Skin issues - allergies? Boredom?

[Inessg]

Hi! I have a 3 year old calico girl. She's the sweetest, smallest girl. A couple of months ago, she started licking herself in a way that would make wounds and scratches and her fur would fall off. We took her to the vet, and she said it's either allergies, a bacterial infection, or the worse case, a psychological issue.


So we did the bacterial test, turns out negative, so we started off ruling out allergies. First, fleas. She has been on some sort of pill that is really good for fleas. So has the other cat, to make sure he doesn't get anything that can pass off to her. They also gave her a cortisone injection that stopped the itching.


A couple of weeks later, she's back to licking herself bald. Back to the vet, she recommends ruling out food allergies, so we get her this veterinary food that is supposed to be made with nothing that can cause allergic reactions (no outside contamination, good ingredients, etc), and another cortisone shot.
We went back a couple of weeks later and she's better, vet recommends to keep the food and give a bath once a week with natural cat shampoo.
A few weeks into nothing but this food (which smells horrible and she hates!), and she's back to the same. She licks herself bald. We've been feeding her the right food, giving her the baths and giving her the flea medication. The other cat is completely fine. Nothing has changed in the house since we got her.
Has anyone gone though something like this before?
Could this really be psychological? If so, is there anything I can try to make it better for now, before the next vet visit?


Thank you

 

[Furballsmom]

Hello!

It's possible that something is going on outside of your living area that you can't detect, doesn't bother the other cat but is apparent to her, either an odor, or noise/sound, or other animals.

Try some cat music (spotify, youtube and there's RelaxMyCat and Musicforcats as sources).

Also, I realize you're bathing her but try this too; storebought chamomile tea (garden grown chamomile is often unsafe for cats), brewed and cooled and dabbed on the itchy areas can help. It's antifungal, antibacterial and will help ease the itch

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi! There are so many variables to consider. First, any changes to anything right before she started to show signs of licking/etc.? That means EVERYTHING, detergent/soap changes, new carpet or carpet cleaning, new furniture, different/new household cleaners/sprays/etc., perfumes, litter changes, air circulatory issues due to running A/C, dust, pollen, mold... The list goes on, as I am sure you can see - and anything like this can affect one cat and not another. Where is it that she is licking?

I don't know how long she has been on this pill for fleas - or what it is - but, cats can have allergies to flea treatments as well.

Does she go outdoors at all? That has to be considered too. What food has the vet recommended? That might help to know as well. I know it is stressful to go through everything with a fine tooth comb, but it helps a lot to try to narrow down the field of possible causes. So much needs to be ruled out before you go down the behavioral route.

 

[LTS3]

I'd stick with the diet for now. It takes at least 13 weeks, sometimes longer, to see if diet is helping. Lots of things in food can cause skin itchiness and other reactions. One TCS member's cat has multiple sensitivities to lots of different things common in cat food, even prescription food. You don't need the prescription food or the vet's approval to feed non-prescription food. There are limited ingredient commercially available brands that are more appealing to cats and have better qualtiy ingredients than prescription food. Try these:

BLUE Basics® Limited Ingredient Cat Food | Blue Buffalo
Limited Ingredient Diet - Grain Free Cat | Merrick Pet Care
Cat Food - Limited Ingredient Diet - Kohapet
Instinct Limited Ingredient Diet | Instinct Pet Food
RAWZ | 100% Rendered Free Cat Food
NutriSource Pet Foods

Limit treats if you can. If you need to feed a treat, its best to give a single ingredient 100% freeze dried treat such as Pure Bites.

Some people find a raw or home cooked diet helpful. There's a forum here on TCS with more info on those types of diets.

A veterinary dermatologist may be more helpful than your regular vet.

I don't know how long she has been on this pill for fleas - or what it is - but, cats can have allergies to flea treatments as well.

Yes A reaction to the flea medication is possible. Even the natural cat shampoo could cause a reaction in sensitive cats. Even a slight change to the cat litter formulation or something else, like your laundry detergent, can set off a reaction. Labels don't always announce a "New and improved formula".

