Hairballs, Herpes and Hair-loss...

My cat,  Morris, is scratching like crazy around his neck and his ears. He is around 12-14 years old-

I brought him to NY from AL where he was born in my mother's chimney, and I have had him ever since.

I will try to be brief and concise- he has always had bad allergies, but the last 4 years have been absolute hell.

I am at my wit's end. 

The poor baby is miserable.

In a nutshell: please excuse the spelling.

He has a history of eosinophilic granuloma, rodent ulcers, allergies to antibiotics (he can only take Clavamox) as well as chronic, latent herpes. 

The first time Herpes reared its ugly head was 4 years ago this May when after mourning the death of my 18 yr.old white deaf Maine Coon, I brought home a rescued kitten. 

The days that followed turned into months, which turned into years, was my first- ever baptism into the hell fire pit that is Feline Herpes- and it's exclusive bonus- feline corneal ulcer. 

 He responded well to the treatment- (which involved having to travel to the only Specialized Veterinarian in Ophthalmology where we live- several times)

but because of the eye involvement, he can NEVER have prednisone ever again. Apparently it is contraindicated.

I have been able to keep his allergies/herpes under control with a daily regimen of  Lysine, grooming, and rinsing his eyes during pollen season with pure, nothing added TheraTears. 

He gets his 3-way feline FVRCP intranasally and intraocularly, and it has made all the difference in the world.

I can usually sense trouble, and have gotten pretty competent with recognizing the impending eye signs that involve the conjunctiva, and I keep cidofovir drops and chloramphetamine drops at the ready in the fridge. In doing so have been able to head off and even avoid potentially serious outbreaks.

Hurricane Sandy was quite the challenge- I was afraid many times during that period- Morris went from 17 pounds down to 12 where he has stayed ever since.-but we made it. 

Fast forward to this year.

Morris is older- he now vomits a little more, has a tendency to be obsessive about food, suffers the occasional runny nose. 

A feral cat we had been caring for this harsh, horrible winter had her babies in our basement 12 days ago.

She is locked up in a totally different area of the house until I am able to TNR her- she is nursing and doing a great job- but of course, I am sure Morris can smell her.

He HATED the fact that we built a winter shelter in his backyard for a colony- but they would have died, for sure had we not.

He is hypersensitive and co-dependent of my husband.

I am sure he is NOT happy about the recent chain of events and smells of other animals on my husband's clothes...

So begins the scratching...I'm thinking fleas, spring, pollen, grass...add a little nerves and so it begins. 

I suffer myself from terrible allergies, so I know the drill.

Scabs start appearing on his neck. His eye is watery. His nose red. Quick vet check- status quo. 

A week of Clavamox, rinse the eyes, help with grooming as he is losing his winter coat, making sure he eats...

The sores get worse.

Hair falls off his ears.

He is constantly clawing. I try to keep the nails short.

I keep having my friend (who is our vet) check on him...

The vet administered Advantage flea tx and placated me by watching him for a few after giving it- my other cat had a horrible neurological reaction to flea treatment and I am terrified of the ramifications of the chemicals. It's a double-edge sword.

Morris seemed okay- we went home. The next day, ZERO hair at the application site! What? 

My vet friend goes out of town and the vomiting starts. The "ghostly" glaze comes over his eyes. Morris only wants table scraps- chicken, shrimp. Refusing his Lysine. Crying for water and howling at night. Has to be with my husband 24/7.

Am I being overly dramatic? probably.

Is hubby being overly nonchalant about this? probably.

We meet in the middle and head out to our "back-up" vet. A blood draw and skin check.

That was last Wednesday.

His bloods were all fabulous, including the T-4, although the eosinophils were elevated, and the vet said that means allergy related.

(she has NO idea who she is talking to on the other end of the phone...haha)

She told me to give him a limited ingredient food from a protein he hasn't been exposed to before. We have tried that SO many times.

(yeah-good luck with that- we have another cat and Morris has been known to actually reach for hubby"s food as it is on a fork going into his mouth. sigh.)

She also prescribed an Immune Booster, and Omega 3 Fatty Acids supplement. 

I need to get the Lysine down him, somehow, some way. 

I leave, relieved, go in search of food and empty gel caps with which to create my own magical pill of fatty acids, lysine and immune booster.

I am an expert at pilling and Morris is an expert at foaming and vomiting liquid meds.

I am the feline version of Jessica Seinfeld- I will crush it, puree it, hide it, sneak it. Morris caught on.

He senses even the tiniest bit of foreign powder on his anything- food, treat, shrimp....not even popular forms of  pill pockets can hide "tasteless" or " unscented"  healthy additives...so I pill.

Balls to the Wall- I can pill a cat in pitch black post-hurricane sub zero temps- this is gonna be a breeeeeeeeze......

No gel caps.

Anywhere.

Have to order. Okay. I got this.

