Suggestions for itchy cat with hair loss?

Hello all!

My kitty, Charles (2 years old), has been having an ongoing problem with scratching himself and also hair loss over the past few months (first started w/ the scratching end of August...vet said it was most likely fleas and gave him treatment, but that didn't stop the scratching completely). Around November/December is when the hair loss started to become more apparent. It wasn't too bad at first, but started to get a bit worse over the past month, and definitely over the past couple weeks. The largest patch of hair loss is on his stomach, and it kind of stretches over onto his right side. The other areas of hair loss (which are fairly new) are on the back of his legs and arms. The areas are not red and do not look to be irritated or inflamed, just regular skin with a very thinning/rough layer of hair. The areas where he scratches are his head/neck and sometimes his side...he has a couple scabs on his neck. And he seems to be grooming constantly. 

Here is what I've tried so far:

- Flea treatment every month (Revolution)

- Changing his food. He has currently been on EVO 95% venison for about 5 weeks with some rabbit treats as well (by Nature's Variety). No chicken, fish, or grains.

- I have Feliway diffusers going on each floor.

- I have switched my detergent/cleaning to fragrance-free

- I have purchased a couple humidifiers and am also supplementing with omega-3 (Nordic Naturals) in case it is a dry skin issue.

I should also mention he's a herpes kitty. He had a very bad eye infection back in September which has since cleared. I'm not sure if the skin issues and his eye infection are related, since they did kind of crop up around the same time (mid August). I had to take him to the vet multiple times during that month, hence my hesitation to stress him out more by taking him in November/December...not to mention I'm broke due to all the vet visits from the Fall and the medications he had to be on to combat his eye infection. 

He does, however, have a vet appointment on the 8th, so hopefully that will bring a little light to what's going on...but I'm at my wit's end! I was sure it was allergies at first, but I have no idea what it could be to at this point. Maybe it has to do with the cold weather? (I live in Philly and it hasn't exactly been mild here lately).  He did have a bout with tapeworms a couple months ago, but he was treated for them and I've been giving the flea treatment every month to combat any fleas...I also find it hard to believe fleas can survive in our freezing condo but I guess anything is possible. He has also seemed to be a little more stressed out lately (nothing drastic...getting startled and running away from me...tail puffing up, etc). I'm not sure if its due to the hair loss or contributing to it. He's been eating and playing normally and using the litterbox normally (has never had an accident outside of the box). I should also mention his litter is unscented clay (Petco brand) that I've been using for awhile now. Should I try a new litter maybe?

Any insight/suggestions or is there anything I should ask for when at the vet? (specific tests that can be done, etc)? Thanks so much in advance for the help!

I think you're on the right track. My first thought was allergies as well. I would try a few other things. 1. Eliminate the rabbit treats just to eliminate any other food related issues. 2. Add probiotics since gut health is so important to the immune system. 3. Add lysine and bovine lactoferrin for the herpes. I can't link right now, but if you do a search, you will see a thread that talks about it in detail.

Allergy testing for cats is expensive and not terribly helpful from what I have heard.

vball91 said:

I think you're on the right track. My first thought was allergies as well. I would try a few other things. 1. Eliminate the rabbit treats just to eliminate any other food related issues. 2. Add probiotics since gut health is so important to the immune system. 3. Add lysine and bovine lactoferrin for the herpes. I can't link right now, but if you do a search, you will see a thread that talks about it in detail.

Allergy testing for cats is expensive and not terribly helpful from what I have heard.

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Thanks! What probiotics do you recommend? He is actually on lysine...should have mentioned that. Although I have not heard of bovine lactoferrin so I'll look into that.

I've heard the same re: allergy testing. I wish it was more accurate so I would know exactly what's going on! *sigh*

A lot of members here like the Natural Factors Double Strength Acidophilus/Bifidus probiotic. For an adult cat, the dosage is one capsule (10 billion CFUs) split between two serving daily. Sprinkled on wet food, most cats seem to enjoy or at least not mind the taste.

Is there any reason you are giving him flea treatments when there are no signs of fleas? Treatments every month could definitely give him skin issues since it is systemic and affects the skin. I never treat mine unless I actually see fleas and that is easy to do if you look on the inside of their 'thighs' when they are laying on their backs, or their stomachs which have much thinner hair. You might try stopping the treatments for a while. Mention this to the vet and see what they say. Good luck and keep us posted!