First Time Cat Owner, I NEED HELP, MY CAT WONT STOP SELF MUTILATING

Hey SAustin,

I think you're on the right track with things now , but I did think of you when I read this recent blog post from a writer I love.  Interesting reading at the very least!:

http://www.wayofcats.com/blog/

Hopefully you and Raven are doing better? Sounds like the poor girl has not had an easy life, what a lucky girl she is that she found you!   

Hey All,

Sorry it's been a couple of days, I have actually been feeling a bit under the weather myself lately. Here is the update. After speaking again with the woman from the rescue we went over allergies again and we are figuring it must be something environmental at this point because she is exhibiting none of the facial or head area symptoms associated with food allergies. One thing I realized was that a scratching post she had been using I had rubbed with tuna at one point early on to entice her to use it. I took that away 2 days ago and she has shown some moderate improvement. She actually slept most of last night sans ecollar which is a major step forward. I was also told by the rep from the rescue that the woman who runs the rescue had an idea that this could be a wool allergy possibly relating to my carpeting, something she as run into before apparently. The foster home she was in had hardwood floors and her symptoms were minimal there. She is scheduled to go to the vet again on tuesday for an allergy test, something I feel she should have had weeks ago. I am hoping the allergy test will finally reveal the problem so I can finally put this to bed and let her finally start living as a regular cat.

PS. She has started jumping up onto tables, desks and high areas. Something she never did at her worst so I have to believe she is feeling better.  

Sorry that you are not feeling well and best wishes for your speedy recovery. Happy to hear that Raven is doing better. It is so difficult trying to narrow down allergens, but hopefully the allergy test will provide answers. Please keep us updated and let us know the results next week. 

Hey all, just a quick update. raven is going to the vet tomorrow for an allergy test. She still has bumps and stuff on her stomach though she has been licking less there as of late. her new thing is licking her front leg until her skin is red and raw. I am hoping tomorrow yields something positive.

Got back from the vet, she is being blood tested for food and contact allergies. 7-10 day turn around. But she was at the girl from the rescue's apartment with hardwoods she slept and relaxed the whole time she was there got back here and start licking and biting again. it will be a while until the results but i have a feeling its the carpets in my apartment.

Do you use anything on your carpets? By that I mean Shake and Vac or any other carpet freshener? My MIL had German Shepherds and used to use Shake and Vac and 1 of them developed a reaction to it and it caused skin irritations. If you do use them, then it might be worth stopping and seeing if that is the cause. Or if you clean the carpets regularly with a detergent it might be that. Hope these ideas may help.

Please keep us updated.

mamabirdy said:

Do you use anything on your carpets? By that I mean Shake and Vac or any other carpet freshener? My MIL had German Shepherds and used to use Shake and Vac and 1 of them developed a reaction to it and it caused skin irritations. If you do use them, then it might be worth stopping and seeing if that is the cause. Or if you clean the carpets regularly with a detergent it might be that. Hope these ideas may help.

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I don't use anything like that on my carpets. And I will let you all know when the results come through.  

Ok so the results came in and she has alot of environmental allergies but most of them are to things not found in my state. The allergen she was positive for that the vet pointed to was a type of fungus which naturally  grows under carpet so my initial suspicions were confirmed. the vet is going to put her on a strong antihistamine, a steroid, and a topical. she will likely need to be on this regiment until i move to a new apartment in six months but my next place wont have carpets and thinking long term it would be awful to return her to the rescue for a problem which will be gone by the end of the summer.  Oddly enough she has no food allergies. 

SAustin said:

 
Ok so the results came in and she has alot of environmental allergies but most of them are to things not found in my state. The allergen she was positive for that the vet pointed to was a type of fungus which naturally  grows under carpet so my initial suspicions were confirmed. the vet is going to put her on a strong antihistamine, a steroid, and a topical. she will likely need to be on this regiment until i move to a new apartment in six months but my next place wont have carpets and thinking long term it would be awful to return her to the rescue for a problem which will be gone by the end of the summer.  Oddly enough she has no food allergies. 

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I'm so glad that you have answers! But mostly glad that you're going to keep her. Your instincts were spot on about the carpet. Good for both of you that you'll be moving shortly. I'm sure you don't need to be living with that fungus, either.

What a relief for you and kitty that you got some answers! Let us know how she does on the meds.

Glad to hear you got some answers, hopefully this course of treatment will help your kitty.  Keep us posted.

Okay so we can finally put this story to bed I think. It has been about 2 and a half weeks since she started her meds and she is completely cleared up. She still licks occasionally but no where near as much. The vet also gave me a special anti fungal shampoo which I can use periodically if she ever has a flare up. So we now have her stabilized. Antibiotics and steroids are almost done probably another few days of that at which point I will have the shampoo and topical left to use as needed. Thank you all so much for you help and support through this. I was really starting to think for a point I would have to return her to the rescue but it all worked out in the end.  

Thanks,

PS. have an interesting new situation if anyone wants to chime in. http://www.thecatsite.com/t/273510/rescued-a-kitten-and-my-older-cat-is-none-too-happy

I am so glad that you both have found some relief! Now, it's on to the next problem, isn't it? Best of luck.