needing a little advice

Hi everyone.
I'm really needing some serious advice.

I recieved a family members cat two years ago because of a 'skin allergy'. She is a female tabby who is 15 years old. For the last 5 Years she has compulsively eaten her fur and flesh till she bleeds and smells really bad.
I took her to many different vets, but none knew why she was doing this. I have bought many rounds of anti biotics but they never seems to do much, as she would eat herself compulsively throughout the treatment. She permanently lives with an e collar except when eating. She has figured out ways to still eat her legs aNd arms while wearing the collar.
Three days ago she began pooping black crap all over the floor. She has had 4 black poops. With very runny and smelly consistently. Her diet hasn't changed.

What should I do? Previous owner wants to put her down, but I'm a believer in staying by your pet.

Well black poop can be digested blood coming from the upper gut, which is something that is needing to be addressed asap.

I would get her to a vet as soon as you can.

I feel so sad hearing about her having to wear an e-collar daily. There must be a cause/solution for this.

Has benedryl or diet change been tried?

Or is she stressed? I would suspect it's caused by a reaction to her diet.

What food was and is she currently eating?

Do get her to a vet for the black poop, this is no good.

I will have to wait till Saturday to take her as i have to wait for pay day. I was concerned also, I will be keeping a very close eye on her until I can take her.

I haven't tried Benedryl. I'll have a look into it. Thanks heaps. All ideas help at this stage.

She seems to be naturally anxious. She was very attached to one owner, then the owner had children and moved out leaving the cat with my mother who has other animals and was running a room share house. Minty the cat started licking a stone horse. Then it progressed into excessive cleaning of herself.

She eats aldi brand cat food. Different vets tested for food allergies years ago to non were found. The vets couldn't figure it out with science.
Any ideas?

It certainly does sound as if stress is a factor, though I agree that it is very likely not the only problem.

The allergy blood testing done is not very reliable when it comes to food. The best way to rule out a food allergy is with a food trial. This is often done by selecting a novel protein source (like rabbit, duck, venison) and one carb source (typically peas or potato). It also includes the elimination of almost all (if not all) grains and soy.

I would encourage you to discuss a possible diet change with your vet. Though, do keep in mind that many vets get their nutrition information from food reps that sell the prescription foods at the vet clinic. Some of these diets have their place; but, are not always the only option for addressing dietary issues.

Also, is Minty on any flea preventative medication? Even indoor only cats can get fleas. For some cats, just one flea bite can cause a severe reaction.

Hoping you are able to get to the root of the issue soon for both yours and Minty's sake. I am certain having to wear an ecollar all the time doesn't help with her stress level.

Please keep us posted!

Thanks Catpack.

She takes worming and flea treatments every three months, only over the counter treatment though.

I will ask about diets and food allergies again. It's a shame I can't find a vet that could figure it out, I'm sick of hearing that the only thing they can do is put her to sleep.

I know it is a complete shame about the collar. But without it she will cover the floor in blood Within an hour of licking.

Thanks for the ideas.
Let's just hope the Black tar poop clears up.

If this were me, I would not even bother trying to work with a vet regarding her diet at this point.

I would go and buy Blue Buffalo limited ingredient diet, the turkey/potato, dry and/or canned, whichever she eats.

I would do a gradual switch to the new food over a weeks time to prevent tummy issues.

Once she is fully eating this and only this, all else should be stopped.

She should remain on this for months, also in the beginning she should be given Benedryl to slow her chewing down a bit and allow her sore areas to get healed up.

The healing process is also itchy, so the benedryl will help this.

I would make sure she is flea free. I know one of my cats Krissy, gosh if she gets one flea on her she is chewing and acting bonkers with irritation, she has the common flea allergy and is hyper sensitive to them.

The black poop most definitely needs addressing though.