One of my cats has a bad skin allergy - vet stumped. Any suggestions?

[Flaxbee]

I've cross-posted this in the Pets forum. I know that allergies are one of the hardest things for a vet to treat... just hoping someone here has some ideas, or had a cat correctly diagnosed....

I have one young female - "Marilyn" - who has just this spring developed a weird skin allergy of some sort. We've had her since her birth and she didn't develop this until this year, when she turned 2. We also have her two sisters and neither one of them have the same problem

Anyway - in April, she seemed to almost overnight get scabs all over on her back at the base of her tail and around her face - neck, jawline, chin. Like she'd gotten scratched or bitten while playing, but much, much worse. The vet thought perhaps it was miliary dermatitis (caused by fleas, though she has no fleas) and gave her a cortisone shot and antibiotics. Everything cleared up in about a week, and all was well for about 2 months. Then the scabs came back, first along her face/jawline/neck, then just a few down her back. The vet checked for parasites or fungus, found nothing, gave her cortisone and antibiotics and it cleared up within a week.

Now, about one month later, they're back. Almost overnight - I felt one or two last night and thought (hoped) it was a scratch or two from playing with her sisters, but today there are many, many more.

She never really seems uncomfortable, she doesn't groom more or dig at her skin like it itches. Maybe a little more grooming, but not excessive like she hurts or is irritated by her skin.

I've eliminated "cheap" foods from her diet - no corn in anything she eats - I read that corn is a common cat allergen.

We can't keep giving her cortisone and antibiotics - bad for her immune system. We'll take her back to the vet for bloodwork this time, but why would it have come on so suddenly at age 2?

Anyone experience anything like this? What did it turn out to be? Any ideas would be really helpful.

Thanks.

[flvegan]

1. Sounds like demodex to me.

Could easily be a food allergy though. What are you feeding her?

Is she indoor, outdoor or a mix of both?

[Flaxbee]

3. indoor only, though she mixes with

one of our two who are indoor/outdoor. I religiously put Advantage on the two in/out cats, though, and Marilyn has no flea dirt, no fleas at all.

I feed them all (there are 7 total) a mix of dry - California Natural and Natural Balance, then they occasionally get a can of Fancy Feast (by occasionally, I mean once a day) or a Friskies or Meow Mix packet. Marilyn prefers dry, but will mostly just lick the top of the moist food and then that's it.

I'm wondering if I should get some topical cortisone and try that on her owies. The fact that the cortisone shot helps makes me believe firmly that she's having some sort of autoimmune response to something... the question is, what is it? :shrug:

[flvegan]

8. Okay, simple "stage one" fix

Go back to feeding her what she got BEFORE this issue appeared. See if it still happens. If so, then there's something going on. If not, then it's the food.

I see in another post that scrapings were done, so demodex is out.

[Flaxbee]

10. Hmm. I fed them Purina One for a long time, and then

started to give them fancier foods - I was concerned about the level of filler in 'grocery store' dry food and just got pissed off that the main ingredient in all of them seemed to be ground corn. Could my baby be a junk-food girl, allergic to the good stuff?

I sure as hell hope it's not the pemphigus crap mentioned below. It is just so weird that she was FINE for two years, then all of a sudden she starts to get scabs. She has what looks like a pimple/whitehead (encapsulated skin - no open 'head' to the sore) on the inside of one ear, too, at the tip. Don't know if it's related or not, but I suspect it is.

[flvegan]

12. Could be

allergic to the specific type of "meat" in the food, the level of corn and fillers, etc. You could try cooking for her for a couple weeks. Cats don't eat THAT much, so it wouldn't be expensive. Bake up some boneless/skinless chicken, pan fry some ground turkey, ground lean beef and feed her that. Give her "human quality" product, and see how she does.

If you want, PM me some pics of her condition and I'll be happy to get the opinion of a couple vets here. It'd be superficial, but it might help.

[Flaxbee]

16. thank you so much, flvegan. I'll see if I can find some photos...

she's awfully squirmy in general, and has very long fur so it's hard to see her owies, though the one on the ear is clear. I'll see what I can do.

Off to get some topical cortisone at the store, back in a few. I'll pick up some ground turkey, too...

[judaspriestess]

2. can it be mites that burrow just under the skin

[Flaxbee]

4. well, the second time the vet took skin scrapings and

found no evidence of mites, other parasites, fungus, etc. And I have 7 cats, so if one of them had mites, I imagine all of them would, or at least a few others, not just Marilyn...

[Akoto]

5. My dog had something very similar.

We thought they were scabs resulting from some sort of skin irritation.

In reality, it was a fungal issue! Once a good vet figured it out, we got some medicine for him and he was fixed up.

[skygazer]

6. That's odd and I don't have any answers

Just thought I'd give your post a kick in case someone else has any ideas. This place has seemed really deserted today - I wonder where all our cat experts are?

[Fenris]

7. Pemphigus, perhaps?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pemphigus

One of our cats has pemphigus. We have to give her a course of steroids once a year. The steroids clear up the sores and control them, but the steroids are hard on her body and cause her to get frighteningly powerful and aggressive. They will, over time, significantly shorten her life.

