I need some opinions here……

[Gail & Houdini (GA)]

Houdini has an array of different symptoms and is really miserable.

He has had itchy ears with gunk for several years, the drops worked but the cortisone jacked up his numbers, ATB’s didn’t really help much. Zymox helps but only for a short time. Cultured for bacteria and checked for mites – both negative.

In Jan he and two others started sneezing with runny eyes, two different ATB’s helped but he couldn’t stay on them very long because of diarrhea. Sneezing and runny eyes seem to be intermittent now. One of the civvies still has it.

His coat, while shiny, looks terrible, like he never grooms. I brush him every other day or so, which he loves, he’s still shedding but his fur is laying in sections or rows…..hard to explain. He has always had a little dandruff on his back and a real itchy spot, both of which now seem much worse. I got some salmon oil and he won’t touch any food with so much as a drop on it.

Dr B said he thought it was allergies and to give him children’s Benadryl. If it was an allergy why would the ATB’s seem to make it better? Wouldn’t Benadryl just mask the symptoms? Will he be dopy? If it is an allergy, what could he be allergic to? I haven’t made any changes in food or litter or anything except the Denamarin for several months.……..
Not sure what to do here…..

Any thoughts are welcome!!

 

[jt and trouble (GA)]

Boy Gail I dont know...Poor Houdini. Bumping your post up and sending prayers for your boy. Maybe get a second opinion??? :/
j.

 

[BJM]

Brainstorming here:

There is a feline respiratory panel by IDEXX labs that can identify some of the more atypical infections. Its what found Spiter's mycoplasma (formerly called hemobartonella)

Have you ever had his blood tested for food allergies? They can develop spontaneously. One way to sleuth this is to make a table of ingredients, then for each type of food, mark the ingredients and look for a pattern. Another way is to try one of the 'novel protein' diets. There are a few over the counter, but most are prescription ... and we know how well some of the prescription diets do for diabetics!

A third possibility is an autoimmune syndrome which may have numerous sites of inflammation, not just the ears. This would be consistent with the diabetes, if it were autoimmune induced.

 

[Sienne and Gabby (GA)]

My vet made the following recommendations for allergy, if this is allergy:

There are several options—there is a product called Allerderm which is applied once weekly to the skin which can be quite helpful for itchy or dry skin. Additional fish oil omega-3 fatty acids, 200-250 mg daily, are often helpful, but may take up to 2 weeks to really have an effect. Antihistamines are often helpful—we seem to have the best success with Zyrtec, which is over-the-counter, or hydroxyzine which is a prescription medication.

We have Allerderm here, but you may be able to order it online. Zyrtec dosage is ½ of a 10 mg tablet by mouth (in food…) twice daily, or about every 12 hours, try for 7 days. Watch for drowsiness or restlessness, although side effects from Zyrtec are not likely or are very mild. Use plain Zyrtec, or cetirizine, only—no combo meds. The fish oil product we use is AllerG3, or you can use human products

Any chance your vet confused Zymox and Zyrtec? Zymox is for ear and skin infections.

The fish oil will help with systemic inflammation. Another possibility is to try l-lysine. It's an immune system booster that I often use if my cats start getting sneezy.

 

[Gail & Houdini (GA)]

Thanks - you have given me some ideas anyway. I'm going to try Chlortrimeton and see if that helps in the meantime....I just hate to see him so miserable.

Another conversation with a different vet - he agreed that it may be allergies and said it may have started with the ears and then the other symptoms showed up because he could be full of histamines which may have escalated everything. He also said this is a really bad year for allergies of all kinds and cats can become allergic at the drop of a hat.

I'll get some regular fish oil since he hates the salmon oil.

Sienne - I use Zymox for his ears.

 

[sophie]

Hi,
so sorry for sweet Houdini! Gail, I have a general comment only since I noticed you're in So Cal, as am I - Los Angeles area. My daughter lives in the high desert area of Utah where winters are fierce and summers hot so no fleas, ticks, etc. But twice now when she visited me for an extended time period (say, 3 to 10 weeks during the winter months), her 8 yr old cat got skin allergies: she scratched so her skin almost peeled. My vet gave her a steroid shot and prednisone - we didn't know steroids can cause FD until last December when we found this forum. Anyhow, shortly after she returns to her Utah eerie, at some 6,000 feet, all of her kitty's allergic symptoms disappear. Different allergens must be present in the two localities.

Best wishes to you & Houdini, Sophie

 

[Gail & Houdini (GA)]

Sophie......You just made me think of something. We are at 4500 ft and have cold winters and hot summers so no fleas or ticks - usually. This year however, I found several (2 or 3) "stick tight" or "chicken fleas" on the cats and some evidence of some in the dog blankets when washed. In the 20 years here I've never seen a flea! My vet says they are coming from the population explosion of ground squirrels in the last two years.

I haven't seen any on Houdini but I've heard all it takes is one bite to make them itchy....