Urgently need advice please!

[Khrad]

Hi all,

I've been dealing with some issues with one of my cats for about a year now and I'm at a point now that I'm even considering re-homing as a last resort. I really need some advice, especially from anyone who has gone through this. The issue is with my female cat who is now grooming to the point of baldness and scabs. So here is the summary of all that has happened so far:

I have two bengals, both my cats are young, female is 4 yrs old, male is 3 yrs old, I've had them since they were 10 weeks old. This all started after I went out of town for some weddings back to back. Up until the weddings, my cats were fed a home cooked diet with Alnutrin Eggshell supplement (Obviously, I did not think this through for when I ever had to go out of town!). Since I needed to go out of town, I needed to find something easier for the pet sitter to feed as well as have something for them in case she was unable to come one of the days. I went with Ziwi Peak Air-Dried Chicken and Rawz can wet food. Everything was fine at least I thought, until the female started urinating outside the litter box and started to lose fur around belly and scabs.

9/2019 - Took her to the vet, found out that she stressed herself so much that she developed struvite crystals which resulted in a UTI. The vet said that the food had nothing to do with her condition and that she is just an overly sensitive cat and me being out of town just put her over the edge. After a bill of $310 for ultrasound, antibiotics, steroid and ointment, she recovered but has not been the same.

4/2020 - The fur loss and scabs reappeared again. This is probably due to the change of everyone being home due to Covid? Took her to vet, was given antibiotics and steroid and charged $110.

6/2020 - Took cat to different vet as the fur loss and scabs did not seem to disappear. Was told the same that she is stressed, was given antibiotics, Gabapentin (kitty Prozac) for as needed and different ointment. Was charged $100 for an exam, ointment and meds. Antibiotics and ointment helped clear scabs, but not completely.

9/2020 - Took cat back for recheck, this time after charging me $80 for meds and ointment, the vet said to put her on Gabapentin (kitty Prozac) regularly as her condition is due to stress.

10/2020 - I wanted a second opinion before putting her on Gabapentin (kitty Prozac), so went to different vet, who after charging me $300 for a fungal culture, skin cytology (stain), antibiotics and steroids, she said that it's allergies and wants her on a hypo allergenic diet and suggested Royal Canin. After looking at the labels for Royal Canin, I'm wondering if this vet has any idea what she is talking about regarding nutrition!

My cats are and have been on 20% - Primal freeze dried rabbit & venison, 20% - Rawz can wet food (shredded variety chicken & duck) and 60% home cooked organic chicken, beef, turkey with Alnutrin Eggshell. Primal & Rawz are two of the most cleanest labels I could find.

If my cat has allergies to food then I don't even know where to begin to eliminate. The only issue I can see is maybe the home cooked beef?

Please advise as I'm having a very hard time with this as she is my baby and I only want what is best for her. She has become a very anxious cat. This has also effected her relationship with the male cat who is very playful, but now she doesn't want to play with him. And now they are getting into fights regularly and she is starting to spray during fights. And when they are not fighting, then she is growling/hissing at him as soon as he is within her view. I'm afraid that this is going to start effecting him health wise.

I am currently unemployed and can not afford to have a major issue with either of the cats. I've already spent enough money with no solid solution. I'm trying to see if there is a decent holistic vet in my area, maybe they might be able to shed some light on this. I don't know how much more I can do this, my house smells like cat piss, I have to constantly keep the cats separated due to all the fighting and more piss! Please HELP!!!

 

[GraciesParent]

Hey Khrad,

I'm sure there are MANY more-seasoned-than-me cat owners here who will have excellent advice, but at first glance at your story I'm actually wondering if all the vet visits, tests, meds, changes in food, etc., have actually made things worse, stress-wise. Especially if your cat likes routine/repetition (as many cats do). It becomes a vicious circle: the more you do to try to help, the more anxious the cat becomes, the worst the condition gets, the more you do to try to help, etc.

My only suggestion would be regarding the spots that she's overgrooming -- have you tried chamomile tea?

Just regular, store-bought chamomile tea bags -- brew a strong cup, let it cool completely, then dab it on liberally (with a cotton ball) to the affected areas several times a day. I picked up that advice on this forum last week and it did WONDERS for my anxious cat, who had scratched one of her ears bald/raw. Chamomile calms the itch and helps with healing.