 

[Inessg]

Hi! There are so many variables to consider. First, any changes to anything right before she started to show signs of licking/etc.? That means EVERYTHING, detergent/soap changes, new carpet or carpet cleaning, new furniture, different/new household cleaners/sprays/etc., perfumes, litter changes, air circulatory issues due to running A/C, dust, pollen, mold... The list goes on, as I am sure you can see - and anything like this can affect one cat and not another. Where is it that she is licking?

I don't know how long she has been on this pill for fleas - or what it is - but, cats can have allergies to flea treatments as well.

Does she go outdoors at all? That has to be considered too. What food has the vet recommended? That might help to know as well. I know it is stressful to go through everything with a fine tooth comb, but it helps a lot to try to narrow down the field of possible causes. So much needs to be ruled out before you go down the behavioral route.

Hi, thanks for your reply. We've been trying to rule out things with the vet. I'm almost certain that nothing has changed. No new animals, no new furniture, carpets or anything different with the cleaning. We don't have AC, and the vet ruled out fungus or bacteria with the fur test.

She used to go outdoors, but we got scared because there's a busy road nearby, so now we keep them both indoors only. The licking started months after she was indoors only.
She is eating Royal canin feline anallergenic. We bought it at the vet. The licking is mostly on the side of her body. I've attached a photo so you can see.
The flea treatment was prescribed by the vet. I can speak to her and see if changing it could do anything. But we did have her on a spot treatment before, we tried different brands and nothing seems to help.

I'm hoping it's not behavioral, because the vet started speaking about antidepressants and I would prefer if we could avoid that

Thank you!

 

[Furballsmom]

I'm hoping it's not behavioral,

Cat music might help more than you think

 

[Inessg]

Cat music might help more than you think

HI! Thank you. I had never heard of cat music, to be honest. But I'll sure look it up. And I think I'll try the camomile tea, to see if it helps the itching.
I'm up for anything, it hurts to see the poor baby lick herself like that.

Thank you!

 

[Inessg]

I'd stick with the diet for now. It takes at least 13 weeks, sometimes longer, to see if diet is helping. Lots of things in food can cause skin itchiness and other reactions. One TCS member's cat has multiple sensitivities to lots of different things common in cat food, even prescription food. You don't need the prescription food or the vet's approval to feed non-prescription food. There are limited ingredient commercially available brands that are more appealing to cats and have better qualtiy ingredients than prescription food. Try these:

BLUE Basics® Limited Ingredient Cat Food | Blue Buffalo
Limited Ingredient Diet - Grain Free Cat | Merrick Pet Care
Cat Food - Limited Ingredient Diet - Kohapet
Instinct Limited Ingredient Diet | Instinct Pet Food
RAWZ | 100% Rendered Free Cat Food
NutriSource Pet Foods

Limit treats if you can. If you need to feed a treat, its best to give a single ingredient 100% freeze dried treat such as Pure Bites.

Some people find a raw or home cooked diet helpful. There's a forum here on TCS with more info on those types of diets.

A veterinary dermatologist may be more helpful than your regular vet.




Yes A reaction to the flea medication is possible. Even the natural cat shampoo could cause a reaction in sensitive cats. Even a slight change to the cat litter formulation or something else, like your laundry detergent, can set off a reaction. Labels don't always announce a "New and improved formula".

Hello! Thank for your reply. I think I'll try another brand of food, maybe she'll like it better than this one. We stopped the treats too, even the wet food (which caused some tantrums).
We have been buying the same brand of litter ever since we got her, so I'm not sure if that's it.
The veterinary is a dermatologist, I asked to be seen by one specifically.

I guess we'll keep trying to rule out thing with her help. Thanks for the food suggestions. I don't live in the US so it might be hard to get those brands, but I'll try to find something similar where we live

Thank you

 

[Furballsmom]

Let us know how things go, sending lots of hugs!