Hi all,
So I'd posted a couple of weeks ago, about 3 of my cats noted to be scratching a lot......Fuzzy scratched the most, by far. That started about 3.5 weeks ago. Before taking her to the Vet (she'd done this a couple of years ago and I took her to the Vet, no cause found, it just went away), I tried some Benadryl but no lessening of scratching. Mostly scratching head and neck, grooming a lot more. No missing fur, no sores on her.
I took her to the Vet 2 weeks ago, just to definitely rule out ear mites and get his opinion. As all of my 5 cats are strictly indoor, I didn't see how it could be but I had read that sometimes indoor cats can still get them. No ear mites. He said that maybe it was 'metabolic' (she's about 12-13 yrs old) but this made no sense; what were the odds that 2 of the other cats were also scratching more? (in all honesty, he wasn't very helpful).
I thought it might be all of the new scented candles I'd recently purchased, or home fragrance oils (bought a new batch a week before the itching started)....so considered it might be an inhalant allergy.
Had also started them on Go Natural Dry food (from Eagle Pack) and concerned maybe it was a food allergy to switched back to Eagle Pack (I no longer think it's food but considering Go Natural, this version of it (grain-free) has Garlic in it, I'm not going to be feeding it anymore, what a waste of money!). I've since switched them to Instinct and Orijen.......just because I prefer grain-free.
I had my carpets all professionally steam-cleaned (steam, no chemicals) 3 days ago and was hopeful this would make a difference. It didn't. I've washed all cat beds and blankets she sleeps on down here in the living room, used no laundry softener or anything. No improvement.
Decided to take her back to the Vet 2 days ago; wondered if she maybe had some kind of 'mites' that was causing this. The other 2 cats scratch periodically and the 4th cat I've seen her scratch a little lately, here and there. Taco, my 5th cat (has cancer), he's on Prednisone so even that would probably prevent him from itching anyway?
This new vet I saw, what a waste of time. His first thought was to give her a Depo-Medrol injection. I told him NO WAY! That's the last resort, that's not going to fix the 'cause', that's only a temporary symptomatic solution........and there is a high risk of cats developing Diabetes from steroid injections.....and I already have a diabetic cat, no thanks - don't want another one. He seemed to think I was nuts for believing there was a correlation between steroid injections and diabetes. What a moron, IMO.
He did a good check over (much better than the other/regular vet).....looked at her belly, had a good look down into her fur.......no signs of sores or rash. He said he couldn't see any sign of anything. He did agree, mostly to appease me, to give her some Revolution (to the back of the head)....in the event that it's some kind of mite.
He suggested we do allergy testing (at the cost of $700+), I said I can't afford that right now. He said maybe it's thyroid issues......I said it makes no sense that 2 of my other cats scratch, too.........I'm sure they all haven't developed thyroid problems.
He then suggested maybe a hypo-allergenic diet............Hill's d/d. Ugh. I wouldn't feed that crap to my cats if my life depended on it. I hate when Vets push that crap...........it's garbage food, IMO. I stupidly bought into it for years when I first had cats...........and the Science Diet Lite I had Taco on for so many years, at a Vet's suggestion, is a lot of why he developed diabetes - so I'm still a bit sore there.
If I do opt for hypo-allergenic, I'll surely try a premium high quality food (I've read lots about it on these forums, the different ones ; venison, duck and green pea, etc)....but I don't think we're there yet.
Last night I noticed Fuzzy had a little spot of blood above her lip....it felt like a little bump. I suspect one of the other cats gave her a swat and it's from a claw. I put a little Panalog on it. The area isn't swollen. Looks fine today. I don't think it's related to any of this.
I have noticed that when she's NOT in my living room, she doesn't scratch........but down here is where she spends 90% of her time....lying on the carpet. When she's snuggled on the couch or sitting up on the leather sofa, she's fine........but it seems that when she's down on the carpet, on the floor, that's when she scratches. So I think it's something downstairs here.
I do smoke (bad, I know) and I have for years.......but wonder if maybe she's developed an allergy to the smoke? Though what are the odds that 2-3 of my other cats have as well?
I don't know what on earth I can do to my living room to remove any allergens. Carpets and wool area rug all steam-cleaned, couch and sofa are leather. All cat blankets and such have been washed. I do have a few candles on my mantel but I don't light them.
I have considered getting some kind of an Air Purifier..............one that's supposed to reduce dander, allergens and crap in the air. They're about $50-$70.
I should say........even though I freeze my arse off, I've tried to keep the living room windows open a lot more the past 2 days............to air things out.......and that might have helped a little. So maybe this air purifier will help? If it doesn't, I don't know what else to do.
Do you think a few candles sitting up on the mantel, unlit, could be bothersome? I know a cat's sense of smell is much more sharp than ours. Maybe totally remove them from the room?
I'm trying to encourage her to spend more time upstairs........so she and the other cats hang out on my bed and sleep...........she's fine upstairs.
Do you think an air purifier might help? I've never used one, I have no idea if they really do what they claim to do.................
I'd considered a couple of days ago, getting a humidifier but it didn't make sense...........the humidity downstairs should be no different than upstairs so if the issue is 'dry air', the dry air would be consistent throughout the house.....and if she's better in rooms other than the living room/downstairs, that rules out 'dry air' to me.
I have noticed her poops are very stinky, wow........but that could be due to the change in food?
