My poor cat has been suffering for over a year :(

Hello everyone,

I would greatly appreciate any help. We have been dealing with this for over a year and can't seem to find the right answer. One of my cats started scratching her face to the point that she had  a wound right between one of her eyes and the ear. The wound got worse and  worse and became the size of a quarter and it looked really bad. That's how it started. We have now visited 5 different vets, gone through diagnoses of ear mites, yeast infection, bacterial infection, and allergies. She has gotten topical meds, pills, and shots (steroids and antibiotics). We changed her food twice and at the moment she's currently on a very strict hydrolized protein diet and that is all she eats. Before switching her to this new diet, she was doing seriously bad.. Extremely itchy and twitchy, wounds and scabs on both sides of her face, the neck, head, and ears. She was constantly licking herself (way more than usual but it makes sense I guess since she was itching all over). Her behavior changed and she became anti social, constantly hiding and running away,  and crying. She's doing better now but still scratches (even though not nearly as often as she used to), she now has a bad wound on her neck and the only reason the wounds on each side of her head are healing is because we put a cone on her. Also, I recently noticed her ears are very red and have little bumps and wounds all over. The inside of the ears looks good though; there's no discharge or gunky stuff in there. She does still shake her head here and there. Could I please get an answer for my poor cat? She's been dealing with this for way to long and we are all frustrated because we just want her to be happy and healthy. She's almost 4 years old, indoors only, healthy otherwise. We have a total of 3 cats (another adult cat and a kitten). They get along perfectly fine and they are all indoors. She has been eating and drinking just fine, also goes to the bathroom like normal. I'll greatly appreciate any help/input/tips/ideas/suggestions... anything at all. We are desperate! Thank you very much in advance. 

When was she llast on a steroid? Was she on a steroid at the same time as the hydrolized protein food?
Yeast infections in the ears often go with food allergies. Secondary bacterial infections can be from the scratching.

She got the steroid shot almost 3 weeks ago and that same day we started her on the hydrolyzed protein diet. I am calling the vet on Monday to make an appt because I know the steroid is wearing off but she never really stopped scratching (although now she does it less often) so I'm still concerned. On top of that, her ears are all red, losing hair and full of bumps and wounds and this is new. So I don't know what's going on anymore.

Hi !!! Just curious but are your furbabies on a grain free diet? I have one kitty that kept licking her little belly util it was bare. The vet said that she may be allergic to the pollen. Since my kitties are all indoors,but have access to an outdoor enclosure,the air is to blame but only in different seasons,since air is exposed to their skin. Also,changed their diet to grain free only and it seemed to help . Hopefully your vet will be able to figure this out. 

Yeah. The first diet change was to a grain free diet and didn't really help much so after trying that, her vet put h e r on a hydrolyzed protein diet. I'm glad grain free worked for u but sadly it didn't worked for us thank u for trying to help and the tip! I really appreciate it.

Wow, her allergies sound pretty severe. I'm sorry that she (and you) have had to endure this.    I'm a little surprised that she didn't get much relief from the steroid shot.    Is the hydrolyzed diet dry or wet? Have you tried a limited ingredient novel protein diet, like rabbit? Skin reactions from allergies can take awhile to subside even after a potential successful diet has been established. It could take months for it to clear the system.

Have you explored other things other than food that may be causing this reaction (any medications or supplements, water source, fabrics and materials, etc.)?

Sounds like bites to me from mosquito, mites or flees. The combination of steroids and antibiotics can cause fungus infections. So you may need to treat that as well now with an anti fungal cream or powder. I personally think they are flee or mite bites. Just because your cat is an indoor cat it doesn't mean they can't get flees or mite bites.

If you have wall to wall rugs you probably have flees. If you buy the daily newspaper or bring in cardboard boxes you probably have mites. NOT MICE, MITES. If you have grass around your house, your probably have flees. If your friends come visit and walk or walked thru grass they can bring in flees on the bottom of their pants. If they come visit and have pets, they are bringing over to you possible travelers on their clothing from flees, ticks, mites and bed bugs. My worse flee infestation was when a friend visited who had cats and brought me flees on the cuff of his pants and my cats where indoor cats and we lived 4 stories up.

Cheap newspaper have paper mites as does cheap magazines that use recycled paper. Get the daily newspaper lay it on your lap with no pants or clothing protecting your legs, you will find little paper mite bites on your legs. Your cat can have a hypersensitivity to the mites and flees. Leave cardboard boxes outside also they carry in every critter as they are usually stored in damp, dark, places at the local store. Instead bring in your own cloth bags from home that you can wash and reuse.

Finally, spend the next 2 days washing everything your cat lays on, bedding, pillows, clothes, etc. Then have her placed on a mild sedative to calm her down because she is going nuts that her body is attacking her. Keep people away for a month if possible, wash your hands constantly before touching her to avoid any transfer then roof that new diet and give her back her favorite foods and treats. Unless vets perform scratch test on your cat, they are only guessing on allergies. It's something from outside getting her not from the inside. Your other cats just aren't hypersensitive to the flees and mites but probably have them also. Do the white paper flee test on all of them.

@GoHolistic, the food is dry and yes, we have looked into all possible causes for the reactions and there have been no changes when it comes to products, fabrics, or meds (before this started she's always been healthy/no problems at all). It all started all of a sudden :/
@blackcat416 thank you for your tips. I have looked for fleas, ticks, and other bugs but I haven't found anything.. still I do agree that there might be an external agent causing a reaction.
Thank you all for your concern.

I did want to ask, are your cats flea treated regularly? Have you ever ran a good flea comb through your cats coat and skin, raking the skin?

I don't imagine that you and the vets haven't already thought about fleas, but sometimes when a cat is flea allergic, it only takes one measly flea to torture them madly.

Aside from this, why not get her blood done?

It will tell alot!

If her eosinophil white cells are elevated, there's your answer. It is either flea allergy or food allergy.

Eosinophils elevate from allergies, whether it be from fleas, food or environment.

But at least you will know.

The hydrolyzed diet has only been given 3 weeks. It takes some time for the system to settle down and stop reacting to it's former irritant that set it off to begin with.

So what are the ingredients in this hydrolic diet?  Maybe trying Stella and chewys  freeze dried food ,make sure u soak in warm water to soften first. Ask yr vet to draw some blood too,since this might  help to rule out other stuff,sounds to me like some sort of allergen in the house. Do you wash their bedding in dye free detergent? Sometimes washing their bedding in scented detergents can cause nasty rashes like it does in people. Poor baby...ask the vet if you can spray some itch cooling spray made for cats on her until it subsides. Good luck.

What's the stress level like in your home?  Stress will aggravate just about any condition, so you might want to consider running Feliway diffusers 24/7 for a few months or give some calming agents such as some of the Spirit Essences or Rescue Remedy.