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!
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!