Cat scratching herself to a pulp

apollonia666

While I wait for Hope Vet Clinic to return my call, I thought I'd see if anyone here has any suggestions...

This past winter, both of my cats started scratching themselves so much they were drawing blood. One of them worked a big hole in her cheek that wasn't responding to hydrogen peroxide -- mainly because she scratched at it every chance she got, making it bigger and bigger.

I took her to Hope and the doctor thought maybe they were allergic to the soy in their fancyschmancy organic cat food, and she also thought it was possible that the very dry heat in my apartment was making their itchy skin worse. She prescribed an antibiotic cream and sent us home with one of those plastic e-collars to keep the cat from further injuring/infected her face while it healed up. Worked like a charm. I changed the cats' food to one without soy and they were both fine for several months.

Now, the same one who scratched a hole in in her face has started doing it again, except this time she's scratching herself on her back, between her shoulder blades. It's back behind where the e-collar would sit, so that's useless. I still have the prescription cream from last time, so I've been cleaning it and putting the cream on it, but this time there's no way to keep her from scratching at it.

Like I said, I'm waiting for someone from Hope to call me back, but in the meantime, any suggestions on how to keep her from clawing herself so much?

cat

Subject: I'd see another vet

I had a really bad experience (well more than one) with Hope Vet when my cat started licking away all her fur. I had been to another vet and felt they were missing something so, with mixed feelings, I went to Dr. Young. My cat had other extreme changes - like losing weight, drinking a lot of water, being lethargic , yours probably don't! - despite all this Dr. Young at Hope Vet did not consider anything serious. Two weeks later my cat died. I found out five days before she died, by going to a cancer specialist that another vet recommended, that she had cancer.

I have had mixed experiences with vets in this neighborhood but I liked Dr. Vinitsky at Park Slope Veterinary Care on fifth avenue. 718-788-0500.

best of luck.

Cat.

cat

p.s. did they do bloodwork? check for fungus? there's a bunch of possibilities. I'm sure it's not something as serious as what my cat went through but I'd go to another vet.

stacey

Subject: Re: Cat scratching herself to a pulp

apollonia666 wrote:
Like I said, I'm waiting for someone from Hope to call me back, but in the meantime, any suggestions on how to keep her from clawing herself so much?

Maybe put a kitty sweater/shirt on her something like people put on their little chiuaha (?) dogs. Or take some gauze/ace bandaging and wrap it around her belly and back? Poor baby - as someone who suffers from eczema I can totally relate to her. Let us know how she makes out.

apollonia666

While I appreciate the intent, if you follow this site for any length of time you'll find that there are always some complaints about EVERY vet in the area. I was not asking for feedback about Hope by mentioning that that's where I take my cats. What I was asking for was suggestions about ways to prevent more scratching. (Thank you, Stacey!)

cat

Subject: yeah well...

apollonia666 wrote: While I appreciate the intent, if you follow this site for any length of time you'll find that there are always some complaints about EVERY vet in the area. I was not asking for feedback about Hope by mentioning that that's where I take my cats. What I was asking for was suggestions about ways to prevent more scratching. (Thank you, Stacey!)

Hi. I get that ENTIRELY.

However, if someone told me that a vet missed something pretty extreme and SERIOUS (and sad to say, they missed something else with another cat - which is why I hesitated going back to them but unfortunately DID), I'd want to know, esp if it was somewhat even slightly *related* to what was going on with my animal. I would always get a second opinion with THEM. I feel very strongly about this so I apologize if that's not information you wanted to hear but it's important to TAKE in for you and your cat's health and well-being.

best of luck.

cat

Subject: yeah well...

apollonia666 wrote: While I appreciate the intent, if you follow this site for any length of time you'll find that there are always some complaints about EVERY vet in the area. I was not asking for feedback about Hope by mentioning that that's where I take my cats. What I was asking for was suggestions about ways to prevent more scratching. (Thank you, Stacey!)

Hi. I get that ENTIRELY.

However, if someone told me that a vet missed something pretty extreme and SERIOUS (and sad to say, they missed something else with another cat - which is why I hesitated going back to them but unfortunately DID), I'd want to know, esp if it was somewhat even slightly *related* to what was going on with my animal.

My cat had licked away 50% of her fur and was itchy. They also thought it was allergies at first. Not saying yours is more than that. But...I would always get a second opinion with THEM. I feel very strongly about this so I apologize if that's not information you wanted to hear but it's important to TAKE in for you and your cat's health and well-being.



best of luck.

bergenites

I had a cat with allergies when i was growing up. She licked all of the fur on her stomach off (she was naked from chest to tail), and the vet kept trying different foods/medication combinations to remedy the problem. (This was a vet in California so no comment about one here, though my pet goes to Hope and we've had no problems).

Finally they found the right allergy-specific food for her and that is what she ate. She is now pushing 15 and has her gorgeous coat back, all over her tummy.

I second the idea of trying to cover up the area, but she could end up either scratching through it or getting herself tangled up, and her hind leg stuck (which does not make for a happy cat, or a safe situation). Did the vet cut her back nails? It won't help entirely but it could make a difference in how much she scratches. It could also just be a behavioral problem, too rather than an allergy... or, just to be sure - have you checked for fleas?

Good luck!

poppy13

I'm dealing with my cat's allergy right now. He just gets brown wax in his ear, more annoying than anything.

I went to Whiskers in the city. They have two real nice experts on site. They will help you to get to the bottom of it. Of course they sell the products in the store, but they are still willing to give "free" advice. Hope that helps! Good luck!

pammys

We had a similar problem a long time ago. And it was weird all three cats in the same place (between the shoulder blades) were loosing their hair. The vet thought it was fleas. I bombed the apartment and they were still loosing their hair all in the same spot. But I think we finally found it was dry skin. I bought some fancy cat hair spray and it helped. And we have not had a problem since. I think the altered air from A/C untils and strong heat can affect them. I know I am affected why not kitties?

apollonia666

I've got an appointment for tomorrow and will bring up the possibilities mentioned here, and I'm also going to ask about trimming or capping her claws. If anyone else has any idea about how to keep her from getting her claws into that spot, that would rock.

tajmb

Paw-boots? She'd hate you for it, but if it's for her own good maybe you could go get those wretched things Paris Hilton straps onto her Chihuahau.

poppy13

I clip my cat's nails... he isn't thrilled about it, but does let me do it. I recommend getting one of those special style clippers from the pet store.

stacey

Can you put benedryl spray on the spot maybe it will stop the itching for while

apollonia666

Well, the good news is that she hasn't managed to get it infected, so the vet thinks it will heal just fine if we can get her to stop tearing at it.

She appears to be perfectly healthy otherwise -- her temperature, difficult as it was to discern, was fine, and she's been eating and drinking and pooping just fine. If it doesn't get better or anything else changes we'll look into bloodwork and other possibilities, but the vet thinks it may just be sensitivity to heat or a mosquito bite that she then just picked at too much. I have had mosquitos get into the apartment sometimes so that could happen.

I brought home some skin vitamins and SoftPaws and am going to try putting them on her once she calms down a bit -- she's a sweetie at home but a holy terror when she has to go to the vet and bit the hell out of my finger during the exam. They said they could put them on but they'd have to sedate her and we all thought I'd have better chances of getting them on her at home where she's in a familiar environment. I'm also going to try some dietary changes with her to see if that makes any difference, and I'm going to quit using hydrogen peroxide to clean it, as the vet said that may be irritating it more than helping.