I put the pics on big so you can click them and take a good look..except for the kitty face one..I just thought that was cute. Anyway, this is Sadie, she's five years old and she belongs to Twinner. Twinner says Sadie isn't feeling well and she has them stumped as to what's wrong with her. She does not have ear mites or fleas or any parasite. She doesn't go outside. They've switched her food from dry to wet, but, the sores remain and her behavior has changed. The vet said she's anemic and now she's scratched bald spots on herself.
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You can ask Twinner for more info in comments. Does anyone know what this could be and how to treat it? Poor Sadie.
You can ask Twinner for more info in comments. Does anyone know what this could be and how to treat it? Poor Sadie.
28 comments:
doesn't look like a food allergy....why doesn't the vet treat it as dermatitis? sometimes a couple of my kitties have had that and they a steroid shot that stops them from scratching themselves....
depending how anemic they are, are you supplementing with vitamins? they is a liquid vitamin for cats called 'hi-vite' and it is vet's officer---prescription not OTC.....you should be giving some hi-vite, like 1cc a day for several weeks....
i would consider going to another vet.....
Oh no...poor Sadie. I don't have any advice to give, but I sure hope she gets feeling better soon. Poor thing.
To me it kinda looks like crones or Allergy. I could be wrong. But my mothers dog. ( yes I know not a cat) But anyways Murphy scratches his hair out, rips it out at times, he has diarrhea and has to eat special diet food.
The dr said also it might be murphy's teeth. Sometimes when a animal has a mouth problem they start chewing their hair off.
I hope little kitty gets better soon. Take care sadie
I would start with nutrition. Take Sadie off of all commercial food. Real meat and chicken and I agree with Miss Tia about vitamins. Google "raw food diets for cats". Vets like people doctors get about a weeks worth of nutrition training school and really don't know much about the subject.
escrow
well before i messed with the diet anymore---you should mix some dry with the canned to help with tartar on their teeth, i would ask a vet about giving a steroid shot---that would calm down any dermatitus....
Off subject, but, Escrow you got me reading dog food lables and you were right. Yuk. It's not only not nutritious, but, it gave my dog gas. Niki eats canned people food now.. chicken and turkey. No more dog farts.
I hope she gets better soon - she is a sweet looking cat.
My cat had hair loss in places like that and they diagnosed her with allergies(to what I am not sure) and an anxiety disorder. I'll see if I can find what the medicine was they put her on. It was about 15 years ago. I hope your pretty kitty feels better soon!
Poor Kitty. I just feel so low:(
when I see animals suffering.
Hope you can help her feel better soon.
I would take her to a different vet. Pronto.
Several months ago, my perfectly healthy, neutered male 10 year-old indoor cat started to lose hair behind his ears and on the insides of his legs. He as licking so much that he dropped a little weight (he weighs 8 lbs on a good day).
No other change in habits, eyes clear, etc.
Vet couldn't find anything obvious and blood tests were normal for his age. So, pretty much just to do something, we put him on Chlor-Trimeton allergy relief (OTC for people) - one tablet, half morning and half at night.
His licking went way down and the hair is regrowing. It's been about a month since his vet visit.
It wouldn't hurt to try this - the pills can be given indefinately with no side effects.
Anxiety came to mind - I have a friend who, many years ago, had a cat with very similar patches. She was scratching and eating her fur and it was caused by anxiety. She was new to the family but it did take a few months for those symptoms to appear. Not much help... sorry... it's all I can think of. But, yes, change vets! Good luck kitty, I hope you heal soon.
i'd say allergies.. my cat lost her hair when she was given too much tuna. she does fine now on the purina all natural chicken and rice thing. i'd see another vet.. poor thing :-/
I had a pom that had seizures and I cooked his food. I threw all of this into a crock pot and let it cook:
whole chicken
two sweet potatoes
brown rice
big bag of mix veggies
When it's done, let it cook and mix it all together by hand to form a mush and in doing so, you'll be able to get out all the small chicken bones.
Also, dry out a few egg shells and grind them to a powder and add to the food.
I put it in small containers and froze it because it makes a lot.
What were the results of the blood tests? Urine specimen? Skin scraping? What tests have already been performed?
Older cats should only be fed canned high quality food, by the way.
There are probably almost as many remedies as there are people posting. I think the idea of a steroid shot to stop the itching before she causes herself any more wounds, is a great idea.
It does look like allergies and anxiety to me. I have known of cats and dogs who need to be treated with prozac (we have a dog who licks himself raw on all his paws if we don't, currently). It is something to look into. I think an exclusionary diet is also in order. Start off with some sort of simple diet like Army mom suggested, and see what happens. You might want to see another vet, for a second opinion, if it is within your means.
