I need help/advice or something!

Hi. I have a cat who is 1 1/2 years old. A couple of months ago she started getting small sores near her ears. The vet and I thought it was just from how rough she plays with my other cat so we were given an antibiotic ointment to use on it.
Well, a few days ago, over half her head just pretty much exploded with open sores. We went back to the vet and had skin scraping done. The initial scrapes were negative. The bacterial and fungal cultures have shown no growth within the past 24 hours. They are still letting them grow for a week total just to make sure. She goes in on Wednesday to get a biopsy done from the sores.
This afternoon, when I got home from work, she had a new open, weeping sore below her left eye. Back to the vet we went. The right side sores are now extended to the top of her eye but still covered with a light covering of hair so it is not as noticeable. The vet was astonished how much the surface area covered in sores has grown since yesterday.
She has not been itching AT ALL. These sores just appeared basically out of nowhere. The area she had skin scraping done yesterday is now crusty and grey.
She has lost 2lbs from when she was at the vet last month. She is an 8lb cat at full weight, so she is 6lb now. She is not eating very well either. She is still drinking water.
She is FeLV/FIV negative, completely an inside cat, never outdoors at all, and is fed The Honest Kitchen Prowl formula.
The vet thinks she has an autoimmune disorder which is why she has a biopsy scheduled.
Can anyone help or give advice? Please?

Has the vet even mentioned the possibility of allergies? Even indoor cats can have environmental allergies, and food allergies are not uncommon.

The vets do not think it is allergies because of the fact that none of it itches. None of these sores are from scratching at all. She is already on a grain free raw diet, so the chances of the ffod being the issue is slim to none. We are in Texas and yes there are plenty of allergins here. However, none of her actions show anything "allergy like". They are tesing her for Pemphigus type autoimmune deficiency.
http://www.manhattancats.com/Article...Foliaceus.html
I just need to know what I can do to try and get her to eat and be more comfortable. She is so small, she is starting to look like skin and bones.

Allergies ARE an immune response... immunology and allergy are linked. I am wondering the same thing re: allergic reaction to SOMETHING - either in her food or in the environment....

Have you changed food recently?

Have you changed any type of cleaner, litter additive, etc - anything she could be coming into contact with?

Did you have the carpets cleaned recently? Anything installed like carpet, furniture ( new K cabinets ... the particle board can "gas off")?

Has she been licking or biting herself excessively?

Any hair loss?

These are things to think about and tell the vet... no one here is a vet so we need to leave that to the experts.

In the meantime - oh, poooor baby! For you and for kitty: and that an answer and a solution are found!

ETA: OK - just saw your additional post and I am reading the article. EEeep! I see loss of appetite is a symptom. Will he eat softer wet food? Warm it up and give it to her? Anything to get kitty to eat because not eating can lead to other problems... Ugh.Try higher calorie kitten food? Or Royal Canin Recovery wet which you can get at the vets. I wonder if there is mouth involvement, too. Poor thing, if that is the diagnosis, long term steroid use also has its own issues.

Also, eosinophilic granuloma complex lesions usually do not itch in cats. Though sometimes the triggering cause may itch (if the cause is fleas, for example). ECG is actually not that uncommon, either.

I took in a stray cat with bumps and lesions from mosquito bites. You'd think that she'd have been very itchy, but the ones on her face and head didn't seem to bother her at all.


As for her food. If there's protein, there's always the chance for an allergy to develop. Make sure you vet does look for this in the biopsy as something like ECG would easily show up.

Food is the same, litter is the same, we have tile floor and I use the same cleaner on it that I always have, I have no live plants in the house because I for some reason kill every plant I come in contact with. No scratching, itching, biting. The only places she has hair loss are on her sores. All bloodwork is normal, allergy panel is at Texas A&M. I would be prone to think allergies as well. However, there is NO itching whatsoever.
I just really want her to eat something and not be in pain.
The vets are holding off on giving her steroids until all of the tests come back just in case it is some kind of cancer.
What is a good bland thing I can feed her that is high in calories? She is wasting away.
Also, I have a dog who has health issues so I am very aware of food allergies. He can only eat venison, duck, and items like that.

What are the meats that she usually gets?

Originally Posted by jaggirl47

Food is the same, litter is the same, we have tile floor and I use the same cleaner on it that I always have, I have no live plants in the house because I for some reason kill every plant I come in contact with. No scratching, itching, biting. The only places she has hair loss are on her sores. All bloodwork is normal, allergy panel is at Texas A&M. I would be prone to think allergies as well. However, there is NO itching whatsoever.
I just really want her to eat something and not be in pain.
The vets are holding off on giving her steroids until all of the tests come back just in case it is some kind of cancer.
What is a good bland thing I can feed her that is high in calories? She is wasting away.
Also, I have a dog who has health issues so I am very aware of food allergies. He can only eat venison, duck, and items like that.

