Cat skin issues: I’m at loss

[Shawna87]

Hey everyone, I really could use any advice anyone has to offer. My cat Beau is one year old. Since the day I adopted him I noticed behind his back legs his skin was bumpy, itchy, and losing hair. I took him to the vet and they thought it was just a scratch he had gotten from his siblings. They gave him a steroid shot to help the swelling and he stopped licking and biting at it for a couple weeks. After that it started bothering him again. I waited to see if it would get any better but it just kept getting worse. I brought him to the vet again and they said it could just be an itch from nerves and stress. They tried another steroid shot and again it helped it go away for a couple weeks. When it came back again I talked to his vet and they thought it was a food allergy. I switched him to Hills Science z/d prescribed by his vet. He is not a fan of this food and kept trying to take his siblings food instead. He would eat it when he was hungry but didn’t enjoy it. He’s been on it for over two months now (However every now and then he does sneak a bite of other cat food when I’m not looking). I hate having him on cat food he hates and I’m not sure it’s helping. I’m wondering if I should try a limited ingredient food instead? Or maybe he has a chicken allergy? How do I know what’s causing this? Could it not be a food allergy? I’m so at loss for what to do for my baby. I hate seeing him dislike his food and itching at his legs so often. Does anyone have any suggestions or had any experiences like this?

photo of his leg below.

 

[Kris107]

In one case I had, hydrolyzed protein (HP) was the only thing that helped. It wasn't an infection, wasn't fungal... We tried a limited ingredient food but it wasn't strict enough. Once I switched the cat to HP food, the spot(s) stopped getting worse right away. The HP food is prescription and quite expensive.

 

[Shawna87]

In one case I had, hydrolyzed protein (HP) was the only thing that helped. It wasn't an infection, wasn't fungal... We tried a limited ingredient food but it wasn't strict enough. Once I switched the cat to HP food, the spot(s) stopped getting worse right away. The HP food is prescription and quite expensive.

I’ve been trying this but haven’t seen much of a difference however every now and then he gets ahold of his siblings food so maybe that’s still causing the problems. I recently started feeding everyone in a different room so maybe I’ll see an improvement. What brand did you use for the HP food?

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. How long ago did you adopt him? Was his skin clearer at that time, and has just gradually gotten worse? Do you know what he was eating before you adopted him? It doesn't mean that he doesn't have an allergy even to what he was eating before, but apparently not to the degree it is now. Maybe that food would give you some clues to work with.

How about litter related issues, especially given this is focused on his back legs?

I know you want it resolved, but while you are working on it, if he needs relief from it from time to time, you could try antihistamines rather than steroids.

 

[Shawna87]

Hi. How long ago did you adopt him? Was his skin clearer at that time, and has just gradually gotten worse? Do you know what he was eating before you adopted him? It doesn't mean that he doesn't have an allergy even to what he was eating before, but apparently not to the degree it is now. Maybe that food would give you some clues to work with.

How about litter related issues, especially given this is focused on his back legs?

I know you want it resolved, but while you are working on it, if he needs relief from it from time to time, you could try antihistamines rather than steroids.

I adopted him 11 months ago. He was on Friskies cat chow when I adopted him. I did notice the problem when I first adopted him. He’s been on multiple different foods since I had him because he’s picky and can get bored with a food real fast.

I did switch to a fragrance and dye free clay litter. It doesn’t seem to be any better. Is there another litter option you would suggest? It has to be low dust and fragrance free since one of my other babies has asthma.

I didn’t think about trying an antihistamine! I’m going to reach out to his vet to see if they can give him that. I hate giving him steroids everyday because I know it’s not good for him.

 

[Shawna87]

Hi. How long ago did you adopt him? Was his skin clearer at that time, and has just gradually gotten worse? Do you know what he was eating before you adopted him? It doesn't mean that he doesn't have an allergy even to what he was eating before, but apparently not to the degree it is now. Maybe that food would give you some clues to work with.

How about litter related issues, especially given this is focused on his back legs?

I know you want it resolved, but while you are working on it, if he needs relief from it from time to time, you could try antihistamines rather than steroids.

Could the z/d food not be helping because when I’m not looking sometimes he gets ahold of the other cats food? It’s so difficult to keep him out of their food and he gets upset when they get tasty canned food and he gets dry kibble that he doesn’t care too much for and I feel SO bad about it! He really appreciates tasty food.

