Cat scratching his face to bits

[MrsCatE]

We noticed on Friday that LittleBeast was scratching around his ears. This escalated rapidly to his eyebrows and corners of his eyes. He is scratching himself raw.

We had online (Zoom) vet consultation yesterday (couldn't get vet access at weekend) and they recommended collar and anti bac spray - both arrived this morning. Cat got collar off in 3 seconds.

We've now put him in his carrier with the hope that a few hours of restricted space will stop the scratching cycle and aid healing.

Obviously, will try and get him to vets first thing.

He's an indoor cat however, we take him out in the garden on a harness. I doubt he's been bitten or stung because the scratching is symmetrical so assume mites or strange allergy? Definitely not fleas.

He's up to date with all his shots, eating, drinking and toileting as normal.

I would be grateful for any advice. Thanks x

Many thanks @CloseItAgain and it is on order after advice from another helpful source!

I am very grateful for any suggestions / ideas for preventive measures etc because although I can see him getting better, we cannot leave the collar off without supervision. It would only take a couple of minutes before he ripped himself again and just noticed a new hole by his back, right paw.

I think give him a couple of days on these tablets and then take it off with supervision and see what happens? X

If you find a solution for this I will be delighted to read it as, as I said up thread, my cat has been suffering from an itchy head seasonally for 10 years

Will do @stclair but only effective remedy appears to be clamp on a Buster collar on asap and some sudocrem. However, will report back on Zyclene etc!

Clip his nails front and back. Our girl scratches her face raw from eczema, we had a blood test and know what she's allergic to.

She's started a corse of long term immunotherapy injections which takes the edge of it, but when she has a flare up I give her a 6 day course of steroids.

Your vet I'm sure will test him for everything.. poor baby it's horrible.

Many thanks @Ibizafun but Vet has said no way to nail down the allergen. They haven't taken any blood work or skin scrapes so I lost faith in them. LittleBeast is back there tomorrow - currently stuck to my side while I watch crap tv and is very sad

Yes there 100% is an allergy blood test. It showed ours is allergic to the microscopic meal mites in dry food, and Ivy and stinging nettles in garden.

I would find another vet that offers the test asap.

Many thanks @Ibizafun makes me even more pissed off because all the possible allergens you have mentioned are definitely stuff he will have encountered. We don't let him out by himself - MrCat takes him out on a harness in our garden however, there is also access to a more wild area.

@Ibizafun do you mind giving me an idea of how much an allergy test is please? My vet always said it could be done but was extortionate so I never went down that route.

Hi @MrsCatE DS and I are glad to hear Littlebeast is enjoying his toothbrush treatment and we hope he is on the mend soon.

MrsCatE that's just what mine's allergic to.. yours could be anything else.

We had the test a couple of years ago and I remember it was fairly expensive but I don't remember exactly how much.

If you're insured, check your insurance policy because if you're covered for immunotherapy, it doesn't really matter exactly what it is he's allergic to if it's in the environment anyway.

Steroids help short term with flare ups but are not great long term.

Positive is that vet has said we can take cone off but obviously, keep an eye on to ensure he doesn't get into another itch cycle. Vet didn't recommend allergy testing - too wide a range - so I have no idea of cost. LittleBeast is so much happier but still very clingy. He spent ages on return having a really thorough wash and I gave him a back up brush plus dampened toothbrush comb through - he's now so zonked I'm not waking him up for his lunch! Only recommendation I have is if your cat is already prone to possible allergy induced scratching, get some collars in stock (check sites re sizing etc) and sudacrem; I'm sure latter helped before vet said to stop.

Glad he's improving.

The vet is right on the allergy testing. Wide range allergy testing will likely produce a number of false positives as well as potentially false negatives, just like it does for humans. Clinical history is the most important part of allergy diagnostics.

@MrsCatE reaching out for an update on LittleBeast for DS (and me). DS has become quite invested in your DCat since he heard he was enjoying the toothbrush.

Hoping he is fully recovered. 🐾 from DS's furbaby to yours (some sort of cat message 🐱has said 🤷‍♀️)

@Cornflowers35 So lovely that you and DS are checking up! LittleBeast is much better and many thanks to both of you re toothbrush tip! He really appreciated it and also made me feel a lot better. I don't know why but I can't post pic; site will only let me post live (lovely pic of my duvet) or previous! He is loads better but we're still a bit a bit nervous. If able, i'll send you link to previous thread about when we first adopted him x

Thank you @MrsCatE for update.

I'll pass that onto DS and his furbaby.

If you areable to attach link I'd love to read that. Otherwise I will try to find it.

Love to you both,

@Cornflowers35

Hopefully, shows healing side - crossed fingers

@MrsCatE wow, that does look so much better.

LittleBeast is just so gorgeous.

Thank you for the new pics. I'll show DS when he gets home from school.

@Cornflowers35

mumsnet litter tray how to heal a heart

Aaarghh - don't know why I can't post a link but think that was title of thread

I’m so happy your beautiful boy is recovering.

Thank you @MrsCatE

Many thanks for kind messages @Cornflowers35 and @Iamacatslave
Sounds daft but really helps when you're in panic mode with an unhappy cat stuck to you asking for help. Again, I can't select pics so old pic of LittleBeast displaying his enormous feet - yes, God knows how he manages to get about with cut and join top and bottom.