Porky is itchy, lots of dandruff - suggestions?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Jennifer and Porky

Jennifer and Porky

Member
Hello all!

Long time since I posted - no good excuse for the absence, just very busy with life and all...

About 2 months ago, I noticed that whenever I would pet Porky lower on his back and near the base of his tail, he would frantically start licking himself - usually just on his front chest/legs, since he's such a big boy he can't reach much else easily! :?

I thought it was a little weird, but didn't get too worried about it. Then I noticed he was getting a lot of dandruff again, even higher up on his back, and he even had a couple of small scabs on the back of his neck. I carted his porky bod off to the vet - she did some skin scrapings, but it was not fungal or bacterial in nature. She also showed me where he has lots of blackheads on the skin on his back. I asked if it could be allergies - I haven't changed his diet, still feeding Wellness chicken and some Friskies, mixed grill and liver & chicken - but she didn't seem to think so. She sent me home with some capsules to squeeze on his food - they're Allerderm Efa-Caps, a fatty acid supplement, also with vitamins A, D and E.

Well, I've been giving him one a day for about a month, and I see no improvement. Still lots of dandruff, and my mom reports that he is grooming himself a lot more. My poor baby - I don't know what to do for him, besides taking him back to the vet this week.

On second thought....this could have started when I added Friskies liver & chicken to his diet, so maybe it is food allergies? My other cat (Hammie the civvie) seems fine.

So, any suggestions? Your help is much appreciated! :smile:

Oh, I've still poked him occasionally, and his BG is always around 70...
 
I'm dealing with a somewhat similar issue--although it sounds like you've got more skin evidence. I've started to add omega-3 fish oil (I'm starting small, but looking around it looks like for something acute like the extreme itch and inflammation, a higher dose around 1000 mg is recommended). I'm also starting to exclude the chicken from her diet--apparently chicken is often the culprit if it is food allergies.

I did find flea dust on my girl, too (the dog brings them in--she's indoor only). I gave her Avantage just in case. Any flea evidence? From what I've read, all it really takes is one flea bite if they're allergic. You may want to treat just as a precaution.

I'm personally a little wary because my cat has so many other issues, but many people here have recommended antihistamines like Benadryl. At the very least it may give him a break from the itch and give some of those scabs some time to heal.

I know how awful it is to watch them go crazy itching and scratching. I hope you figure it out soon.
 
Our vet says LB has allergies - same behaviour as Porky initially. He is more advanced than Porky as he's now licked off a lot of his fur around his butt and from his tummy - so his magnificent fluffy britches have turned into fluff depleted skinny behind. He is biting fur off his upper outer back legs too - feels like bristle there. Vet given antihystamine which isn't hurting but too early to tell if it's helping - not a magic bullet so far. I am trying to watch for changes in behaviour according to what I feed him.

The blood test for allergies is $550AUD - is sent to Sweden. IMHO it's all a bit hit and miss and not specific enough. The desensitising treatment works 50% of the time - don't know what it costs but I'll make a guess that it's expensive. I am not not convinced its worth it.

Personally I think your vet is brilliant for giving Porky oil supplements. I've been trying LB on stuff (on my own initiative) but he not like the taste of what I've tried thus far. I tried Krill pills - for humans - probably too strong so upset his tummy. Then tried Flaxseed oil. It tastes terrible so can't get it into him. I want a capsule for my cat that I can give him so that he gets the essential oils necessary for his skin issues and joints - please keep giving Porky the supplements. You need ones with and Omega 3 and 6 combo. Make some changes to his diet too - but keep up the supps. This is a tricky problem and I don't have the answers. I'm trying to keep LB on chicken and fish and I'm even thinking that oily fish might be worth the expense. I noticed LB licking a lot more after a feed of kangaroo the other day. The problem has been a lot worse since he started on roo meat so... fairly easy to drop it from the menu. Yes I love Kangaroo's so hate feeding them to the cat anyway. Tried it when LB dx for diabetes.

Just read the other reply that said chicken not good. I use a lot of chicken but I buy free range chicken. I thought it was beef that is meant to be the culprit. Yikes, this is complicated. I hope we can keep this post open and let each other know about any improvements with our trialling. Yes I agree it's very upsetting to see how miserable they are from licking. LB has little red patches of flaky skin that look inflamed.

good luck
m
 
Hey Jennifer

I sort of figured it out on my own last year, as we tried different foods.
Conclusion was, anything with beef, fish would cause Luna to itch and scratch and lick his fur.
Not to mention, plastic bowls etc..this happened especially with the grocery store brands like Fancy Feast, Friskies and store brands.
Right now he just eats the chicken and the turkey flavours of Wellness with no issues.

To this day, I do give him a little fish flavour about once a month as a treat, and sure enough he gets the reaction.

Hope Porky is ok, keep us posted ok?
 
Thanks for the replies, everyone. LB's bean: I see you're in Melbourne - I visited there last year! I loved it - I want to go back some day.

I made Porky an appointment for the vet this Thursday - I'll update after my visit. While there, I'll ask whether antihistamines would be beneficial...

I did switch to stainless steel bowls, as Porky was having issues with chin acne.
 
