Desperate to solve a skin problem...

[creaturefeatures]

My lovely Somali purrbag has an ongoing skin issue and it's making her and me very, very stressed.

I'm clutching at straws to see if anyone has any experience that might help?

Last May she started scratching her face. Once she started she couldn't stop and scratched it overnight to the point that she had no fur left, just bare weeping and bleeding skin.

And so began the ongoing problem. She would have steroids and antibiotic injections at the vets, go into a cone. It would clear up, she'd be out of the cone for two weeks and then it would repeat.

This was horrible but tolerable. However over Xmas she ripped all of the skin on her chest and neck apart. She's now in a 'petsuit' which covers her chest and has a little polo neck and a cone. However she still scratches through the petsuit and pulls the polo neck down and pushes the cone up and her little neck is in an awful,awful mess.

She's on Atopica as one vet thought she might have dermatitis. It doesn't seem to help.

How can I stop her scratching her neck?

She's so depressed of being in pain and being in the suit/cone that she's just started weeing all over the house because she's unhappy.

I've tried Feliway (no change), she's not an anxious cat at all but can be highly strung.

Any ideas?

Unnecessary photo of cat in petsuit...

It would be worth her seeing a veterinary dermatologist sounds very much like atopy which is tough to control in cats.

My vet recommended Lintbells Yumega oil for my dog's skin issues (either mixed in food or squirted directly into the mouth). They do a cat version too. Worth a try if everything else has failed?

Is she reacting to something in her food?

A friend had a dog with severe skin problems - she started to give him bottled water only and it made a huge difference. Maybe this is worth a try?

Is hee food grain free?

I think you may be right re:time to see a dermatologist, I'll discuss this with them for a referral next time I go (tomorrow).

I'll try the bottled water thing (I'm at the point of trying anything).

She just has 'normal' cat food, would grain free help?

Will also try the thing added to her food.

Thanks everyone! I'm at the point I'll try anything!

Definitely have a look into grain free food, one of mine cannot tolerate grains and he gets horribly itchy if he has them. I also use the yumega oil mentioned up thread on his food and he is fine. I hope you find something that helps

Sounds like some sort of allergy so worth swapping food.
Assume flea allergy has been ruled out?
Also liver problems can cause itching, has she had bloods done?
Folk remedy for itchy skin, blitz nettles in water, squeeze out the juice and rub in. Might not be too easy on a cat, but sorted my itchy scalp!

Mange?

I'm so sorry, but I have a similar story and it didn't end well.

We went down the antibiotics/steroids/atopica route, but she carried on scratching. At one stage she was almost raw on her neck and stomach. She started chewing her paws and all her eyebrows/whiskers started to fall out.

When it first started we had some success with diet - we tried all the non allergenic foods and each worked for about six months, then we would change. Then we went on to a raw diet, and that also worked for a while, but every time it came back. Eventually we were on the maximum dose of Atopica (costing us a fortune, I think hundreds per month by the end). We tried a couple of different vets and an "allergy" specialist, but no-one managed to cure her at all.

In the end we had to have her put down. It just became all too much, watching her scratch herself raw. I made the decision - dh might have continued but I was with her more and I could see how awful her life had become. With hindsight I wish I had made the decision about 6 months earlier than I did. She was only 6 - very young for a cat, but just so miserable and seemingly incurable.

I wish you all the best, but sometimes these things aren't fixable

That sounds very distressing. My cat has a mystery allergy which makes her very itchy from time to time, and she'll scratch herself until there is a raw patch (her bottom lip also swells up). She has antihistamine tablets from the vet (piriton) for when she has a flare up. I keep to a limited range of food that I know she can tolerate, and I try to avoid using any cleaning products that could cause a reaction (no Zoflora, anti-bacterial wipes etc. I now use Method cleaner which is cat safe). I also stopped using scented cat litter. So far, so good, but I have no idea which, if any, of these changes have helped.

Would the vet be able to trim her claws to limit the damage she can inflict? I'm sure I read that in the US people sometimes attach soft caps to the claws to stop them scratching furniture, which isn't something I would normally support, but perhaps in this case it would at least stop her from scratching herself so badly?