Advice on itchy cat

I'm seeking advice for my cat Findus. Over the past two or three years she has started to itch gradually more. Mostly around the eyes, ears and the feet and mouth. This is the second time she has injured her eye with her scratching and I have her on antibiotics now since the veterinarian diagnosed an ulcer from this. Luckily I went right away so I hope it will heal quickly, although she still has some discharge after a week now.

Anyhow, my worries are what is going to happen when I remove the funnel next week. She is still trying to scratch her head. Her eye appears to be itchy, whenever I remove the discharge with a paper towel she attempts to rub the eye against it as if using it for scratching.

The doctor thinks it's allergies. I have tried an anti allergy shampoo, but I cant use this all the time since I keep her on anti flee topical so it would wash off. I suppose I could use a anti flee collar instead and bath her more often but after the bath I gave her, it didn't look like it helped much.

I gave her hypoallergetic food from Science Diet for 5 weeks but other than beginning constipation, there was no result. On my veterinarian's advice I am giving her Zyrtec now, 10mg twice daily which she takes well, but I doubt it has any effect either.

I had her on a cortisone injection once and it was better during that 2-3 weeks. I am so far as to commit for continuous cortisone treatment in the future, although it will likely damage her kidneys but I think maybe a few good years are better than a lifetime of itching and possible eye wounds. I also considered declawing her so at least she could not hurt her eyes, but it is a major procedure and not without risk either and in the end it would only protect her eyes and not help with the itch.

I have been thinking about getting an air purifier and close the doors, but in Los Angeles this time of the year without an air condition, that can be pretty bad.

The late night vet that examined her also diagnosed on the claws "several have dark accumulation of debris at the claw base and in the skin fold around the nail bed" and I noticed myself that some of the toes look pink and that pik seems to somehow radiate into the fure around them. I can't really take a picture since I dont have a camera that can take those extreme closeups and I would have to spread her toes to show it and she would fight that, but if somebody thinks its important to post a pic I will try. Also he noted moderate tartar buildup on the teeth.

I will talk to my veterinarian about the claw thing and the tartar buildup next week when I go for the followup appointment. My thought was maybe the itching around the feet and the mouth could come from that but then it is consistent with allergy as well.

The vet says that he is pretty much out of ideas. I don't know if I should go to another one, but then I think if there is nothing he can do, what should others come up with, it will probably be futile as well. the mergency vet recommended to take her to a dermatologist, but the only dermatology around here (Los Angeles) is some obscure company that operates out of other vet's offices. I had her there sometime because of a dark skinpatch. I paid 500$ for examinations and the result was "we dont know what it is". My own vet then removed the patch for 3 or 400$, send it in and got the diagnosis that it was a bacterial infection, so I dont really trust that other company.

She is an indoor only cat. I have one that lives in the garden too but doesn't come inside. I don't know if that is important. The other cat is fine.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated

The "late night Vet" noticed the claw issues but didn't give you a diagnosis as to what it was?  Wasn't this an ER Vet?   What was she there for?

As far as Zyrtec not working, if she has food allergies, which it certainly sounds like, I don't think Zyrtec would work.  And I don't think getting an air purifier and closing your windows would do any good either...not against food allergies.  And for food allergies, it take a very long time to figure out what the issues are.  Honestly, 5 weeks may just not be enough time.  Which food is she eating?  Hills D/D or Z/D or either?  Dry or canned?  I would give that food another week or two, then try another one.  Royal Canin also makes hypoallergenic foods (prescription required) 

As far as her scratching herself, once you know what's going on with her claws, could you perhaps try using soft claws on her?  That should prevent her hurting herself when/if she continues to scratch until you can figure out just what she is allergic to.

A true 'diet' trial for allergies lasts about 12 weeks as it can take that long to get the effects of previous diet out of their system.  I have a very allergic cat and I give her Zyrtec (normal dose for a cat is 1/2 of a 10mg once daily, so not sure why your vet recommended 10mg twice a day, that's really high dose http://www.petmd.com/blogs/dailyvet/2010/february/zyrtec_for_cats-5403  that website has dosing information).  For a true dietary trial you have to make sure your cat has no treats (other than food or hypoallergenic ones which hill's makes) so I'm not sure if you are feeding treats or not, but keep that in mind.   The best thing I did for my allergy cat was a holistic test (saliva and hair) to determine what she is sensitive too.  It was about $80 and sent to a holistic company.  I switched my cat to raw and was feeding mainly chicken, a lot of times if they are allergic to it in cooked form they can handle it in raw as cooking changes the protein.  This was not the case for my cat as chicken made her allergy symptoms 10x worse, so I did that test and found foods that she could eat and feed her those.  I also was made aware of environmental things she's allergic to.  Allergies are a very tough thing to deal with.  I have 2 allergy dogs and 1 allergy cat.    Cortisone injections can cause Diabetes so it's best not to use them long term.  Have you ever tried Atopica?  It's cyclosporin and helps in some cases.  There is a new drug out for dogs that works wonders, I wish they'd approve it for cats already, I'd love to try it.  It's called Apoquel.   When my cat eats something she's allergic to she gets red ears almost immediately, so that's my indication.   Which formulation of Prescription Diet is your cat on?  d/d duck or venison or z/d?  The vet I work for feels that Duck is too similar to chicken so cats who are allergic to chicken can be allergic to duck as well, she prefers the venison formulation. 

Thanks everybody,

I had her at an emergency clinic that operates only at nights and weekends, they are usually very good but they said they don't provide long term treatment or re-checkings so that's why she didn't really give much advice on the itching problem. while I did the food test I did not give her anything but the special Science Diet food, I think it was Hills Z/D but like I said after 5 weeks she became constipated. I was able to remedy that quickly with petroleum jelly but I didn't want to continue with the diet then. As far as I understand it has synthetic proteins. I am aware of the Royal Canine food which is based on rabbits. I thought about trying that too, I might if all else fails.

Unfortunately she eats only hard food. I tried all sorts of cans, even cooked chicken but nothing. She licks the sauce from the Fancy Feast gravy cans but doesn't eat the pieces.

That hint about the test is good, I will talk with the doc. I decided to get a second opinion. Usually my own vet is quite good and I like him but since he says that there isn't much he can do I figure it can't harm to check with another one. Sometimes they dont stay up to date on the same level and somebody else might know more. I have an appointment Monday morning. I saw Atopic on the 800 petmeds website and will talk about that as well. I also ordered Fishoil drops just to try out everything although I dont think its a skin problem, but can't harm to try.

I will also ask about this soft claw thing. Not sure what that is, I heard about some balls that they glue on the claws, perhaps its something like that.

The product is called "soft claws", and you can check them out on Amazon.

Thanks I found it and will try it out. Right now, the vet diagnosed an ear infection but also said that for Allergy there is not much she can do. She offered Atopica but said it has to be kept frozen and given as a pill, which I find strange since I remember seeing it on the 1800petmeds website as a liquid. I will talk about it with my other vet as well. She gave her a cortisone injection to put her at ease during this time with the eye injury and the ear infection and gave me cortison pills which I can give afterwards, if need be. She said I can stop the treatment and take it up again if the itching requires it.

I will keep giving zyrtec in the meantime. Due to the acute injury and all I wasn't really able to judge if it improves her normal behaviour, that will have to wait until the injection wears off in a few weeks.

Thanks to everybody who answered.