Sory about those last two posts. I did a hack editing job. Don’t fret, I’m leaving.
Eve, yes it can be fleas, and that is a very strong possiblity from what you’re describing. One cat can seem perfectly flealess and untouched, while a second cat can be tormented horribly. It only takes one flea to trigger a reaction on an allergic cat. Fleas can easily be tracked in by humans. Predinsone is a wonder drug for allergies, but it will kill your cat long before his time is due. Good modern flea remedies - Advantage is my favorite, or Program - keep the animals flea-free and have always worked to control skin allergies in my afflicted cats.
Tsk. Pred, a steriod, is not ideal to take on a long term basis but it is NOT going to kill your cat. In fact,long term use is safer in cats than it is in dogs.
I support the FAD theory (flea allergy dermatitis). It is quite true that only one flea bite can seriously upset a sensitive cat.
I also support the idea that it could be psychtropic. This sort of fur loss is very common in cats.
Again, because I cannot see the cat with my own eyes, it is impossible to make a diagnosis, but both these ideas are valid.
Good luck with the second opinion.
Michelle,
Vet tech
Thanks, all—kitty is off to the vet again today (they’re changing his food, in case it’s a food allergy).
They already checked for fleas, and he came up flealess (he’s a 100% indoor cat, so he’s not picking anything up from there, either).
He has lotsa toys, he plays a lot (both with his brother and my Mom—there was a semi-colon in my previous reference that’s not visible and caused all the hilarity!). He’s the least emotionally upset cat I know (now, I have a cat who’s nuttier than Ted Bundy on crack!). Other than the biting, he’s acting very normal—eating, playing, grooming, purring. So whatever it is doesn’t seem life-threatening, at least.
I do NOT believe in “homeopathy” or “holistic” treatments, and will raise holy hell if they try to charge her money for such tree-hugging hippie nonsense. How can a placebo effect work in a cat?! But I do like the idea of a behavioralist coming by my Mom’s apt. to see if there’s something environmental which she might not notice.
The prednisone is only a stop-gap, they never intended to keep him on it for more than two weeks (thanks for the tapering-off tip!).
I’ll keep you updated, thanks again for all the input!
Mom just called—they are tapering him off the prednisone, and are putting him on a special diet (Nature’s Recipe Lamb & Rice, dried and canned—no chicken or beef; also vitamins). They seem to think it’s a food allergy.
I’m surprised they didn’t recommend at topical treatments! Antiseptics or creams or anything. But at least they’re not chanting over him with crytsals!
Eve, they would probably only advise a topical antibiotic or antiseptic cream if the cat gave herself an INFECTION, secondary to the licking. Itchiness by itself would not warrant such a treatment. The pred should help ease her itching. The vet might advise something soothing for itchiness after the pred has been finished, if the problem has not resolved.
May I inquire as to how the vet decided it was a food allergy?
“May I inquire as to how the vet decided it was a food allergy?”
I’m curious about that myself. My mother is not good at questioning authority figures—need I tell you that I am VERY good at that? I may give the vet a call and ask a few things . . . It’s hard enough to get MY vet to return calls, though, so I dunno how lucky I’ll be at getting my MOM’S vet on the horn. “Hi, this is Mrs. Golden’s busy-body daughter . . .”
Well, food IS one of the most common things to be allergic to. However, a pet can be allergic to almost anything in the environment. Is the vet trying a hit or miss method of diagnosis? Or was actual allergy testing done? Allergy testing is very expensive but in the long run it can be cheaper than trying different things at random.
Slight hijack: Easter is coming up soon, so everyone be sure to keep the Easter candy and rich Easter dinner foods away from the pets.
[QUOTE]
Originally posted by Eve:
He has lotsa toys…He’s the least emotionally upset cat I know…Other than the biting…
I do NOT believe in “homeopathy” or “holistic” treatments…such tree-hugging…placebo…
But I do like the idea of a behavioralist coming by my Mom’s apt. to see if there’s something environmental which she might not notice.
The prednisone…(thanks for the tapering-off tip!).
[list]
[li]Thanx for regarding the tapering off tip![/li][li]Your previous posts railed against behavioralists, so I’m surprised to see the “but” now; it simply shows (to you as well as others that) you’re open-minded, so great! I do believe that if you deal head-on with answering all the good sense questions, some of which I believe are asked in my posting above, you will have little or no need for the certified behavioralist.[/li][li] I assure you, homeopathy, tree-hugging, and placebos have nothing to do with each other—except that people commonly mistake them as synonomous. Somebody give open-minded Eve a few websites regarding homeopathy. Eve, believe it or not, by asking the WHOLE series of questions pertaining to the cat’s LIFE (and not just the strict question of what drug can stop the biting / skin dis-ease) and by considering the WHOLE aspects of any treatment (going beyond strict or narrow allopathy), you are virtually delving into homeopathy and don’t yet know it.[/li]You mentioned again, “He has lotsa toys,” but mention nothing specific for clawing, knawing and rubbing. Comment?
