Cat Scratching Herself - how do I make her stop?

[jenniferrose]

Hi everyone - this is my first time on the site and I'm hoping someone can help me.

I adopted my 3 yr old kitty Lacey in Feb. '05. She has had absolutely no transition problems (never had any "accidents"!) and is the most cuddly cat I have ever seen.

About a month after bringing her home, mysterious cuts and hair-less spots began to appear around her face and ears. They weren't that big, but I brought her into the vet after it continued to happen. We switched her food to see if it was allergies, and that seemed to help for a little while.

They suddenly started appearing again a couple weeks later and have been getting worse. She has been into my vet a couple times for the problem, and I've been prescribed a steroid cream (that doesn't seem to make any difference) and last time (4 weeks ago) she got a steroid shot. The shot seemed to help and her bad spot on the side of her face was even beginning to clear up.

Yesterday morning, my boyfriend noticed a 1 1/2 inch cut where her previous bad spot was, but it didn't look that deep. I looked at it again when I got home from work that night and it looked the same. An hour later, I noticed she was bleeding from the cut and upon further inspection, noticed it was very deep! She has an appointment at the vet in a couple hours, but I'm afraid they are not going to tell me anything new.

These cuts don't seem to bother her, but they look so painful! She never goes outdoors, is an only cat, and I don't see her rubbing herself against any sharp corners or objects.. so she must be scratching herself.

Has anyone else experienced this problem? She doesn't have fleas and it's always around the face, ears, and neck. What can I do to keep her from doing this to herself?

Thanks!

 

[sharky]

What is she eating?? Has it changed ??

Has she been checked for mange??

 

[jenniferrose]

Originally Posted by sharky

What is she eating?? Has it changed ??

Has she been checked for mange??

She is currently on Purina OM (Obesity Management) and has been for the last 7 months now. She's not obese, but the vet wants to see her get from 12 lbs back down to 9 lbs.

She's never been checked for mange, and I've never heard of that before. Is it a type of fungus? I will have to ask my vet today about it.

Thanks for your help!

 

[coaster]

If this is from scratching herself, it might be some kind of a psychological problem to scratch hard enough to injure. In the meantime, I think it would be a good idea to make sure her nails are clipped, especially the ones on the back feet.

 

[musicteacher]

Could she have a skin alllergy or dermatitis? Alex developed dermatitis after a bout of fleas. He scratched to the point of cutting himself and pulling hair out. The vet gave him a steroid shot and that took care of it.

 

[jenniferrose]

Thanks everyone for your help.

The vet thinks its just allergies and gave her another steroid shot. He said she might just have to come each month to get the shot. I do keep her nails pretty short, but I think I may have to start cutting them once a week.

It just breaks my heart to look at her poor scratched face and know there's nothing I can do to prevent her from doing it.

 

[coaster]

Originally Posted by JenniferRose

... know there's nothing I can do to prevent her from doing it.

Please don't beat yourself up over it. It sounds like you're doing everything you can so far, and I think sooner or later (hopefully sooner) you'll have this problem beat.

 

[hissy]

Personally, I would find a feline specialist, a vet clinic that only does cats. Your cat sounds like she needs individual attention and focused treatments. Did he look at her under ultra violet light to see if this was ringworm?

 

[dr. doolittle]

I agree with Hissy. I don't think your vet has done enough to find out the cause of your cats problems. Skin biopsies are very simple to take and if they are sent to a good histopathologist, you will have an answer within a week! As far as the allergies go- if this is a food allergy, you should try a food trial. I would recommend Hills z/d (Royal Canin also has a hydrolyzed protein diet) as the ONLY food source for at least 6 weeks. Then if the symptoms resolve you can slowly start experimenting with different diets until you find one that she is not allergic to.