Stubborn Skin Allergy

[catnapper137]

I took in a stray in June 2016 because I thought he was getting beaten up by other cats because he was always scratched up a bloody.  Turns out he has a pretty severe skin allergy.  My regular vet started him out with flea treatment, antibiotics and a steroid shot, which cleared him up for about two weeks when the itching started again.  We tried more antibiotics and more steroids with the same results - it improved for about two weeks then back to scratching himself to death.  We've tried a combination of Atopica and Convenia with no success.  We tried Science diet z/d food and Purina hydrolized with no luck either.  Our vet referred us to UT Vet school.  They put him on Advantage Multi every two weeks, gave more antibiotics and Malacetic Ultra rubbed on his belly and chin twice a day (skin scrapings found bacteria and yeast in those areas).  He was doing better for a little while then out of nowhere got much much worse (nothing else had changed).  On our most recent visit to UT they changed his flea treatment to Bravecto (which was just applied today) since it can treat mites (no mites have ever been seen in his skin scrapings but that doesn't mean they aren't there).  They also started him on Apoquel which was recently approved for cats.   He is to take it twice a day; we started it Friday evening.  They also started him on Royal Canin select protein Rabbit and Pea food.  So far we have only noticed negligible improvement.

Has anyone else dealt with an allergy this stubborn?  Has anything worked for you that we haven't tried?  This is the sweetest cat and it breaks my heart that he's so miserable.  

 

[Brian007]

Hmmm, aren't flea-treatments dependant on a flea actually biting the treated cat, then dying?  They are more prevention than cure.  Therefore, if he's severally allergic to flea-bites, which I seriously suspect, you might still have the odd one in the vicinity.  It only takes one bite to inflame a large area of skin.  On the other hand, he could be equally allergic to the flea-treatments as to the fleas themselves.  So, you need to comb him with a flea comb, squishing as you go, vacuum every inch of your home (emptying the vacuum outside straight away), and maybe try spritzing his coat with equal parts apple cider vinegar to water, which will deter any fleas and help heal his skin.  Just because you are not being bitten does not mean he's not flea-lunch. 

Nettle is a powerful natural antihistamine, which is safe for cats.  Nettle tea can be bought virtually everywhere these days.  Brew the tea then let it cool, dab it on the allergy site and add a teaspoon to his water, or syringe a teaspoon into his mouth.

Poor wee mite, hmmm, perhaps change that to, poor wee soul.  He must be really suffering.  

Please keep us posted..... 

 

[catnapper137]

You make a good point about the flea medicine; I hadn't thought of it that way.  I must say, I have NEVER seen a single flea on him though.  We also keep all of our other animals (four inside cats and a dog) on flea preventative, even though this little guy is kept separated in the guest room. And with all of our furbabies, we do vacuum and change bedding regularly.  Of course, from what the vets have said just because I'm not seeing fleas doesn't mean they're not there.  The new flea med, Bravecto, is also supposed to take care of demodex mites, so if that's the cause we should see soon if it works.  

I'll look into the Nettle and apple cider vinegar - I'm all for a natural treatment at this point! 

 

[Brian007]

I don't suppose you could photograph all the different affected areas and post the pictures to this thread, please?  

And, please could you list all his current symptoms as well.

What is your cat called? 

 

[solomonar]

Perhaps is because English is not my mother tongue, so please forgive me : what is the cat's problem? 

I do not understand.

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[catnapper137]

These are the best I could get this morning, but they don't really do justice to how bad he is.  It is mainly his face, head, chin, and neck that are affected.  He has pulled some fur out and created scabs on all of his legs and stomach.  He does seem to be continuing to improve slightly since being on the Apoquel (his eyes were very goopy before), but it is upsetting his stomach and making him a little lethargic.  His only symptom is he's just so itchy.  Oh, and his name is Scratch  When he was a stray, I kept referring to him as "Scratch Face Cat", which then got shortened to Scratch and just stuck.

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[Brian007]

Are his claws cut?

What's his name?

Which country are you in?

 

[catnapper137]

His claws are trimmed.  His name is Scratch.  We're in the US.

 

[Brian007]

The Apoquel should have been given at the very start, last June, in my opinion.  It should also have had an immediate miracle effect but it's taken 5 days to only show some improvement.  I don't know if it will work its magic now, and the improvement may be short-lived. 

All the rounds of antibiotics really concerns me.  When was the Convenia given, how many weeks ago?

Have antihistamines not been discussed?  Was a longer acting steroid discussed. 

 

[catnapper137]

From my understanding, Apoquel was only recently approved for cats; it had only been for dogs before (maybe that's just here in the US?).  The feline version was Atopica which we did try in the begining.  His most recent antibiotic was on 2/24 and it was an injection.  

No other medications have been brought other than what I've listed already.  We have a mild, oral steroid that I can give him as needed.  The steroid injections he has received in the past should have lasted much longer than a couple of weeks (I can't think of the name of it, but I can look it up later).  But I really want to get away from steroids since it can cause a whole host of other problems and eventually shorten his life. 

 

[Brian007]

http://www.walmart.com/ip/De-La-Cru...ategy=PWVAV&visitor_id=VyJWl2UzrTb_Coj8OYNoaQ

Your local Walmart sells gentian violet, known to those in the know as the "magic purple juice".  It might help if you paint him purple.  My mum was always sending us to school with various purple bits.  It cures practically everything. 

 

[catnapper137]

I'm glad you brought that up, because I misspoke; we do have an antiseptic from the vet that is blue that we put on his chin.  Again, I'll have to look up the name once I get home.  I also put a triple antibiotic ointment on his wounds as he will let me.

 

[Brian007]

Apoquel kind of cons the immune pathways into thinking they should act, and so they do but the pathways don't properly pass the information around, they kind of hide it places.  This can result in miracle cures, which then wear off, and each subsequent dose becomes less and less effective.  So, the condition needs to be treatable and curable on the first application.  And I worry about all he antibiotics and other stuff that might have actually created new strains of bacteria, particular to your cat.

 

[solomonar]

The places and colors look very atypical. At a first sight could be a food allergy. A second option is a flea allergy. A third option is an allergy to some meds. A fourth option is fungal infestation. And the chain goes on. 

What is the vet's diagnostic? 

Whiskers concerns me, because from their strange orientation (assuming is not a photo artefact) it looks like their root is affected, and the whiskers' root is deeper than the fur ones.

 

[Brian007]

If it's gentian violet that you have, I'd be tempted to literally use the whole bottle and purple him up  

 

[Brian007]

Yeah, how do his whiskers look?

 

[Brian007]

Anti-biotic literally means anti-life.  Overprescribing results in super bugs like avian bird flu, sars and streptococci, multi-resitant-strains of bacteria kill as many patients in UK hospitals as the operation they're in for, all picked up and bred in the hospitals. 

They're the single biggest threat to world health.  

 

[solomonar]

To curled, oriented in to different directions.  While the ones above the eyes are quite common and normal.

But this strange image could be from the photo and in reality whiskers are straight, as in most of the cats.

I just wonder. It is something strange with this cat if you have a more insistent look on her: location of the spots, whiskers, stripes of wounds. They also follow more or less the locations of the glands on head. 

Fel d4, the allergen is deposited in the submandibulary glands. Some other allergens (Fel d1 if I not mistaken) are in cat's saliva.  

 

[Brian007]

And he need antihistamine to stop his itching.  You could by Chlorphenamine over the counter in a drugstore.  It's used in veterinary medicine as well as human medicine and is very safe.

 

[Brian007]

Maybe they're old injuries from fighting as a stray, that haven't been allowed to heal?