Without fail, with each approaching Spring, my white Oriental Shorhair, Trouble seems to get the "itchies." We have tested him for all kinds of allergies, both food and pollen, but so far nothing has proved to be conclusive as a reason for his behavior.
He does have a tendency to over-groom at times, often pulling out clumps of his fur resulting in a mottled appearance. He is presently on an anti-anxiety medication which seems to have effectively alleviated this problem.
But the seasonal scratching is something which is completely separate from his grooming issue. His preference is one particular spot located at the top of his neck which he mutilates, creating a raw and bloody area which is difficult to treat.
Since Trouble suffers from chronic Herpes, steroid injections are out of the question, so I use a tiny drop of a topical antibiotic/steroid ointment to control the itching.
Trouble hates the E-collar.When he spies it in my hand, he immediately puts his tail between his leg accompanied with one of those heart-wrenching expressions on his face as if to tell me I am betraying his trust.
But when I remove the collar before feeding time, his hind leg instantly transforms into a magnet aimed at the itchy spot, at breakneck speed. What is a kitty mom to do? I am definitely between a rock and a hard place.
Trouble's brother, Hush Puppy does empathize and always provides a shoulder upon which he can cry. I just wonder what kinds of nasty things he is communicating to his brother in the photograph below. What do you think?
Have you had experiences with cats who have allergies? Please tell us about them.
6 comments:
What I think Trouble is saying to Puppy is, "If you help me get this #$%@* thing off, I'll help you find mom's secret stash of catnip."
Skybird!
I think you are onto something here. I feel so badly for Trouble, and I know how miserable he is. But I did give him a taste of catnip when I replaced the collar on him last night. Thanks for your assessment of the situation.
Poor Trouble. My dogs hate those collars - they always bang into walls. I avoid them whenever I can using ingenious inventions like socks and tee shirts to cover the offending part. I guess maybe this doesn't work for kitties. Hope he is less itchy soon. Is there a hypoallengenic cat food? Would organic food help? Feel better Trouble!
Cats absolutely get allergies! I had one cat years ago, Cindy, who was allergic to fish -- anything to do with fish -- and plastic. She got huge abcesses on her chin and around her mouth. It was very hard to find cat food without at least fish meal but I did find that Friskies makes several flavors that don't have fishmeal in them. As for the plastic, I switched to glass bowls.
More recently, I moved from MA to CA and switched from the glass bowls, which I'd used for years since Cindy passed away, to plastic bowls. Sure 'nuff, I noticed that one of my cats developed a sore under her chin that wouldn't go away. I switched back to glass bowls and the sore is almost completely healed so I think she, too, has an allergy to plastic.
In referance to food allergies...my Saki was acting like a wild cat with ADD. In desperation, I removed all fish from his diet, thinking that maybe, his ADD was being caused by the mercury in all that fish! (I am into alternitive health and try to investigate different possibilites) Well, guess what? Almost immediatley after stopping all fish in his diet, he calmed way down to a normal, loving playful kitty! He is only 10 months old, so we are very happy. He sleeps all night now, where before he was up ALL night climbing the walls literally. I buy his food from the health food store...there are a few with NO fish in it.
As for the itchy skin...they say to buy a special food with as little ingrediants as possible. Organic cat food will not have any perservitives or yeast in it. Start with a venison one, and keep him on it for a while. Thats how one vet suggested to do it. Process of elimination.
Last note...do you feed them dry cat food? I just read that they do not get enough water with dry food and maybe that makes him dry and itchy. This time if year the air is so dry. I put bowls of water all over the house for the air to absorb, or use a humidifer. Poor little one...I hope all turns out well for your baby.
Oops, gotta go...Saki is in my rock garden on the top shelf! He's still so active! :-)
My Trevor used to get those bald spots. I put him on a raw diet and now he's skin problem free! There's too many things in commercial cat food that a cat can be allergic to...
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