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My cat is washing and pulling out hair on parts of her legs and also scratching in front of her ears. The vet says she has an allergy to something, but the cortisone injections he gave her didn't agree with her. Can I put benzocaine on the itchy patches? She has had a course of topical hydrocortisone cream, which hasn't helped. The patches of skin beneath the bald/licked areas look perfect. Could it be a fungal infection. This started last summer (we live in Spain), eased off over the winter, and has started up again now it is warming up. PLEASE HELP!
Optional Information: Pet's Sex: FemalePet's Age: 5 Already Tried: Cortisone injections, hydrocortisone cream.
Hello,
How old is she?
How long is she pulling fur and scratching?
Thanks,
Terri
As I said, she started last summer, it eased up over the winter, and has now started again. She is 5 years old. She is an indoor cat, has annual vaccinations and is in good health otherwise. We have two other cats who are healthy and do not have this fur washing/pulling problem.
Dear friend,
I am sorry your baby has this trouble.
It sounds like feline alopecia or miliary dermatitis.
You want to avoid steroids because they can damage her kidneys.
Fortunately cats do not get as many skin conditions as dogs so they are much easier to diagnose and treat. They can be allergic reactions, fungus or infection.
Here is the most common with photos:
Stud tail:and feline acnehttp://www.kittens-lair.net/cat-health/feline-acne.html
http://www.fabcats.org/owners/skin/acne.html
Ringworm:
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_ringworm.html
Miliary Dermatitis:
www.sniksnak.com/cathealth/mil-derm.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miliary_dermatitis
granuloma:
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_eosinophilic_granuloma.html
http://www.vet.uga.edu/vpp/clerk/Starnes/index.php
Scabies:
http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_notoedric_mange.html
Hot spots:
http://www.thepetcenter.com/exa/hotspots.html
Ringworm can be recurrent and is treated with a topical fungicide or a vaccine shot.
miliary dermatitis can come from a food allergy or the bite of even ONE flea.This is treated with one cortesone shot or neosporen it is safe it he licks a bit.
Granuloma is also usually allergic in nature and can be treated cortesone or antibiotics or both.
There is also alopecia which is usually symmetrical and can be self inflicted:
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=1&cat=1338&articleid=195
A staph infection is also a possibility and can recur at times when the immune system is weakened temporarily.
Please look at the photos and let me know which best relates to your cats issues and I will be happy to discuss this further with you.
Warmest best wishes,
Experience: Expert in feline health and behavior. 20 years experience with cats.
The only picture that looks anything like it is the alopecia one. The skin is smooth, clear, no swelling or redness at all. She is the smallest cat and does get bullied sometimes by the other female. All three cats have been spayed/castrated. We wonder if it's a nervous thing, although it does get worse in the summer, which doesn't coincide with bullying.
Alopecia IS a stress related disorder so it is likely it acts up when she is bullied by the others.
You can apply plain neosporin to the sores.
She can take benedryl or chlortrimeton:
http://www.petplace.com/drug-library/diphenhydramine-benadryl/page1.aspx http://www.petplace.com/drug-library/chlorpheniramine-maleate-chlor-trimeton/page1.aspx
@ one mg per lb every 12 hours.
Get feliway and rescue remedy at a pet store to calm her down:
http://www.petplace.com/drug-library/feliway/page1.aspx
http://www.rescueremedy.com/products/
Please let me know how she is doing.
I hope she feels better very soon.
Best wishes for her
Hi Terri - thank you for your answer.Unfortunately, Nutmeg is unable to take oral medicine - she foams at the mouth and becomes very stressed - she is quite a nervy little cat.I have some dimetindene maleate antihistamine gel (Fenistil Gel - 100g contains 100mg of dimetindene maleate), and I also have some mupirocine antibiotic cream (Bactroban - 20mg of mupirocina per g).Would these be okay to use? If so, which should I use (or both?) and how often?Thank you.
Hi,
You can safely use bacroban on Nutmegs sores three times a day.
If you can get chlortrimetone it is a teeny pill. you can add a quarter pill to her food every 12 hours.
But do NOT use demethindene or mupirocine on her.
Best wishes for her,
I don't understand your reply - you say I can use bactroban on Nutmeg, but NOT mupirocine, but bactroban IS mupirocine!!!
Sorry, I thought Mupirocine was something else.
If it is bactroban it is safe to use it on nutmeg.
I have been to the chemist to ask for chlorpheniramine maleate (Chlor-Trimeton). They don't have this, but they do have DEXchlorpheniramine maleate, 2mg. Is this the same thing and can I use it for Nutmeg? I forgot to ask about the Benadryl.
Yes that is the same thing so you can safely use it for Nutmeg.
Thank you, XXXXX XXXXX let you know how she gets on.I pressed the "Accept Answer" button by mistake the first time you asked a question instead of "Reply to Expert", and so have already paid. I don't want to press "Accept Answer" again in case I get charged twice!
You are very welcome.
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