New cat, Ringworms? Vet missed? Pictures.

catwoman707 said:

 
If I were you, I would first off treat him with a topical flea med, advantage 11 is my med of choice and use it with my rescue group.

Next I would get him on Blue Buffalo Basics, limited ingredient turkey food.

You will be eliminating so many ingredients that are so irritating to cats, grains, additives galore, preservatives, lots of crap. All these can set off an allergic reaction and just endless scratching and licking.

Do this BEFORE it turns into inflammation and IBS/IBS or pancreatitis.

This is exactly how my cat Krissy started out, overgrooming. Now she has IBD/Pancreatitis. All due to an allergy to something in her diet, likely chicken.

Keep him on only this and see if he doesn't slow up on the scratching. It's so common anymore it's scary. SO many cats are reacting to their food ingredients.

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Oh no, I'm sorry your kitty has to go through that.  Luckily, Kyubi is quite young, only about 8 months, so hopefully he'll bounce right back.  I will most likely treat him for fleas/ticks and switch his food.  Will update. 

I had a cat who over groomed herself to distraction. She was allergic to flea spit.
We'd had an infestation which was dealt with by the exterminator. She scratched and scratched, as did I. I had a spray to help her with the itch. Citronella could it be? It stopped eventually and her fur grew back. That's how bad it was.

Updates:  I just got back from the vet with Kyubi.  The vet doesn't know what the itching is but she doesn't think that it's food allergies since he is so young.  She said it could be environmental, but I don't know if that would make sense since we moved him.  I think the scented litter is possible.  

We got some steroids to see if it was some kind of allergy.  We are also going to test for ringworm, which is pretty unlikely but we just want to rule it out.  Kyubi didn't glow under blacklight.  

Tomorrow I'm going to attempt to give him a bath.  The vet said that there might still be something that he is allergic to in his fur.  Wish us luck! 

gosh, I feel your frustration. Mikki has had scabs on her back.. we get one healed then another pops up...it appears she gets the scab...THEN goes after it and it can get bloody and sore looking. We have tried food elimination diets to no avail...and limited ingredients. plus I've given her a flea treatment..she's an indoor only kitty ... maybe we didn't hang in there long enough for each trial... 2 months. One spot was so bad she almost had to have surgery as she licked it so deep..vet gave her a steroid shot and it helped a little bit..but I made a shirt to put on her so she couldn't lick it. She has about 3 spots now...and we put anti-itch cream on it.. it tastes bitter so she spits if she licks it..but it does help her to heal. She doesn't constantly itch..seems a spot appears then she licks it to get the scab off. So frustrating.
I hope you find your answer... I will be following this post. I'm wondering if Mikki's is just dry skin since we live in AZ. I thought about getting a humidifier.

MnM said:

gosh, I feel your frustration. Mikki has had scabs on her back.. we get one healed then another pops up...it appears she gets the scab...THEN goes after it and it can get bloody and sore looking. We have tried food elimination diets to no avail...and limited ingredients. plus I've given her a flea treatment..she's an indoor only kitty ... maybe we didn't hang in there long enough for each trial... 2 months. One spot was so bad she almost had to have surgery as she licked it so deep..vet gave her a steroid shot and it helped a little bit..but I made a shirt to put on her so she couldn't lick it. She has about 3 spots now...and we put anti-itch cream on it.. it tastes bitter so she spits if she licks it..but it does help her to heal. She doesn't constantly itch..seems a spot appears then she licks it to get the scab off. So frustrating.
I hope you find your answer... I will be following this post. I'm wondering if Mikki's is just dry skin since we live in AZ. I thought about getting a humidifier.

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Thanks for your compassion @MnM.  I know it sucks to be in this situation, but it's also nice to know that you're not alone.  Wow, Mikki had to have surgery!  I'm sorry to hear that you and your kitty had to go through that.  If I were you and could afford it, I would just get the humidifier.  Even if it doesn't help with the skin condition, it will still have health benefits for your household.  Also, food trials are supposed to last for at least 3 months.  Maybe give it another shot since it can't hurt?  What does your vet think that it is?  Did they do any tests?  I really hate it when everything is so inconclusive. 

So updates about Kyubi.  He ate last night after the steroids and vet visit, but he hasn't touched his breakfast yet.  He also has diarrhea last night, which I think is a side effect of the steroids.  He is currently sitting next to me licking himself, so no improvements on the itchiness yet (although it's been less than 24 hours). I will be giving him a bath later with some hydrating shampoo and will give him a second dose of steroids tonight.  

I hope this is something simple to resolve!  The vet didn't mention anything about stress related grooming and did not suggest treating with Revolution just in case.   

no...Mikki "almost" had to have surgery.. we had to either cone her or put a shirt on her while the steroid helped heal it.

Our other kitty, who just passed, had the constant tummy licking..and hind leg licking. She lost all her fur on her tummy... but I started her on zyrtec and it totally healed her. Go figure all her fur grew back in, then she got "chylothorax" and they had to shave it all off for drainings...ugh. I just don't think the cause of both cat's itchy problems were related though as they were so different acting... yes we should probably actively try to narrow this down again.