Trey has itchy issues too. Asking Angels & Fairies to help with all the furbabies itchy. Just not nice to watch them go at themselves till later Please be itch free babies Kath & Trey
 
my cat has always had dandruff issues and since he's all black its very noticable especially in the winter.
A humidifer helps. My vet also put him on fatty acids but told be it would take 3 months for us to notice any improvement. Hopefully you'll see some soon and it isn't an allergy.
 
Jennifer, Yeah we are very blessed with life in Australia. I'm from further south but I like Melbourne now.

I hope you are still reading as I think the url provides the answer for most of the itchy cats. LB started out with a flakey back a few yrs ago. He's also had very bad chin acne that I thought would never get better but did eventually. He also has a growth on the back of his tongue that the vet says is eosinophilic granuloma. He took steriods for it and that caused diabetes. I am pretty sure it's allergies for LB and probably food allergies.

http://www.marvistavet.com/html/eosinop ... uloma.html
 
I use a waterless all-natural shampoo which really seems to help with my civvie's dandruff issues. If I use it once a week she won't rip the fur on her back out, if I don't, I find tufts everywhere.
 
kldanzi said:
I use a waterless all-natural shampoo which really seems to help with my civvie's dandruff issues. If I use it once a week she won't rip the fur on her back out, if I don't, I find tufts everywhere.
Click to expand...

What is the name of this product? Where did you buy it?
I had a wonderful foaming no-rinse shampoo for cats once, but can't find it anywhere.
Thanks.
 
In my opinion I would do everything I could to get the fatty acid ratio (omega 6: Omega 3 rati) to 5:1.. if you swing to far you can actually do more harm than good. Maybe hard to do with diabetic food but a good food with a supplement and review of what fatty acids are offered may help. The hair follicals must be stimulated in order for the oil glands to kick in.. that is where the : The furmanator- and a good feline oatmeal shampoo or tea tree shampoo is very helpful. I had ringworm in my house with 6 cats and let me tell you that is a horrible skin condition to treat... my little guy (who is now seven) is all black and has underlying white.. he is so dry and flaky and HATES being bathed.. this is what I did and it worked: outside the front door.. set down treats and brushed with the furmanator then took him in bathroom. filled a smaller size bucket with warm water. placed a plastic shoe tray on the floor and covered it with a towel (I have a bunch I only use for the cats). Placed gracie between my legs (I was squating over her), took a saturated washcloth and proceed to get her back side wet. I then lathered her up-the whole time I kept talking to her, massaging her back -reassuring her.. then let the shampoo sit for 15 minutes.. the entire time massaging the shampoo into her fur to make sure it really got in. Be very careful to not get into the eyes.. if so get eye protective gel from vet.. then I placed her in the bathtub -paws on wall. Shower head was started, head was in the bucket so she couldn't see the spray.. then held her by the scuff and rinsed her FAST. wrapped her in a dry towel like a baby.. reassuring her the entire time.. next day I brushed again.. REALLY has helped alot!!
 
"Vet's+Best" Natural Formula. It contains oatmeal and aloe and really seems to help. I got it at Petco.
 
This may sound unorthodox, but Joey had a bad case of greasy dandruff. Whether it was stud tail, I can't say. Anyhoo, I diluted Selsun Blue shampoo about 4 to1. I put it in an old pump bottle, ( I save these from my Aveeno cleanser), shook it , parted the fur on his back and patted in the foam and let it sit a minute or two. Then I rinsed it well by sopping it up with wet washcloths (cat rags, I call em - left over from last diabetic cat who was urinating all over the place). He didn't seem to mind. Anyone know that old German saying "Wasch mir den Peltz...? Reminds me of this Joey bath.

His coat is 90 % better. He didn't seem to mind, nor did he lick off any residue, so I guess I did a fairly good job of rinsing him.

I have heard of doing the same thing with Oxy Wash acne cleanser.
 
That's really interesting! I might try that if things take a turn for the worse!!!! My husband uses nothing else but Selsun Blue. He has that skin condition that I can't and won't even attempt to spell. Starts with a p and sounds like the liver condition that alcoholics get!!! DH says he always has problems if he doesn't wash daily in Selsun Blue.

WHAT IS STUD TAIL?
 
Anyname said:
That's really interesting! I might try that if things take a turn for the worse!!!! My husband uses nothing else but Selsun Blue. He has that skin condition that I can't and won't even attempt to spell. Starts with a p and sounds like the liver condition that alcoholics get!!!

If you mean psoriasis, I have a friend who swears by a certain thing. I'll get the name and eml you.


Stud tail is a greasy dandruff-y condition - it usually occurs in un-neutered males near base of the tail.
Do a search and get more info - cud b what your cat has.
Click to expand...
 
Thanx for that. DH loves his selsun blue. I just tried it on LB. Don't think LB has stud tail as he's been desexed. Pretty sure it's eosinophilic granuloma - least that is what vet thinks. tried SB on a couple of spots.

There's this fungus skin thing that a friend of has. It makes his suntan look all patchy (white patches) in summer. He says when he covered himself in selsun blue one time it improved a lot - put it on and left it on for a while. If selsun blue helps it makes me think fungal infection. BTW Ruth, you cat about same weight as LB. He's lost a little since dx but not enough. I think LB is down to 18.5lbs.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top