Experience with overgrooming and cat allergies

[josemariadesousaneto]

Hey, everyone. It's been a long time since I last posted here. My beautiful 5 years old Atena is doing great right now, but we are experiencing some issues regarding overgrooming. She had some spots on her fur, so I took her to the vet last Saturday.

The vet took samples of her fur to the lab and, since there was no apparent cause, he told me it could be allergies or some stress-related issue. In order to see if it were allergies, he prescribed prednisolone 3 mg for 3 weeks (first week 3,8 ml 2 times a day; second week 3,8 ml once a day; third week 1,9 ml once a day). When we get back to the vet on the third week, he's going to see if we got good results.

However, we're now at second day of prednisone, and I can tell Atena is a bit dull already. She always likes to play in the mornings and at night, but she wasn't as energetic about it as she used to. I did some research and it seems to be a common side effect, but it kills me to see her like this.

Could you please share your experiences regarding cat allergies, overgrooming and prednisone?

 

[lisahe]

I'm sorry to hear about Atena's overgrooming. One of our cats had an overgrooming episode a couple years ago. Though we'll never know for sure if it was caused by stress or allergies, our vet (like yours) went with allergies. Ireland has been taking an antihistamine (chlorpheniramine, in a transdermal formulation) ever since and we haven't had a recurrence. We've kept her on the antihistamine because she also has asthma. Chlorpheniramine has a mild sedative effect, though it doesn't so much make Ireland sleepy or dull (as you so aptly put it) as take a bit of the edge off her nervousness. She has always been a nervous cat.

I don't blame you for being concerned about Atena. Maybe it's worth asking the vet if he could prescribe a medication that wouldn't make her so sleepy? Fingers crossed that you're able to find a good treatment option!