[ul][li]Glad you took the tapering-off tip![/li][li]You first abhored the idea of a behavioralist / “shrink,” but you’re aboutface shows only that you’re open-minded.[/li]I do believe that if you ask and answer the good sense questions (some of which are given) you do not need a certified behavioralist. Certainly, ahead of the specialist would come your own considerations as suggested by all the questions.
[li]The only thing homeopathy, hippies, nonsense and placebos have in common is that they’re all mistakenly assumed, by some, to be synonymous. By asking whole questions and pursuing **whole[/] treatment for the whole life of the cat, (to virtually oppose strict allopathy), you are virtually pursuing the homeopathic way—whether you know it or not. You might as well know it: another member may offer you a few educational websites…[/li][li]You again say, “He has lotsa toys”—so again I wonder does he have plenty to freely claw, knaw, rub at?[/li] Thanks for reviewing this, and I hope the cat gets its ease back. Did you say it’s two years old?[/ul]
OOPS!
Ok, a real suggestion. Try a product called “Nutrimalt” (made by the same co that does “petromalt”). It may or may not do anything for the the specific problem, but, your cat will shed less, have nicer fur, and my cats LOVE the stuff.
You might also try “Tasha’s herbs for cats”, 1-800-315-0142
Thanks again, guys—my Mom’s off to buy the new food and vitamins today. I hesitate to second-guess her vet; I hesitate to even second-guess mine!
I re-thought “behavioralists” because I misunderstood what they are—thanks for elucidating. But I stand my ground on homeopathy and holistic “medicine.” I have read a lot about them, and am not convinced they have any but a placebo effect—which, as I said, would only work on the smartest cat!
As far as toys, he has everything imaginable for batting, scratching, chewing (he DOES tend to chew wool . . .hmmm . . .). Mom also gives him playtime, and he barrels around with his brother, too.
Well, I gues we’ll see if this diet does anything, though my mom wails, “they said it could take six weeks—he’ll be bald as a billiard ball by then!”
Eve, I have a cat that constantly pulls fur out of his back/tail/whatever he can reach. It turns out that it’s because he has something called a “rodent ulcer.” It causes him to have sores on the roof of his mouth and his lips. Apparantly, his lips get itchy when he grooms himself, so he grooms himself more to itch his lips, and his fur falls out.
The only thing that seems to help is monthly cortisone shots. I kept him on them for a while until the worst of the sores were healed, but it eventually got too expensive so I just keep an eye on him. If his sores get bad I put him back on the cortisone. So far, they seem to be in check.
Eve writes:
Ah. Now, I am told (i.e., I don’t have anything to back this up with; ask Michelle for knowledge on this point) that wool-chewing or wool-sucking is usually caused by a too-early separation of kitten and queen. Possibly this was not the case with this cat; if it was, however, it might be worth mentioning to a veterinarian, if only to hear, “Yeah, we thought of that.”
People often mislead and deceive their physicians, intentionally or otherwise. With vets, it’s often worse, since they can’t question the patients at all, and must rely on the owners (which often leads to a diagnosis of ADR – “Ain’t Doin’ Right”).
“I don’t just want you to feel envy. I want you to suffer, I want you to bleed, I want you to die a little bit each day. And I want you to thank me for it.” – What “Let’s just be friends” really means
Athena—Thanks, I told my mom to check the cat’s mouth and lips (ew, cats got “lips?”).
Akatsukami—This cat and his brother were weaned at the same time, but only one chews wool. And I don’t know if he was around any queens when he was a kitten!
The “queen” is the female cat (the way they act, I’m astounded that it’s not “empress”), just as the female dog is a…well, propriety forbids, even if I were to use the word in its technical sense.
The male cat, not too surprisingly, is the “tom”.
“I don’t just want you to feel envy. I want you to suffer, I want you to bleed, I want you to die a little bit each day. And I want you to thank me for it.” – What “Let’s just be friends” really means
Well, you’ve ruined my mental image of these kittens being raised by Ru Paul and Lypsinka.
Wow. Interesting. Your cut-back (and watch) approach, to using the cortisone, is probably best not just economically but medicinally too. I think cortisone is very effective and safe enough the way you’re doing it.
Oh, okay. Seems like you are doing enough of what any homeopath would call for, anyway, to get some whole results. Relatedly, as concern over “placebo effects” would relate (erroneously or not) to pills/drops, it should be noted that homeopathy is not reduceable to pills/drugs. Just a last comment for your thought—although you’ve drawn your conclusion after a lot of reading already. Experience and not reading alone, thogh, offers many the persuasive conclusion to accept validity of homeopathics. Still, I’m not one to truly argue with anyone’s personal reservations and preferences pertaining to their own health, though. Tell your kitty’s I said, “Mellow.” (Since I wrote the spanish word for the English “Meow,” the two lls are of course silent.)