Help - kitty scratching hersof raw

Help!   I have a kitty almost a year old.  She began licking/scratching about 6 months ago. 

The vet originally thought it was an allergy to fleas.   Then we thought it was the flea medicine.  ATM she uses comfortis which I don't think she has a problem with, but not sure.  We've tried 4 different kinds and she appeared to be healing on this one at one point.  She's been to the vet 4 times so far.

She's had antibiotics (she's on more now), an anti-microbial cream and predisone twice.   She only seems to heal while she's taking the predisone and the vet doesn't want to give her a third dose and I agree.

Vet thinks it's a food allergy, but I tried her prescription stuff (which she hates and I can't afford) and she scratched anyway.   She's currently eating instinct rabbit and pea which I can't afford either.

I've tried ace bandages, wrapping her like a mummy (poor baby), Neosporin, and Benadryl cream.   I cut her nails all the time to keep them a bit duller, but none of this helps. 

I've read a lot here on the forums....and I think I may try softpaws, but what else can I do to A) heal the wound? B) Stop her itching? and C) keep it from happening again?

I read a few threads on colloidal silver, but none of it said the dose and how much to dilute It that I can find and does it really work?

I also saw a thread about someone taking a cat to a Chinese sort of vet....they recommended raw food, but never mentioned the herbs that worked.   I almost go excited there for a sec lol.

I guess I'm just frustrated.   Here's a few pics that I hope might help out.  Thanks for trying either way - Terri

Terri

I'm sorry your cat is going through this.
I'm address a potential food allergy, I don't have experience in other types of allergens (of which there are many).
You could try the chicken and rice diet: boil chicken with NO spices, no salt/pepper. Set aside the chicken meat; disgard the bone (cooked bone should never ever be fed to a cat). In the water in which you boiled the chicken, cook some rice (instant is fine). Feed chicken and rice to cat. If she doesn't itch as much, it could indeed be an allergy to food.
Raw food is one way to go, mainly because you can control much better exactly what your cat is eating: in a lot of canned and dry food, regardless of the quality, there are a number of ingredients so it is hard to determine what specific additive/ingredient/protein your cat is allergic to. You need to read up on the subject; you need some basic basic knowledge of how much, etc. to make sure your cat gets all the nutrition she needs. In the interim, you can start out with commercial raw, I don't think it is any more expensive than Instinct. RadCat is a good brand, and some are single source protein.
Here is a link to several articles on raw feeding. www.catcentric.org is a good site to start out with.
The reference to a "Chinese sort of vet": I'm guessing the poster meant an holistic vet, one who knows something about Chinese medicine who is also a vet. I believe in this sort of thing especially if main-stream vets/medicine haven't helped. But I believe you need to take your cat to such a vet because every cat is different so what is recommended for Ritz might be very bad for your fur ball. Here is a link to a directory of holistic vets.
Good luck and keep us posted.

Hey I don't know if I can give you any advice your vet didn't already but this looks pretty similar to something my dog got called hotspots does your. Kitty have any fleas or creepy crawlers ?

Hi and thanks for replying so quickly.

Ritz...I'll take a look at all your information links.  I was thinking about going raw as well, but don't cats need vitamins and minerals too?  I'd be afraid to give her the wrong amounts too, but I'll definitely do my research.

Ayeshajae ..... When I got her she was flea ridden.  I bathed her every day for two weeks and used a flea collar, but it wasn't working.  The fleas actually sat right under the collar in a lump.  They seemed to like it.  So, I tried frontline first which made her start this vicious scratching cycle she's in.  The vet and I both assumed it was the flea meds.  After trying two more and it wasn't getting better the vet started the prescriptions (prednisone, antibiotics etc.) and I tried Comfortis for the fleas.  She seemed to be getting better, but then it turned around again.  I think the only thing that helps is the prednisone, unfortunately.  To make this long story short.  She is currently completely flea free and has no mites or anything else the vet could find.

I'll keep you posted on the diet part of it.  Does anyone know how to treat the skin at the moment though.  Something I hadn't thought of?

Thanks again for the help - Terri