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Post by judypops on Jul 4, 2014 17:33:33 GMT
Hello again, I know I tend to flit around here and never really stay but I'm at my wits end. So Morandi's had dermatitis for round 3 years. It started with little bumps on his face that he'd scratch and they'd scab over until he scratched again, then they spread to his neck. All 3 vets at our local clinic have looked at him, we've had biopsies done and eventually one of them said the scratching was probably habit. We tried a cone before but it gets on his neck too so that ended with a very itchy and grumpy morandi who would rather choke himself than deal with it Old pictures of it, the stitches were from the biopsy    He did stop sometime last year and he was back to his fluffy former glory but he's started back up again. There seems to be some relation to the time of year, it's always summer he's at his worst. It's not like it used to be now, it's more of a swollen lump that has grown as he's been scratching it, it's not deep rarely has a chance to scab but it's huge and he's scratched off all the hair. He's after escaping from me now so I don't have a picture right now. We've been using the fuciderm cream on and off the other times, sometimes it helps, others it just makes him scratch more. The latter was the case at the start of this occasion so I stopped using it. He was on steroids (prendisalone or something spelled like that) but they didn't have much effect, he seemed to get quite clingy when on them, and would gain weight. Right now he has a good body condition- ribs aren't protruding but easily felt along his sides, typical 3 on the 1-5 scale, despite my sister's insistence that he's too thin (he eats his own food, half of charlie's and then whines for more  ) The only sure fire way of stopping him scratching is to hold and cuddle him, much to his displeasure, hence his escaping at the moment. I started washing the wound with salt water, putting on the fuciderm for a while, then rinsing with salt water to remove the cream, I've only done it once so I don't know how effective it is. Does anyone have any ides on how to stop him scratching? Edit; Managed to wrangle him for a photo when feeding Mrs.Woman & the TMNT  |
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Post by scallywag on Jul 4, 2014 19:22:02 GMT
Awwww bless him. Sorry not a lot of help but bless, can you give him a BIG {{{HUG}}} from me  |
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Post by tonib on Jul 4, 2014 23:23:38 GMT
Oh poor Morandi - wish I could think of something - have you taken him to the vet this time as it looks quite sore & raw? Don't know if vonnie would have any bright ideas. |
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Post by smilesbetter on Jul 5, 2014 10:19:31 GMT
Hey there, Could it perhaps be an allergy to something that only comes out in summer, such as pollen, fleas, etc? My cat Bramble has a flea allergy and almost every year in summer she starts to over groom and scratch, it causes big patches of hair to fall out and scabs to start forming. She always ends up particularly with loads of cuts around her neck and sometimes head, thankfully on her body she uses her tongue instead so it's more just bald patches. When we spot it, she goes to the vets for a steroid injection which stops the itching. It only takes one flea bite, so even though she is regularly flea'd, as the flea has to bite her to get killed by the flea medication, that starts it off. If it's only in summer, I'd certainly suspect an allergy. If it was only a habit, surely he'd do it all year? Is he an outdoor cat? Have the vets tried to see if it's caused by itchiness or anything, and done environmental & food allergy tests? However I imagine that once he has the open sore, he will be itching mostly because it causes him pain and/or irritation even if the allergen is gone. Also when he starts to itch in summer, you could perhaps try putting like little cat "shoe" things on his paws so he can't actually scratch himself. I know you can also get rubber things that go on the claws, never used those before so no idea how or if they work. I think people use them to stop cats scratching furniture and stuff and it doesn't seem to affect the cat too badly. Obviously this won't help with stopping the cause of the itching, but it will make it harder for him to actually injure himself. If it is just a habit, then I'd recommend getting a cat behaviourist in as it is obviously a dangerous habit for him to have - if those cuts get infected then it could end up way worse! As Jackson Galaxy (haha!) would say - plenty cat furniture, enough stuff the cat can climb on to easily get around the room without having to ever touch the floor and plenty play time with your cat and mental stimulation so that the cat used the energy more evenly throughout the day and doesn't become bored (which could perhaps be a cause of the scratching habit?). Good luck and keep us posted  |