Good luck! And, as I say, I'm sure you'll get lots of good advice here. :-)

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. I will have to also defer to other members regarding food allergies, but I did want to point out that chamomile tea (same as described above by GraciesParent ) can also be used as a calming agent internally. If you can get her to lap up 1-3 teaspoonfuls up to 3 times a day, it is gently calming without being sedating. Just make sure it has no additives/flavorings.

 

[Whenallhellbreakslose]

Hi all,

I've been dealing with some issues with one of my cats for about a year now and I'm at a point now that I'm even considering re-homing as a last resort. I really need some advice, especially from anyone who has gone through this. The issue is with my female cat who is now grooming to the point of baldness and scabs. So here is the summary of all that has happened so far:

I have two bengals, both my cats are young, female is 4 yrs old, male is 3 yrs old, I've had them since they were 10 weeks old. This all started after I went out of town for some weddings back to back. Up until the weddings, my cats were fed a home cooked diet with Alnutrin Eggshell supplement (Obviously, I did not think this through for when I ever had to go out of town!). Since I needed to go out of town, I needed to find something easier for the pet sitter to feed as well as have something for them in case she was unable to come one of the days. I went with Ziwi Peak Air-Dried Chicken and Rawz can wet food. Everything was fine at least I thought, until the female started urinating outside the litter box and started to lose fur around belly and scabs.

9/2019 - Took her to the vet, found out that she stressed herself so much that she developed struvite crystals which resulted in a UTI. The vet said that the food had nothing to do with her condition and that she is just an overly sensitive cat and me being out of town just put her over the edge. After a bill of $310 for ultrasound, antibiotics, steroid and ointment, she recovered but has not been the same.

4/2020 - The fur loss and scabs reappeared again. This is probably due to the change of everyone being home due to Covid? Took her to vet, was given antibiotics and steroid and charged $110.

6/2020 - Took cat to different vet as the fur loss and scabs did not seem to disappear. Was told the same that she is stressed, was given antibiotics, Gabapentin (kitty Prozac) for as needed and different ointment. Was charged $100 for an exam, ointment and meds. Antibiotics and ointment helped clear scabs, but not completely.

9/2020 - Took cat back for recheck, this time after charging me $80 for meds and ointment, the vet said to put her on Gabapentin (kitty Prozac) regularly as her condition is due to stress.

10/2020 - I wanted a second opinion before putting her on Gabapentin (kitty Prozac), so went to different vet, who after charging me $300 for a fungal culture, skin cytology (stain), antibiotics and steroids, she said that it's allergies and wants her on a hypo allergenic diet and suggested Royal Canin. After looking at the labels for Royal Canin, I'm wondering if this vet has any idea what she is talking about regarding nutrition!

My cats are and have been on 20% - Primal freeze dried rabbit & venison, 20% - Rawz can wet food (shredded variety chicken & duck) and 60% home cooked organic chicken, beef, turkey with Alnutrin Eggshell. Primal & Rawz are two of the most cleanest labels I could find.

If my cat has allergies to food then I don't even know where to begin to eliminate. The only issue I can see is maybe the home cooked beef?

Please advise as I'm having a very hard time with this as she is my baby and I only want what is best for her. She has become a very anxious cat. This has also effected her relationship with the male cat who is very playful, but now she doesn't want to play with him. And now they are getting into fights regularly and she is starting to spray during fights. And when they are not fighting, then she is growling/hissing at him as soon as he is within her view. I'm afraid that this is going to start effecting him health wise.

I am currently unemployed and can not afford to have a major issue with either of the cats. I've already spent enough money with no solid solution. I'm trying to see if there is a decent holistic vet in my area, maybe they might be able to shed some light on this. I don't know how much more I can do this, my house smells like cat piss, I have to constantly keep the cats separated due to all the fighting and more piss! Please HELP!!!

Wow, you are getting hammered with vet bills trying to find out what is wrong with kitty. I would look first into the physical reasons this cat is losing her fur and getting scabs. You may want to look into programs that help pet owners who are in financial need or look for discount vets. Then when you got that setup get her tested for Allergies (Rast test) or do the process of elimination at home. Your kitty may have a sensitive stomach or GI issues, so get her on foods with limited ingrediets. See that she is not eating something toxic behind your back that could be affecting her badly. (E.g Plants toxic to cats). Check your home for any environmental issues. If there is any, it is usually our pets who get sick first. I would try to rule out these issues first.

