Cat Scratching till she bleeds

I am shocked that not one person on here has considered natural or alternative therapies for their beloved animal. The only thing prescription drugs do is treat symptoms, not the underlying cause. Another thing is that food should be considered medicine and Friskies for a cat is like McDonald's for us humans. We tend to feed and care for our animals the same we do ourselves. There is so much stuff on the net for alternative animal care and there are holistic vets that do not believe in costly drugs that would most likely simply be a death sentence for your animal. Cooking whole foods that your animal is drawn to will help, with a bit of raw occasionally, and absolutely zero grain (In ALL commercial dry foods). I give my cat organic canned quail, rabbit, beef and duck which are all cooling to the system and won't cause an inflammatory reaction. Koha, PetGuard, Dave's, and hound and Gatos are all good canned foods. They can be found at select pet food stores, and the staff are generally very knowledgeable. Another great option is Diatomaceous earth (D.E) in very small quantities added to wet food.There are lots of forums on the web that discuss this product in great detail and is good for both humans and animals.

Jennifer/Holistic Practitioner

I have to say that I completely agree that prescription drugs just don't do the trick or at least not well enough, and as a result I stumbled upon the magic of cod liver oil. My China doll recently got this scratching problem. I had long since noticed that she would lose little clumps of hair while playing with the other cat. It was hardly even visible and never bled so I just supposed her to have extra sensitive skin or fur. But after my German Shepherd snuck inside and chased her up the bookshelf, she contracted this scratching habit whenever she's stressed. The first time this happened was after the dog got in. When I woke the next morning, she had a raw bloody wound under her chin and by the time I got home from work that evening it was the size of a quarter so the next morning I took her straight to the vet. The oral drug the vet prescribed had no effect for the first week till we raised the dosage. Once she healed and her hair started to grow back, we lengthened the intervals of time between each dose making them less frequent and immediately the problem started up again. So, we reverted to the full treatment.
For some reason I thought of cod liver oil and about a month latter after doing tones of research I decided to purchase some at my local pharmacy. I was hesitant since I had no access to any pet grade product, but the human balanced product I got has been working better than I had hoped. I just pop the little pill with a tack and squirt it into her mouth and then a little on the affected area. In hind site the vet said the problem was probably caused by a fungus and since funguses cause the skin to dry out and get irritated the oil probably humidifies and soothes the skin thus causing the cat to stop scratching. Still since it’s not pet balanced, I worry about over dossing her in Vit. A and D (although I’ve had no such symptoms). Anyway, I only give her half the contents of one pill (that is between both the oral and topical applications) and stop after about a week or two when her hair starts to grow back. She still scratches a little but nothing abnormal and whenever she has a stess episode and scatches up another sore I just repeat. The last time she went for months without an episode.
This is by no means a cure, but it works 10 time faster and better than whatever she was prescribed. Besides I figure, the more natural the treatment the healthier it is for her. Any way it's a very effective and budget efficient solution.

julya said:

This sounds just like a cat that we see at our clinic all the time. It sounds like your cat is doing this when she gets stressed out. Eventhough she is independent most of the time while you and your family is around, she still gets upset when something changes. Some cats solve their stress by obessive grooming/licking/scratching. Once they start, their skin becomes irritated and some end up licking the spot until it becomes raw or infected. As long as the spot she has made bleed is not infected, you don't have to take her into the vet. There are a couple of things you can try to help ease her anxiety when there is a change in her everyday routine. You can try something called Rescue Remedy. It is a homeopathic remedy for stress and can be found in health food stores. Start giving Rescue Remeday about a week before the change occurs (if you can anticipate it like a vacation, etc) and continue until a week or two after she has had time to adjust. This should help prevent her starting the obsessive scratching. I also recommend that you call your vet and do a phone consultation so you don't have to spend the money on an office visit if it's unnecessary. This way the vet can make recommendations about what to do to prevent this and also what you can do to make her stop once she has started. Be aware that once she has started this, it may require medication to help her stop or to take care of the spot she has made bleed, which will probably require a visit to the vets office. Good luck.

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I swear by Rescue Remedy. I’ve used it for years, it’s an excellent product. Many shelters use it for stressed shelter pets.

jennifer jacobs said:

I am shocked that not one person on here has considered natural or alternative therapies for their beloved animal. The only thing prescription drugs do is treat symptoms, not the underlying cause. Another thing is that food should be considered medicine and Friskies for a cat is like McDonald's for us humans. We tend to feed and care for our animals the same we do ourselves. There is so much stuff on the net for alternative animal care and there are holistic vets that do not believe in costly drugs that would most likely simply be a death sentence for your animal. Cooking whole foods that your animal is drawn to will help, with a bit of raw occasionally, and absolutely zero grain (In ALL commercial dry foods). I give my cat organic canned quail, rabbit, beef and duck which are all cooling to the system and won't cause an inflammatory reaction. Koha, PetGuard, Dave's, and hound and Gatos are all good canned foods. They can be found at select pet food stores, and the staff are generally very knowledgeable. Another great option is Diatomaceous earth (D.E) in very small quantities added to wet food.There are lots of forums on the web that discuss this product in great detail and is good for both humans and animals.

Jennifer/Holistic Practitioner

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I totally believe in natural and alternative therapies. I use them frequently. I have used DE for years. I have indoor cats who go for walks on a leash in their backyard. I use food grade DE to repel fleas during their walks, never allowing them to breathe it in. I wouldn’t apply chemical flea treatments on them for anything. When I had horses, they were dosed with DE. I agree about vets treating only the symptoms, not the cause. Most physicians do the same thing; I was trained in allopathic medicine, but I learned its limitations the hard way. I wish there was a good holistic practitioner in my location. I check every few months to see if one has gone into business here. They would have five new patients immediately. I’m a terminal cancer survivor (Stage IV metastatic BC). After going through the massive amounts of chemo, radiation, the 18 different prescriptions a day, each requiring yet another Rx to handle the side effects, my chemo brain had a lucid moment and I realized there had to be a better way. I began studying alternative medicine, taking supplements, using homeopathic remedies, and I have outlived my prognosis (18 months) by 20 years. I am thrilled that you are on this forum, and there are many of us here.

josi said:

My cat has the same problem. Two vets later, medicine after medicine, treated for ear infections, wore cones on his head, etc. He was diagnosed wrong for a year. Finally found out he has Feline aids. I wasn't happy but at lease now when he starts scratching it can be stop with the meds his now VET gives to him. It works instantly. It's called prednisone and he takes 1 mil a day for two weeks. Then I guess he goes into remission. But it does start up again 6 or so months later and back to the vet for more prednisone. I hope this is not your cats issue but check it out. The vet only needs a small amount of blook from your cat to diagnose this disease. don't let them tell you that they have to send it out and do alot of other tests. They just want your money. Even the Vet I take my cat to won't give me his prednisone untill he sees that he is bleeding, which I beleive is so wrong.

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Be very careful with prednisone. My girl ended up with prednisone induced diabetes because of allergies.

krissy10011 said:

My cat I found outside and took in has this problem and we tried a shot and it didn't work I don't know what to do I'm really woried

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• krissy10011
• Jan 15, 2017

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Vet ASAP.