Kitty won't stop itching her neck.

HI, I have the same problem!!  

I kept feeding her the same cat food her owner did; however, my friend Caroline's cats have the same exact scratching; we all use  the same anti-flea, like advantage on the neck, or that other big fat company. So, since we all use something like advantage on the neck anti-flea, i bet its the anti-flea meds.

THAT is the common thread; my friend gives her cats different cat food than me.But, get this; my friend says"that is NORMAL for cats to do that! mine always do it!"NORMAL???  her cats have  always done that? and we all use the powerful advantage? one of those 2 huge companies??

Here is the thing; years ago I had cats, and I kept them indoors, never gave them advantage or any super-flea meds.They NEVER HAD that itch!!  never!!!  only since people have been doping their cats with advantage & that other super-flea muck on the neck.my cats went"au natural" meaning, i was too poor and backward to do that stuff. ha ha.

I think I'm going to stop using advantage for fleas, treat fleas "as needed," be careful, not let her out, and see if "no cat drug-anti-flea" can get out of her system. she's 3 yrs old, the first owners gave it to her.NOW, if I get horrible fleas, i'll have to consider something else--like making her live in a cedar box. ha ha, no, kidding.But it will probably take a while for the stuff to wear off.

(long ago, if our cat got bad fleas, we WASHED the cat, flea-bombed the apartment, and that did it.)

Really, my old cats never got that itching--but they never got advantage, or any other super-flea-meds. I was kind of a health food hippie, I didn't also like a lot of that stuff.(how was I supposed to know, WHAT is in those advantage meds? do we have knowledge of their chemicals??)  well, that's my experience. whatdya think??   thanks, Doreet and Bella 

Hi, yes, many years ago, our cats got pretty normal, well-nutritioned cat food, in big bulk supplies.IT was not a fancy brand name.. it was dry, but their coats were nice and they were very healthy. now, how about ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION? me and my friend now, both live close to a 4 or 5 lane highway, and it kills the trees along the sides of the road, or puts white gook on the branches.. that goes into our LUNGS. yeah, good old heavy-gasoline.

Ask your environmental student, if he can ask his class/teacher about "affects of very congested,gasoline-filled air from nearby highways" on animals and humans. (I saw a medical report saying all that gasoline in the air, was causing all this breast cancer.)I also read that now I am expected to develop asthmatic-emphysema since I'm forced to live so close to the highway. Nothing I can do about it; they widened the old rode, and now everyone's house is right next to a 5 lane highway.I'd sell if I could, but our real estate here is dead.)

People are not realizing, or they are just ignoring it on purpose, how poisoned we are getting. Gasoline heavy in the air is a major component of cancer. I read about that, too. But, hey, we all have to lose our breasts and our health, cause everyone wants their CARS!!!  What a trade-off. Horses are starting to look real good, and so is steam-power.sorry for ranting on you; your roommate has a tough subject, environmentalism. The FBI hates environmentalists, I know; they bug all those meetings of groups here, in Eugene, Oregon. ha ha.  thanks!!  

Well that could be the case for your kitty, But I do not use any sort of anti flea med on my cat.. neither does my roommate on her cat. If you really do think it may be that med, you can easily look up the ingredients/chemicals used in that product, either on the box it came in or you can ask Google (Google knows all).
I dont know the brand of the shampoo i used on her... My roommate let me barrow it, but it is a generic brand... It smells just like the lice shampoo my mom used on me as a kid haha
it has eased her itching some, but she still continues to scratch. 

There are other things besides fleas that can cause irritation. These days, so many kinds of mite seem to be thriving in our over-hot, over-clean (most mites LIKE clean places/hair/etc) and some of them are invisible to the naked eye. There are anti-mite/anti-acarian sprays that are Ok to use on cats - ask at your pharmacy or vet. My Wellington had to have a skin biopsy before we found the bird mites in his fur.

Let me know if switching to grain-free food helps relieve her itching.

@skylarbear: I will! it will be a week or so, before I can know for sure if a change of food solves her problem, Have to let the old stuff out of her system and can't allow her any treats or anything (how sad  ) 
@jennyranson: That will be the first thing I ask the vet if this food switch does not work. And I will also ask avow any other possible algiers. 

