My Cat Taffy is Sooo Hot!

I have several cats with this symptom: high external temperature of the skin with normal internal temperature, that is, no fever or ill symptoms. Taffy and Radinka are the hottest externally and the baldest. There fur thins out when this flares up and stays very short in length, what fur is left on them. Underneath, on the tummy and legs to the reproductive parts, they are almost iron-hot. Yet, they are happy and lively and chatty kitties.

Has anyone ever heard of this odd condition? I just found some advice to try the following: CoEnzyme Q10, Omega 3-6-9 and Promise Activ Super Shots (what is that?). Anyone know which works? And I'd like more possibilities of medications or herbs or homeopathic remedies to try. Taffy and Radinka are burning alive! Also another tomcat, Dinkum, has this problem. Two more of my cats are hot only on the tummy and down to the tail end. What can I do for them?

A few things come to mind. I'd like to ask you, are all these kitties (Taffy, Radinka, Dinkum) intact? Not spayed, not neutered? If they are intact, by looking at the remedies you mention, you're looking in the wrong direction.

You mentioned a tomcat? Are your cats all S/N??? That would explain this, I think.

I mentioned 3 of my kitties have this condition, altho there are more.

Radinka is not spayed. She has given me many beautiful kittens! Her kittens are amazing in their personalities and appearances. She is an odd-looking animal, but her babies all turn out out beautiful or fantastic.
Dinkum is not neutered. Dinkum is Andromeda's son, an older sister of Radinka and Calliope.
Taffy is not neutered. Taffy was born to Kahlua, who was is the sister of Radinka and Calliope.
Calliope is very bald, hot all underneath, and has been neutered since he was 1 1/2 years old. This hot condition started on him last year and he is very patchy. Calliope is Radinka's brother.

They need a remedy that addreses these symptoms. Right, see, I didn't know if those remedies I read about were right for their strange problem since they are such happy and otherwise healthy animals.

No need to box my ears about the spaying or neutering: none of them have reproduced in 2 1/2 years. The last cats to reproduce were Radinka's son and daughter, Marzipan and Magnolia, and they had three babies that have gone with their father, Marzipan, to a happy home in Pasadena. The babies were named Avril, Nutter Butter and Dewey. They are over one year old and Nutter Butter and Dewey have been neutered, and Avril has had her ovaries out. I still have Magnolia.

Only one of Radinka's daughters has this same condition, little Heather. She also has a new home and recently had her ovaries out also. However, she is still baldy and hot! Her fur is too short all over and too sparse on her underneath.

Anyone have a clue what to give these kitties to remedy their odd condition?

Since you mention hair loss, you need to start with a vet visit. The cause has to be determined and only a vet can do that for you. You can't treat symptoms when you don't know what's causing them and right now that's where you are.

If you go to Google and type in causes of hair loss in cats, you'll find many articles for basic information.

I have taken Taffy and Heather and Prima (who is baldy only on the tummy and down to the tail underneath) to see my veterinarian, two of them, in fact, and they noticed this -- I told them their external temperature is too hot and I was surprised that when they feel good, their internal temperatures are normal. In fact, Heather's was only in the 100 degree range.

One veterinarian didn't say anything although he clearly listened to my description of their odd skin/coat condition. The other was concerned only with the illness Prima had that had recently. She feels terrific now, but is continuing to be baldy there.

My third veterinarian examined yet another cat I had, a little fluffy orange Tomcat named Foxtail that I explained to him had very hot legs underneath -- almost iron hot! He didn't say anything as to what is causing it either.

That's where they are right now, with no diagnosis for it from three veterinarians in my area. I am puzzled as to what it really is.

How warm the skin feels and coat issues are different things. There may or may not be a connection, depending on the underlying cause. For coat issues there are several tests any vet would perform to find out what's going on.
The vets you saw might have got the idea you didn't want any testing.
To find out what kind of health issues are involved in what you're seeing the best thing you can do is see a board certified dermatologist.

Normal body temperature
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=0&aid=1166

Hi.

First of all, regarding the spaying and neutering, I'd hardly say that anyone "boxed your ears" on the subject. When you joined TCS, you (were supposed to) read, and did agree to the forum rules. Forum Rules

Rule #2 states

2. Please make sure to spay and neuter your cats. Unless you are a professional breeder and your cat is part of a professional breeding program, please educate yourself to the importance of spaying and neutering by the time your cat is 4-6 months old. If you take care of a feral colony, please make sure to do so responsibly by practicing TNR (Trap, Neuter, Release) protocols within the colony. By spaying and neutering, you enhance a cat's quality of life and improve their longterm health. You are also proving your love for cats because in acting as a responsible pet owner/caregiver you are minimizing the problem of cat overpopulation.

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I'm glad your cats haven't reproduced in over 2 1/2 years, but it's far more likely due to their health problems.