Then you move onto the emotional or behavior problems. Is your kitty stressed out as the vets said, if so why? What is her trigger(s)? Is the other cat fighting with her now because she is sick or was their building tension before? Could this other kitty be stressing out the sick cat? Besides what has been mentioned, your kitty could be depressed and this is what she does in that state. ***I had a dog who had clumps of fur coming out and his skin was raw and bleeding. We took him to the vet all to find out it was some psychological issue he had and that was why he behaved so strangely. He would tear off his fur and scratch himself or go somewhere where he could rub up against where his skin ended up raw or bleeding. We put the medicines on him, but we really had to give him lots of attention for him to get better. We made sure he felt stimulated through play, long nature walks, and being around other dogs. You may have to work on keeping your cat in a more happy mood through play and other interactions. ***

Well, that is my thoughts. I hope you find this helpful. I hope you can get to the root if this problem soon.

 

[Khrad]

Thank you! Yes, I have been trying to do a process of elimination as well as reinforcing with extra attention/play time. I ruled out things in the home, no plants (gave away when I got cats), I am a neat freak so I am constantly cleaning (vinegar & water only) so I don't how she can get to anything on the floor, counters, etc. So that's why I was questioning the beef.

 

[Khrad]

Thank you ladies! I did not know about chamomile tea, will have to try that.

 

[Khrad]

Yes, my cat is doing the same with her ears, belly, legs, thighs, pretty much anywhere she can reach. I know, I thought about all the visits, meds not helping situation, but I'm so desperate, I just want her to be cured. I will definitely try the chamomile tea. Thank you!

 

[Khrad]

Then you move onto the emotional or behavior problems. Is your kitty stressed out as the vets said, if so why? What is her trigger(s)? Is the other cat fighting with her now because she is sick or was their building tension before? Could this other kitty be stressing out the sick cat? Besides what has been mentioned, your kitty could be depressed and this is what she does in that state.

All this started when I left for the weddings. Prior to that the cats got along, no issues with food, skin/coat, or anything. After her UTI, she got better and was good for almost 8 months before Covid hit. However the relationship with the male cat was not the same as before. During the UTI, he would try to attack her and I think she never got over that, so even after the UTI got resolved and her fur and scabs were gone, she was still skittish going to the litter box. And to make matters worse, the male cat thought playing ambush games with her was fun! So he would hide around the corner and wait for her to come back from the litter box and then pounce on her. And then the hissing, screaming and chasing will begin all around the house. They never hurt each other, but I guess even a game can be very stressful to her. But sometimes she would instigate it as well. But now things have changed, they fight and hurt each other. I guess the change of having me and my son home made her even more stressed? I don't know what's going, all I know is that everything has been escalating.

 

[She's a witch]

Have you considered going back to feeding homemade+Alnutrin for several weeks, since she didn't have any problems on this diet, to see if it helps?

 

[Whenallhellbreakslose]

Do you think her reaction to you going away to those weddings is a sudden attack of separation anxiety? She may have feared that you were abandoning her and worries that you will eventually. She could be a very sensitive cat. The male cat's aggression towards her is not unusual. He could be reading into her stressed out emotions and it is making him stressed or it could be the case of aggression towards a cat he sees as weak. Anyway, I hope you find out why this is going on once and for all.

 

[Khrad]

Thank you ladies for all your help, I really appreciate it as I am so worried and sad right now. I'm going to keep plugging away until I find an answer. I found a couple of other threads on here that seem very similar to mine, so I'm going to reach out to those cat moms to see what their solution ended up to be. My gut is telling me it's not the food, my cat's are very spoiled and I go out of my way to feed them the best. Even their previous vet has said they eat better than her! I'm leaning towards separation anxiety or seasonal allergies. Thanks again everyone!

 

[Furballsmom]

I'm going to keep plugging away

In the meanwhile, just to confirm that the tea mentioned above, while not a cure is an extremely valid means of helping her to feel less discomfort, plus will help to avoid infection. It's anti fungal, antibacterial and eases the itch.

