Advise on scratching

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skippy and birten

skippy and birten

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Hi Skippy,

Has been scratching and causing his skin to bleed. The area is above his eye and below his ear on both sides. I have used neosporin and it works great but it gets better for a day and then he scratched again and opens the scab that healed. Any ideas on how I can stop him from scratching. Is there an oitment I can use in addition to the neoporin that stops the itching.
Thanks for your advise cat_pet
 
Birten,

Is there something going on that's causing him to scratch? Meaning, is this an allergic reaction, a cut or scrape, does he have itchy skin, is he scratching anywhere else?

I'm wondering if there is something else going on and the scratching is just a part of the symptoms.

I'm not sure what else to put on it. But maybe if you can provide a little more information, someone may have other suggestions.
 
One of my cats has allergies and will scratch or lick himself raw.

1. have a vet look at your kitty
2. if allergies, could be food or environment
- I've eliminated Fish, Beef and Wheat gluten from my cats diet, and it helps. He still gets flare ups and needs steroid shots a couple times per year. We have also had better luck using the neosporin ointment WITH PAIN RELIEVER. It soothes the itchy place better than just plain ointment.
 
This is new and has only been happening for two days. No allergies that I am aware of and no change in food. Has not been scratching anywhere else. Could be the heat in the house mayb dry causing him to scratch. I will get the ointment with pain reliever to see if that will work. Do not want to take him to the vet yet. Thanks
 
Hove you checked for fleas? Many cats have flea allergy and all it takes is a fleas or two to get itching. However. since it bilateral, it may be another type of allergy.
 
One of my cats out of the blue stating scratching and she lost almost all of her hair behind her ears and neck. I did try neosporin and benadryl cream, but it did not really help. It turned out that she had allergies to fleas. She had since develeped other allergies year round. We are able to control it with prednisone at home as needed. A cat with flea allergies can react strongly to just one bite. They are actually allergic to the flea saliva.

Good luck.
 
allergies can form rather quickly. Simply because your kitty hasn't been allergic to something in the past doesn't mean it isn't allergic to something now.

You can't stop the cat from scratching until you get to the route of the itch. You could try an e-collar to keep the kitty off it's head, but that is not a long term solution.

Connie
 
This sounds exactly like what my civie Sophie has. The vet thinks its food related and we have stopped all foods other than the prescription food Z/D which is expensive and extremely high carb. Thus she has to be fed completely away from my diabetic Luck. I am terrified that the high carb (wet) will eventually cause diabetes in her too. She is not even 2 years old. She scratches also till she bleeds. It is really quite sad to see. (We have ruled out fleas). We were able to for a few months feed her a limited ingredient food (Natural Balance Venison w/Green Pea and EVO Duck). But it started up again, and I'm not sure which caused it.

We have gotten her benadryl shots at the vet which help for a very short time, I ordered a benedryl liquid flavored w/tuna (prescription) and she foamed that out of her mouth after a huge fight to get it in her mouth. So I am very anxious to see if others have more answers to our problem. :)

Also prescribed was an ointment which helps greatly, but I was warned it was a steroid cream - so again the fear of another diabetic cat frightens me into not using it. Any suggestions?
 
Hi Birten-

Just chiming in on the flea possibility. I noticed Thomas had scratched away the fur in two places under his chin and was licking himself like crazy. Turns out he had fleas...very little flea dirt on him, but he was indeed having an allergic reaction to fleas. Two treatments with Advantage and several weeks later, and his fur has grown back and no more scratching or licking. Vet had to really comb an comb to find one piece of flea dirt, but that's what it was. One of my civies had lots of flea dirt. None of my cats are outdoor cats, but here in the northeast, apparently fleas are a big problem this year.

Hope you find a solution for your baby.

Judith and Thomas
 
Kim,

We tried the ZD diet food as well. I even switched laundry detergent and litter. We were scheduled to have her allergy tested when I gave her the Frontline and she got better. I was only ever able to see one flea on her after all these years.

Have you thought of allergy testing? It is similar to human allergy testing.
 
Vet first thought it was a flea allergy. So she had me giving her flea meds every 4 weeks. I have not found fleas on any of them. When the last outbreak started for Sophie (itching) I quick gave her a dose of flea meds just to be sure, because it had been some time. Hasn't helped. :(

Vet hasn't been quick to push the testing because of expense I think. But we may end up there very quickly. Poor little thing sometimes even scrapes her butt, so I do think it is food related. Was tested for worms at first sight of this act!!! NEgative. If ANYONE can think of anything else. I'm open.

Thanks
 
Birten,

another one chiming in on possibility of fleas. Min was scratching himself raw above the eyes/below the ears, on both sides. I scoffed internally when the vet said it could be a flea bite (only takes one for an allergic cat) since he is on Revolution, or possibly something in his ears. He had no flea dirt at all, and the ear check didn't show anything really significant but she had me give him some of the ear drops I have for Danny. The drops didn't help. Neither did the neosporin, really.

Then the Pearl started scratching, and I took her right in for a check up. I was thinking some sort of ear problem for her too. No sign of ear trouble was found.

The vet said two cats itching in the same house means some fleas somewhere - even if the cats are on flea preventive, even if there is no sign of flea dirt, even if you never had a flea problem in all the years you had cats, etc. So she had me dose all the cats, even the indoor only ones (normally I don't hit them with Revolution). Bingo. That did the trick. I am supposed to dose them all again this month.

Way she explained it, it's not like a flea instantly drops dead when it gets on a treated cat. They have time to bite before they die. One bite is enough.

Moral of the story, don't discount fleas. ohmygod_smile Also, thank your lucky stars if you have a good vet.

laur
 
Hi Everyone, reading your replies you all are swaying towards fleas... but my question is if my cat is an indoor cat could he have gotten the fleas at the vet? If this a flea situation can I buy over the counter meds for fleas or do I need a prescription from vet? Thanks for all your responses
 
All my cats are indoor cats. However, mine not infrequently get fleas. It is easy to bring fleas (or eggs or larva) into the house. I would get a name brand product like Frontlune, Advantage or Vectra. You can get some of those through a non-vet source. However, beware of counterfeit ones.
 
Hi all,
It just so happens to be I received a card from the vet for his dystemper shot and made an appt for the 16th. I will have her check him out. Keep you all posted. Thanks
 
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