Scabby Sienna

My 11 yo longhair tortie has developed scabs all over her neck and a little under her chin on her throat. She has had other similar flair ups like this and was treated w/ Zyrtec (prescribed by vet) so I started her on that again (1/2 pill per day). Scabs got a lot better, but not gone completely. Suddenly they got worse. So I upped her dose to 1/2 pill 2x a day (am and pm). She has been on higher dose for a couple days. Still very scabby, and clearly very itchy. She sleeps next to me and I woke up a few times in the night last night to her sitting up and scratching.

Not quite sure what's even causing this flair up. I have a theory it might be a new litter I was trying to I am dumping that and refilling with something else. Reason I think it might be the litter is it has fragrance and it's kinda dusty so if it's on her paws and she scratches herself it might be irritating her skin? My other cat is having a skin issue too which also makes me think it's this dang litter. She's on grain free food (blue buffalo basics). No fleas.

Other than being itchy, she seems fine. Eating, social, etc. Right now she's lying on her back with her paws in the air under the ceiling fan without a care in the world. I'm just discouraged because it seems like the Zyrtec suddenly just stopped working? I don't know what else to try. I was going to bathe her later with a skin soothing shampoo to try to help the itches in the meantime. She will be thrilled.

When my kitty has flare ups my vet adds an antibiotic because there is usually a skin infection involved. What is the vet saying?

hexiesfriend said:

When my kitty has flare ups my vet adds an antibiotic because there is usually a skin infection involved. What is the vet saying?

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At last vet visit (1 week ago) she was doing better on the Zyrtec so we opted to skip antibiotic at that time. She has had a very tough time on them in the past (tummy problems).

I've also had luck with a steroid injection as well as the antibiotic. My kitty has the scabs from a flea allergy though, so it may be something different than what your baby has.