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- Jun 25, 2022
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Unknown allergic reaction in 3.5 year-old cat. Looking for anyone who has/had a similar issue with their cat and has any advice. Below is information about the issues, treatments, and actions we've taken in consultation with our vets (general and dermatologist vets).
Early 2020 – November 2021
Issue: Beginning in early 2020 my cat would get ulcers starting around the edge of the main paw pads, which would then progress to the edges of the toe pads. Ulcers did NOT form on the surface of the pad. Sometimes the paws would become infected. He would lick his paws constantly during this time, making it worse. It would only be on one paw pad at a time. However, it varied between all four paws during each instance. It would happen every 2-3 months.
Treatment: The only thing that helped was us cleaning his paw every day and giving him steroids and antibiotics.
Diagnosis Theory: The vet diagnosed it as likely plasma cell pododermatitis. It never looked like the classic pictures of that condition so it was hard to say.
Actions Taken: Around the end of the 2021 summer we switched to sensitive skin and stomach food (from store) and newspaper cat litter. We thought it was working but then entered a new phase.
November 2021 — February 2022
Issue: At the end of November he started licking both his back hocks constantly. His back hocks had a single lesion spot with hair loss. He also started licking his whole body as if it was itchy (mainly hocks, stomach, top of front paws).
Treatment: He was given a Dex steroid shot and antibiotics, but that did not help. Later he was given Depo pills which did eventually help reduce the lesions and itchiness on the hocks, but not overall itchiness.
Diagnosis Theory: In addition to plamsa cell pododermatitis, the vet also thought he may have eosinophilic granuloma complex. His blood work showed extremely high eosinophils. Dermatologist vets thought plamsa cell pododermatitis and atopic dermatitis.
Actions Taken: We started administering cyclosporine for cats daily in January.
February 2022 – Now
Issue: My cat continues to be itchy although less so than previously. However, he started getting ulcers and inflammation on his upper lips, including one time with an infection. And he started getting the paw pad ulcer issues again. The paw pad edges get dark scabs on them. It cycles between lips and paw. Currently on the paw phase now.
Treatment: He was given antibiotics for one of the lip inflammations and it went down on its own. On another lip inflammation he was given Depo pills. We think there was another time where it went down on its own. We’ve been cleaning and treating the paws with an antibiotic/Dex topical ointment daily. It takes a very long time to heal but eventually they do. We continue giving cyclosporine daily. It’s not clear if the cyclosporine is really working.
Diagnosis Theory: Plamsa cell pododermatitis and atopic dermatitis.
Actions Taken: He’s currently on a vet-prescribed novel food diet for 12 weeks to see if food allergies play any role. It does not seem to be working as we’re on week 7 with the paw issues still occurring. We use paper litter (newspaper litter was discontinued). As noted above, we continue giving the cyclosporine and then for paw symptoms the antibiotic/Dex topical ointment.
Our Allergy Thoughts:
We do not have any idea of what he could be allergic to. The only indication we’ve had of something he reacted really itchy to was this year when I put his collar back on after taking it off in November. His intense itchiness calmed down after I took it off. That could be nylon, cotton, plastic, metal, or whatever else the collars are made of. All of those items are all over the house though since they’re so common.
House. The floor is all tile. His reactions happen when the house is clean and when it’s dirty. We have Blue Air filters in main rooms. We moved in 2022 from a very grassy and heavy tree area to a desert house with no landscaping.
There is no seasonal allergy line-up in when his symptoms appear.
He has a sibling in the house who has no itchiness or paw issues. She’s had two bottom middle lip inflammations: one in December but it went away. And one right now, that may be starting to get an ulcer on the upper lip. No infection. She’s on the same novel food diet.
His allergies have progressed from being less frequent to constant now. He can’t seem to go more than a week without another issue.
Happy Note:
Although he’s constantly undergoing these horrible incidents and doesn’t like us at times, he’s still a happy, deeply-loved kitty who gets all the toys and attention he wants.
