I need help with my cats health problem please!

I’m having some serious problems with my new cat (see his photo on my profile)
and I hope someone has had a similar experience and can help him out.

I rescued Pumpkin from a dumpster at work 2 months ago. I had seen him
hanging around for about a month before that. Best guess is that he is 18
months old. He had diarrhea and bad gas from day 1, but I thought this might
be from him eating garbage, mice, birds, etc. I had him tested for all the
deadly stuff before I put him in with my other cats. I also had him neutered.

The diarrhea continued and he tested positive for roundworms. He has since
been dewormed for those and tape worms. Two days after his last roundworm
dose he started licking his rear right leg. The next day while I was at work
he had an open sore on the right side from his tail to his foot. He
previously had a sore on his belly that had healed. The only other mark on
him is redness on the tips of his ears which hasn’t changed from when I
brought him home 2 months ago.

I thought he might be having problems with other internal parasites and
started him on GSE by mouth and sprayed on his skin, diluted as per the
instructions for cat parasites. This is supposed to kill all internal
parasites and any skin fungus. I also switched him to boiled chicken and rice
and put a cone on him so he could heal. I have also tried Arsicium to ease
the diarrhea, but that didn’t help him much.

On the rice and chicken the diarrhea got a little better as he only had to go
twice a day instead of many times, but if you removed the cone he would still
grab the skin on his back thigh and leg or belly and pull at it. He grabs it
so hard that you have to pull his jaws apart to get him to let go. No
external salve or spray made any difference.

The vet tested for mange, scabies, and mites and sent a sample to be tested
for roundworm. All were negative. The latest fecal test was also negative.
The vet doesn’t know the cause but prescribed Amoxicillin and Prednisone.
Neither seems to be making any difference at this time and I’m not a big fan
of using either for an unknown condition.

He shows no other signs of being a sick cat. Plenty of energy and very
lovable. He is fine until he eats, then has to use the litter box within a
few minutes. He then tries to bite himself and keeps at it for about 15
minutes to half an hour. After that he seems fine. During this time he will
also get very aggressive towards the other cats. His diarrhea is yellow with
streaks of bright red blood.

The only other info I can think to tell you is that the regular food my cats
get is Wellness. I alternate between the dry and canned, but haven’t used the
canned because of the diarrhea. Water is filtered and I use glass bowls. It’s
winter so the humidity is very low. He sleeps through the night without
problems, normally on top of me. None of the other cats exhibit skin problems
or diarrhea.
I’ve used natural remedies in the past with great success, but am not sure
how to go at this. Is this an internal problem that is painful causing him to
tear at his skin or is this a skin problem that upsets his internal organs????
? There are no holistic vets within 200 miles and I’ve spent a small fortune
on traditional treatment. I've found in the past that all the local vets
tackle problems in the same manner so changing vets will probably only add to
the expense. My next route would probably be a natural detox solution to
flush out any toxins followed by something to settle stomach problems. Has
anyone seen a problem like this? Pumpkin thanks you for your help.

Has your cat been tested for ringworm?

Rhonda

catmandoug wrote:
I’m having some serious problems with my new cat (see his photo on my profile)
and I hope someone has had a similar experience and can help him out.

I rescued Pumpkin from a dumpster at work 2 months ago. I had seen him
hanging around for about a month before that. Best guess is that he is 18
months old. He had diarrhea and bad gas from day 1, but I thought this might
be from him eating garbage, mice, birds, etc. I had him tested for all the
deadly stuff before I put him in with my other cats. I also had him neutered.

The diarrhea continued and he tested positive for roundworms. He has since
been dewormed for those and tape worms. Two days after his last roundworm
dose he started licking his rear right leg. The next day while I was at work
he had an open sore on the right side from his tail to his foot. He
previously had a sore on his belly that had healed. The only other mark on
him is redness on the tips of his ears which hasn’t changed from when I
brought him home 2 months ago.

