scratching ear!

First, my cat does not have ear mites or an infection. About 3 weeks ago, I noticed that he stopped eating his nutro dry food, then about 2 weeks ago, started hiding and was about half eating his nutro wet food (it was the lamb and turkey cutlets that was added to the recall list just last week).

The vet came, drew blood, and everything is normal - except that he was scratching his face (on the inside and outside corners of his ears, and one on the side of his face). My vet thought it was a food allergy - on that same day his food came up on the recall list.

So, I switched his food to Wellness and he is much much better - happy, playing, eating well. Still with some scabs from the scratches, but overall doing better. Thank God.

BUT - he is scratching the heck out of inside corner of his left ear (the part where it meets the top of his head). At first, it was about 2-3mm round, now, he keeps scratching the scab off so it's about 1 cm round and raw looking. Also, the fur comes off with the scab!

I have a call into my vet, but was wondering what anybody thought.

How can I get him to stop scratching? He will lose his mind if he has to wear an Elizabethan collar. Will his fur grow back?

Thanks in advance.

Are there any NEW ingrediants in the WELLNESS he may not have had???

This won't really solve the issue - but to help him to stop hurting himself, clip his back claws or put softpaws on them so he doesn't tear his skin up scratching. If your vet suspected food allergy, Wellness may not be the greatest brand for him, all of the formulas i have seen contain multiple protein sources and it can make it impossible to pin down his sensitivity. When Raj was scratching all her fur off on her head and neck (apparent food allergy), the vet gave me a topical spray for the itchy areas - the one i got from him didn't really work well, but i found a topical lidocaine and aloe spray at one our better pet stores and it worked really well to soothe the itch while we were waiting for the dietary changes to take effect.

Which food did you use? His skin is much better now - he just got his steroid shot and the vet trimmed his hind nails. He is purring much less (and sitting on me less) after the steroid shot - did you (or anybody else) notice any such behavioral changes after a steroid shot?

Well, my vet is very leery of steroid shots and so far she hasn't had one. But i did notice behavioral changes after we put her on an antihistamine, so i discontinued it per my vet's recommendation. Her itching stopped (or it stopped being so intense i suppose - i still see her scratch but her fur has grown back in) about a month after i put her on California Natural chicken and rice, but i couldn't keep her on it because i got some bad bags of it. She's now on the veterinary IVD Royal Canin green pea and rabbit formula and doing well.