Advice for skin issues

Status
Not open for further replies.
T

Teddy's mom

Member Since 2012
We have a male black cat who had the last 2 inches of its tail amputated. We don't know why. (Rescue). The cone has been on for 2-1/2 weeks. Every time we try to permanently take the cone off this cat starts licking, biting and chewing on different parts of its body. It has had the complete going over by a vet so there ore no mites, fleas or anything like that. We want to try a vitamin nutrient that he can eat with his food for itchy skin health. Any advice would be appreciated.
 
If he is itchy all over and has no fleas or mites, the first likely culprit would be food. What type of food is he eating? Typically, trying a "novel protein" is the first step. That means picking a food that uses a single protein/meat instead of several, and that meat being something the cat has likely not eaten before - generally duck, lamb, venison and rabbit are considered novel proteins. Then you stick to it for a couple of months without giving any treats or other foods that would have a different protein, and see if it helps.
 
does that mean raw, cooked, uncooked or bagged pellets from a petfood store ? By the way, thanks for your advice and getting back to me.
 
Any of these, as long as they are balanced - although canned food and commercial or homemade raw food are a lot healthier for cats than dry kibble, so that would be my preference. Just be sure to read the ingredient list on the label to be sure there isn’t a second protein hidden in there (a lot of brands will add chicken or fish even to foods labeled as “duck” or “rabbit” etc.).

Is your cat diabetic too, or generally healthy?
 
There are plenty, depending on where you are located - Chewy has a wide variety if you can’t find them locally. They are often marketed as “L.I.D.”, for “limited ingredient diet”. What is your cat eating currently? Chicken, fish and beef are among the most common source of food allergies in cats, so you would want to avoid those.

Koha has limited ingredient foods in pate, shredded and stew forms (https://kohapet.com).
Instinct also has several varieties, in pate and stew forms as well as frozen raw (https://instinctpetfood.com/cat/wet/)
Tiki and Weruva also have some options, but they do tend to add fish to everything so you’d have to read the labels closely
Northwest Naturals is a great brand for frozen raw and freeze dried raw (https://nw-naturals.net/cat-food/)

You just have to see what is available to you locally (or online), what fits in your budget and of course… what your cat will eat! :p
 
Teddy's mom said:
We have a male black cat who had the last 2 inches of its tail amputated. We don't know why. (Rescue). The cone has been on for 2-1/2 weeks. Every time we try to permanently take the cone off this cat starts licking, biting and chewing on different parts of its body. It has had the complete going over by a vet so there ore no mites, fleas or anything like that. We want to try a vitamin nutrient that he can eat with his food for itchy skin health. Any advice would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
This sounds like it could be feline hyperesthesia, which requires medication and some environmental modification. I would read up on it to see if it sounds like your situation. It could be related to nerve damage/healing from the partial tail amputation. Perhaps as medication like Gabapentin could help?
 
I can't image since the tail is so sensitive that the lost of the end of the tail has greatly affected the cat much like what leg amputees describe the
feeling of a prickly foot or painful nerves when there is no longer a foot.
 
Did the cat act that way before the amputation? (Does the rescue have any precious behavioral info on him?)

If not, and assuming the mite/flea/parasite/etc has been ruled out, then I’d be highly suspicious of the amputation being the culprit. Stress, pain, discomfort, etc can all cause a cat to self mutilate and act (or overreact) in strange ways. Pain meds or calming agents might be helpful. There might or might not be actual itchiness involved.

If it truly is itchiness, then I’d consider doing a skin scraping/culture. It’s surprising how often itchiness gets chalked up to “allergies” and yet a culture reveals something else (been there far too many times in my years of rescue, have learned the hard way).
 
Could be due to Feline hyperesthesia .
https://pets.webmd.com/cats/what-is-hyperesthesia-in-cats
My Nala had the tail biting and now she has only a bunny tail. No other problems since 2019 when the tail was amputated.
Nala-no-tail.jpeg
 

Attachments

  • Nala-no-tail.jpeg
    Nala-no-tail.jpeg
    53.4 KB · Views: 107
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top