Self destructive baby!

My cat, Figaro is 4 years old. Last year, she started scratching herself to the point of bleeding, and scratching her whiskers off completely. We took her to the vet immediately, and they suggested cutting all the typical meats out of her diet. We now feed her Venison and Rabbit meat only. This worked almost immediately. However, we went on vacation last summer and bought a different brand of food, only to find that it had chicken by-product. We've had her back on her regular food for nearly 7 weeks now, and although we want to give her at least 8 to make sure its working, I feel so sad just to look at her. She has wounds all over her head, and she just keeps scratching at them. Every time she sits on my lap, I end up with blood on my shirt because she's almost always bleeding. She has licked all the fur off her belly, and lately she's been talking a lot at night (yes, she's been spayed). Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get her to stop at least the scratching until she is able to heal and the new food starts working? :cry:

Thanks,

Rachel

 

ask your vet about giving her Benadryl. I know cats can take it for its antihistimine effects but since your cat has severe allergies already I wouldn't use it unless your vet recommends it and gives you the correct dosage

 

Hi and welcome to Auspet. I am so sorry your kitty is not feeling well. I'm assuming the vet recommended that you switch foods, due to allergies? However, did the vet actually run specific allergy tests on your cat? If not, they are just speculating that your kitty is allergic to certain meats. In which case there is no guarantee that this new diet will be effective. Unfortunately there are so many possible causes of allergies as well as other causes that may lead a cat to self mutilation (such as behavioral/mental). My advice to you would be to seek out a second opinion from another vet. I'm assuming that you have already ruled out all possible behavioral problems such as stress from either another person and/or animal, skin irritations (such as mites/fleas). I'm a firm believer in second opinions. I wish your kitty all the best and I hope a solution will soon be found.

 

Hi, and welcome to the kitty-cat-chat :wink:

I don't know anything about your situation, so i don't have any advice for you.
I just want you to know that you have my sympathy. This sound like an awful situation, seeing your baby in pain but not being able to help her...
I'm so sorry for you :cry: and i hope everything turns out ok!

 

:m23: and welcome. Getting a second opinion is a good idea. Is there anyway you can put a cat collar that deters her from scratching her head until she heals? This is probably not the case but I read it somewhere that a cat can severely scratch themselves in the head if they have brain tumors. Did your vet rule that out? I don't mean to scare you or anything. It's just a thought. BTW, do you have pics of Figaro to share? :mrgreen:

 

perhaps you could try booties like they have for sled dogs to cover her claws. when i was little and my siblings and i had chicken pox, my mom put socks over our hands at night to keep us from scratching. not sure if that would work, but its an idea.

 

You are all so sweet!

Wow! I'm amazed at how many responses I've gotten and so quickly! Thank you all so much for your advice. I will call the vet and ask about the Benadryl. I'm pretty sure that it is the food, since it worked once before, but I've already decided that if her situation hasn't improved drastically by Thanksgiving, she's going back in for a full look over. Thank you for warning me about the possibility of brain tumors. I will be sure that they rule that out. It does break my heart to see and hear her in pain like this. I had seen those collars they have for dogs, but I've never seen them for cats. I will look around for one, or ask my vet about it.

I really appreciate all your concern and empathy. I really appreciate it and am moved by how caring you all are. It just goes to show that it is true what they say about animal lovers being the warmest, most caring people!

 

Oh, by the way...

Here are some pictures of Figaro, and her brother Kashmir. Kashy is the one with the long hair, Fig is the one with the shorter hair.

 

They are so cute! :m10: :qm3:

 

My toddler son when he was an infant used to have milk and other food allergies and he would scratch himself bloody especially on the face and head and belly so I really sympathize with Figaro. She can't help herself. I hope the new food will take care of her allergies!

 

They are adorable! :love_y_t_much:

 

They are beautiful. Thanks for posting their pics.

 

Your cats are beautiful.