[flvegan]

9. Ooh, GOOD call, Fenris.

Definitely something for the vet to look for. Totally didn't think of that one. Explains why a cycle of Pred might clear it up, but then it would come back.

[Fenris]

11. I thought about it when the OP mentioned the lesions on the base of the tail

And the back and face. That's where Winky gets the worst of her lesions. Her ears are the absolute worst - they clearly irritate her, and she tries to scratch them, but they're either too painful or the sensation is too intense.

[Flaxbee]

18. none of these seem to bother her, though --

she acts the same, runs around, doesn't scratch a lot -- ???

[flamingyouth]

13. Just chiming in here (because she's my cat too) :)

Does she have infected/inflamed nail beds as well? That's one of the big problem areas for Winky. Baths in prescription shampoos can help a bit, but Winky is very jumpy and easily agitated. She's not at all easy to bathe.

For a while we took her to a local veterinary dermatologist who gave her gold shots but we didn't see that that was helping much and I was concerned about the longterm impact on her organs.

We adopted Winky from a cat rescue when she was about two and that's when she had her first onset as well (right around the time she got her vaccines, in fact). We no longer vaccinate her because she gets a gigantic abscess around the puncture area. (All of our other cats get vaccines and she never goes outside; the vet doesn't think it's a good idea to give her any shots.)

We feed her California Natural food. We used to give her the chicken and rice formula and now they all eat the herring and sweet potato kind. That seems to agree pretty well with her. But she still has a few breakouts here and there. She had a horrible outbreak this past winter. :(

Good luck with your kitty. :hug:

[Flaxbee]

19. no - nail beds, pads, everything seem to be fine

thanks for the info! I think I'll also switch to the herring and sweet potato and stay away from chicken for awhile.

I just hate it that she's got owies everywhere!

Thanks, flamingyouth :hug:

[DainBramaged]

14. Dip her in the chocolat, for a tasty treat

:hide: :hug: :hi: :hi: :hi:

[Maine-ah]

15. had a cat with the same problem.

food allergies is what it turned out to be.

[sleepyhead]

17. Is there a veterinary dermatologist in your area?

If so, maybe your vet could refer you. If not, since food allergy is a likely culprit and your cat is right at the age when it would occur, do a hypoallergenic diet trial: you want a food with one protein and one carbohydrate source. Common combinations are venison and green pea, lamb and barley, rabbit and rice. You will need to be very strict about treats and feed only that diet for at least 3 weeks. The commercial diets should be fine for your other cats to eat - they are, for the most part, balanced and complete. Unfortunately, you may have to try a couple of different diets before finding one that a) is effective, and b) she will eat.

Another option would be a diet containing hydrolyzed protein - it's broken down into small enough units that the body doesn't recognize it as foreign. Examples are Purina HA, Hill's Z/D. Food allergies are among the itchiest of all skin diseases, and you will want to also use either a low dose of cortisone or perhaps an antihistamine to keep the itching under control for the first few weeks. Cats handle steroids much better than people and don't have as many side effects. By the way, cats rarely scratch much when they itch, but they do tend to groom excessively.

Another choice for you, if you have the time and inclination, would be a homemade diet - only do this in conjunction with your vet's advice because it's hard to get a balanced diet this way. There is a good book about formulating home-cooked diets that your vet may have - I forget the title, but the author's name is Stromberg.

If your cat is VERY mellow, maybe you could also give her a bath every couple of weeks with a medicated shampoo. There are several on the market that have topical anti-inflammatory activity and may help keep her comfortable.

If nothing else helps, consider prophylactic treatment for demodex. There is a new type of feline demodex mite that causes intense itching but is very hard to find on a scraping. I think the treatment is a lime sulfur dip, which STINKS to high heaven but is very effective. Last resort would be a skin biopsy to rule out things like pemphigus (which is usually confined to face, feet, and ears but could still be an issue) or other autoimmune disease.

Good luck - feel free to PM me if you need more information (I just got back from a conference and have lots of dermatology notes in my office!)

[Flaxbee]

20. I'm in a pretty rural area, though the local vets all

come from UGeorgia and I could get to the campus in about two-three hours, if need be.

Last time I was there with her I purchased a small bag of Hill's Z/D but it got mixed in with the rest of the food accidentally and I usually leave food out all the time - dry - so it was impossible to keep her away from everyone else's food. I may have to change that, though, completely and just go to set feeding times, though I know that usually doesn't work well with cats.

She doesn't even seem to be grooming more than usual - but this breakout just occurred in the last day or two, so I'll have to keep an eye on her in the next few days to see what she does. And take her back to the vet to get this outbreak under control. And then separate all the food.

Thank you very much for all your input - I'll print it out and take it with me to the vet so I know what kinds of questions to ask. My oldest sister is a vet, but she's clear across the country and now exclusively deals with marine mammal research and isn't up on all the companion animal stuff...

[dropkickpa]

21. Poor thing

Just as an addendum to the above posts, if you live near a veterinary college you might try going there, I know many of them can do allergy workups. Here in Pittsburgh, until we got a local vet derm/allergy guy a few years ago, most people went to Ohio State for allergy workups.