Itchy, scratchy, balding cat - what alternative strategies to help?

[LivingInaBuildingSite]

Just before lockdown we adopted a pair of cats, brother and sister, 2 yo.
The girl cat, Wilma, has never truly settled with us.

For background: She prefers my DH who works away a lot and doesn’t really come that near me which I find difficult as our cats have always been more mine. Leaves me at a bit of a loss how to help her. She was definitely the man’s cat of the couple we adopted them from.

She’s always itchy, always over grooming, and has loads of bald spots, thinning fur, some actually sore areas that come and go.

I took her to the vet about a year ago, he suggested steroid injections and we tried a couple but they made no difference and going back every 2 weeks (aside from the ££) for a useless injection seemed pointless. He agreed and said hopefully she’d settle down.

She may have some kind of eczema/dermatitis, as well as possibly some ongoing pysch issues to do with moving. She may have some kind of allergies that we haven’t discovered properly yet.

She is due her annual booster soon and I’m kind of dreading the vet appointment. (My vets seem to specialise in lectures & I am considering moving vets) Is there any kind of alternative treatment we could try for a few weeks before I go to see if it helps? The booster appt can wait a little while as there is a window of time for getting it.

Just after any ideas thanks.

Are you keeping up with her flea treatments and is it working?

Was it a private 'adoption'? Did you get her vet history?

Have you tried different food?

Does she go outside?

Flea treatments - she came with a flea collar and I was told she was allergic to flea drops. She kept losing the collars, sometimes within the day of putting it on. I risked trying the cheaper flea drops (like advocate for eg), she didn’t react badly to them but they didn’t get rid of fleas. Vet said I had to get their drops which I’ve tried, they do get rid of fleas, no I don’t always use them every month I confess. She doesn’t seem to particularly react to the drops, any worse than just a usual day of itchiness if that makes sense?

yes to private adoption, I did get her vet history paperwork though.

i mostly get bulk bags from Zooplus of dry food, no wet food. They don’t like the new flavour I’ve got though so it’s kind of an enforced diet lol.

she does go outside, she has ‘moved out’ a few times since we’ve had her, lived in a neighbours garden for a while, lived in our garden all summer. We have had builders in and she doesn’t like them but that almost at an end now. Maybe that will help.

As you're not flea-treating regularly then, fleas or even a flea allergy would be the first thing to investigate. This really could be as simple as a flea problem.

My friends cat was allergic to fleas and he looked very much how you describe your poor cat … try some proper flea treatments (from the vet not rubbish shop
ones) on a regular basis and treat her bedding and everything else she uses regularly.

it worked really well for Kuma so hopefully it’ll do the same for Wilma.

You can get a 6 monthly flea injection from the vet. Much better than having to remember to put the stuff on their neck each month.

Thanks and I know I could do better with the treatments, it is trickier only getting the drops from the vets and they will only sell me 3 at a time (I have 3 cats), life gets in the way and I don’t always get to the vets at the right times.

how would we know for sure it’s a flea allergy?

This sounds like a much better plan, far easier for me and them too, as they all hate the drops. What’s is called? Never had it offered.

My itchy balding cat turned out to have an allergy. Might have been chicken or wheat, never found out. Changed to James Wellbeloved duck hypoallergenic (uses duck as it's a rare protein) and she lived out her final years fully furred and non itchy.
Fwiw we were also told flea allergy. It wasn't.

I have a cat with multiple allergies, and decent flea and worming treatments are essential. We use credelio for fleas - it’s a tablet we get from the vet that we crush into a bit of tuna once a month. We also give milbemax tablets for worms the same way. Collars and drops are not generally recommended for cats with skin allergies. Once you get the flea treatment sorted and she’s still itching, I’d suggest some allergy testing. Our vet took biopsies of the inflamed area on her head, and figured out she’s allergic to some types of grasses. She’s stable on treatment now, but she used to scratch lumps off her skin and was a right mess.