My Plea:
Has anyone had something like this occur with their cats and have any advice? We are in such agony over him having to go through this and us with no idea of what may be causing it.
Thank you in advance.
Early 2020 – November 2021
Issue: Beginning in early 2020 my cat would get ulcers starting around the edge of the main paw pads, which would then progress to the edges of the toe pads. Ulcers did NOT form on the surface of the pad. Sometimes the paws would become infected. He would lick his paws constantly during this time, making it worse. It would only be on one paw pad at a time. However, it varied between all four paws during each instance. It would happen every 2-3 months.
Treatment: The only thing that helped was us cleaning his paw every day and giving him steroids and antibiotics.
Diagnosis Theory: The vet diagnosed it as likely plasma cell pododermatitis. It never looked like the classic pictures of that condition so it was hard to say.
Actions Taken: Around the end of the 2021 summer we switched to sensitive skin and stomach food (from store) and newspaper cat litter. We thought it was working but then entered a new phase.
November 2021 — February 2022
Issue: At the end of November he started licking both his back hocks constantly. His back hocks had a single lesion spot with hair loss. He also started licking his whole body as if it was itchy (mainly hocks, stomach, top of front paws).
Treatment: He was given a Dex steroid shot and antibiotics, but that did not help. Later he was given Depo pills which did eventually help reduce the lesions and itchiness on the hocks, but not overall itchiness.
Diagnosis Theory: In addition to plamsa cell pododermatitis, the vet also thought he may have eosinophilic granuloma complex. His blood work showed extremely high eosinophils. Dermatologist vets thought plamsa cell pododermatitis and atopic dermatitis.
Actions Taken: We started administering cyclosporine for cats daily in January.
February 2022 – Now
Issue: My cat continues to be itchy although less so than previously. However, he started getting ulcers and inflammation on his upper lips, including one time with an infection. And he started getting the paw pad ulcer issues again. The paw pad edges get dark scabs on them. It cycles between lips and paw. Currently on the paw phase now.
Treatment: He was given antibiotics for one of the lip inflammations and it went down on its own. On another lip inflammation he was given Depo pills. We think there was another time where it went down on its own. We’ve been cleaning and treating the paws with an antibiotic/Dex topical ointment daily. It takes a very long time to heal but eventually they do. We continue giving cyclosporine daily. It’s not clear if the cyclosporine is really working.
Diagnosis Theory: Plamsa cell pododermatitis and atopic dermatitis.
Actions Taken: He’s currently on a vet-prescribed novel food diet for 12 weeks to see if food allergies play any role. It does not seem to be working as we’re on week 7 with the paw issues still occurring. We use paper litter (newspaper litter was discontinued). As noted above, we continue giving the cyclosporine and then for paw symptoms the antibiotic/Dex topical ointment.
Our Allergy Thoughts:
We do not have any idea of what he could be allergic to. The only indication we’ve had of something he reacted really itchy to was this year when I put his collar back on after taking it off in November. His intense itchiness calmed down after I took it off. That could be nylon, cotton, plastic, metal, or whatever else the collars are made of. All of those items are all over the house though since they’re so common.
House. The floor is all tile. His reactions happen when the house is clean and when it’s dirty. We have Blue Air filters in main rooms. We moved in 2022 from a very grassy and heavy tree area to a desert house with no landscaping.
There is no seasonal allergy line-up in when his symptoms appear.
He has a sibling in the house who has no itchiness or paw issues. She’s had two bottom middle lip inflammations: one in December but it went away. And one right now, that may be starting to get an ulcer on the upper lip. No infection. She’s on the same novel food diet.
His allergies have progressed from being less frequent to constant now. He can’t seem to go more than a week without another issue.
Happy Note:
Although he’s constantly undergoing these horrible incidents and doesn’t like us at times, he’s still a happy, deeply-loved kitty who gets all the toys and attention he wants.
My Plea:
Has anyone had something like this occur with their cats and have any advice? We are in such agony over him having to go through this and us with no idea of what may be causing it.
Thank you in advance.