you're using, especially if you use a scented litter. You might try to change to an all-natural type litter so see if that helps.
 
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glittercat

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Rubbish at quoting so will try to remember all points lol.

The water fountain is one of these:

They all drink from it, it doesn't have any filters and is cleaned regularly. The only thing I will say is that I wonder if it's the actual water, as when I do my aquarium water changes there is a weird film. Maybe the water company is doing something...

I'm in the SW of England, so will have a look at the vet list but I've never heard of vets here being animal specific?

Have gone back to the old food, probably been about a week. I haven't done the ingredients list though so will look at that.

Feora didn't have any poop issues on cage rest, other than not eating as much due to little activity. But she did go regularly still, especially once I took her out of the surgical recovery suit!

Don't want to lose this so I will post and carry on lol (I'm on the bus)
 
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glittercat

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The litter isn't scented it's pretty standard clay clumping. Pants, just got to work so will have to carry on at lunch time!!!
 
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glittercat

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Food is this one:


I have tried them on a couple different flavours from this brand but they only like this one. They've been on this for several months now. I've tried a few different brands but a lot they don't seem to like and will not eat. Got a cupboard full of failed attempts. Difficulty is that the girls aren't hugely keen on wet food and Anubis isn't hugely keen on dry!!

I did also try this one last year but it was a bit hit and miss in terms of them seeming to like it? my parents feed their dogs the same brand and swear by it...


I used to give them Orijen but I simply can't afford to buy it for three of them :(

I recently did buy a small bag of this and it went in minutes but again it's simply to expensive to buy all the time...


Perhaps I should resort to the cheap rubbish that most people feed and don't have any issues... :(
 
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glittercat

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Sorry also meant to say that Feora doesn't seem bothered about her back / back end, ie when I pick her up I always support with both hands, one sort of under chest and one under bottom to take her weight. But nonetheless she is still being a scooty booty though only on my bed... Lol.
 

rubysmama

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They all drink from it, it doesn't have any filters and is cleaned regularly. The only thing I will say is that I wonder if it's the actual water, as when I do my aquarium water changes there is a weird film. Maybe the water company is doing something...
Maybe try bottled water for a while and see if it make any difference?

I'm in the SW of England, so will have a look at the vet list but I've never heard of vets here being animal specific?
Found this, but not sure how far it would be from you.
Cambridge Cat Clinic

This one looks like it's in SW England: Specialist Cat Care From Experienced Cat Only Vet

There's more here: feline only vet uk - Google Search
 
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glittercat

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Thank you for the links, I will have a look. Cambridge about 200 miles away I think and I can't see a location on the other one.

I have been trying to get some pics of Dari's fur (or lack of) but she will not stay still so they are a quite blurry!! - sorry. Looks worse than the pictures show.

I think there is a definite irritation there as she is scratching a bit now, more than I would expect ... But only around her head and neck /throat.

I think I need to get the vet to take another look.
 

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di and bob

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Looks/sounds like allergies to me. I would change them to a middle priced different brand of food and see if that helps, and definitely fill their fountain with purified water, gallons are pretty cheap. Look around teh house and see if there is anything that might induce allergies... plants, are they drinking the fish water, toilet water, older soft toys that may harbor bacteria, where they are rubbing their faces, and get a humififier in place if the humidity is low. It just seems odd they ALL have allergy like symptoms. I would think that points to food or water. It could even be teh detergent/softener you are using on their/your blankets.
 
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glittercat

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Hiya

I've been racking my brains and can't think of anything they can be getting into in the house that's not been here since I've had them...

Both aquariums are lidded so they can't harass the fish, drink the water or far more likely, crash land in the tanks. I shut them out of the room when I do the water changes. Toilet lid always down so can't get into that either.

I've tried a number of different brands and price ranges (wet and dry foods) but very often they will not eat it. They have definite preferences.

Detergent same brand I've always used. However I have changed some of the products I use, as in shampoo etc. But these aren't open and unless they are reacting to things on my skin would they be affected by that?

Dari going back to the vet tomorrow morning so will see what comes of it.


Thanks for thoughts all x
 
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glittercat

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So vet visit today for Dari has resulted in some skin scrapings being taken for analysis. I thought they'd done skin scrapes on 4th but that was more looking at fur samples.

There are white flakes visible now which apparently fluoresced a tiny bit under the black light but vet not 100% sure that it's ringworm so wants the lab to look at scrapings to either rule it in or out or see if they find something else.

If lab doesn't find anything then one of the other vets specialises in dermatology so we will go see her.

Unfortunately now Dari is in a cone as she's scratched herself raw in two places in the last day or so, so need to stop that getting worse. She's looking generally very sad, poor love. :(
 

RangersMom

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Sounds like *possible* flea allergy.... I know you said you give them flea treatment, but that stuff doesnt work great. A fine-tooth comb is the ticket. Have a bowl of water close by so if you see any fleas on the comb, you can dunk the comb and drown them. Fleas are easy to see on a comb, but really hard to see on the actual cat, and if you see little black bits, thats "flea dirt" or flea poop. Flea combs are all you need to get fleas off a cat, I swear by them. (If thats the issue, not sure) Good luck!
 
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glittercat

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Hi, she's been checked for fleas with a flea comb and white paper towels - first thing the vet did - and no sign of any, or any flea dirt. They were going to check again today. Thank you though.

Vet is hesitant on ringworm as it doesn't present as she would expect, and also not sure where it could have come from. But will see what comes back from the slides they have done today - they sending 5 off to be looked at. Not sure how long it will take but presumably Dari will have to keep the cone on until they get back to us.
 

rubysmama

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Hope it's not ringworm, but that they are able to figure out what's causing the itching. :crossfingers:
 
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