During the UTI, he would try to attack her and I think she never got over that, so even after the UTI got resolved and her fur and scabs were gone, she was still skittish going to the litter box. And to make matters worse, the male cat thought playing ambush games with her was fun!
Did you try to stop him, or did you allow this behavior to continue unabated? Are you utilizing any calming products such as diffusers, calming treats etc? By the way, the suggested rule is one litterbox per cat, plus one so you should be having three boxes for them. His behavior is one reason why, to try and avoid one cat being victimized.

However, you need to separate these two cats, not just for little time periods now and then, but by putting her into her own room with her own litterbox, food, water etc until things get resolved. Additionally, you will be able to feed her the elimination diet without having to change his food.

It also sounds as though you need to step back and begin as though they didn't know each other. These two articles will have information that can be useful to you;

Stress in Cats – The Ultimate Guide – TheCatSite Articles

How To Fix An Unsuccessful Cat Introduction – TheCatSite Articles

Also, cat music could help quite a lot, I believe. There's a collection of harp music available, on Spotify, and YouTube has cat music, and there's also RelaxMyCat and MusicForCats.

An enzymatic cleaner similar to Nature's miracle is what you need for cleaning. This is another reason that containing her to one room consistently will help things since she won't be upset by him and spray due to that, plus you can utilize unscented puppy pee pads if necessary.

I would pay attention to the food situation, since it doesn't matter whether they're spoiled by you or not if she had an allergen reaction during the abrupt food change while you were gone and now is experiencing flares from ingesting trigger(s).

Have you considered going back to feeding homemade+Alnutrin for several weeks, since she didn't have any problems on this diet, to see if it helps?

An elimination diet isn't a magic bullet because it takes time and patience, typically 8 to 13 weeks. Novel proteins can even be alligator. (--it certainly can be considered a magic bullet when it works!). If this were me, I'd eliminate all poultry, and the Rawz, and possibly also the Primal. (Although my Poppycat didn't have problems when I was giving him frozen Primal nuggets, I've read that there have been cats having some issues sometimes with Primal).
https://www.cavd.ca/images/In_Clinic_Tools/CAVD_Diet_Trial_handout_for_Cats.pdf

It feels like you are flailing. You need to try and slow down, calm down as much as possible and realize that your emotions are as much a part of her issues as other things. Bringing her back to normal will require focused effort and time on your part, and since you're home you can turn this time into an enormous positive for your cat .

 

[Lisannez]

When I was in high school in the late 90s we had a cat that had a sore that just would not heal. He just kept picking at it pore thing it was a anxiety thing. He was also over licking and losing hair. It started after my parents got divorced and my brother Mom and I moved with the cat to another house, he felt Our stress and the new house too. The cat was put on actual Prozac it was new at the time, but it was the first thing we tried and it worked wonders. It was not allergies or food, or anything of the sort, it was stress. I know you call Gabapentin kitty Prozac but I have not heard of that. We have a tuxedo cat who is very stressed In car rides, and we did try Gabapentin for that, and it did nada, nothing to help. We even upped the dosage per the vet, it was like we gave her nothing. It does not work on all cats, just like it does not help all humans. When dealing with stress and anxiety you have to try a few things until you get it right. Try actual prozac. And if you can try to breath and be calm yourself I know it’s hard, but the cat knows your are stressed and is reading that stress.

 

[Lisannez]

Do you think her reaction to you going away to those weddings is a sudden attack of separation anxiety? She may have feared that you were abandoning her and worries that you will eventually. She could be a very sensitive cat. The male cat's aggression towards her is not unusual. He could be reading into her stressed out emotions and it is making him stressed or it could be the case of aggression towards a cat he sees as weak. Anyway, I hope you find out why this is going on once and for all.

Our rag doll cat used to behave like that towards my fiance before he and I lived together when he would visit his parents in AU she would literally hiss and be mad at him for up to a month. Now if I am with her she’s okay. But he would go for a month or two, she thought he left her!

 

[Whenallhellbreakslose]

Our rag doll cat used to behave like that towards my fiance before he and I lived together when he would visit his parents in AU she would literally hiss and be mad at him for up to a month. Now if I am with her she’s okay. But he would go for a month or two, she thought he left her!

Cats don't deal with change that well. They are creatures of habit. Some cats are very sensitive or deeply attached that they don't deal with our absences or any change very well.

My sister's cat always carry on as if she is scolding my sister for being away. It is quite funny. Then she forgives her, but will give her a couple of frisky love bites to remind her to never go away again. Lol