 

[FeebysOwner]

They do have a wet Hill's Z/D food too. Don't know where you are located, or if you are buying directly from your vet, but Chewy carries it.

 

[Shawna87]

They do have a wet Hill's Z/D food too. Don't know where you are located, or if you are buying directly from your vet, but Chewy carries it.

I did buy it from Chewy and he nibbles on it here and there but he’s not huge on it. It has a weird gummy texture. I was thinking of trying the Blue Buffalo HP wet food. I think I might see if his vet can write a prescription for it.

 

[Kris107]

I use Royal Canin HP.

 

[silent meowlook]

Hi. I am sorry you and your cat are going through this.

Are you sure he doesn’t have fleas? Is he on a flea preventative? Is every animal in the house on a preventative. If he is allergic to fleas, it only takes one bite to set off a reaction.

Have any diagnostics been done on his skin? Usually a baseline blood panes is done to make sure his internal organs are functioning well.
A skin scraping is also done where a scalpel blade is rubbed gently across the skin at the affected area to collect skin cells. It is placed on a slide and checked for any mites.
A piece of scotch tape is placed on the skin in the affected area when it is pulled off, it takes skin cells, the tape gets taped to a slide and stained, then it is looked at under the microscope to see if there is bacteria or yeast.
A black lite is shined on the skin to see if it glows green showing ringworm, a fungus. Even if it doesn’t glow, some hairs are plucked from the area and put into a culture median to see if it is ringworm.
Once the above is all tested and comes back with nothing abnormal, then you can do a blood test to check for inhaled allergies. If that is normal, you can do the skin test. If that is okay, then you move in to doing a limited antigen, novel protein diet. Very important that the cat gets nothing but the diet. Otherwise it is a waste of money and time. You feed the diet for 3 months to see if there is improvement. If not, you try another limited antigen novel protein source for another 3 months.
Since it is only the one leg, you might want to consider an X-ray to make sure it isn’t a problem with the led.
You can also have a skin biopsy done.
Your cat is too young to just have a steroid injection every time this happens.

If your vet isn’t comfortable with all of this, ask for a referral to a dermatologist.

 

[Shawna87]

Hi. I am sorry you and your cat are going through this.

Are you sure he doesn’t have fleas? Is he on a flea preventative? Is every animal in the house on a preventative. If he is allergic to fleas, it only takes one bite to set off a reaction.

Have any diagnostics been done on his skin? Usually a baseline blood panes is done to make sure his internal organs are functioning well.
A skin scraping is also done where a scalpel blade is rubbed gently across the skin at the affected area to collect skin cells. It is placed on a slide and checked for any mites.
A piece of scotch tape is placed on the skin in the affected area when it is pulled off, it takes skin cells, the tape gets taped to a slide and stained, then it is looked at under the microscope to see if there is bacteria or yeast.
A black lite is shined on the skin to see if it glows green showing ringworm, a fungus. Even if it doesn’t glow, some hairs are plucked from the area and put into a culture median to see if it is ringworm.
Once the above is all tested and comes back with nothing abnormal, then you can do a blood test to check for inhaled allergies. If that is normal, you can do the skin test. If that is okay, then you move in to doing a limited antigen, novel protein diet. Very important that the cat gets nothing but the diet. Otherwise it is a waste of money and time. You feed the diet for 3 months to see if there is improvement. If not, you try another limited antigen novel protein source for another 3 months.
Since it is only the one leg, you might want to consider an X-ray to make sure it isn’t a problem with the led.
You can also have a skin biopsy done.
Your cat is too young to just have a steroid injection every time this happens.

If your vet isn’t comfortable with all of this, ask for a referral to a dermatologist.

I’ve checked him and my other two cats for fleas multiple times and haven’t seen any. The two cats are on a flea treatment but he is not because he had a bad reaction to it one time.

I honestly didn’t know all these tests could be done for him. He hasn’t had any of them done. She did say she could refer him to a dermatologist but she didn’t seem confident they could help.

Thank you so much for this information. I’m going to see if she can refer him to the dermatologist and ask them to complete these tests. Maybe they can give us more answers and him some more relief from the itch. I’ll keep you updated!

 

[FeebysOwner]

If you get a dermatologist involved, they will make better choices for what tests to start with and continue on with if the initial tests prove uninformative. Make sure you document all you can ahead of time (foods, litters, environmental/household products, etc.) including timelines and associated reactions from your cat. They will probably ask similar questions, so you can at least be prepared in advance.