Years of vet visits with no answers

[SDerailed]

So I'm a bit at my wits end with Athena's health right now. 6 years ago I found her on the side of the road with no hair and yellow scabs all over her. Initial visit said she had some type of allergic dermatitis, gave her a steroid shot, and her hair started to grow back. We've had this problem again about three years ago, and although she was an indoor cat, she somehow got fleas and that caused it. I have since kept her on a flea preventative.
Well the last year her eyes have been watery and she is progressively loosing hair in a stripe down her back. The vet gave her antibacterial drops for her eyes and an antibiotic for her skin. The eye drops made it worse, and her hair didnt grow back. She always has lab work that is 100% fine. (As she is a senior she has it every 6 months)
She is...um...a chonkers though. Is it possible she just isnt cleaning well enough in those spots? We havent changed foods or detergents. I gave her a good wipe down with chlorhexidine before this picture was taken, so it's easier to tell what it looks like(she is long haired and it normally doesnt look like this). Any thoughts, experiences similar?

 

[Mamanyt1953]

This really does sound like an allergic reaction, to food or something in the environment...and I'm leaning towards environment with the watery eyes (if those are connected to the hair loss). Is there ANY chance you can get her to a feline allergist who may be able to get to the bottom of this? I think that they exist. Or, is there a university with a veterinary medicine school that you can reach? THEY will be teaching cutting-edge medicine, with the most up-to-date diagnostic techniques and most modern equipment. They may be able to pin this down for you.

 

[SDerailed]

This really does sound like an allergic reaction, to food or something in the environment...and I'm leaning towards environment with the watery eyes (if those are connected to the hair loss). Is there ANY chance you can get her to a feline allergist who may be able to get to the bottom of this? I think that they exist. Or, is there a university with a veterinary medicine school that you can reach? THEY will be teaching cutting-edge medicine, with the most up-to-date diagnostic techniques and most modern equipment. They may be able to pin this down for you.

No vet schools anywhere near me (about 4 hours away) . But there is an allergist about a hour and a half away. Luckily she travels very well. I had no idea that was even a thing!

 

[lisahe]

Our previous cat had intermittent problems with watery eyes -- that was most likely the long-term aftereffects of a herpes infection. That's fairly common. We know she had a herpes infection because she came home from the shelter with it but of course you don't know Athena's history.

Years later, Brooksie got bare patches on her belly and one leg: she'd groomed away her fur. Although the vet thought it was caused by stress grooming (we first noticed it after we'd been away for a couple weeks, which of course disrupted her routine) but in hindsight, I tend to think it was more likely the result of itchiness from food sensitivities/allergies. She had other signs of those throughout her life and it became clear in her last months that she had bad digestive disorders that had never been properly diagnosed, in part because her symptoms were so intermittent. She had, over the years, bloody stool, vomiting, the itchiness/grooming, diarrhea, and other issues, like gunky ears, that also seem to go along with IBD and are related to inflammation. She was too old and frail from other health problems to be properly diagnosed but everything fit IBD and that was the vet's presumption. When we realized she likely had IBD, I switched Brooksie's food to only grain-free wet food. This eased her symptoms some for her last months: I think corn, wheat, and/or fish were the source of Brooksie's problem.

I think Mamanyt1953 's suggestion of seeing an allergist is a very good idea. Sometimes easy changes in diet (for example, just switching to simpler low-carb wet food recipes that eliminate grains and fillers that cats don't process well) can make a huge difference. Sometimes it takes more work (diets with novel proteins, for example) to figure out what's causing problems. We've been pretty lucky with our cats: in Brooksie's case, the grains and/or fish were apparently problems, and with our current cats, we've found (by a combination of dumb luck and keeping a food diary) that potato makes one cat barf and agar-agar seems to make both vomit. Since it sounds like Athena is also overweight, this might be a good time to consider some changes to her menu -- weight had been a problem for Brooksie, too, and I wish I'd known/realized back then that switching her off dry food (especially because we were feeding her grain-filled stuff that she wasn't processing well) to wet food would have helped both her weight and her digestive problems.

