Lime-sulfur for dermatitis / skin bacteria

thudfactor

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Hey, folks! My nine-year-old cat ("Cernunnos") has had allergy problems for years, but they've recently become very severe and we're trying to figure out what we can do for him. Injected steroids have lost their effectiveness rather rapidly, but my regular vet has had little to suggest other than steroid shots.

So I took him to a new vet today who says he has a lot of skin bacteria. She could not find any fleas or mites. Ringworm was ruled out previously. And his littermate sister shows no symptoms.

New vet gave him an anti-bacterial shot and suggested a lime-sulfur dip once a week for a month.

Here's my question: since we don't (apparently) have a mite / flea / tick problem and ringworm has been ruled out, does lime-sulfur seem like it would help? Or is my vet making double-darn sure?

I can deal with the smell, but C. is a lanky and stubborn cat and I can't imagine trying to keep him from grooming for several hours while he dries off. An e-collar won't even keep him from it (we've tried before).
 

snickerdoodle

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I am guessing it is all over and not just in his ears? If that is the case I have no real advice to give. An old vet recommended the bath to me and it was very expensive, for what he said were "dog mites" in my cat's ears. Got a second opinion and it wasn't mites, but just fungus in the ears that were cleared up with a very inexpensive tube of drops.

The bath sounded scary to me to begin with. I thought the vet had said LYE and Sulfur. Lime and Sulfur doesn't sound so bad. Or maybe I am remembering wrongly. Anyway. Hope you can find something to help your kitty!

This is interesting to me though. Any particular kind of skin bacteria? (No experience with that) Maybe his food is causing an allergic reaction?
 
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thudfactor

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It's not just the ears, although he has a problem there too. We haven't ruled out a food allergy but the problem behaves more like an inhalant allergy.

Weird advice from your vet there, to give a dip for ear mites. I would have looked for a second opinion, too.
 

kittymcg

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The Lime Sulphur is antibacterial, antifungal and antiparasitic so it will kill anything living on the surface of his skin. It's pretty strong stuff. The good news is it's cheap and one bottle goes along way, depending on the dilution. Bad news is he probably won't enjoy the bath but he'll forgive you.
Seems a little OTT but then I don't know how severe his condition is. Maybe a second opinion would indicate if this is necessary.

If you end up opting for the LS I would recommend investing in an inexpensive rose sprayer to apply it. It speeds things up, so less traumatic for C. I had to bathe one of mine in this stuff and it has to dry on the skin which can take a while. Our heating system is forced air so I would put a towel next to one of the wall vents, sit puss on towel and crank up the heat
- the effect was a less scary hairdryer. My little guy actually enjoyed that part.
 
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thudfactor

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Thanks for the advice! I may let the vet do it. C is such a stubborn cat I don't think there's a thing I can do to keep him from grooming himself.
 

nekochan

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I'm having a similar problem with one of my cats (bad allergy skin problems) and my vet also recommended using a lime sulfur dip. I purchased it but I am really leery of trying it! It seems like it will be difficult to keep it out of his eyes and keep him from licking it, and really messy. I guess I need to find my elizabethan cat collar...
 

ziggy'smom

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Lyme Sulfur dip is used for all sorts of skin conditions and it's supposed to be effective for several things. I've used it and it's not that bad. Much easier than shampoos and other things I've tried. Just fill a bucket and "dunk" the cat in it up to the neck and use a squirt bottle to cover the head to make sure that he doesn't get it in his eyes or mouth. You can put it on his head after you've dipped him as it's hard to do much of anything while the poor kitty is fighting to get out of the bucket.

It can be a bit messy as the cat will fight to get out of the water but nothing more than a regular bath. I would recommend that you do it outside or in the bathroom though.
When I had to use Lyme Sulfur I covered a large part of my porch with newspaper and did the dip there. It may help to have a harness and leash on kitty if you fear that he'll try to get away from you. Then when you're done you can let him dry outside on the leash. That's what I did and it worked fine. After the dip you can wipe off the excess liquid with paper towels which will speed up the drying.

It doesn't take that long for the cat to dry. You can try to just keep a close eye on him and maybe keep him occupied and distracted with play and treats. If I remember correctly the self grooming issue wasn't a big problem for any of the cats I've treated.
You could also try one of those inflatable e-collars if a regular one doesn't work. I've heard that they are really good but they are a bit pricey.
 
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