My poor cat...

[sinwagon]

I don't know what is going on with my poor cat. He itches huge patches, I mean chunks of hair off of himself until it is exposed raw flesh!

I used to think it was the other cat beating him up but he is way bigger than the other cat and then I noticed in his back claws, blood and skin. He tears up around his neck and sometimes it is a complete ring like his throat has been slit and around his face and ears. Right now he has a huge spot on this back right behind the shoulder blades. I don't even know how he reaches that. Its about the size of the palm of my hand!

I have taken him to his regular vet, they gave him a cortizone shot and a $28 bag of food, that did nothing. I took him to a different vet and paid extra money to make it an emergency visit. I insisted they do blood work. They did, they found nothing.

That vet gave me an antibiotic and ofcourse i could never give it to him because after the tramatic visit to the vet, he went into hiding and wouldn't let anyone near him. If I got near him to give him one dose, I surely was not going to get near him the next day.

That vet also told me to go to rockville to a dermatologist. Uh..ok I have just paid 2 different vets THIS TIME (paid others before) to figure this out and I look like I have more money for a dermatologist?

I don't know what to do. I am thinking that I am going to get him declawed after Christmas because atleast that will prevent him from scratching himself up.

But..do you think that is cruel to declaw him (he is strictly indoors) if he is actually suffering from some kind of itch? I truely believe it is an anxiety thing because he has always been really weird about certain things. I'm thinking that if I declaw him he won't keep hurting himself but it would be so frustrating if he is itching and cant actually scratch it.

Any advice would be appreciated???

[Sonsie]

My male cat who is fat, lazy, fixed, and very relaxed for some unknown reason will pull huge tufts of hair out out his hindquarters, tail, and back. This leaves bald spots randomly all over. After many trips to the vet, tests of all kind, and second opinions the vet came to one conclusion. Cat anti-depressants. I've resigned myself to a moth-eaten cat and hair all over the house. He is still just as laid back as ever without drugs and I think he does it out of boredom in spite of the endless company he has.

Since your cat is actually injuring himself maybe declawing is your best option after all.

[dmarc]

I had a similar problem with a senior female. Turned out she was allergic to the dry food she was eating. Try a sample pack of dry food that is not corn or fish-based like Pro Plan - Turkey and Barley - available at PETCO and PETSMART and see what happens. The other possibility is that your cat is neurotic.

[baileydog]

You could go to Petco and buy a pair of booties for him and try that. They arent that expensive. keeping them on may be a hassle but its better than hurting himself. Good luck. poor kitty.

[Toxick]

Originally Posted by baileydog

You could go to Petco and buy a pair of booties for him and try that. They arent that expensive. keeping them on may be a hassle but its better than hurting himself. Good luck. poor kitty.

You can also make booties with saran wrap and garbage bag twist-ties.

[baileydog]

what if he trys to eat them off, all that plastic is a no no.

[dawn (Premo)]

Originally Posted by sinwagon

I don't know what is going on with my poor cat. He itches huge patches, I mean chunks of hair off of himself until it is exposed raw flesh!

I used to think it was the other cat beating him up but he is way bigger than the other cat and then I noticed in his back claws, blood and skin. He tears up around his neck and sometimes it is a complete ring like his throat has been slit and around his face and ears. Right now he has a huge spot on this back right behind the shoulder blades. I don't even know how he reaches that. Its about the size of the palm of my hand!

I have taken him to his regular vet, they gave him a cortizone shot and a $28 bag of food, that did nothing. I took him to a different vet and paid extra money to make it an emergency visit. I insisted they do blood work. They did, they found nothing.

That vet gave me an antibiotic and ofcourse i could never give it to him because after the tramatic visit to the vet, he went into hiding and wouldn't let anyone near him. If I got near him to give him one dose, I surely was not going to get near him the next day.

That vet also told me to go to rockville to a dermatologist. Uh..ok I have just paid 2 different vets THIS TIME (paid others before) to figure this out and I look like I have more money for a dermatologist?

I don't know what to do. I am thinking that I am going to get him declawed after Christmas because atleast that will prevent him from scratching himself up.

But..do you think that is cruel to declaw him (he is strictly indoors) if he is actually suffering from some kind of itch? I truely believe it is an anxiety thing because he has always been really weird about certain things. I'm thinking that if I declaw him he won't keep hurting himself but it would be so frustrating if he is itching and cant actually scratch it.

Any advice would be appreciated???

If you cat is full grown the vet may not declaw. My cats are 5 and the lightest one weighs 9 pounds, my vet would not declaw my cats because they weighed too much. They would not able to walk on their feet for a few days or more because their weight would put too much pressure on their paws, so they refused to declaw.

Good luck

[mAlice (Premo)]

I went through this with my cat some years ago. They never did figure out what was wrong with him. Whatever it was moved to the inside as well. I don't know how he survived, but it reached a point where I couldn't bear to see him so miserable anymore.

Before I put him down, he had lost almost all of his hair and had little sores almost everywhere he could reach, went from a healthy 13 lb's to about 7 lbs, most everything he ate came back up, and what didn't would give him diarrhea.

[sockgirl77 (Premo)]

Same thing is happening with my mom's dog. Vet told her to put yogurt to help with the runs. It's working. But, she's spent $1400 in the past 2 weeks on vet bills.

[belvak (Premo)]

Try these. Won't stop the scratching, but will stop kitty from hurting itself. Ally has her pretty pink ones on in this pic.