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Question

My cat is 9 years old. Is an indoor and outdoor cat. 1 year ago he started losing hair on face and all four paws. We have had him checked 4 times at two different vet offices. Now he is urinating and moving bowels in places other than the litter box. (he has done that on and off for the last year) Scratching and licking alot. He has been treated for urinary infection, given steroids and had blood testing and skin scraping. All I was told is he may have allergies and is a very difficult case. Not using the litter box is very frustrating, but I want to see him well. We have kept him in the house for the last two weeks. Can you help me?

Submitted: 25 days and 10 hours ago.
Category: Cat Veterinary
Value: $30
Status: AWAITING CUSTOMER ACTION
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Optional Information

Type of Animal: cat
Gender: male
Age: 9

Already Tried:
antibiotics, steroid injection, changing food, changing feeding dishes, keeping cat indooors. Hairball medicine.

Posted by Dr. John 25 days and 8 hours ago.

Info Request

Sorry to hear about your kitty's problems! Has your kitty had skin biopsies? Has this been discussed with you?

25 days and 8 hours ago.

Reply

He had skin scrapings in june

Posted by Dr. John 25 days and 7 hours ago.

Answer

If all of the vets you have seen are stumped, I would certainly pursue help from a dermatologist. Any of the vets you have already seen can do a skin biopsy (which is definitely going to be the next step based on what you have mentioned above) but I think you will have the best chance at a quicker diagnosis and best tailored treatment through a dermatologist. You will probably need a referral to the dermatologist from one of the veterinarians you have already seen. There are some auto-immune skin diseases that can certainly present the way you are describing and would require a (such as pemphigus) skin biopsy to diagnose (and treatment regimens are pretty specific---based on what has been done above it would not have resolved the symptoms). Do you know when the last steroid injection was given? Equally important is biopsy results can be altered by steroids, so these need to be out of your kitty's system before pursuing biopsies, as the results may be inconclusive otherwise.

25 days and 7 hours ago.

Reply

He doesn't have sores, just hair loss and reddened skinless areas on all paws. also the inappropriate urinating and defacating. Last steroid injection was in june. All bloodwork recently was negative

Answer

The chronic skin issues without response to diet change, steroid injections, and antibiotic therapy CERTAINLY warrants skin biopsy as the next step, regardless of whether there are ulcers present or not. Was a true hypoallergenic diet attempted (ie - hill's z/d or IVD venison/potato, etc)? The inappropriate eliminations can certainly be behavioral, secondary to the discomfort of the skin...

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Expert: Dr. John
Pos. Feedback: 100.0 %
Accepts: 
Answered: 10/28/2009

Small animal veterinarian, ER vet

significant surgical and medicine background, currently working as emergency clinic veterinarian

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