Wasting time going to vets?

[Squeaky2023]

My poor, little 18 month old girl has been over grooming all summer and into winter.
She's had five trips to vets for steroid injections and hypoallergenic food.
She has been on this food for at least 10 weeks and now the steroids have worn off, she cannot leave herself alone. She is bloody and patchy and I very worried about her.
She and her sister (who get along fine) have the Feliway plug ins, top of the range flea and parasite treatment etc.
I've done everything. I don't know what else the vet can do, because I know that she cannot stay on steroids. Her appetite is fine, she gets on with the allergy food, nothing wrong with her digestion.
I just don't know what to do and I'm scared she'll die.
I feel like the vets just like the money (all insured so no problem for me) and don't really know what to do.
What would you do next?
I have just ordered cat gel stuff and have given her a quarter of a Piriton table, but my heart aches for her. It's been six months like this, back and fourth to the vet.

There is a company that does skin allergy testing you could try that?

Have they checked thyroid etc?

Are you sure your home is flea free? My cat used to attack himself he had flea dermititis

We have exactly the same issue with our cat. It's been going on since May. He used to have such thick, silky fur but now it's all patchy, spotty and raw. We've tried all the things you have. Is this the spray you've ordered?: anicura.co.uk/products/cat-gel?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAgeeqBhBAEiwAoDDhn0B4UnEcFDYlP9uJmGkUexm_d0xk8q-0hpuQkL_0K1Nr4qK-Yj5qcxoCW30QAvD_BwE
We've been using it and it does help. It really soothes each individual area (then of course he starts on another area but still!). We also got these "Allergy Aid" drops from Amazon, that help a bit.

This is going to sound bonkers, but have you tried reiki? The reason I am asking was my old boy used to rip his fur out. Nothing helped, and I was seriously considering having him PTS. Me neighbour was a Reiki healer and offered to come and see. After she did what ever she did, he stopped pulling his fur, and lived for another 10 years. I can’t explain it, but sometimes its worth a try.

Good luck

My cat had this over grooming too. Turned out to be the flea treatment

We completely stopped flea treatment a year ago and all the fur grew back and she was back to normal ( and we've had no fleas!)

Maybe go back to basics and stop anything topical

Have you tried her on a hydrolysed diet? It's not the same as hypoallergenic.

Thanks all. She is on hydrolysed food and that cat gel is currently winging it's way to us.
I am definitely going to look into reiki for her too.
We keep our two in over night, so I am wondering about putting the dreaded cone collar on her then, just to give her coat a rest.

Stick with the food my own cat has an allergy. It took around 6 months to get things under control it took the food, steroids and cyclosporine. Now 4 years on everything us controlled by the food alone.

My new rescue cat had this Her tum was completely bald.The vet said he thought it was stress from being abandoned, then living in the car shelter for months before we saw and adopted her.
Could your cat be stressed about something.?
Our cat completely stopped over grooming after a few weeks, and she ended up with fairly long silky fur for the rest of her life.

Mine stayed on steroids - he was quite elderly but he was on them for at least 5 years

My friend's groomer does Reiki, I think she must have done some the first time she groomed Betty. She was like a different cat. Not as grumpy, and much more relaxed.

Could the cat be allergic to Feliway?

I’d ask for a referral to a dermatologist

Do you use perfumed household stuff? Detergents, cleaning sprays, scented candles? Anything that has 'fragrance' at all? I had to ensure the house was allergen free for one of mine.

Currently have not only a fragrance free home, but also tried almost every litter on the market to reduce scratching, corn litter seems to be a problem, clay can cause a build up in the intestines when swallowed which leaves me with wood based, or the various, very crunchy and hard coconut shells etc. types. I buy wood based, and the least dusty I can find otherwise it is non stop scratching.

It may not be food at all.

@RestingCatsArseFace have you tried the newspaper pellet litters? Tesco has started doing an own brand, which is the same price as their clay litter. Other than that Breeder Celect is good.
I prefer it, don't like the idea of the earth being ripped up just for my cats to poo on. I know they're godesses, but....

@Kittensat36 Thank you, yes I tried the paper type. It went everywhere, cat couldn't dig in it so ended up kicking it out of the tray, trying to find deposits in it was also a challenge. If I opened the door to the garden it blew out of the tray. I suppose it might have improved?

Current one is a digger and likes a lot of litter which she then digs out of the trays and into little heaps on the floor. It took a while to get one she liked that wasn't corn based, I may have just bought a mite infected bag I suppose but never been a fan of corn based, it pongs, and at least trees are renewable. Clay litter is bad, in all respects. Over the years I have tried everything, including sand and compost.

This is not my first sensitive cat, different problems but same process of elimination, I start with dust & cleaning products before moving to food. Heating is also a problem, and non cotton bedding, so bowls of water and cotton throws.

If people realised what harm the over-scented stuff is doing to us and the environment maybe they would think carefully about drenching everything in toxic perfumes, even the 'natural' stuff is no use if you have an allergy and limonene is in almost everything, never mind the other similar stuff. Reed diffusers take skin off pets, foul stuff.

We've got the same. I have a suspicion it's fleas and although no signs perhaps the treatment just isn't working and she's getting occasional bites. I use a gel from the vet but considering the one mentioned above. I am going to buy some stuff and try to treat the house too(sorry to hijack thread OP but interested if anyone on here has recs). I do hope our poor cats get some respite soon 😥

My dog is on long term low dose steroids for life. If its the only thing that works could that be an option?