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I posted above as an added comment after reading the link you provided. Two things come to mind right away re: bland, nutritious and calorically dense - kitten food and "put meat on their bones" type vet formulas such as Royal Canin Recovery. I cannot recall the other vet formula out there that is similar, but a friend has used RC and her sick cats liked it. It is $$$!! There are also high-calorie supplements you can get in gel form-- again name escapes me - but I would be inclined to try food first. What about a little bit of KMR second stage or the Just Born equivalent? Not exclusively but that would be easy for her to lap up.

Re: allergies - yeah, I know. My kitties are on grain free food due to digestive issues.

Also - try posting a question in the Nutrition forum. Some really well informed folks over there. You can include a link to this post so people can read up on kitty's problem.

These are the ingredients in her food.

Free-range chicken, eggs, potatoes, yams, organic flaxseed, zucchini, spinach, cranberries, rosemary, tricalcium phosphate, choline chloride, zinc amino acid chelate, vitamin D3 supplement, vitamin E supplement, potassium chloride, iron amino acid chelate, copper amino acid chelate.

She is fed a raw diet. We do not use dry, processed foods.
I also have another cat who has no signs of anything.

As far as the ECG, her skin smears were normal, as well as the initial scraping. The cultures for the first 24 hours show absolutely nothing.Thats why we are doing a biopsy on the actual pustules on Wednesday.

Originally Posted by AddieBee

I posted above as an added comment after reading the link you provided. Two things come to mind right away re: bland, nutritious and calorically dense - kitten food and "put meat on their bones" type vet formulas such as Royal Canin Recovery. I cannot recall the other vet formula out there that is similar, but a friend has used RC and her sick cats liked it. It is $$$!! There are also high-calorie supplements you can get in gel form-- again name escapes me - but I would be inclined to try food first. What about a little bit of KMR second stage or the Just Born equivalent? Not exclusively but that would be easy for her to lap up.

Re: allergies - yeah, I know. My kitties are on grain free food due to digestive issues.

Also - try posting a question in the Nutrition forum. Some really well informed folks over there. You can include a link to this post so people can read up on kitty's problem.

Click to expand...

That is a very good idea for the nutrition. I know what you are talking about for the suppliment. Comes in a big "toothpaste" type tube right? I had to use it on my other cat when I got her. She was extremely underweight.
This is the first time I have ever had any issues with this cat. She has always been so healthy.

Originally Posted by jaggirl47

She is fed a raw diet. We do not use dry, processed foods.
I also have another cat who has no signs of anything.

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I was asking about what raw meats you used for her - the Prowl is it's own food that it says you rehydrate.

I suggest you try a protein that she doesn't usually get, in an all stages or kitten food. Such as Evo (they have beef), or prepare her meals with meats she doesn't usually get. Just in case there's something going on here that is food related.
I can't honestly suggest food with more chicken if that could be part of her problem at this time. It's better to cover all bases than ignore the possibility and risk making it worse.

Immune problems, outside of viruses, aren't contagious - that's why your other cat is fine.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

I was asking about what raw meats you used for her - the Prowl is it's own food that it says you rehydrate.

I suggest you try a protein that she doesn't usually get, in an all stages or kitten food. Such as Evo (they have beef), or prepare her meals with meats she doesn't usually get. Just in case there's something going on here that is food related.
I can't honestly suggest food with more chicken if that could be part of her problem at this time. It's better to cover all bases than ignore the possibility and risk making it worse.

Immune problems, outside of viruses, aren't contagious - that's why your other cat is fine.

Click to expand...

Yes, the prowl is it's own food that you rehydrate. It is a dehydrated raw diet. She does also get raw chicken, gizzards, hearts, beef liver, ground beef, venison, and items like that. She only gets those items about 2 times a week since her food had the raw meat in it. I do it mainly to keep her teeth clean. She has never had a reaction with what she has had. She has been on a raw diet since she was 5 weeks.
As far as changing her food, we are waiting until the allergy panels and biopsy come back. The last thing the vet and I want to do is risk a GI upset and possibly trigger a worse reaction from her if it is an autoimmune disorder.
BTW, the Dermatologist is the one that read her stains today and is doing the biopsy. The chances of it being a food allergy is pretty slim.