I should've posted this on Friday, but I do have an update on Finn and his skin issues.
The previous threads I've started on this topic can be found at the following two links: http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=221264 http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=222079.
As it turns out, Finnegan does not have ringworm. Thank God! The fungal culture came back negative. But, on the other hand, the Convenia injection he was given does not seem to have helped the issue. That leads the vet to believe that we're not dealing with a skin infection either. So, with two major considerations ruled out, we've decided to move in a separate direction -- he has been started on a hypoallergenic diet and is being given Prenisolone. Thus, we're working on the potential allergies angle.
Finn was started on the Prednisolone Friday evening. He is being given 0.7cc 2x/daily for 3 days, 0.7cc 1x/daily for 3 days, and then 0.7cc every other day until the medication is gone. I've already seen some improvement in his demeanor, but as of last night, he was still itchy and I noticed a new lesion on his left rear leg. He should continue to improve exponentially each day while on the Prednisolone and we will decide whether to continue the medication for a longer period of time at his appointment this coming Friday. He has also been put on Hills Z/D and will remain on that for a minimum of 6 weeks. And, depending on how he is doing at the end of that time period, we will discuss whether to begin re-introducing other foods back into his diet or maintaining him on the Z/D indefinitely.
I believe someone mentioned having him put on a grain free food in one of my prior threads. I wanted to touch on that briefly here as he had previously been fed a grain free diet. And, when I first suspected allergies, the wet food he was given, which was not always grain free (though the dry was -- it was TOTW), was no longer fed and I opted to solely feed him grain free. It's possible that he is allergic to one of the grains in the wet food he was previously given or that he was reacting to any one of the protein sources, but nothing concrete is known for sure and we have switched him to the hypoallergenic diet to determine whether he was suffering from a food allergy.
At Finn's next appointment, we will discuss where to go next if the diet change and Prednisolone is no help. Likely, we'll be doing additional bloodwork to determine a cause and if we still cannot come up with a diagnosis, we may consider that this is something he is doing to himself. But, as of now, I'm not going there and just tackling the issue at hand. And, right now, that issue is getting him feeling better.
So, that's the update for now. Oh, and one last thing, who in their right mind thought that cherry flavoring would be an excellent choice for Prednisolone for cats?!
The previous threads I've started on this topic can be found at the following two links: http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=221264 http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=222079.
As it turns out, Finnegan does not have ringworm. Thank God! The fungal culture came back negative. But, on the other hand, the Convenia injection he was given does not seem to have helped the issue. That leads the vet to believe that we're not dealing with a skin infection either. So, with two major considerations ruled out, we've decided to move in a separate direction -- he has been started on a hypoallergenic diet and is being given Prenisolone. Thus, we're working on the potential allergies angle.
Finn was started on the Prednisolone Friday evening. He is being given 0.7cc 2x/daily for 3 days, 0.7cc 1x/daily for 3 days, and then 0.7cc every other day until the medication is gone. I've already seen some improvement in his demeanor, but as of last night, he was still itchy and I noticed a new lesion on his left rear leg. He should continue to improve exponentially each day while on the Prednisolone and we will decide whether to continue the medication for a longer period of time at his appointment this coming Friday. He has also been put on Hills Z/D and will remain on that for a minimum of 6 weeks. And, depending on how he is doing at the end of that time period, we will discuss whether to begin re-introducing other foods back into his diet or maintaining him on the Z/D indefinitely.
I believe someone mentioned having him put on a grain free food in one of my prior threads. I wanted to touch on that briefly here as he had previously been fed a grain free diet. And, when I first suspected allergies, the wet food he was given, which was not always grain free (though the dry was -- it was TOTW), was no longer fed and I opted to solely feed him grain free. It's possible that he is allergic to one of the grains in the wet food he was previously given or that he was reacting to any one of the protein sources, but nothing concrete is known for sure and we have switched him to the hypoallergenic diet to determine whether he was suffering from a food allergy.
At Finn's next appointment, we will discuss where to go next if the diet change and Prednisolone is no help. Likely, we'll be doing additional bloodwork to determine a cause and if we still cannot come up with a diagnosis, we may consider that this is something he is doing to himself. But, as of now, I'm not going there and just tackling the issue at hand. And, right now, that issue is getting him feeling better.
So, that's the update for now. Oh, and one last thing, who in their right mind thought that cherry flavoring would be an excellent choice for Prednisolone for cats?!