Has this kitty been receiving flea preventative liquid on her back/nape of neck? Sometimes there is hair loss after several applications. Not usually itching, though.
As for older cats eating only canned cat food, we used to have a long-haired calico, and as she got older, her hair would mat everywhere, and she did not want to be brushed. One of our vets said that in the wild, she would be eating mice, which are high protein and high fat. His suggestion was to put her on Iams kitten chow, as it was similar in makeup. She tolerated the kibble well, and within a week had a sleek and shiney coat, and never another mat during the last few years of her life.
Good luck with your kitty, she looks very sweet.
I'm with miss Tia it looks like dermatitis.
Return to the vet asap. Feel better soon
Sadie :) she's a sweet lil kitty. - Kiki :)
Army Mom, that's a great recipe. I cook for my dog and my rat too. But, not all the time.
Sadie, go to other vets until you can find one that can help. You may love and trust your vet, but like drs., they don't have all the answers. Another vet may have seen or read something that would help. We had to do this with my son's dog. Found the right one on the third try.
I hope you are able to find help. I hate to see babies and animals suffer.
In case it is allergies, and you don't want to make your own cat food, the Drs. Foster and Smith website sells hypo-allergenic cat and dog foods at a good price. I buy it for my pets, and it comes in the mail--really convenient. For anxiety, maybe try growing some catnip this summer. It calms my annoying cat down when he is meowing compulsively.
It could be a strain of ringworm.
I think you should try a different vet if the one you go to now can't help. That is what I have had to do a few times with my cats.
Thank you all for your advice. This all started with Sadie (her birthday a few weeks ago, she's 5 now)scraching so much that she had scabs all over the top of her head (no hair loss). The vet said that Sadie girl had anxiety and that is why she was scraching. She gave her a steroid shot on the nape of her neck and that is when she started to lose her hair on the neck and not eating (she lost 2 pounds in the week in between vet visits, was 13 down to 11). We took her back and the the vet she had only seen this reaction once before. She even called the manufacturer and they said it is a extremely rare reaction. The other cat only had that one bald spot and it took over a year to grow back. One bald spot we can live with, but now it is happening on her ears, behind her front legs and there is a small one starting on her nose. The hair is coming out in big clumps.
Her personality is coming back to normal, she is eating and drinking more and she is becoming the crazy cat that we know and love, but still the hair loss is a issue.
The vet said she wanted to do more tests on her free of charge (we really don't have the money to spend on her, but Sadie is of course important), but we haven't heard from her in a few weeks, I will give her a call tomorrow. I will ask her about vitamins, raw food, and dermatitis and if she doesn't give us another treatment to try, we will go elsewhere.
Now I hear my husband telling Sadie to get of the counter so I must go get her. snuggle time.
well it sounds like she had dermatitis if she got a steroid shot....so no need to ask about that...ask if you should get some hi-vite though....and why did the vet say it was anxiety??
the steroid last about 2 months in their system so hopefully her hair will start to grow back after it gets out of her system!!
if her personality is coming back and eating, etc.....i would not necessarily try another treatment....give the steroid time to get out of her system.....and if it IS anxiety, try to determine what is causing it and work on that.....
awww...poor kitty :( I am no vet but what does he say? My daughters ex had a scotty boy and he literally chewed all the hair off the back portion of his body. The vet kept saying "allergies"...thats BS! He has something wrong with him and it's still ongoing, he is nearly 3 yrs old. Vets can be very dismissive. I would go to a SunSpot store or something like that & inquire about something narural to cure it. Vitamin E is supposed to cure everything. Puncture the capsule and smear it on her. Ask about it being OK, 1st tho. I am so sorry. I hope you find a cure soon. She is going thru hell with that scratching.
rox
Try the holistic ULTRA pet foods. Thats what we feed baby huck right now. He LOVES it. It's real small kibble for pups. Nothing un- natural in it at all. It's not cheap but a little goes a long way when it satisfies longer and they get proper nutrition. It's $14 for a small bag. We get this at PetSmart. Good luck. Changing the food usually helps.
rox
My moms cat had the same problems for years (exact same patches), it needs medication. Internal steroids, and external steroid cream.
additional: the steroids, also caused weight gain which then led to diabetes...so, my moms not even sure if that was worth it. She tried everything else though, but nothing worked.
The vet never gave it an official diagnosis, they said he should go to a vet specializing in skin. Sorry.
tell her to add a teaspoon of olive oil to the food.... the cat might have overdry skin which causes horrible itching...
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