So.... New info already..... 
My roommate found a Flea on her cat this morning...... (we did check Monkey, but she has really dark fur, and Rufio has almost white fur) sense I gave her a Flea bath a few days ago, I can't double up on flea meds cuz that could be bad... but after a few more days we are going to completely de-flea our apartment...
 

Thats a possible identification of the issue, and thus a solution could arise.

Cynbarrie said:

 
Well that could be the case for your kitty, But I do not use any sort of anti flea med on my cat.. neither does my roommate on her cat. If you really do think it may be that med, you can easily look up the ingredients/chemicals used in that product, either on the box it came in or you can ask Google (Google knows all).
I dont know the brand of the shampoo i used on her... My roommate let me barrow it, but it is a generic brand... It smells just like the lice shampoo my mom used on me as a kid haha
it has eased her itching some, but she still continues to scratch. 

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HI, I just found out MORE about the other cats near me, in Eugene, in the Willamette Valley (which is one of the most pollen,rag-weed. allergic places in the entire world) ; a lot of  other cats here, of my friends', have the same head scratching!  more cats here have it!!  it must  be the ALLERGIES   in our  VALLEY!  thats the only common thing we share. the horrible allergies here, and the gas-filled SMOG  from clogged freeways and highways all over the county and around.(  Oregon and Lane county looks and  smells a lot like LA now.)  So   yer correct. its probably not the flea meds.

(I get horrible pollen-inflated sinus infections here, every year, espec. in the spring. so do all the other people who live here. its kinda unhealthy; my cat sneezes occasionally too. guess our CATS  and pets are suffering from pollen and air pollution too.  sigh.  Can any one tell me, if I'm "trying" to giive my cat  dyphenhydromin like a human with allergies, shouldn't  a better antihystamine work better on her too?  a "no drowsy" one?  like mine?  or is dyphenhydromine affect itching particularly?  the stuff is not pleasant; i'm afraid she'll get drowsy. oh, well, so goes the planet!!   

@doreet  I'm going to have to disagree with you one the Smog issue you bring up. Ive lived in Oregon my whole life and its one of the cleanest places Ive ever been. Eugene and Portland a Huge cities, but I wouldn't even compare them to LA.
that's just my opinion, I don't want to cause a debate or anything. But smog has never been a problem for me up here in Oregon, but every spring all those beautiful trees because my sinuses to clog up lol 

But anyway.... Gave Monkey a Flea Bath tonight, My other roommate was playing with her and found a couple on her white little tummy.. I was talking with my roommates earlier, and my Roommate with a cat has had fleas in the past, she is from Eugene. I am from Medford which is in Southern OR, and never in my life have I ever had a pet bring home fleas, and my family goes camping all the time and my dogs would get ticks occasionally, but never ever fleas.. 
We think it's because of the elevation difference, Medford is much Higher than most of OR, especially Corvallis where I am currently going to school. 

Do you all think that is the reason? Can fleas not survive in high elevation??

 
When I go home for christmas i am going to go get her some flea meds from the vet. I don't think there is any other way I can prevent her from getting them again.

Cynbarrie said:

 
Do you all think that is the reason? Can fleas not survive in high elevation??

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To hazard a guess I would say that you've just been lucky previous. I've had a lifetime of living with either dogs or cats, all over the country and never had fleas - until recently!! My little fleabag started itching and it took ages for me to find a flea. Even the vet gave him a good look over for me while he was having an abscess drained. 

Anyway, am just glad it was fleas after all, and something much much simpler to solve that a food allergy. Good luck!

2 things that i don't think have been mentioned yet, firstly my cat scratches her neck, somtimes causing small wounds, as far as i am concerned a cat cleans its neck via a good scratching, the wounds caused would create a further dirt/irritation to the area prompting more scratching/cleaning attempts, also a good scratch can become habit forming (they say not to scratch above a dogs tale etc to often, as you will find the dog will begin to chew there for more of a 'feel good hit' same applies 'elsewhere'.
If i find my cat starts to scratch the area to often causing sores ill give her hard to reach areas a clean to remove any irritation and stop 'patting those areas' to reduce the 'habit' your rescue cat may have had fleas before and is addicted to the scratch, clean the area 'wrap it up' to prevent the scratch and over time it could help

Hmm necro'd aye lol it was only showing me the month on the last page? ..lol