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Post by judypops on Jul 5, 2014 15:16:26 GMT
smilesbetter yes he is an outdoor cat. To be honest I doubt my parents would be keen on getting tests done. We put him on grain free food for a while last year to see if it was an allergy to that but no luck. I dont know how he'd react to wearing shoes, he'd need to be kept in and that's a hassle in itself. He would probably try anything to get them off, even getting him to wear a normal collar resulted in him wedging it between his jaws to get the quick release open
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Post by judypops on Jul 5, 2014 15:19:01 GMT
As for the fleas, we've never had them before thank god seeing as we don't give them regular treatments. I did find a couple on Spartacus a few months ago but we treated them all andnit was before morandi's outbreak
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Post by smilesbetter on Jul 5, 2014 16:15:47 GMT
I'd recommend keeping him inside anyway so that they don't become infected, and would strongly advise you get allergy tests done. They aren't horrendously expensive (If you can't afford them, the PDSA, Cats Protection or a similar charity might be able to help cover costs) and at the end of the day they could lead to a vast improvement in his life quality if they stop the itching. A wound like that is bound to be sore (Which would cause further itching). Plus getting the allergy tests could save you a lot of money because it would hopefully mean you could find a suitable course of action and avoid this happening again - less future vet visits which clearly haven't actually found the cause.
I'd say that the claw tip things would be better, I think they're little rubber things that go on the end of the claws, but if they don't work then at least try the shoes idea. He might not like it, but it's better than him scratching his head open and potentially causing serious damage. As I say, wounds like this can easily get infected and that could turn out way worse. He'd get used to them eventually.
Bramble never gets fleas either, it just takes one bite and the flea dies straight away. thats just an example of what a cat allergy can be like though and how easily something in the environment can affect them. Anyway with allergy tests, you can identify the exact allergen and find a way to protect him from it, or see whether he needs to be taking allergy medication (Hopefully not).
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Post by tonib on Jul 6, 2014 16:04:09 GMT
judypops, besides the option for claw tips/shoes make sure his claws are kept short (take care not to cut them too short). If his claws are too long then they could be causing the damage in the first place & it becomes a vicious circle.
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Post by vonnie on Jul 11, 2014 19:17:20 GMT
Hi.
I think Smilesbetter has got it bob on. I look allergy to me. You really do need to test him as it may be environment, not just food. If he isn't tested he will keep on being miserable. One of my colleagues has a cat and a couple of years ago he had sores and had to endure almost 6 months in a collar as he'd just keep scratching. He had loads of tests and didn't improve. She was even thinking he may end up euthanased as he was so unhappy and uncomfortable, it just wasn't a happy life for him. It was a horrible decision to make for her as she is very dedicated to all her pets. Luckily a vet mentioned the tests and she went for it. She now knows his allergies and is on the appropriate food and can give him the needed meds when certain trees are pollinating (Hawthorn is the major one!). Stan is now back to being a happy cat!
If you self trail food follow these pointers.
Write down ALL the ingredients on that food.
Feed for at least 4 weeks, longer is better as it takes this long for the body to respond to a change with allergies.
If there is a flare up, choose another food with different ingredients and feed again for at least 4 weeks.
DO NOT FEED ANYTHING ELSE, no treats or anything! He may be allergic to a treat and flare up. this is VERY important.
Look for Salmon based foods as cats as these tend to be better for cats.
Unfortunately you cannot do any home test for environmental allergens. Just hoover and dust very regularly and ensure if on dry food it is stored in airtight containers and only buy a months worth of food at a time (instead of a huge 10kg bag for example. This gets rid of storage mites- a big allergen).
The process will take months until you find a food that works. The test will take a couple of weeks and you can get him healed. I have itchy skin from hayfever and I hate it, I can't imagine how pets cope.
x x
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