Limited cat food that took HOURS for me to choose- promptly projectile vomited.

Everywhere. 

More than once.

All night. 

So much that I am frantically googling "limited ingredient cat food recall"  at 2 am.

(I need to STAY AWAY FROM GOOGLE. and BING. and YAHOO.)

We totally fold.

Correction. 

I FOLD.

I'm braising boneless chicken breast. 

I chop up shrimp, open tuna... I am syringing water with electrolytes...I am prostate, on the floor, begging, BEGGING  the cat to eat.

this is all in say...3 hours of vomitfest?

Morris has annihilated all of the hair in the shape of a collar around his neck. His appetite has diminished. Little tufts of hair are everywhere.

I am finding evidence of dried vomit. 

(Could be old- could be new- if I were Personal Prozac I wouldn't tell Psycho-Wife, either.)

So, please-

advice?

Personal testimonies of triumph? Magical cures?  (for myself or the feline, all are welcome)

I am going back to the vet tomorrow. 

(I was really good on the phone..."and the Oscar goes to......" )

Until then, I will use the time wisely-
I'll be carrying my cell around, hyper-stimming, checking e-mail and voice-mail obsessively and snapping the rubber band around my wrist biding time until I have a private audience with The Cat Doctor. 

WOW, what an ordeal.  Sympathies and vibes!

Have you tried any calming agents with him to help him de-stress?  Something like Feliway might help.  I'd suggest the products from Spirit Essences, but with his allergies, I'd stay away from those. 

Have you tried plain meat baby food, chicken or turkey mixed in with other food?

What about some grain-free canned food like Innova EVO?  It's usually just one meat ingredient.

stephanietx- no luck with Feliway.
how I wish it had!!!
I will def try your baby food idea!
I did give him a grain free can right before "vomit fest"... I got him to eat 1/2 can of fancy feast with tuna water soaked on. (anything, for now- just get it in and keep it down!)
My vet friend is back and told me to get a fecal sample to him ASAP. Then, I am to give him a dose of de-wormer, because he said parasites can cause allergies and with all the feral cat activity (and raccoons and opossums) and us in and out all winter caring for them, it makes since he could have one.
He wants the copy of back-up vet's blood work, b/c he said that Mo was pale and his gums and conjunctiva didn't
"pink up" to his satisfaction. He also heard a murmur that I specifically asked "back-up vet" to listen for, and she said she didn't hear it.
He definitely heard it - "loud and clear" and felt a "thickening" in the bowel- and said to get an X-Ray. He said he is more concerned with that aspect than the skin- yes, the skin is bad- but he said not anything near what he sees.
Thank you for reading and your suggestions.
Your reply made me feel I have an ally in cyberspace!

All of this sounds like a huge auto-immune response.  My IBD kitty is to the point where the feline specialist can feel the thickening in the intestines, she said they feel ropey.  He has also recently developed an allergy to chicken though it wasn't as extreme as your kitties reaction, he just had itchy ears with a yeast infection.

If he is clear for parasites then I would suggest a consult with a holistic vet.  The conventional approach when it is this severe is a steroid, my IBD kitty is on one.  You really can't do this with the herpes because it ratches down the immune system.  There are people here who have had success with holistic treatments for IBD.

hey Denice-
well, I feel numb. we just got back from getting the X-Ray and re-check.
Morris' X-Ray showed that his heart is a bit enlarged. His intestines looked like mush. The vet said they should be clearly outlined and when there isn't good visual outlines of them in an xray, she needs a sonogram to be able to tell what is going on. She says she is concerned about "neoplasia" which I guess means cancer. I haven't the heart to google yet.
Tomorrow we have the sonogram.
Last Wednesday, Morris weighed 12 pounds.
Today, one week later, 11 pounds. same exact scale.
Do you think this could all be related somehow? itching like a maniac and vomitting after eating? would an obstructive bowel affect itching and hair loss- or worse- cancer?
thank you for your help.
=^..^=

Allergies and IBD are both auto-immune in nature.  I know that the first instance my kitty had was an allergic reaction to his 1 year boosters, then at 18 months he had his first IBD flare, now the chicken allergy.  I am assuming that it is an ultrasound that he is having done which is a good diagnostic.  You may still be left with the is it IBD or lymphoma.  That is what happened with my kitty and many others.  I chose to treat for IBD rather than have a biopsy done.  That was over 3 years ago and he is still doing well.

thank you for explaining.
so much lingo--- it's confusing.
We will have the test tomorrow and go from there.
I sure do appreciate your support- it helps a lot. I think I'm gonna go curl up with my angel now and rest a little. It's raining really hard, and after all the traveling and tests and stress, I think it's a perfect time for a nice cuddle with my sweet boy. thank you, again.
Headbonks!

THANK YOU Denice and Stephen for commenting on my thread I started.

