Cat keeps scratching herself raw

Every so often our cat gets into scratching herself raw.  She is an indoor cat, we treat for flea/ticks/earmites (with revolution) anyways.  She is healthy otherwise and up to date on her shots.  Blood work has been fine.  Tested negative for ear mites.

We even changed vets because of this problem.  The first one just kept guessing, the second actually did lab work to rule things out.

He mentioned it could be allergies.  What do they normally give for allergies for a cat?  Would it be a pill or liquid or made for cats?  I will be bringing her back soon, but it won't be until after Thanksgiving. 

Dealing with allergies is really a trial and error thing. The allergy can be food related (and can be *anything* whether it is something that has been fed life-long or is something new) or environmental.

The most common food allergies for cats are:
Corn
Wheat
Soy
Chicken
Beef
Fish

Some of the most common environmental allergies:
House flies
Roaches
Fleas
Mold
Mildew
Pollen

As for medications to help...these only work if the issue is environmental. Some are pills others are liquid and there is also injectable steroids.

Can you give us some background on your girl. How long has she had symptoms?
Were there any changes during that time, dietary or environmental?
What does she eat...brand(s) and flavors?
Have you tried a different flea medication other than Revolution? (More wondering if she could be allergic to this...some of my cats are.)
Does she spend any time outside of in open windows? Any plants in the house?
Have you switched laundry detergent/scents?

Can you give us some background on your girl. How long has she had symptoms?
Were there any changes during that time, dietary or environmental?
What does she eat...brand(s) and flavors?
Have you tried a different flea medication other than Revolution? (More wondering if she could be allergic to this...some of my cats are.)
Does she spend any time outside of in open windows? Any plants in the house?
Have you switched laundry detergent/scents?

Thanks for replying    

She was fine when we got her for at least 6 months.  It started, we took her to the vet who thought it might be ear mites, so we started the revolution AFTER it started.  Switched to a new vet who actually tested her ears and nothing.  We hadn't used the revolution again until after she started again this time around.  It's been about a month and half.  She'll get bad, then it calms down, so I think we're in the clear, now it's getting bad again.  I just can't get her down right now. 

No changes I can think of.  Food is the same.  Meow Mix and Kit N Kaboddle regular/original.  Dry.  She has yellow temptation treats.  She really doesn't eat wet food, her choice.  She might take a bite once in a blue moon.

Water is the same.  Same detergent.  No plants.  Same litter.

I have an auto-immune allergy issue myself, so I'm really strict about what comes in the house, no glade products, nothing super smelly.  I only use lysol products and windex which don't bother me.  A lot of the "natural" products do bother me quite a bit.  But floors are just hot hot water most of the time.  We do have mostly rug.  I shampoo them myself, again with just hot hot water.

She does get window time once a day.  I think it's most likely tree/tree mold type allergies.

Is it only benadryl for the antihistamines or can they take some of the non-drowsy options? 

Ok, here are my thoughts.

1.) Try 3 consecutive monthly rounds of flea treatment. If by chance it is a flea allergy, you should see great improvement with this. (Even one single flea bite will cause a cat with an allergy to have a flare up.)

2.) Try her on a grain-free diet. Meow Mix and Kit n Kaboodle are primarily corn/grain-based diets and both use food coloring which can trigger allergies as well. You could start with trying the grain-free Purina Beyond or one of Merrick's Limited Ingredient diets. Check Chewy.com for good prices.

Chlorpheniramine is what my vets prefer over Benadryl for cats. However, I find this hasn't worked well for the cats I know with skin allergies. Atopica, Depo-Medrol injections or custom allergy shots/sublingual drops (just like for humans!) are often better. **You will need to work with a vet to determine the best choice for your kitty.**

I totally agree.  You gotta' get rid of the dry food, the Meow Mix, and get her on a grain free wet food.  I would bet the farm that her allergies are stemming from something in her food.

Cat Pack,

Thanks so much.

I was thinking last night, it might be whenever we turn the heat on.  So it could be dry skin.

