Please help me! Vets can't figure out what is wrong with my cat!

jamin

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I'm desperate right now, sobbing as I type this. I'm so worried about my cat.

He scratches around his neck so much that he tears into his own flesh and leaves big flopping holes in his neck. He's done this on both sides of his neck and behind his ears. I've taken him to get stitches multiple times, paid for so much medication, but nothing is working! And he keeps ripping open his stitches anyway! I asked the vet to remove his back claws, so he could at least not rip into himself anymore, but the vet wouldn't do it because he was already so heavily injured. They couldn't find any skin problems, I changed his food multiple times in case of allergies, I had him tested for Leukemia and HIV (both negative), and now I'm at a loss and I'm watching my cat slowly destroy himself and there is nothing I can do!

And now his hair is completely falling out and leaving bald spots. Like if I rub the top of his head, the hair comes out from the follicle, leaving nothing but skin.

Does anyone know what is going on with my cat? Why can't any of these vets figure it out? I don't want to lose my boy!
 

Draco

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I also assume there's no fleas?

Sounds like allergies to me. I suggest finding a vet to do comprehensive allergy testing. He could be allergic to something in the food, or something in the house.

You can try to find pet shampoo that has oatmeal or states to help relieve itching, that may help in the mean time. You can try a baby onsie, if it would cover the neck area. You can also find small socks to put over his back legs- nothing too tight to cut off the circulation.. he may not be able to use his claws in the mean time.
 
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peaches08

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I also assume there's no fleas?

Sounds like allergies to me. I suggest finding a vet to do comprehensive allergy testing. He could be allergic to something in the food, or something in the house.

You can try to find pet shampoo that has oatmeal or states to help relieve itching, that may help in the mean time. You can try a baby onsie, if it would cover the neck area. You can also find small socks to put over his back legs- nothing too tight to cut off the circulation.. he may not be able to use his claws in the mean time.
This.

Has anyone sent off any parts of these "flaps" for testing?  Or done skin scrapings?  Has anyone tried an antihistamine?  It might be easier for us to help if you gave a full list of what's been tried.

True story:  I suffered what looked like pink eye for months.  The derm and eye specialist were stumped.  One day I decided on a whim to switch facial cleansers.  Bam...that was the problem and I won't use that facial cleanser anymore.  Something that benign caused me a lot of distress.
 
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jamin

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He doesn't have fleas. I'll find another vet to do the allergy testing. I've gone to several, and none of them ever suggested that it might be allergies. One even told me that cats don't really have allergies, which I knew wasn't true.

Is it ok to bathe him while he still has stitches in?

None of the vets even did any testing on his skin. They just looked at it and said nothing seemed to be wrong. They think it is a mental issue.

I've tried a skin moisturizer, I've tried changing his food to completely different ingredients, he's been tested for HIV and Leukemia, he's had oral medication that didn't do anything, he's had a cat calming pheromone thing that plugs into the wall and that didn't help either. 

I'm going to call around to some different clinics and see who actually does allergy and skin tests.
 

peaches08

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I would be afraid to bathe him.  The stitches indicate a pathway inside your cat's body for germs.  And it's much easier for germs to follow a wet path than a dry one.

What oral medication?  What foods?  How long was he on the foods?  What flea medication is your cat on?  What's on your floors (floor cleaners, etc.)?
 

denice

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Have you tried novel protein grain free foods?  I don't normally care for them but has a prescription food with hydrolyzed proteins been tried?  That just means that the proteins have been broken down in such a way that the body doesn't recognize them so even if there is an allergy there would be no reaction.

Has a steroid been tried?  That should at least calm things down a bit and give your kitty some relief.
 

sarah ann

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I've gone through this with my cat.

Here is what you should have done, I know it is a lot but you should do it. I would get it all done at once, as it will save you from having to pay the exam fee for multiple vet visits.

Trust me, I learned this the hard way. I have had my cat in and out of the vet for over a year for his allergy issues.  His main symptom is ripping his face bloody and raw. He also scratches his eyes.

#1  Get a skin scraping for mites. This should be examined under the microscope, If negative move to #2.

#2 Get a (I had to look up the name)... Adhesive tape prep: Placing a small strip of adhesive tape against the pet’s skin or hair for a few seconds permits skin cells and other debris to stick to the tape. When your veterinarian examines the tape under a microscope, bacteria, yeast, inflammatory cells, cancer cells, skin parasites, and other abnormalities can often be seen.

My vet found both yeast and bacteria on my cat's face.

#3  At this point the vet should be able to determine if it is bacterial or fungal. If fungal, do a fungal culture or try antifungals, if bacterial, do a bacterial culture or treat with antibiotics.

#4 Also Start treatment with either antihistamines or Prednisolone for presumed allergies.

You may want to start with prednisolone first to get over the initial "ripping his face apart" itching. Once his face improves, switch to antihistamines.

Ask for a list of antihistamines. You will want to do a 3 week trial of each antihistamine on the list. Ask the vet to rank them for you, and try the most effective ones first. You may be able to combine the antihistamines with a lower dose of prednisolone.

IF the antihistamines and prednisolone does NOT work, or if if the Prednisolone causes undesirable side effects, Ask for allergy testing.

At this point you will also want to do a skin biopsy to test for phemphigus (an autoimmune disease) that produces similar symptoms to allergies.  Only steroids will treat phemphigus, or immune surpressing drugs.

Allergy testing is only useful if you want to do allergy shots. You must be comfortable giving shots yourself as they need to be done every 3 days, eventually spreading them to every 21 days.

So to sum up, your cat should be on either  antifungals and/ or antibiotics, along with prednisolone. The vet should prescribe a hyopallergenic diet in case he is allergic to meat protein.

Once his face clears up, switch to antihistamines.  Do the antihistamine trial. If this fails, try allergy testing or put him back on the prednisolone.

My cat is now on allergy shots along with antihistamines, steroid eye drops, and a steroid cream.  If it is allergies, frequent baths are recommended, if your cat allows that.
 

peaches08

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Note that bacterial and fungal infections can sometimes be secondary to larger issues, such as allergies or even pemphigus.  I think you may be better off going to a different vet who will start at ground zero and work multiple tests at once as mentioned by Sarah Ann.
 

startover33928

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How is your kitty doing?  You didn't say how long you have had him.  Ask yourself when did it start and what changed in your household at that time.  One of my kitties (adopted from shelter) started overgrooming , and pulling his hair out.  He made himself bloody.  I went to 4 different vets.  He was on steroids twice which helped for a while.  I changed cat food _ that takes about 4-6 weeks to show a result.

Went to all natural ingredients litter.  I was asking myself what was different from  the shelter to my home.

I realized that he spent time on my screened porch, and that I like to have my doors and windows open to the outside.  I closed up my house, turned on the AC, kept him off the porch and he got better almost immediately.  Don't be discouraged, this was about a 6 month process.  He had the cone collar on for about 3 months so he wouldn't multilate himself.  If it's an allergy, you can only change one thing at a time to see if it works.  All the vets told me that allergy testing is not that effective.

Good luck!
 
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