Red, itchy, and scabby tabby

Hi,

I am the proud companion to five cats. One of the pride has been suffering for a while with a dermatological issue. Nails are trimmed every month too. I've noticed that her behind is painfully pink along with red skin around her eyes when I part her fur. She scratches under her chin which is rough and scabby.

We've taken her off kibble with wheat and the cats only eat and drink from metal dishes. The other four cats are jim-dandy and have no physical issues. I don't believe she's suffering but it causes my wife no end of stress watching her baby scratch, bleed and drip when least expecting it. We keep a clean house and would like everyone to be happy.

The diet change is recent and we're hoping it'll alleviate the symptoms, but I'm curious what may be at issue here if it's not her diet.

Thank you

Hi, Caturday,

I have a cat with the same issue.  We have tried every food under the sun.  Limited Ingredient Diets by Hill's, grain-free foods by Wellness, Blue Basics, Orijen, Avoderm. She's also been on a home-made diet of just meat since early in September.  She started off eating Ostrich until our provider went out of stock for several months.  She is now eating cooked pork.  She sees a dermatologist once a month, and her issues are not getting better.    She has been on Atopica for a month now because she has not responded to steroids in the past.  We just increased her dosage, and I've been told by her dermatologist to wait two weeks to see how it goes.  I think you are heading in the right direction with your cat.  You should probably have your kitty see a vet just in case.  Try giving her/him a high quality food with a protein he/she is not typically exposed to (rabbit, duck, etc).  Give her two months on the food before giving up.  In the mean time, try not to change up too many other things in her life/environment.  It is likely to stress her out.  If you really want to figure out what is triggering her itchiness, then you must make one change at a time.  That is the only thing I regret with my baby.  I changed her litter, her food, her bowls all at once in a desperate frenzy to get her well again.  None of it helped and it may have actually made things worse.  Good luck!