need some help

twinkie has started licking and pulling his hair out and now has sores. eliminated fish and beef from diet. is there something OTC I can give him. do not know if allergy or mental LOL. I currently have a towel around neck as an e-collar. only on when I am here
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v28/d ... 20twinkie/

(Edited by Venita to move to general health. Shadow topic left on Community.)

 

poor guy. I think its chlortimeatron, I know my spelling is way off. It's an antihistimine.

Do you want me to bring over the soft ecollar I made for Belle?

 

that would be great if not an inconvenience. will need to get to store. wonder what $ store equivalent is

 

Has he been flea treated? My first suspicion in those cases is a flea allergy.

 

no fleas

 

Everybody says that.. ;-) "No fleas" "Cat is indoor only" "But it's winter!" Doesn't matter. Some cats are so allergic that even one bite from one flea that you never see will have them pulling out their hair till they have scabs all over their bodies.

My first line of attack for this symptom is to dose with Advantage or analog.

 

no fleas meaning they were treated. plus they get frequent brushings and I have yet to see flea dirt or fleas.

 

I have some chlor in the cupboard from this summer when they thought Jack ahd allergies...can have it in post tomorrow-say the word.

Also, my old civvie gal pulls her hair when she is in need of subQ for her early stage CRF...

two of my others do this as Overgrooming from stress ( too many kitties in one place?) or when litter box has gotten too dirty recently from the tendonitis keeping me from scooping....( every 2 or 3 days now instead of daily)

tell me about chlor if you want it... ;-)

 

Re: need some help please

Benadryl (or its generic) is often given. I have used 1/4 of a 25 mg tab but do not remember if it was sid or bid. Where is he scratching? Allergies are usually bilateral (same left and right). Have you carefully checked for fleas? It only takes one flea for an allergic cat.

 

thanks melissa. should check dollar store first so as to save stamps :mrgreen:
I am sure there is an equivalent there.this is a pill?? how much do ya give
I am thinking stress (since he is the shy one)but have no clue why unless it is because i leave them alone for work. do keep radio on for them.
removed fish and beef from diet in case food allergy

 

Another thing to try (although it just deals with the symptoms, you still have to get to the bottom of WHY and treat that) is bitter apple or something on the area. DON'T apply it to broken or irritated skin, but you can smear some on the fur around it.

Unfortunately, cats with allergies or emotional issues often poo-poo the bitter apple and lick anyway.... but it may be worth a try.

 

Chlortimeatron is the generic name. I have some chlortimeatron from CVS and it says allergy relief. Benadryl (generic is diphenhydramine) is another antihistamine that is also used in animals as well as humans.

 

thanks rilla. will have to watch closely to see what I can rule in or out. working on the food now. has not had fish for a few weeks. eliminated beef yesterday. maybe he is bored but he does not like to play. neither of them do. it is like they do not know how

 

One of my fosters had similar lesions on her rear leg and it turned out to be eosinophilic granuloma complex. In her case it apparently started out as a flea allergy dermatitis but continued long after the fleas were gone and probably caused her to become allergic to other things.

If you want to try something OTC first, Zyrtec is supposed to help with the itching.

http://www.dolittler.com/2009/11/04/Why ... cats..html

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_eo ... uloma.html

 

When was the last flea treatment? Sweet Max is extremely allergic to fleas. I've never seen one or seen flea dirt (the vet hasn't either). But a dose of Advantage results in the symptoms you're are describing to heal.

Good Luck!

Hugs and Headbutts!

Cat, Sweet Max, and gang

 

really does sound like fleas to me. one bite can cause miserable itching for MONTHS for a flea-allergic kitty. it got so bad with harry that he had to have prednisolone for a week. i now treat him and all the other cats monthly all year because of it. he's such a clean freak i've never seen a flea or flea dirt on him.

otherwise, no thyroid problems, right?

if you're still concerned about food allergies, i'd recommend what my vet advised: just boiled chicken for a week to see if it stops. if it does, you slowly add back foods one by one to make sure he's ok with them before adding the next food. that way you may be able to isolate the ingredient that's causing the problem.

 

thanks all. will try benadryl first and treat again for fleas. have a towel rolled around neck and he has not even tried to lick or anything.
OTB appreciate all the advice

 

If the air in your place is dry that can also cause itchy skin. Humidifiers help a lot. I also recommend an air purifier. Itching could also be caused by something Twinkie has been in contact with, from hand lotion to fabric softener to household cleaning products. A bath with an oatmeal shampoo will help in those cases.

 

My cat Morrison has chronic allergies and I have to be hypervigilant against fleas. Even when they are treated it's possible for them to be brought in from outside. Though I see you are in PA so that's probably less likely there this time of year than it is in Louisiana where it's a year round problem, but as others said it does only take 1 flea.

If you think it might be behavioral, there are calming supplements that you can get OTC just to see if they might help. When my vet first suggested that maybe we might try an anti-anxiety medication for Morrison, I tried a supplement called Pet Eze while we were waiting on the dermatologist to get back to her with her recommendations, just to see if maybe we were on to something. Morrison was completely miserable and even though he was on cyclosporine and we had upped his dose he was tearing himself to shreds, even with an e-collar. The active ingredient is l-tryptophan and I noticed an immediate effect. He mellowed right out and wasn't scratching himself constantly anymore. He's not taking Pet Eze anymore because we've since put him on rx doxepin, but it bought us and him some time until we heard back from the dermatologist. I'm fortunate that Morrison is very easy to pill but there are similar products in treat and paw paste form.

What flea preventative are you using? According to my vet, some are better than others in reducing flea allergens. Advantage and Revolution are both good according to her. I can tell when Morrison's flea preventative has worn off because he IMMEDIATELY starts itching again.

Another thing to look into that we discovered with Morrison is the possibility of a yeast infection. He hadn't been tested for it since we were trying to dx his allergies, but my vet cultured his fur about 6 or so weeks ago and he was badly infected. He got an oral medication to take care of the yeast and it's greatly improved. He's now getting weekly baths to keep it from coming back. He is so much better now than he's been in several years. Allergies are tough.

 

Can't add much to what everyone else has said, Dian, so I'm just going to send some Anti-Itch vines to poor mr. Beasley.

 

Gia and others

after marjorie and I did some thorough discussion on this and ruling out through our observations I conclude with Gia that it is dry air. we have hot water heat and this started during the really cold spell and furnace was on more than usual. I know i get nose bleeds and really bad dry skin and right now, lips are dry and bleeding. I do not have a humidifier but I placed a bowl of water on radiators. I got the benadryl ($store brand) cause they did not have plain benedryl but stuff with ASA in it and will give him 1/4 tab of a 25mg tab
thanks all for your suggestions