Lavish Squalor,

Thanks.  I'll try grain free.  She won't eat wet food though.  A little bite every couple of months, but that's it.  She won't eat fresh meat either.

I agree get you cat off the dry, dry food in general is bad, later in his/her life you,ll pay the price in vet bills. I used to feed my cats dry kibble and evo or origin grain free but at first it was others that were limited grain like blue buffalo, but Still! they ended up one hyperthyroid and the other borderline. All their young lives they had dry in the a.m and wet in the p.m. now they get wet only, most cheaper foods have too many ingredients unfortunately. Natures variety had a low ingredient canned, they have raw too. Fancy feast has a line called Classics that is all meat cheaper but low ingredient is what you want. Corn Grains not good veggies should be Low glycemic, like sweet potato, not rice.
Dr karen Becker said even the low priced canned would be better than ANY dry even the most expensive dry! And adding powdered digestive enzymes in the food will help it break down. In the wild cats get veggies only from the guts of prey mice or animals which is already digested so she said feeding digestive enzymes will go a long way for their health. I buy the people kind in capsules and give about an 1/8 cap in their food Ask your vet.

My cat did not like canned at first either AT ALL, try mixing some dry in the canned or just mixing in a bit of the wet in the dry and eventually more canned. Keep trying you will succeed eventually. I also gave them wellness chicken and sardine because they All ate it, but natures variety is still less ingredients. My vet suggested fortiflora, which is a dry powder antibiotic but cats LOVE the flavor! I call it kitty crack. A light sprinkle on the canned will get your cat eating it. i am afraid one of my cats may have allergies or an autoimmune problem so probiotics are not a good idea as they would kick in the immune response more from my understanding of what the vet said, I could not afford tests. So I leave my fortiflora Out of the fridge so the probiotics die off but they still get the flavor. I still use it when any cats are finnaky. You can add tuna water to entice them too and some people here have mentioned freeze dried chicken not sure where you get that though.
try searching on google how to transition cats from kibble to canned.
Good Luck! I think there are suggestions right here on the cat site

Thanks for all the great idea.

She eats very little overall.  Even stuff she loves.

I joined this site specifically to let other cat owners know how we have been treating our cat's allergies. Bennett is a 6 year old rescue. He started scratching his face and neck about 3 years ago. He would almost have an attack of scratching and go crazy licking and scratching. We had not changed food or kitty litter. His littermate also lives with us and did not show any symptoms, which knocked out several potential causes. We spent a lot of time and money at the vet over the next 18 mths or so to try and determine the cause. The vet thinks it's probably an allergy of some kind but could not pinpoint the cause. We switched food, tried various medications. Atopica seemed to help but was expensive as well as being very toxic to cats and humans. While he looked horrible (poor thing), he did not seem to be in pain. He hated being dosed with the Atopica and it was a nightly struggle. About 5 months ago I was reading about cannabis for pets. I decided to give it a go. Since we started him on canna-pet (which contains CBD) there has been a MARKED improvement. He can go weeks without any sores, although he sometimes still has scratching attacks. He also seems happier. If you have run out of other options it might be worth considering. We dose him with the contents of 1 capsule every second day in a little bit of tuna. So far he continues to improve. Hope this is helpful.

I have to chime in on the atopica. I have a cat who since I adopted her has had a ton of licking issues. She was focused primarily on her knees and thighs. We tried everything under the sun from changing litters, changing foods multiple times, steroids etc. We took her the animal dermatologist and they did a blood test and said she was allergic to dust mites and storage mites. She was put on prednisolone for almost 2 months while we got the itching calmed down and also we used atopica off label using the dog kind which comes in every easy to administer capsules, no yucky liquid like the cat version. Dermo said it's the same thing and no issues using the dog kind for cats. I think with anything, you have to keep in mind that it's quality of life for the animal and at times, when all else fails, you need to use something like atopica to provide them with relief. Atopica is far safer for long term use than steroids are and it's literally given my cat a life back. I'm curious about the cannibis for pets - seems interesting.