Today Morris went for his ultrasound- while we were there, the ultrasound showed so much inflammation and thickening in the Intestinal lining the doc came out and asked us to consider allowing her a look with a biopsy. Ugh.
We went ahead, since we were there and he was fasted, etc., and I truly love this doc- (she has been really instrumental in helping MoMo have an awesomely- anti allergic life!) so b/c she has done so many procedures on him already the past 5 years, we went ahead.

She knocked a nasopharyngeal polyp out from behind his sinuses 3 years ago, and began administering FVRCP intra-nasally and intra-ocularlly and no herpes (at least the scary corneal/respiratory kind) since.
I can't say enough about her- unfortunately she is an ER Referral Practitioner only, so whenever we have seen her, it's been under very stressful circumstances.

Denice- you nailed it.
Neoplasia or IBS.
You also nailed the NO to Pred for herpes-kitties....we are waiting for the bx
results and we are not going to do or change anything until they come back.

Also, because of his hx of pruitis and hyper-inflammation and EGC, she said she would personally call the Scary Mean Evil Genius Opthamologist who FORBADE Pred of any kind after our last corneal ulcer adventure. Honestly- the man is a frustrated Orchestral Conductor or a dictator disguised for asylum. Whatever. I don't pay him to pat me on the back and hold my hand- I pay him to cure my cat and I could care less about his bedside manner. (Ya think? Lol...)
have had more than my share of sarcasm from The Podium, and Evil Opthamologist is waaaaaaaaay out of his league up against brilliant conductors.
He does get credit for saving my baby's eyes. It's just that he absolutely refuses to explain or empower pet owners with his expertise. He won't answer questions beyond yes or no.
When I say "why" or "is it only during hermetic flare-ups, or never EVER" he simply states:
"Discuss it with your doctor" or my fave...."that's really not my area" huh?

But... OMG- I am mortified with guilt trying to comfort my fur baby who is still SO groggy from sedation, his throat is so sore- (she scoped down and snipped) and his little paw is swollen from the iv and he's covered in dandruff from stress and if I try to clean him or brush him gently he actually whimpers. He is fastidious with his tux and is not a happy boy right now.
I can't question myself because in the moment, we did exactly what we needed to do. The opportunity presented itself- and the ultrasound was not enough. What she saw was extreme inflammation.

So- I guess the Advantage tx pushed him over the edge and the reaction was exacerbated or it brought his underlying chronic condition to the front of the line.
He lost an entire pound in one week from vomit fest and I can't keep freaking out everytime he eats following him, staring at him, searching for puke when I get home. (Pass mommy the iv, please...)

So I am beginning my holistic search as you suggested, Denice, and I pray tomorrow the "post anesthesia pitiful pouting pussycat" will be my sweet snuggle boy again. He literally has his back to me right now.

Here are a few pics- this is what started-April 3

After advantage- less than 12 hours:

THANK YOU Denice and Stephen for commenting on my thread I started.

Today Morris went for his ultrasound- while we were there, the ultrasound showed so much inflammation and thickening in the Intestinal lining the doc came out and asked us to consider allowing her a look with a biopsy. Ugh.
We went ahead, since we were there and he was fasted, etc., and I truly love this doc- (she has been really instrumental in helping MoMo have an awesomely- anti allergic life!) so b/c she has done so many procedures on him already the past 5 years, we went ahead.

She knocked a nasopharyngeal polyp out from behind his sinuses 3 years ago, and began administering FVRCP intra-nasally and intra-ocularlly and no herpes (at least the scary corneal/respiratory kind) since.
I can't say enough about her- unfortunately she is an ER Referral Practitioner only, so whenever we have seen her, it's been under very stressful circumstances.

Denice- you nailed it.
Neoplasia or IBS.
You also nailed the NO to Pred for herpes-kitties....we are waiting for the bx
results and we are not going to do or change anything until they come back.

Also, because of his hx of pruitis and hyper-inflammation and EGC, she said she would personally call the Scary Mean Evil Genius Opthamologist who FORBADE Pred of any kind after our last corneal ulcer adventure.

I really hope the biopsy comes back showing just inflammation and not lymphoma.  I guess right now it's just wait and see.  If it turns out to be just a lot of inflammation I would consider a consult with a good homeopathic vet since steroids aren't an option.  Many people who are now using probiotics and diet to control inflammation did start with a steroid just to get things going in the right direction and then tapered off the steroid.  A good homeopathic vet can come up with a regimen that has a good chance of turning this around.

And in an alternative direction you can discuss Leukeran with your vet.  It's probably the safest "chemo" out there, well tolerated by about 80%, and not by 20%.  It's the next line in defense as far as conventional medicine goes with IBD, reduces inflammation and is indicated when Pred fails or can't be used.  I don't know if it has issues with herpes.  When a cat doesn't tolerate it they throw up, and then they are taken off it.