Since my daughter was born April 2013, Luna has been licking and biting the hair off her belly till it is raw and infected. Her vet has treated her for a potential autoimmune disorder but she has failed all diet changes and medications and supplements. He said we could do a biopsy of the area but even he doesn't believe we would gain much information from that and the $400 would be a waste. It is either autoimmune, cancerous, or behavior related. I have two feliway diffusers going in different parts of our house. I have tried making her wear an e-collar but she always manages to wiggle out of it. We recently started her on amitriptyline. Does anyone else have experience with this behavior.
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self mutilating behavior
- Thread starter lunatuna
- Start Date
A former friend of mine had a male cat (neutered) with similar condition. The vet prescribed a very strange thing, a medicine used to treat breast and uterine cancer, I think. It's hormonally related. Very small amounts. It worked. Unfortunately, I don't remember the name of it, although I would probably recognize it if I saw it. The info actually might be on my old computer. I'll look for it. It's NOT a chemotherapy drug to kill the tumor, it's some kind of hormonal thing. ijust looked up a list on www.cancer.gov and searched for drugs approved for conditions related to cancer and I FOUND it: Megestrol Acetate.
It says nothing about skin problems, but it's dealing with humans. The vet used this in small amounts on her male cat and it made the skin problems go away. Perhaps you could ask your vet if he has ever heard of this. I know the name of this person's vet but it was at least 3 years ago so he probably wouldn't remember her (she moved away) but he probably would know the proper dosage for a cat with that condition. When he started the cat on it, he said he wasn't sure if it would help but it might, and amazingly enough, it did.
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/druginfo/cancerconditions
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/druginfo/megestrolacetate
It says nothing about skin problems, but it's dealing with humans. The vet used this in small amounts on her male cat and it made the skin problems go away. Perhaps you could ask your vet if he has ever heard of this. I know the name of this person's vet but it was at least 3 years ago so he probably wouldn't remember her (she moved away) but he probably would know the proper dosage for a cat with that condition. When he started the cat on it, he said he wasn't sure if it would help but it might, and amazingly enough, it did.
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/druginfo/cancerconditions
http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/druginfo/megestrolacetate
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Thank you for your reply. Her vet is going to talk to other vets about this. I am reposting because I need more help. She is not responding to antibiotics. She is on amitriptyline for behavior but I don't know if it's helping because her wound won't heel. If the amitriptyline doesn't help, I am wondering if rehoming her would benefit her if I found home without kids. She had outbreaks before we had our daughter but never like this. For now we are trying more antibiotics and she is wearing an e collar which is even more depressing.
I just found a link that says right at the top that in cats, it has been used to treat a variety of skin conditions.
http://www.vcahospitals.com/main/pet-health-information/article/animal-health/megestrol-acetate/612
Here's a report of a study from Canada that you might want to show your vet
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1790016/
Its use in cats is considered "extra-label" i.e. it's really not designed for treating skin conditions and behavior, and there are some possible dangerous side effects if used long term, so it should not be used lightly, and dosage should be carefully measured.
http://www.vcahospitals.com/main/pet-health-information/article/animal-health/megestrol-acetate/612
Here's a report of a study from Canada that you might want to show your vet
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1790016/
Its use in cats is considered "extra-label" i.e. it's really not designed for treating skin conditions and behavior, and there are some possible dangerous side effects if used long term, so it should not be used lightly, and dosage should be carefully measured.
