I have a mad cat........

Hi there..
I'm posting this in the hope that someone can help me and my cat. Fizz, my
cat, started losing fur from her belly a number of months ago it has since
spread to her hind and forelegs. I have been to the vet with her several
times and nothing seems to be working. Initially the vet thought it could be
a flea allergy or dietry problem. We have changed her diet to the James
Wellbeloved brand that the vet recommended and kept her indoors with regular
flea treatments from stronghold. Since then the vet believes it could be a
psychological problem and gave me some bitter spray to stop her licking the
effected areas. I sprayed her the other day and watched as she licked the
still wet spray from her legs, does she have no tastebuds! I could just put
a collar on her which I know she would really hate but apart from that does
anyone know of anything else I can try?

Thanks in advance

Andy and Fizz.......

"ANDREW CROSS" wrote in message
...
Hi there..
I'm posting this in the hope that someone can help me and my cat. Fizz, my
cat, started losing fur from her belly a number of months ago it has since
spread to her hind and forelegs. I have been to the vet with her several
times and nothing seems to be working. Initially the vet thought it could
be
a flea allergy or dietry problem. We have changed her diet to the James
Wellbeloved brand that the vet recommended and kept her indoors with
regular
flea treatments from stronghold. Since then the vet believes it could be a
psychological problem and gave me some bitter spray to stop her licking
the
effected areas. I sprayed her the other day and watched as she licked the
still wet spray from her legs, does she have no tastebuds! I could just
put
a collar on her which I know she would really hate but apart from that
does
anyone know of anything else I can try?

Thanks in advance

Andy and Fizz.......


My cat started this when she was upset about my other cat
invading her territory. When I removed the source of anxiety
she stopped.

in article , ANDREW CROSS at
wrote on 2/14/05 3:08 PM:

Hi there..
I'm posting this in the hope that someone can help me and my cat. Fizz, my
cat, started losing fur from her belly a number of months ago it has since
spread to her hind and forelegs. I have been to the vet with her several
times and nothing seems to be working. Initially the vet thought it could be
a flea allergy or dietry problem. We have changed her diet to the James
Wellbeloved brand that the vet recommended and kept her indoors with regular
flea treatments from stronghold. Since then the vet believes it could be a
psychological problem and gave me some bitter spray to stop her licking the
effected areas. I sprayed her the other day and watched as she licked the
still wet spray from her legs, does she have no tastebuds! I could just put
a collar on her which I know she would really hate but apart from that does
anyone know of anything else I can try?

Thanks in advance

Andy and Fizz.......


Try getting a Feliway diffuser (or two depending on size of your house).
Have there been *any* changes coinciding with when this began??

My mom has a cat who will overnight lick herself raw. She is on prednisone
when it's get this bad and on occasion she's been on valium to help with her
nerves. Could it be something has upset her routine that has caused stress.

Celeste

"ANDREW CROSS" wrote in message
...
Hi there..
I'm posting this in the hope that someone can help me and my cat. Fizz, my
cat, started losing fur from her belly a number of months ago it has since
spread to her hind and forelegs. I have been to the vet with her several
times and nothing seems to be working. Initially the vet thought it could
be
a flea allergy or dietry problem. We have changed her diet to the James
Wellbeloved brand that the vet recommended and kept her indoors with
regular
flea treatments from stronghold. Since then the vet believes it could be a
psychological problem and gave me some bitter spray to stop her licking
the
effected areas. I sprayed her the other day and watched as she licked the
still wet spray from her legs, does she have no tastebuds! I could just
put
a collar on her which I know she would really hate but apart from that
does
anyone know of anything else I can try?

Thanks in advance

Andy and Fizz.......

On Mon 14 Feb 2005 04:08:35p, ANDREW CROSS wrote in
rec.pets.cats.health+behav
):

Hi there..
I'm posting this in the hope that someone can help me and my
cat. Fizz, my cat, started losing fur from her belly a number of
months ago it has since spread to her hind and forelegs. I have
been to the vet with her several times and nothing seems to be
working. Initially the vet thought it could be a flea allergy or
dietry problem. We have changed her diet to the James
Wellbeloved brand that the vet recommended and kept her indoors
with regular flea treatments from stronghold. Since then the vet
believes it could be a psychological problem and gave me some
bitter spray to stop her licking the effected areas. I sprayed
her the other day and watched as she licked the still wet spray
from her legs, does she have no tastebuds! I could just put a
collar on her which I know she would really hate but apart from
that does anyone know of anything else I can try?

