? My poor Girl cat is ripping her hair out. It seems to be allergy related

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Obie

Obie

Member Since 2014
I am seeing that you can give a cat Benadryl for allergys and it's supposed to help.
I've taken her to the vet (Two separate ones) twice and each one thought it was fleas
although none of my cats scratch or have ever had them. The second vet couldn't find any on her
but thought that is what it was. They both gave her an antibiotic and I think a long acting alergy shot or something. I can't remember the name of the second shot.
Each time she felt instantly better for about 2 weeks and then she went back to hiding and ripping out her hair. Her appetite is normal and she has been puking.
All of this seemed to all start as soon as the weather started changing.
My question. She is around 13 lbs about 13-14 years old and I have these pink hci 25 mg pills that are a Benadryl allergy ultratab knockoff from Kirkland. It is aspirin free.
What should I dose her? or should I? The vet is closed and I can't get her in until Monday.
 
For whether to give a medicine and for dosage, I really recommend that you contact your vet. We're not medical professionals here so cannot make suggestions on such things. Do your vets have an out of hours emergency number where you might get some advice? It's always so worrying when our little ones have problems, and even more so at weekends when getting to see a vet is more difficult.

Hopefully other members may be able to suggest something to help your little one in the meantime.
 
You might find it useful to do some reading on diphenhydramine at the Merck Veterinary Manual Online here. It will allow you to ask good questions of your vet.
 
Thank you both for that.
I will call monday and ask my vet.
It's also good to know that the dosage of 25mg is way too much. The Merck manual suggested 4-8 mg , which is probably about 1/4th a pill.
As much as I want to give her relief, I'll wait until monday and ask the vet.
 
You need to read that very carefully as what you got out of it isn't quite right.
From the Merck Veterinary Manual "cats ... is 4–8 mg/kg" <- the dose is based on the cat's weight in kilograms.
How much does your cat weigh?
If it is in pounds, divide by 2.2 to get kilograms.
Then it would be multiplied by a number from 4 to 8 to establish a dose.
Experience, effectiveness, and detection of any adverse effects would further modify the dose, or possibly suggest a different medication.
 
Do you notice a lot a skin rolling when she is doing this. Does she have distinct episodes when she does this and any other weird behaviors (biting the air, hissing, tail flicking, eyes dilated, darting/running)? Some cats when they have feline hyperesthesia or seizures it starts with ripping out fur/scratching. Look on youtube for feline hyperesthesia. Benedryl won't help this, anti-seizue meds will if it is.

If she could have fleas (does she go outdoors), be vigilant. Sometimes they are hard to spot. Fleas can be a trigger for these seizures as well.

If the hair being ripped out is near her rump or on her tail, it's possible that she has some cat-acne on the tail which is VERY itchy. Washing it helps and putting light like safflower or apricot oil helps. This is more due to hormones or trouble cleaning the area and not so much allergies.
 
She doesn't go outside.I'm taking her back to the vet tomorrow. Her leggs are about bald an she has several bald/inflamed areas of her body.
I really doubt it's fleas.
 
Also - it is OK to ask for an empirical trial of a medication type (anti-seizure or antihistamine), rather than more expensive testing. The caveat is that if you pick the wrong med to try, you won't make progress and will have wasted that money, plus symptoms may worsen. If there is no interaction, both might be tried together, and if symptoms improve, 1 of them withdrawn.

Avoid a steroid shot, if possible. If, however, the vet thinks it best, you may need to adjust the insulin dose to accommodate the glucose increase which could happen from the steroid.
 
This is what kicked off Squeaker's diabetes. Horrible itching then steroid (DepoMedrol) shots. We went through hell until I switched vets because of the diabetes. The new vets said it was food allergies. You might want to make a change as simple as new foods to see if this issue clears up. If you explore food changes just make sure that you feed a novel protein source. Squeaker was put on Hill's Rx d/d. I have never been a fan of Hill's food, but I can honestly say that is the one food that cleared up the issue.
 
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