Cat over scratching around ears and eyes

[SkinPaperThin]

Our tortie is over scratching her ears and eyes to the point where she has small scabs and thin fur above her eyes and two balding patches on the top of her ears. Inside ears look OK, no redness and she is fully de-flead and wormed. As it doesn't appear to be mites or an ear infection, that leaves allergies or stress. How do I determine which it is without going to the vets? Is Feliway worth a shot?

Feliway and Zylkene are worth a try. With the Zylkene capsules, you can open them & sprinkle the contents over wet food - my pair love the taste & lick it off before anything else!

Why won’t you take her to the vet?

@Warmduscher cost. It's relatively minor at the moment and would rather try and resolve at home first before shelling out. The vets have seen the small scabs above her eyes before and said "maybe she's just a scratchy cat" so not the most helpful anyway tbh.

@Allergictoironing thanks, I've not heard of zylkene before, will look in to it.

[quote SkinPaperThin]@Warmduscher cost. It's relatively minor at the moment and would rather try and resolve at home first before shelling out. The vets have seen the small scabs above her eyes before and said "maybe she's just a scratchy cat" so not the most helpful anyway tbh.

@Allergictoironing thanks, I've not heard of zylkene before, will look in to it.[/quote]
Have you not got pet insurance? I agree, it’s a very unhelpful diagnosis from a vet. They are normally very hot on possible parasitic infections.

We do have insurance but with the excess it's probably not worth it at the moment. It's not very obvious right now but I also don't want it to get worse. I will obviously take her if it doesn't improve but will try feliway/zylkene first to rule out stress.

I got my Zylkene from Amazon, and there are loads of cat supplies places on line that sell it.

@SkinPaperThin

We do have insurance but with the excess it's probably not worth it at the moment. It's not very obvious right now but I also don't want it to get worse. I will obviously take her if it doesn't improve but will try feliway/zylkene first to rule out stress.

I was thinking more of how much discomfort your cat must be in, so early treatment would be beneficial to relieve that discomfort. Vet treatment is expensive, but it goes with the turf when you have a pet.

Which flea treatment do you use?

My cat had a flea allergy causing her to overgroom.

I was treating with Advantage but it wasn't working in our area according to the vet. The fleas had got immune to it.

Moved over to Bravecto prescription treatment and the issue stopped and hasn't returned.

She can't have bravecto unfortunately, it made her very poorly. The vet switched her to Prinocate, which I believe is the same as Advocate. But I may enquire about alternatives as I'm wondering if it's the flea treatment itself that is the problem. She always seems more itchy and irritable after being treated.