As to your question about the cats being hot and bald, we had this problem with Chumley shortly after rescuing him last summer. We assumed it was an allergy problem, but because of his FIV, we didn't want to attempt to treat him with the normal "western" medical approach that is usually the use of steroids. Of course, food elimination diets are a place to start.

We were not able to find a food trigger, so we located a vet that is additionally trained in alternative treatments. You can search for one at the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association: http://www.ahvma.org/

A vet trained in Chinese herbology will most likely be able to help your kitties. Just the description of "bald spots" doesn't indicate the course of treatment. For Chumley, he was diagnosed with an extreme spleen Qi deficiency, and as being extremely Yin deficient. Within a few weeks of putting him on herbs to address this, his skin cooled down and his hair started to grow back in. We have him on a high quality diet of primarily grain-free foods. Rice bran we know is a trigger for him, but rice itself (whole rice or whole brown rice) is not. He hates peas, so we have him on no food with peas in it, and we're avoiding wheat and soy for him, and we have him eating a lot of duck and rabbit, as those are more "Yin" than other food options (though we do not want him on a fish-based diet as there are other problems with those).

Is this the same condition you were asking about in September?

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=221499

Did it ever go away?

As you have been told here before, you should only be giving your cats supplements after consulting with your vet.

Please read the following rule of TCS:

Rule #2 states


Quote:
2. Please make sure to spay and neuter your cats. Unless you are a professional breeder and your cat is part of a professional breeding program, please educate yourself to the importance of spaying and neutering by the time your cat is 4-6 months old. If you take care of a feral colony, please make sure to do so responsibly by practicing TNR (Trap, Neuter, Release) protocols within the colony. By spaying and neutering, you enhance a cat's quality of life and improve their longterm health. You are also proving your love for cats because in acting as a responsible pet owner/caregiver you are minimizing the problem of cat overpopulation.



Sorry, but I am going to "box your ears", I do not understand why your cats are not spayed/neutered? I have asked you about this in the Behavior Forum yesterday, twice in two of your posts.

It is very difficult for me to read about your cats and assist you in anyway. I am so against people who don't S/N their cats. I just don't understand why?? Unless you are a breeder of pure bred cats and showing your cats, I don't get why you wouldn't S/N your cats. Maybe if you spent time volunteering in a shelter, holding a cat that has to be euthanized because it is his time so another cat can take it's place, and just spending time with the many cats that are suffering in the shelters because of owner's that don't fix their cats.

If you let your cats outside, then you are contributing to the suffering of many cats/kittens and should be prepared to take responsibility of that suffering.

10 of my male cats are neutered and I always neutered all my male cats except for the first one I had when I was a child. That cat did not reproduce as there were no female kitties on our block that he could get at -- everyone had dogs.

None of my cats get outside ever, altho there is a wonderful black cat that lives outside that is spayed and she has three homes.

The cats in the other thread that I spoke of all survived and are happy and healthy again. They have been neutered since then, since it is so important an issue to the members here. They had persistent fevers and I only wondered by the powdered Amoxicillin or Cephalexin or Enrofloxacin I used on them didn't end their fevers. Yes, they took plenty of antibiotics, and didn't miss a dose. They had better luck with Cefazoline injections every 6 - 8 hours.

Anyway . . . This isn't the same . . . These cats are happy animals with no other symptoms at all. I only wondered if anyone had ever had this happen to their cat before and what they did about it. It does tend to fade away after 3 months, but unfortunately it tends to recur. Radinka was filling out again and her fur was as fabulous as an ermine coat, but now she is hot and bald again, altho very happy and lively.

I actually prefer veterinary medications and herbs for my kitties, and vitamins.

Well, you can combine the knoweldge of a vet with the herbs and vitamins you prefer for treatment by finding a DVM trained in western herbs, chinese herbology, and nutrition. Chumley's vet is trained in all of these, in addition to various energy healing methods and accupuncture. Being in California, I'm sure you can find one.

I conducted a search of AHVMA for you. Here are the codes, so you can easily see in which modalities they've been trained:

AC Acupuncture
AC(IVAS) Acupuncture (International Veterinary Acupuncture Society certified)
Acuscope
AK Applied Kinesiology
BF Bach Flower Remedies
BI Biotron II
CH Chinese Herbs
CR Chiropractic
CR(AVCA) Chiropractic (American Veterinary Chiropractic Association certified)
CN Clinical Nutrition
CT Color Therapy
CM Conventional Medicine
EAV Electroacupuncture according to Voll
GT Glandular Therapy
H Homeopathy
HC Homeopathy Classical
HC(AVH) Homeopathy (Academy of Veterinary Homeopathy Certified)
HO Homeopathy Other
HMTX Homotoxicology
IN Interro
NAET Nambrudripad's Allergy Elimination Technique
NU Nutrition
MT Magnetic Therapy
MAMassage Therapy
PMT Pulsating Magnetic Therapy
Reiki
VOM Veterinary Orthopedic Manipulation
WH Western Herbs