Thanks
So I'd posted a couple of weeks ago, about 3 of my cats noted to be scratching a lot......Fuzzy scratched the most, by far. That started about 3.5 weeks ago. Before taking her to the Vet (she'd done this a couple of years ago and I took her to the Vet, no cause found, it just went away), I tried some Benadryl but no lessening of scratching. Mostly scratching head and neck, grooming a lot more. No missing fur, no sores on her.
I took her to the Vet 2 weeks ago, just to definitely rule out ear mites and get his opinion. As all of my 5 cats are strictly indoor, I didn't see how it could be but I had read that sometimes indoor cats can still get them. No ear mites. He said that maybe it was 'metabolic' (she's about 12-13 yrs old) but this made no sense; what were the odds that 2 of the other cats were also scratching more? (in all honesty, he wasn't very helpful).
I thought it might be all of the new scented candles I'd recently purchased, or home fragrance oils (bought a new batch a week before the itching started)....so considered it might be an inhalant allergy.
Had also started them on Go Natural Dry food (from Eagle Pack) and concerned maybe it was a food allergy to switched back to Eagle Pack (I no longer think it's food but considering Go Natural, this version of it (grain-free) has Garlic in it, I'm not going to be feeding it anymore, what a waste of money!). I've since switched them to Instinct and Orijen.......just because I prefer grain-free.
I had my carpets all professionally steam-cleaned (steam, no chemicals) 3 days ago and was hopeful this would make a difference. It didn't. I've washed all cat beds and blankets she sleeps on down here in the living room, used no laundry softener or anything. No improvement.
Decided to take her back to the Vet 2 days ago; wondered if she maybe had some kind of 'mites' that was causing this. The other 2 cats scratch periodically and the 4th cat I've seen her scratch a little lately, here and there. Taco, my 5th cat (has cancer), he's on Prednisone so even that would probably prevent him from itching anyway?
This new vet I saw, what a waste of time. His first thought was to give her a Depo-Medrol injection. I told him NO WAY! That's the last resort, that's not going to fix the 'cause', that's only a temporary symptomatic solution........and there is a high risk of cats developing Diabetes from steroid injections.....and I already have a diabetic cat, no thanks - don't want another one. He seemed to think I was nuts for believing there was a correlation between steroid injections and diabetes. What a moron, IMO.
He did a good check over (much better than the other/regular vet).....looked at her belly, had a good look down into her fur.......no signs of sores or rash. He said he couldn't see any sign of anything. He did agree, mostly to appease me, to give her some Revolution (to the back of the head)....in the event that it's some kind of mite.
He suggested we do allergy testing (at the cost of $700+), I said I can't afford that right now. He said maybe it's thyroid issues......I said it makes no sense that 2 of my other cats scratch, too.........I'm sure they all haven't developed thyroid problems.
He then suggested maybe a hypo-allergenic diet............Hill's d/d. Ugh. I wouldn't feed that crap to my cats if my life depended on it. I hate when Vets push that crap...........it's garbage food, IMO. I stupidly bought into it for years when I first had cats...........and the Science Diet Lite I had Taco on for so many years, at a Vet's suggestion, is a lot of why he developed diabetes - so I'm still a bit sore there.
If I do opt for hypo-allergenic, I'll surely try a premium high quality food (I've read lots about it on these forums, the different ones ; venison, duck and green pea, etc)....but I don't think we're there yet.
Last night I noticed Fuzzy had a little spot of blood above her lip....it felt like a little bump. I suspect one of the other cats gave her a swat and it's from a claw. I put a little Panalog on it. The area isn't swollen. Looks fine today. I don't think it's related to any of this.
I have noticed that when she's NOT in my living room, she doesn't scratch........but down here is where she spends 90% of her time....lying on the carpet. When she's snuggled on the couch or sitting up on the leather sofa, she's fine........but it seems that when she's down on the carpet, on the floor, that's when she scratches. So I think it's something downstairs here.
I do smoke (bad, I know) and I have for years.......but wonder if maybe she's developed an allergy to the smoke? Though what are the odds that 2-3 of my other cats have as well?
I don't know what on earth I can do to my living room to remove any allergens. Carpets and wool area rug all steam-cleaned, couch and sofa are leather. All cat blankets and such have been washed. I do have a few candles on my mantel but I don't light them.
I have considered getting some kind of an Air Purifier..............one that's supposed to reduce dander, allergens and crap in the air. They're about $50-$70.
I should say........even though I freeze my arse off, I've tried to keep the living room windows open a lot more the past 2 days............to air things out.......and that might have helped a little. So maybe this air purifier will help? If it doesn't, I don't know what else to do.
Do you think a few candles sitting up on the mantel, unlit, could be bothersome? I know a cat's sense of smell is much more sharp than ours. Maybe totally remove them from the room?
I'm trying to encourage her to spend more time upstairs........so she and the other cats hang out on my bed and sleep...........she's fine upstairs.
Do you think an air purifier might help? I've never used one, I have no idea if they really do what they claim to do.................
I'd considered a couple of days ago, getting a humidifier but it didn't make sense...........the humidity downstairs should be no different than upstairs so if the issue is 'dry air', the dry air would be consistent throughout the house.....and if she's better in rooms other than the living room/downstairs, that rules out 'dry air' to me.
I have noticed her poops are very stinky, wow........but that could be due to the change in food?
Thanks