I think it starts as a flea allergy and then the poor cat becomes sensitised to it and over-grooms which makes the skin more sensitive and even bare in patches …it’s a vicious circle so if the spot-on treatments can break that cycle it should work. Kuma looked like an entirely new cat very quickly and was so much happier!

Mine is an overgrooming itchy boy!
He has bravecto for fleas (lasts 3 months I think) and steroid jabs. Antihistamines are another option

Ah ok just read these new posts, may well be something else then but at least if you’ve treated for fleas it’ll either work and you’ll know it’s that or you can rule it out as the problem, best of luck!

I can't help wondering whether stress might be at least part of the problem. Have you tried a Feliway plug-in? They do one for multi-cat households.

Lots of great info out there thanks all.

I can look into hypo allergenic food, although all 3 will have to have the same realistically.

I obvs need to start with cracking down on the flea drops, and worming possibly. If I could get the injection that would be so much better though. I might ring them and ask if they do it.
as I’m already considering changing vets I can try ringing around others too.

if I can rule out a flea allergy then we could move forward with other issues.

I had the feliway plug ins for a good while as the other two cats don’t get on (the brother & my pre existing cat) so thought it might help. Never noticed an impact if I’m honest, tried the usual feliway and the multi cat feliway too.

My cat is allergic to lots of things, and has been an itchy balding sad beast in the past. These days his allergies are well managed with antihistamines every morning and Apoquel twice daily. The Apoquel has been a total game changer.

My cats did well with Itch subscription flea treatments - it's cheaper than vets ones but still very effective. You do have to stay on top of it though and treat monthly. One of my cats had a flea allergy and would get covered in sores and scabs if got bitten

www.vet.cornell.edu/departments-centers-and-institutes/cornell-feline-health-center/health-information/feline-health-topics/food-allergies

We had two cats at the time; both switched to the duck hypoallergenic food. It doesn't harm non-allergic cats.

Poor cat. She sounds miserable. You need to sort this out.
Flea allergy would be my first call too. Even one flea can make a lot of itchiness and soreness. Or food allergy. But overgrooming is also the sign of an unhappy cat, so you need to persevere to get to the bottom of it.

It could be a reaction to fleas. Or mites. Or a food intolerance. Or stress. Or just a general allergy.

Btw over the counter flea treatments are not strong enough, and in some areas the fleas are resistant to a certain treatment but your vet will know all this. Going to pets at home for the cheaper stuff is not cost effective since they generally don't work properly.

Whatever it is you need a vet assessment, and keep going until you find out what it is. Or change vets, or get a second opinion. Any blood tests offered? Its awful to think she's been suffering for so long. If you don't want to be bothered by her then see if a rehoming centre will take her. Its perfectly acceptable to say this cat and/or its behaviour is to much for me to handle right now.

Can I get antihistamines and this Apoquel online? I will Google.
I need to be liberated from getting to the vet all the time, they aren’t that accessible.
I wish I could do more for her but like I said she isn’t that into me and doesn’t come near me so I find it challenging.
just want to get some cream on her or something to ease the itch.

I am not using the cheap standard stuff as we’ve already moved onto the vet flea drops.

I have nowhere said I can’t be bothered with her, I feel so bad for her and wish I could do more, I would think that’s evident but sorry for not making it clearer.

I get the prescription for Apoquel from my vets for a 6 month supply. The antihistamines are over the counter from Boots. He’s a big lad so he has half a tablet once a day.

Advantage is the only non-prescription one which works, but there are reports of resistance in some areas.

Itch has the same active ingredient as Frontline which is as good as useless these days in most areas.

Bravecto is 3-monthly spot on so might be a good option.

You can buy Drontal worming tablets at an online vet pharmacy very cheaply.

Thank you @TheMousePipes v useful info.

I feel I can go to the vets armed with proper questions this time;

flea injections to last longer
apoquel prescription
find out about antihistamines for cats
work on food allergy research