Lucy's licked a raw patch on her leg

[Oeditpus Rex]

What can I put on it that'll soothe the irritation and keep her from licking it?







Poor kitty. :(

[reyd reid reed]

1. Why'd she go and do that?

Maybe some vaseline?

[Oeditpus Rex]

2. Dunno

She's been favoring the leg for about a week, but she hasn't minded when I've checked it for anomalies.

And now, this. :(

[vixengrl]

3. Can't be of much help, but that needs looked at.

Couple of things come to mind. Allergies. My dog, Casey, had dermatitis from allergies so bad that for a while, he had no hair from the bottom of his muzzle to midway down his neck--it looked so ugly and wrinkly! Creams didn't do much. He eventually was put on a kind of benedryl for dogs. Fungal infection: like athletes foot, only on a pet. Mites. Or if there's any kind of scrape, possibly an infection. It might be a good idea to see a vet to get at the root cause, because real medication could be in order.

But if she's just an itchy kitty, aloe gel is pretty good. I'm not sure of anything to add to it to avert licking it off, though, because many extracts that I can think of that would discourage that are also irritants. Although tea tree oil has a smell some don't like, and is nice for skin. Maybe a drop of oil to a "smear's worth" (very scientific and precise--herbal doctoring!) of gel.

[Oeditpus Rex]

8. Forgot I had aloe vera gel

I just dabbed some on her raw spot and she didn't start licking it off, so I guess she's okay with it. We'll see. Thanks. :hi:

Yeah, I do need to get her to the vet, which is why I'm so thrilled to have discovered this on a Friday night. :eyes:

[flvegan]

4. Light hydrocortisone rub should do the trick.

[KitchenWitch]

5. Duct Tape

:hide:

[Oeditpus Rex]

10. I've got a roll of black duct tape

It'd blend in. :)



I think she'd still protest when it was time to remove it, though.

[mcctatas]

6. My cat licks his tummy bald every winter...

of course it could be PTSD from the whole but tutching thing

[Dangerously Amused]

7. Henri did/does the exact same thing on his legs and his belly.

For him it's due to seasonal allergies. His first vet tried everything to treat him including steroids, which pushed him right into steroid-induced diabetes. Bad bad bad! My regular demi-god vet then suggested cyclosporine. Works like a charm.

ymmv. Good luck.

[LeftyMom]

9. You might want to ask the vet.

With Trin we did a steroid shot to see if that would clear it up, which would indicate a physical problem, or not, which would suggest more of a stress issue. Since the shot worked temporarily, I changed her food, which took a couple of months to get all of the old stuff out of her system, but it cleared up the problem.

With a small spot like that she might have some transitory irritation she's not letting heal. There's some stuff you can get at the pet supply store that looks (and smells) like gel stick deodorant, which you can apply to the area to keep her from licking or biting it, but you have to do it more than once a day or it wears off and she'll probably start in on the area again.

[Oeditpus Rex]

12. I just put some aloe vera gel on it

per Vixengrl's suggestion. We'll see how that goes.

Why do these things always come up at night and/or on weekends? x(

[emilyg]

11. Did you check for fleas?

[Oeditpus Rex]

13. I comb her almost every night

Haven't combed out any fleas since summer.

[emilyg]

14. I have used small amounts of zinc-oxide on my kitties.

[mopinko]

15. e-collar? that's what we are doing right now with one of the terriers.

this is a big time of year for seasonal allergies. socks has them on her belly. we tried a bunch of otc things, but everything just made her lick more. so, we got some spray stuff from the vet, and she got the cone head treatment.
she is fomenting conspiracies to remove it. we are on our second. we think her sister might have helped her get out of the first one.
it is getting better.

so, i have one of those horrifying worst case scenarios, but i won't tell it unless you want to hear it.

[grasswire]

16. got a natural foods store there somewhere?

People use that stuff called rescue remedy to calm cats that are overgrooming.

[Whoa_Nelly]

17. Kitty e-collar

no antibiotic or cortisone cream until then.
My vet says you don't want the animal ingesting that stuff, even in small measure.

Take Lucy in. She may need food supplement, have something else going on, but you won't know for sure until you find out why the symptom.
Meanwhile, e-collar utnil you can get her to doc so she doesn't create a wound on herself. :hug:

Has she ever done this before?