Thanks in advance

Andy and Fizz.......




Andy and Fizz,
My cat Shamrock has had the same problem ever since he adopted me 3
years ago. He came to me with skin so bad that the rescue group was
convinced he'd been in fights, but when they never cleared up it
became apparent that it was self-inflicted. First they thought
fleas, but no flea dirt, no sign of fleas in the house. Checked for
fleas every time he was at the vet. He also had his skin scraped
for mites, cultured for ringworm, a short dietary elimination
program to try to determine food allergy (but he wouldn't eat the
diets tried for more than a couple of weeks) and after all this
time and it still flairs up every couple of months, the vet has
concluded EGC (Eosinophilic Granuloma Complex) by elimination of
other causes. Treatment for him is a Depo Medrol shot (steroid) as
needed every couple of months, and as much as once a month when it
gets really bad. Yes, there are potential side-effects, but nothing
else works. I feel that quality of life in Shamrock's case would be
compromised if I or the vet were to NOT give the shot just because
it MIGHT cause a problem. I still believe it is dietary in nature,
or possibly a combination of allergens that make it worse at some
times, and lesser-so at others. But his problem is not seasonal as
I've seen in other animals. He gets very mean and grumpy, too, when
it gets bad, so I don't make him suffer, and bring him to the vet
for a shot. I'd get mean if I had what he has, too.

--
Cheryl

On 2005-02-14, ANDREW CROSS wrote:

I could just put
a collar on her which I know she would really hate but apart from that does
anyone know of anything else I can try?

The collar might work. You could have a vicious circle going where
the cat licks the area which irritates it which stimulates the cat to
lick more. Maybe breaking the circle for a while will let the irritated
skin heal and you will have no more problems. I had a cat with an injured
tail that wouldn't heal because he kept biting it. We put an elizabethan
collar on him and he did fine. Cats have to lick, so he industriously
licked the inside of the collar while he had it. The main thing with
the collar is to make sure the cat can drink while wearing it.

Hopefully there isn't another environmental cause, as when the cat
develops sensitivity to carpet or whatever after years of no reaction.
The same thing happens to people sometimes.

Sometimes you have to medicate the cat (for eczema, etc.).

On 2005-02-15, Cheryl penned:

Treatment for him is a Depo Medrol shot (steroid) as needed every
couple of months, and as much as once a month when it gets really bad.
Yes, there are potential side-effects, but nothing else works. I feel
that quality of life in Shamrock's case would be compromised if I or
the vet were to NOT give the shot just because it MIGHT cause a
problem.

The vet who gave Oscar her shots said that cats tolerated steroids much better
than humans. We were only talking about two shots, though, so I don't know
that he was thinking about long-term impact ...

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

On Tue 15 Feb 2005 01:49:20p, Monique Y. Mudama wrote in
rec.pets.cats.health+behav
):

On 2005-02-15, Cheryl penned:

Treatment for him is a Depo Medrol shot (steroid) as needed
every couple of months, and as much as once a month when it
gets really bad. Yes, there are potential side-effects, but
nothing else works. I feel that quality of life in Shamrock's
case would be compromised if I or the vet were to NOT give the
shot just because it MIGHT cause a problem.

The vet who gave Oscar her shots said that cats tolerated
steroids much better than humans. We were only talking about
two shots, though, so I don't know that he was thinking about
long-term impact ...


Yeah, that's what our vet said, too. I get the feeling that
Shamrock will have long-term steroid shots. He isn't outgrowing
this problem of his.

--
Cheryl

On Mon, 14 Feb 2005 21:08:35 +0000, ANDREW CROSS wrote:

Hi there..
I'm posting this in the hope that someone can help me and my cat. Fizz, my
cat, started losing fur from her belly a number of months ago it has since
spread to her hind and forelegs. I have been to the vet with her several
times and nothing seems to be working. Initially the vet thought it could be
a flea allergy or dietry problem. We have changed her diet to the James
Wellbeloved brand that the vet recommended and kept her indoors with regular
flea treatments from stronghold. Since then the vet believes it could be a
psychological problem and gave me some bitter spray to stop her licking the
effected areas. I sprayed her the other day and watched as she licked the
still wet spray from her legs, does she have no tastebuds! I could just put
a collar on her which I know she would really hate but apart from that does
anyone know of anything else I can try?

Thanks in advance

Andy and Fizz.......


Have you considered "contact allergy"? What kind of carpet, or pillow,
or chair (etc) does the cat lie on? Just a thought. MLB