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- Oct 12, 2018
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My poor Thomas has unexplained dermatitis.
He is 4 yrs old. He's slightly overweight. He has mostly free feed of dry food and gets a small fancy feast can daily. He does get some treas and maybe I should eliminate those. He also gets lean protein from the table 3xs or so a week.
In May, we started going outside on leash like we do every year. He suddenly got an ear infection... first one. Off to the vet. He spent ages looking for fleas. My cat does not have fleas, ticks, or skin parasites and is treated with a vet rx preventative. So I was annoyed half the appointment was spent looking through hair.
In June, I found out rather suddenly the dry food I was feeding was being discontinued. I'm fuzzy on the timeframe exactly. But it was definitely comsistently warmer vs colder here in Wisconsin. I had plenty, so I transitioned him slowly onto another grain-free food and gave rest to my sis terrible who was habing trouble switching her older cat. At this time, I was very excited because Chewy was now selling a new free of scents and dyes version of Tidy Cats. I have asthma, and was over the moon.
Anyhow, I started using the cat litter and finished transitioned him to new kibble.
By mid July, he had a rash on his lower belly. A small one, no bigger than a cluster of 5 or so pimples. We were still going outside, so i thought he had rolled in something. There was not puss, they were not weeping, just raised and itchy as he was licking them. But within a week he had licked a huge area naked... and raw spots grew from bumps. I tried some hydrocortisone for pets and a spray that made things waay worse but got no results. So we went to the vet. Like, his entire leg was bald and screaming angry with small raw open hotspot wounds. (Again, vet spent 60% of time looking for fleas we do not have). He ruled out ringworm, mange, etc and took a scraping. It came back slightly infected, but after ruling out other skin conditions, that it was a reaction to something. He said, no way it could be. the litter. He also said basically all shelf foods are contaminated with allergens and only a vet rx would rule out food, but based on what I was feeding and had been feeding, it probably wasn't food. He was "sure" this was dermatitis from a bite. Mosquito, flea, tick, spider or something. He prescribed antibotics and steroids.
We did that and he healed insanely fast.
I went back to a cat litter I like and was using for years before the tidy cat free swap, it is also unscented. I spent an hour reading food bags to find a grain free, no soy, egg, wheat, dairy, corn... food felt was good for both of us.
He's now eating Nutro Grain Free Chicken and Potato.
And I banished my poor kitty to indoors 24/7. He has been so sad. He loves going for walks in yard on his leash and smelling the bunny trails.
August was mostly ok, a couple times I thought he might break ou, but he. Never really did. One leg still seemed to be getting more licks, but was ok. So, I thought, time to add things back and find cause (outside, litter, ect). I STUPIDLY added a little bit of the tidy cat free as our first step. And, he seemed to get a little rash. I'm talking, 3-4 cups as a top off in his giant super size box. Maybe 10%.
I freaked, wasted $$$ in cat litter and I 100% changed and washed box. It didn't really get better, but it didn't get worse. A few little bumps popping up here and there, would heal in several days and then, more would show up. If it seemed really red, I'd cone him overnight and the lack of licking really helped. I've tried coconut oil, collide silver spray and triple antibotic ointment if I put him in a cone.
I went away early September and the week I was about to leave he had a little more than normal. I worried non-stop while away 3 days and notes what to do if I wasn't reachable. But when I came home he was mostly fine. Less red even.
This week, I've cried us to sleep every night with anxiety because he just won't get better. It's back to worse. Definitely not to the point I brought him in last, but in my opinion pretty rough.
I feel like we need a new vet, as I'm so frustrated with all the flea looking. It's not fleas. I feel like he needs steroid injections. But most important, I want to figure out the cause.
I'm looking, i guess for help. Should I try a specificly m
He is 4 yrs old. He's slightly overweight. He has mostly free feed of dry food and gets a small fancy feast can daily. He does get some treas and maybe I should eliminate those. He also gets lean protein from the table 3xs or so a week.
In May, we started going outside on leash like we do every year. He suddenly got an ear infection... first one. Off to the vet. He spent ages looking for fleas. My cat does not have fleas, ticks, or skin parasites and is treated with a vet rx preventative. So I was annoyed half the appointment was spent looking through hair.
In June, I found out rather suddenly the dry food I was feeding was being discontinued. I'm fuzzy on the timeframe exactly. But it was definitely comsistently warmer vs colder here in Wisconsin. I had plenty, so I transitioned him slowly onto another grain-free food and gave rest to my sis terrible who was habing trouble switching her older cat. At this time, I was very excited because Chewy was now selling a new free of scents and dyes version of Tidy Cats. I have asthma, and was over the moon.
Anyhow, I started using the cat litter and finished transitioned him to new kibble.
By mid July, he had a rash on his lower belly. A small one, no bigger than a cluster of 5 or so pimples. We were still going outside, so i thought he had rolled in something. There was not puss, they were not weeping, just raised and itchy as he was licking them. But within a week he had licked a huge area naked... and raw spots grew from bumps. I tried some hydrocortisone for pets and a spray that made things waay worse but got no results. So we went to the vet. Like, his entire leg was bald and screaming angry with small raw open hotspot wounds. (Again, vet spent 60% of time looking for fleas we do not have). He ruled out ringworm, mange, etc and took a scraping. It came back slightly infected, but after ruling out other skin conditions, that it was a reaction to something. He said, no way it could be. the litter. He also said basically all shelf foods are contaminated with allergens and only a vet rx would rule out food, but based on what I was feeding and had been feeding, it probably wasn't food. He was "sure" this was dermatitis from a bite. Mosquito, flea, tick, spider or something. He prescribed antibotics and steroids.
We did that and he healed insanely fast.
I went back to a cat litter I like and was using for years before the tidy cat free swap, it is also unscented. I spent an hour reading food bags to find a grain free, no soy, egg, wheat, dairy, corn... food felt was good for both of us.
He's now eating Nutro Grain Free Chicken and Potato.
And I banished my poor kitty to indoors 24/7. He has been so sad. He loves going for walks in yard on his leash and smelling the bunny trails.
August was mostly ok, a couple times I thought he might break ou, but he. Never really did. One leg still seemed to be getting more licks, but was ok. So, I thought, time to add things back and find cause (outside, litter, ect). I STUPIDLY added a little bit of the tidy cat free as our first step. And, he seemed to get a little rash. I'm talking, 3-4 cups as a top off in his giant super size box. Maybe 10%.
I freaked, wasted $$$ in cat litter and I 100% changed and washed box. It didn't really get better, but it didn't get worse. A few little bumps popping up here and there, would heal in several days and then, more would show up. If it seemed really red, I'd cone him overnight and the lack of licking really helped. I've tried coconut oil, collide silver spray and triple antibotic ointment if I put him in a cone.
I went away early September and the week I was about to leave he had a little more than normal. I worried non-stop while away 3 days and notes what to do if I wasn't reachable. But when I came home he was mostly fine. Less red even.
This week, I've cried us to sleep every night with anxiety because he just won't get better. It's back to worse. Definitely not to the point I brought him in last, but in my opinion pretty rough.
I feel like we need a new vet, as I'm so frustrated with all the flea looking. It's not fleas. I feel like he needs steroid injections. But most important, I want to figure out the cause.
I'm looking, i guess for help. Should I try a specificly m