Good luck!

 

[SDerailed]

I called my primary care to see if we couldn't do an allergy test there before visiting a specialist. Success, we will be getting one done soon. We have her on a hypoallergenic diet right now, but who knows, it may be something else she is getting into or reacting to.

 

[lisahe]

I called my primary care to see if we couldn't do an allergy test there before visiting a specialist. Success, we will be getting one done soon. We have her on a hypoallergenic diet right now, but who knows, it may be something else she is getting into or reacting to.

That's very good! I seem to recall some people saying allergy tests can be a great start even if they're not always accurate. Here's a vet-written article about various tests for dogs and cats -- he seems to think they can be useful even if they're limited. FWIW, I would most definitely want to try things like allergy tests before putting a cat on a medication. (Or before taking the cat on a long drive to see a specialist!)

I hope you're able to figure things out relatively easily!

 

[JamesCalifornia]

~ I have read that olive oil and fish oil supplements are good for skin & hair. Don't know if that would help your kitty ...

 

[stephanietx]

Have you tried an antihistamine to see if that simple thing might help? Just a thought thinking it might be an allergic response.

 

[SDerailed]

I have tried benadryl. I didnt see much of a difference, but I was also afraid to try it long term without the vets approval. When we see them next I'm going to ask about it and dosage.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Hekitty takes Claritin in the spring, but by the second week in June, she's fine. I take it year round, up to three a day in late spring, summer, and early fall! Thankfully, Hek's allergies are far more restricted in time than mine! I don't think I could manage getting pills in her that often!

 

[SDerailed]

Hekitty takes Claritin in the spring, but by the second week in June, she's fine. I take it year round, up to three a day in late spring, summer, and early fall! Thankfully, Hek's allergies are far more restricted in time than mine! I don't think I could manage getting pills in her that often!

Luckily Athena pretty much let's me do whatever I want with her. She is SUPER chill

 

[JamesCalifornia]

Luckily Athena pretty much let's me do whatever I want with her. She is SUPER chill

~ Ha ! If that is Athena on your shoulder then she is part bird !

 

[SDerailed]

~ Ha ! If that is Athena on your shoulder then she is part bird !

No, that's Tattoo. He is an alien in a cat suit. Lol

 

[JamesCalifornia]

No, that's Tattoo. He is an alien in a cat suit. Lol

~ I love that photo ...

 

[SDerailed]

Years later and he still shoulder rides

 

[Willow's Mom]

Awww, I hope Willow NEVER stops riding on my shoulder.

Anyway, I'm going through the allergy nightmare with a dog and wanted to mention that Dr. Jean Dodds' saliva test is available for cats now too. It's a lot of money, but considerably less than skin prick testing.

Thank you for rescuing and caring for Athena. I've heard that we should both hope that they have food allergies because environmental allergies are harder to deal with.

 

[SDerailed]

Awww, I hope Willow NEVER stops riding on my shoulder.

Anyway, I'm going through the allergy nightmare with a dog and wanted to mention that Dr. Jean Dodds' saliva test is available for cats now too. It's a lot of money, but considerably less than skin prick testing.

Thank you for rescuing and caring for Athena. I've heard that we should both hope that they have food allergies because environmental allergies are harder to deal with.

Actually we got a blood test done for environmental allergies. The company offeres specialized allergy shots depending on what it comes up with. It was 200 bucks, but I absolutely wanted it done. We are waiting to hear back. I'll update on the found results incase someone searched the forum and finds this post.

 

[Willow's Mom]

Please do, and thank you so much for posting.

 

[SDerailed]

Update: turns out she is HIGHLY allergic to dust mites and storage mites! We've made a.bunch of changes in her environment and give her half a zyrtec at night.

 

[lisahe]

Update: turns out she is HIGHLY allergic to dust mites and storage mites! We've made a.bunch of changes in her environment and give her half a zyrtec at night.

Glad to hear you got it figured out!