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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / December 2005Male Cat Has Ongoing Skin Condition
Hi Folks. Our 10 year old male orange tabby has a nasty ongoing skin condition that is about 4 inches long on his back. He is losing fur and there are red scabs. He has been to the vet twice who said it was allergy related. He told us to apply Advantage every 3 weeks because of flea problems. Vet also gave him cortisone shot. None of these treatments have cured the problem. He's an indoor outdoor guy. There must be something we can do nutritionally to get this better. He eats and sleeps well and has plenty of energy and spunk. His eyes are bright and clear and he isn't depressed. Can someone here recommend a treatment? The vet doesn't seem to know what to do. He's going bald along his back. Thanx steve Steve do you trust this vet I am going to say not if you said he does not know what is going on. Vets are like Doctor's some will not admit if they don't know Steve did the vet take a culture, take blood work and recommend you take the cat to have an allergy test or dermatology exam if not NEW VET TIME It could be parasitic it could be allergy related it could be a number of things this is a link to Phil's website with out test it can't be determined http://www.maxshouse.com/dermatologyIDX.htm do you have a web cam or a digital camera and be able to post a picture link Matthew > Hi Folks. Our 10 year old male orange tabby has a nasty ongoing skin > condition that is about 4 inches long on his back. He is losing fur and [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > treatment? The vet doesn't seem to know what to do. He's going bald > along his back. Thanx steve > http://www.maxshouse.com/dermatologyIDX.htm Hi. Thank you for the cat advice. Our vet is a very good basic vet and has kept both cats as healthy as possible. The cat does get relief when we keep up the Advantage and there is a link to flea allergy. So Calif has been unusually hotter this winter and the fleas keep comin'.Cultures and things weren't done, but blood work came out ok. He has always been highstrung and hyperactive and gets into little dramas with the other male cat. I think we will at least try out a prescription diet. > > http://www.maxshouse.com/dermatologyIDX.htm > [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > highstrung and hyperactive and gets into little dramas with the other > male cat. I think we will at least try out a prescription diet. Steve, instead of beginning a trial and error pattern, I think you'll save a lot of time, money and discomfort for your cat if you opt for a skin scraping or a skin biopsy right off the bat. Best of luck, Phil I wonder if your cat has granuloma. See this site http://www.fabcats.org/eosinophilicgranuloma.html. I also have a cat with this condition. I use Frontline and when he had flare ups (in spring and fall) bring him to the vet for a cortizone injection. Gail > Hi Folks. Our 10 year old male orange tabby has a nasty ongoing skin > condition that is about 4 inches long on his back. He is losing fur and [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > treatment? The vet doesn't seem to know what to do. He's going bald > along his back. Thanx steve Here is more info on the condition: http://www.vetinfo.com/ceosinophilic.html >I wonder if your cat has granuloma. See this site >http://www.fabcats.org/eosinophilicgranuloma.html. I also have a cat with [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] >> treatment? The vet doesn't seem to know what to do. He's going bald >> along his back. Thanx steve > http://www.vetinfo.com/ceosinophilic.html Thanks to everyone who posted their advice. I checked the sites recommended and our cat's condition doesn't resemble any of those symptoms. He has always been a nervous scratcher to get attention. We feel he also might have an ongoing yeast infection due to several courses of antibiotics for ear infections. BTW, we have been cleaning his ears with tea tree oil and hperoxide when he gets "coffee grounds" built up and his ears are clear as a bell. The vet also hunches a food allergy, so we are going to slowly switch him over to a rotational diet and check his symptoms. We give him a bit of yoghurt and that seems to help. We will also have a skin scraping and see what that reveals. Keep the advice coming. Kitty appreciates your concern as well. steveb > > http://www.vetinfo.com/ceosinophilic.html BTW, we have been cleaning > his ears with tea tree oil Tea tree oil contains *terpenes* which are *toxic* to cats. Cats don't have the enzyme needed to detoxify terpines. Terpines are readily absorbed through a cat's skin and should not be used. Get an ear cleaner from your vet and ask him to show you how to clean a cat's ear. Never put a Q-Tip in the ear canal- it pushes debris farther down the canal and produces pressure against the eardrum which can cause it to rupture. If your cat gags or coughs or swallows when you put liquid in his ear: STOP and take him right to the vet. Gagging or swallowing is a pretty good indication that the eardrum (tympanic membrane) is ruptured (the liquid flowed through the ruptured eardrum, into the middle ear, and through the eustachian tube and into the pharynx). If your cat's ears need frequent cleaning- there's something wrong that needs to be investigated. Cats' ears are generally self-cleaning due to the lateral migration of epithelial cells (skin cells that line the ear canal) away from the eardrum (tympanum). Frequent cleaning can also traumatize and ulcerate the epithelium lining the canal and cause inflammation- which usually results in increased production of wax (cerumen). I agree with the ear thing. From my experience I thought that cofee ground looking stuff in the cats ears can be from ear mites. Have you check into that possibility? Also our cat has allergies (environmental allergies as well as flea allergies) so she gets Frontline religiously every month (as well as her brother just to prevent any infestation); she also is on Science Diet Sensitive Skin dry food and gets fatty acid supplement every day. At first when she had scratched herself bald we thought it might be a food allergy. Switched her over to Feline Z/D and still no progress. The cortisone shots didn't even really help until we started her on Frontline. Cats with flea allergies can have severe reactions from the single bite of just one flea. They are also very good at grooming and you may never actually see a flea on him, but if he is allergic, a bite can precipitate a problem for days. I really prefer Frontline because it kills all stages of the flea and also contains a flea repellent (to prevent the flea from even biting). We were almost at the stage of getting allergy skin testing on her when the frontline started to show that it was helping. She still has flareups a couple times a year (other allergies...pets with flea allergies are prone to having other allergies as well). As a matter of fact she just got another steroid shot yesterday from scratching a new bald spot. Good luck and I hope that you find the cause. I know that it was about a year until we seemed to find the cause and it is still a continuous problem but much more managable. Sorry this is so long I just have learned alot from the whole experience and just want to help with the frustrations that I know you must be feeling. Paige
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