Given you're in Alta Loma, I only included those from area code 909 (I searched on "small animal" only). But if you go to the AHVMA search function, you can choose to search by zip code or area code in the state. But there are quite a few in L.A. in general if you include area codes 310, 510, 526, and 626 (and other area codes that may well be "LA-related" but I just don't know them). Of course, when we lived in California, we lived in Big Bear and commuted to downtown L.A. and then near the Beverly Hills area, had friends up in Pasadena, Ontario, out in Long Beach, and down in Orange, so I know people from LA tend to think of all of these places as different areas, and we think of all of it as "LA" and aren't sensitive to the "neighborhood" issues. I just know it pretty much took two hours to drive anywhere, so I'm just glad the best vet we work with now that we're back on the east coast is only an hour away.

Anyway, I'm not sure which other area codes are pretty easily reachable from where you are, but I'm sure you'd know if you scrolled through them.

Here are the two listed in area code 909:

NANCY MODGLIN , DVM - She's an actual vet as well
HOLISTIC OPTIONS VETERINARY CARE
25837 BUSINESS CENTER DR, STE. C
REDLANDS , CA 92374
Phone: 909-796-4277
Fax: 909-796-8147
Modalities Practiced: (Modality Quick Reference)
AC AC(IVAS) CH CR CR(AVCA)
Practice Preferences:
SMALL ANIMAL

BARBARA ALLARD-WARD , DVM CVA - also an actual vet as well
NORTHSIDE VETERINARY CLINIC, INC
939 W. 40TH STREET
SAN BERNADINO , CA 92407
Phone: 909-883-0994
Fax: 909-881-3608
Modalities Practiced: (Modality Quick Reference)
AC AC(CHI) AK CH CR CM HMTX
Practice Preferences:
SMALL ANIMAL

Originally Posted by Jazzmin_Flower

The cats in the other thread that I spoke of all survived and are happy and healthy again. They have been neutered since then, since it is so important an issue to the members here....

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I'm really pleased to hear the cats are healthy!!! It's also great to hear they were neutered. However I really don't understand the need for comments like "since it is so important an issue to the members here...." You've been told on numerous occasions this is a pro-spay/neuter forum, and what we all wonder is - why isn't it an important issue TO YOU?

Originally Posted by Jazzmin_Flower

Anyway . . . This isn't the same . . . These cats are happy animals with no other symptoms at all. I only wondered if anyone had ever had this happen to their cat before and what they did about it. It does tend to fade away after 3 months, but unfortunately it tends to recur. Radinka was filling out again and her fur was as fabulous as an ermine coat, but now she is hot and bald again, altho very happy and lively.

Click to expand...

Happy and lively doesn't mean she isn't suffering. My husband suffers from a disease that makes him very hot, though not necessarily with a fever, and we know he suffers horribly - though he'll do what he can to hide it. I could describe him as happy and lively, even though I know he feels like crap. Our Chumley, as I explained, had similar symptoms. He appeared to be happy, and he was very playful... but he was itchy, and his overgrooming, the holistic vet explained to us, was because he was so hot - that's why he was licking and licking and licking - he wanted to get rid of his hair to cool down. So he was happy and loved to play - but that does NOT mean he was not suffering!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, I use both the veterinarian's medications and herbs.
My Magnolia is currently on Amoxicillin tabs and Methocarbamol and I am planning on trying her on Dong Quai blended with another herb. My only concern is the conflicting opinions I find of Dong Quai being safe for cats or not safe for cats.

I can get the herbs from a tiny chinese health shoppe in Alta Loma or from the Vitamin Shoppe in Rancho Cucamonga. I need a remedy for my bald cats which I am studying up on currently, and cats with persistent recurring "hot spots" that are clearly only wounds from over-scratching. Yes, they have a few fleas that I treat with flea oil drops now and then, but the auto-mutilation wounds persist, popping up here and there on their heads, necks and shoulders.

My veterinarian was successful with one cat, altho it took 2 years and 2 bills of $125 to finally clear her of it completely. The trouble is the veterinarian want them to take enough of the prescription drug. I think I wrote about this before. So I was searching for an herb that will soothe them and heal them of it as I have a limited supply of the prescription medication.

I have tried various wound care sprays and powders without much luck. I am determined to heal these two once and for all.

I have a lot of cats and several of them have chronic problems. The one the veterinarians can't seem to lick is persistent redline gingivitis that gets worse at times and calms at others. I am always looking for useful tidbits of advice to try on my kitties.


This is my cat that shares my User ID Name: "I'm all cured!" Lower Right Corner: Missy Stitch, her little sister.

Has your vet not mentioned allergy to flea bites? This is what I was thinking through this whole thread. My friend had a grey kitten that started loosing all its hair except on the head, tail, belly and feet! Poor Teddy was allergic to fleas! They treated him, their other cat, and the house and his hair grew back.