Cat licking his nose raw?

[luckydog]

One of my cats is constantly licking his nose and has licked it raw, anyone have any ideas on why he is doing this?

He is a stray that I took in a couple weeks ago so I do not know anything about his history. He has been eating innova evo since he has been here.(canned and dry)

Thanks in advance for any help or advice you can give.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Awww, poor little guy!

Could it be stress?

He's probably had a heckuva life, after all...THANK YOU for caring and opening your heart and home to him!

When you take him in for his initial checkup at the vet (for his innoculations and neutering, hopefully soon!) you can ask the doctor to look at his nose.

That's a new one on me, actually, but I'd guess it's stress-related.

 

[cloud_shade]

Is there anything on his nose? Is he congested at all? It sounds like there may be some sort of irritant he's trying to get off of his nose.

 

[barbb]

In a situation like this you really need to take him to the vet to rule out anything medical like fleas, ringworm, or any other sort of skin irritant that would make him itchy.

I can't think of anything else offhand that would cause him to have an itchy nose to that extent.

 

[luckydog]

He will be neutered and have his shots hopefully next month. (the soonest I will have the funds to do so) I had him taken into the vet for an initial examination and worm check and he had to be treated for hook worms. His nose was not raw at that time.

He did have fleas when he first came in here and I made the mistake of putting natural defense flea drops on him. I ended up having to wash it off after it was on him only 15 min.( I used dawn dishsoap as the medication was oily and I did not have cat shampoo) He went crazy with it on him and now where it was applied his skin is flaky but there are no sores or anything. The fleas are gone and he has not been scratching.

He does not have anything on his nose that I see and has not been congested. I will see if I can get a picture of it and post it on here.

 

[ddcats]

How caring you are feeding your new cat good food and taking him in and bringing him to the vets when possible.

Mittens would lick her nose in the manner you described; the vet said she had upper-respiratory infection (cold) and she was on antibotics. She would constantly be licking her nose even though I did not see anything or hear anythng. When her eyes started to water, that's when I took her to the vet.

BTW, she caught the upper-respiratory infection while being boarded for a couple of days in January.

I

 

[luckydog]

This is just a regular picture so you can see him.

These are attempts at getting a close up of his nose just a few min ago, he never stand still when I am around him though so they were hard to get. I left them big for better viewing.

 

[graciecat]

I can't add to the advice you've already been given.
I just wanted to say he's a beautiful boy.
Poor little nose looks sore.

 

[misty8723]

Poor little guy. My Sis-in-Law has a dog that constantly licks his nose, and her vet said it was allergies.

 

[alexismaraz]

I'm so sorry to hear about your little one. My cat had the same thing, he just kept licking and licking until the whole nose was raw. I took him to the vet and the vet said he really was not sure what was going on but gave him some antibiotics. I was really worried but it finally started to heal, one of the other vets I had taken him to said it could be the herpes virus which causes sores. I was also given lysine which I didn't end up using but heard good things. I'm not sure if this helps but maybe you can talk to your vet about it. And again I'm so sorry to hear about your little guy

 

[barbb]

That is a gorgeous cat!

Cats use their noses so much, even more than we use our hands.

The only other thing I can think of is for you to really watch your cat and see where the heck he is putting his nose. It could be that he likes a plant or something that he is really allergic to. Or maybe he burned it somehow and it is now peeling?

Or maybe there is something on your floor somewhere, a chemical or something low to the ground that is really irritating to him. It might be worth a close inspection of everything in your house, especially near to the ground, to see if there is something that could be causing it.

I can't think of anything else, except that now that he has that raw spot, he will probably continue to lick it since it is bothering him. I am guessing the vet will give him steroids. I wonder if you can call the vet in the meantime and see if they can recommend a topical ointment or something.

 

[barbb]

I almost forgot, alexismaris who posted before me mentioned herpesvirus, and I mentioned steroids. It is important that the right diagnosis is made, because if this is related to herpesvirus (a common cause of respiratory infection in cats) then steroidal stuff would make it worse.

 

[luckydog]

I would like to thank everyone for there replies. I do have a sad update on him though. I have side slide windows that I have air conditioners in. To fill up the space I had a board at the top. Sometime the night before last he pushed the board out and got out. So he is missing.

 

[barbb]

That is terrible!!! I am SO sorry to hear that!!

If you have not posted a new thread, you should do it in the SOS area!!

Most cats that get out are found very close to home, usually hiding at the house next door, under a tool shed or stuck in a garage.

Your cat will be disoriented and will not very likely come if you call. You will need to knock on doors and put out fliers and get permission from your neighbors to poke around their homes (and yours) to find your boy.

The fact that he is not yet neutered may make him more likely to roam and sow his seeds LOL, so the sooner you are able to find him and get him back, the better and safer for him and you. Also you don't want your little boy in a fight with other toms. This time of year is not great because there are all those young male kitties born in the early spring who are wandering around looking for a rumble. Good luck and please do post in the SOS area

 

[graciecat]

Sending lots of vibes and Prayers that your little man comes home safe and sound.

 

[luckydog]

What should I post in the SOS area? My area where he is at?

I live in a trailer court so I have put up written out missing cat signs on all the mailboxes.(we have group mail boxes throughout the court) I have walked the court looking under all trailers that had skirting missing. I have the managers and the maintenance people for the court keeping an eye out. A lot of my family lives out here so I have them and all there friends keeping an eye out. I have went to peoples houses.

I have found out that a lot of people know him. No one knows if he has an owner in here or not, no one so far owns him. I had one person tell me she took him in to feed him prior to me taking him in. She also told me her friend puts out food for cats outside and he used to eat there also.

However, no one has seen him the last couple days! It makes no sense to me. All these sightings before I took him in and none after he got out my house?

I am beginning to believe two things. Either he does have an owner in here and I have just not managed to run into them yet and he is back in there house or something bad has happened to him. He is also not at our humane society.

 

[barbb]

Yeah that sounds very unusual. I would definitely keep an eye out.

He may have gone back to his old territory outside, only to find that other cats now "own" it and maybe he got in a scrape or something.

He seemed very content with you, so if you are able to re-rescue him, that would be a lifesaver for this little fella.