Why don't you buy a baby's babygrow and cut off the bottom. Then you can cover the Itchy parts of her body with the rest over her little head and arms and back and tummy.

Stewball said:

Why don't you buy a baby's babygrow and cut off the bottom. Then you can cover the Itchy parts of her body with the rest over her little head and arms and back and tummy.

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Thanks for the suggestion.  The thing is that Kyubi licks and scratches everywhere.  He doesn't have a big bald patch or anything, so for now I'm going to try to find the cause of the itching.  If he doesn't stop, I guess I'll have to get a cone or something that will keep him from licking/ scratching everything. Thanks! 

I have had young cats with allergies... And licking like that is a huge sign of allergies...

I'd really consider changing his diet.  I'd recommend going a grain free diet, and then if that doesn't help, change the protein.

It's worth trying!

Thanks @ReiKitty  for the advice.   I've actually started feeding him a grain free canned diet with bits of raw.  It has only been about a week or two or far so I'm not really sure if it is the food yet.  Now I know this is bad, but I caved in and gave him some greenies yesterday which I believe contain grain.  

The steroids has reduced the scratching by a lot.  He probably scratches/ licks about 60% less although he'll still do it.  Today, he has been scratching/licking more than usual with the steroids.  If it was a reaction to the Greenies, I wonder if it would be that direct?  Anyways, I will not longer be feeding greenies!  Bad me!

I know that he has been scratching less too, because his bald patches are healing and growing new fur.  I also changed his litter to an unscented Dr. Elsey clumping clay, just in case.  No word back about the ringworm culture yet, although I'm thinking it'll be negative.  Hopefully the steroids will clear it up and we won't have to take any further action.

Updates for anyone who is interested:

So Kyubi has mostly stopped scratching.  Like, 98%.  His bald patches are growing back in.  I have no idea what it was, but I guess I'll have to avoid grain and scented litter from now on just in case.  Ringworm culture not in yet, but highly unlikely.  Still on the steroids, but only half the initial dose and every other day.  Hopefully the itchiness doesn't come back afterwards.  

Right, it may very well be the steroids that cut out most of his itching, however steroids cause the body not to react to an allergy, so I'd make certain his diet is a limited grain free and don't switch up for a while.

I read that the vet did not think revolution needed just in case.....in case what?

Treating for fleas is not harmful, and alot of cats are highly sensitive to a flea bite.

However the bite spot is usually a bit raised on his skin.

I do believe it may be an allergic reaction to something. Fish, chicken, grains, could be a number of things, which is the purpose of the limited ingredient diet.

I've never found the need for scented cat litter.

Stewball said:

I've never found the need for scented cat litter.

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I never really bought scented cat litter because I wanted scented litter, it was just way more readily available in stores than unscented litters.  After I use up all of my scented on my non-allergic cat, I'm making the switch for sure. 

catwoman707 said:

 
Right, it may very well be the steroids that cut out most of his itching, however steroids cause the body not to react to an allergy, so I'd make certain his diet is a limited grain free and don't switch up for a while.

I read that the vet did not think revolution needed just in case.....in case what?

Treating for fleas is not harmful, and alot of cats are highly sensitive to a flea bite.

However the bite spot is usually a bit raised on his skin.

I do believe it may be an allergic reaction to something. Fish, chicken, grains, could be a number of things, which is the purpose of the limited ingredient diet.

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I think I wrote "just in case"  in that context to mean that the vet didn't bring up using Revolution as a precautionary method even though there were no detected fleas.  I actually forgot that I wrote that and had to go back and reread it.  Haha. Whatever it was, it's improving now.  The plan is to not change anything that I'm doing now.  Thanks for the info and advice. 

Ruaryx said:

I never really bought scented cat litter because I wanted scented litter, it was just way more readily available in stores than unscented litters.  After I use up all of my scented on my non-allergic cat, I'm making the switch for sure.

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how much longer till you change?

Stewball said:

how much longer till you change?

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Kyubi, the kitty who has allergies, is already using unscented litter and will continue to do so.  I'll use up the rest of the scented litter that I have with Sasha, the cat who has been using it for 8 years without any problems.  I'd say it'll take about 2 months to run out of the scented litter.  

Do they never go into each other sitter boxes? Mine share. They do their wee down one end and their business up to other end. So clever these kitties are.
When will he finish his med?

Stewball said:

Do they never go into each other sitter boxes? Mine share. They do their wee down one end and their business up to other end. So clever these kitties are.
When will he finish his med?

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Kyubi is a new kitty so we're actually still in the middle of introductions.  His litterbox is in his safe room.  When I let him out to explore and exercise, I always made sure to lock up Sasha's litterbox with her since Kyubi had roundworms.  He finally got rid of them but the introduction process is moving really slowly so I don't think they'll be sharing litterboxes anytime soon.  

However, I forgot about them sharing litterboxes in the future.  Hmmmm.  I guess I can just try to use up all the scented litter while they're still separated.  We'll see. 

I must be honest and say I've only ever had 1 litter box even When had 3 kitties. I've only ever introduced one and that was whisky and blighty who spent most of the time behind the couch or in my bedroom with all his stuff. This tiny scrap even growled at whisky when I let him in and he went to his bfood