Oscar excessively licking his front legs - HYPOthyroid?

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Kelly & Oscar

Kelly & Oscar

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I just noticed today that Oscar has licked bald spots on the sides of both of his front legs. I have noticed since October that his fur on his legs looked like he licked it a lot, but have never seen him licking excessively and his legs looked fine. Now there are bald spots, so I think that changes things. The only time I see him licking his legs is when he is cleaning his face. Below are pics of the spots, and a shot of his teeth. They have plaque build up, and I am hoping to be able to earn enough money by spring break in a week and a half to be able to get him a dental, but it doesn't look bad enough to cause pain.

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And this one I just had to include because the pose he had to be in to take these pics was just too cute. And the DH helped!

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Re: Oscar excessively licking his front legs

Typical causes:
1. food allergies. this includes foods he's eaten for a long time but could have developed an allergy to.
2. environmental allergies
3. stress
4. fleas
5. HyperT?
 
Re: Oscar excessively licking his front legs

Jen & Squeak said:
Typical causes:
1. food allergies. this includes foods he's eaten for a long time but could have developed an allergy to.
2. environmental allergies
3. stress
4. fleas
5. HyperT?
Click to expand...

I was thinking allergies possibly since the weather is just starting to change here. The licking started back before October, which is before we switched to the raw homemade diet. He was eating the fancy feast grain free varieties (no beef). Just before the new year, we switched him to Dr. Lisa's recipe. No fleas - I keep a close check on that and treat everyone in the house when I see one. Don't know about the hyper thyroid bit - he will be getting blood work over spring break too. His T4 levels have tended to be on the low side of things in the past. Here is a link to his past blood work in a spreadsheet:

https://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?hl= ... utput=html
 
Re: Oscar excessively licking his front legs

In doing some preliminary research - I am seriously wondering about HYPOthyroid for him, even though it is much less common. Ever since getting fairly regulated, he still eats ravenously and still drinks from the water bowl though none of my other cats do. He has put on at least another half pound even though I have cut back his food and the fat content in the food. He has been excessively licking since the middle of September, and he has had dandruf for at least the past year and it has gotten worse in the past 3 months. Also, lately (like past 2 weeks) he has gotten increasingly more dominant toward Yoda - mostly when Yoda is crying out for food at my feet. We chocked it up to Yoda annoying Oscar with his constant vocalizing, but aggression is another noted behavior. Even if his T4 level comes back at the bottom of the normal range again, I may have the vet run a thyroid panel anyway. It just seems to explain too much. :YMSIGH:

edit to add: this would also explain why his hair didn't really grow back after they shaved it for blood work last year and why he seems to have lost the downy underlayer to his fur.

Pic of his neck: (only the long sparse coat grew back in. Not the main coat or under fur)

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Kelly & Oscar said:
bump - anyone with a hyper or hypo kitty think this sounds plausible?
Click to expand...

First. let me say - he is an adorable boy!

I have a hyperT kitty, so I don't know about hypothyroidism but it sounds like you have done your research and that's good.
I can't click on your spreadsheet (board will bump me out) but the T4 is the most important thing to watch for the thyroid, as you know. See what that is when you get him checked, and see if it's gone down. You'll have a better idea of how the thyroid is working when you find out.
 
My cat has same thing re the itchies and eaten his fur off his back of hind legs. I need to take some pics to show you the same fur loss under his front paws too - looks like a prison shave in parts - he bites at it and licks at it frantically too. For us it's beef allergy, dx as eosinophilic granuloma. Beef seems to be the culprit. Tinned food with traces of beef. If I avoid anything with beef in it he doesn't seem to lick at it much. Try a few days on rabbit or venison - I used kangaroo and chicken and even fish and he's mostly ok. But fur gone from his entire tummy. Only been so bad since dx for diabetes. I used to wonder if the lantus set it off. Prior to diabetes he had mouth lesions. Quite a bad lump on the back of his tongue. Eosinphilic granuloma seems to move around a bit so the tongue got better after a couple of years and now it's the fur. Can you see any tiny little red spots anywhere on his skin? Or red/browish red little scabs that are very itchy?
 
I haven't noticed any scabs anywhere. He is only obsessively licking his front legs and no where else. I know he doesn't tolerate beef very well since it usually makes his glucose raise. The licking started while feeding fancy feast (mostly Turkey and Giblets/Liver and Chicken). We switched to chicken based homemade raw food (dr. Lisa's recipe) around the first of the year with no change. I noticed in the past 3 weeks maybe that his dandruff on his back has gotten worse, and in the last 2 weeks or so he has gotten increasingly more pissy with Yoda on occasion.

I have an appointment scheduled for Tuesday the 15th for blood work, urinalysis, and x-ray of his lungs/abdomen. His dental is tentatively scheduled for the 17th barring any issues with the blood work.
 
HYPO thyroid is almost non-existent in cats, unless they are being treated for HYPER t. Regardless, t wouldn't hurt to get that a thyroid panel run when you bring him in. Just remember that a diabetic cat may show low thyroid as a part of Sick Euthyroid, so always double test with a Free T4.

Hoping it's just something simple!
 
Well d@mn! Sounds kind of like my Kami.. nearly missing all her fur on her front legs! Vet attributed it to stress, because it started around the time I adopted Missy, and Missy started beating on everyone. Before that, Kami was head of the household.

BUT.. she does seem to have some itchy patches, and some scab like things. Vet didn't seem to think it would be ringworm either. I did put some cream for it on a part of her arm for a little while, and didn't see it getting any better, so stopped. Going to look up "eosinophilic granuloma" now though!
 
I suspect the aggression is related to the irritation of the itch. When it's very very itchy LB can be snappy. His nature is docile normally. The itching seems to cycle - but it could be related to how much Fancy Feast I spread on his chicken (as little as possible) I used Turkey Casserole mostly). I just checked his tummy and he has a number of tiny red spots with a small amount of scab build up attached to some of them - small area's though. I think his appetite slacks off when he's going thru a bad phase. The skin specialist says it's eosinophilic granuloma - but he's never had a path for it. He has dandruff on his back and is very itchy on his back if you scratch his back for him. He bit the fur off his hind legs before he started on the front ones (but it's not on the top side of his paws it's the underside). The strange thing is that he never brings up fur balls any more. Skin specialist told me to give him evening primrose oil. I suck it up into a glass eye dropper and squeeze it into his mouth. He doesn't seem to mind it. I think it's that they need omega 6. I am also meant to be food trialling him but he gets tired of eating the same thing day in and day out. All the fancy feast in Australia seems to be tainted with beef product.

it's not easy because the diabetes is bad enough. I had LB regulated on .50 of Lantus and now it's gone totally stupid and he's back on 3.5. I think it could be connected with the IG. I've not filled in the SS for ages. Too disheartened.

If doing Dr Lisa's cat food diet make sure you don't put any beef product in. Do it with chicken product or venison or rabbit. I would be very interested to see if it helps.
 
We don't use any beef product since it effects his bg's somehow... dunno why. I use only Perdue chicken and grain fed chicken livers and hearts. Yoda was brought here back in June, so I don't think this cropping up in October is stress from that. I read about the euthyroid sick syndrome. The symptoms are similar for hyperT, but the only thing is my boy keeps getting plumpy and I can't get him to loose the weight!
 
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