I thought he might be having problems with other internal parasites and
started him on GSE by mouth and sprayed on his skin, diluted as per the
instructions for cat parasites. This is supposed to kill all internal
parasites and any skin fungus. I also switched him to boiled chicken and rice
and put a cone on him so he could heal. I have also tried Arsicium to ease
the diarrhea, but that didn’t help him much.

On the rice and chicken the diarrhea got a little better as he only had to go
twice a day instead of many times, but if you removed the cone he would still
grab the skin on his back thigh and leg or belly and pull at it. He grabs it
so hard that you have to pull his jaws apart to get him to let go. No
external salve or spray made any difference.

The vet tested for mange, scabies, and mites and sent a sample to be tested
for roundworm. All were negative. The latest fecal test was also negative.
The vet doesn’t know the cause but prescribed Amoxicillin and Prednisone.
Neither seems to be making any difference at this time and I’m not a big fan
of using either for an unknown condition.

He shows no other signs of being a sick cat. Plenty of energy and very
lovable. He is fine until he eats, then has to use the litter box within a
few minutes. He then tries to bite himself and keeps at it for about 15
minutes to half an hour. After that he seems fine. During this time he will
also get very aggressive towards the other cats. His diarrhea is yellow with
streaks of bright red blood.

The only other info I can think to tell you is that the regular food my cats
get is Wellness. I alternate between the dry and canned, but haven’t used the
canned because of the diarrhea. Water is filtered and I use glass bowls. It’s
winter so the humidity is very low. He sleeps through the night without
problems, normally on top of me. None of the other cats exhibit skin problems
or diarrhea.
I’ve used natural remedies in the past with great success, but am not sure
how to go at this. Is this an internal problem that is painful causing him to
tear at his skin or is this a skin problem that upsets his internal organs????
? There are no holistic vets within 200 miles and I’ve spent a small fortune
on traditional treatment. I've found in the past that all the local vets
tackle problems in the same manner so changing vets will probably only add to
the expense. My next route would probably be a natural detox solution to
flush out any toxins followed by something to settle stomach problems. Has
anyone seen a problem like this? Pumpkin thanks you for your help.

Yes, sorry but I wrote roundworm where I should have put ringworm. They took
a skin sample and sent it to a lab.

On Thu 28 Dec 2006 02:40:07p, catmandoug wrote in
rec.pets.cats.health+behav news:6b7323036f7e1@uwe:

The vet tested for mange, scabies, and mites and sent a sample
to be tested for roundworm. All were negative. The latest fecal
test was also negative. The vet doesnƒ Tt know the cause but
prescribed Amoxicillin and Prednisone. Neither seems to be
making any difference at this time and Iƒ Tm not a big fan of
using either for an unknown condition.


I don't blame you there. What about fleas? Even if you don't see
any fleas, it only takes a bite from a single flea to cause an
allergic reaction. Your cat could swallow that flea while grooming
the itch, and in the meantime, kitty has an allergic reaction to
the bite.

Your vet prescribed those drugs to cure a secondary infection
caused by biting the itch. The prednisone was prescribed because it
usually is effective on allergic reactions, though my cat responds
faster to Depo Medrol shots (also a steroid, but long lasting, and
comes with its own set of side effects).

Common allergens are flea bites, food, pollen, dust mites, mold
spores. Contact allergies could be perfumes in kitty litter,
cleaning agents.

I have a cat with horrible allergies resulting in the last 5 years
of misery for him and my bank account. My cat is actually allergic
to cat dander among a lot of other atopic allergens.

--
Cheryl

Poor kitty, that must be miserable.

Only experience we've had that may relate is a cat that developed hair
loss on his face overnight. The area kept growing and became something
like a stripe of pink skin showing from beside his eye to down his
cheek. He scratched at it, but the hair just fell out and left a big,
bald area.

The vet suspected food allergies. Has your vet talked about that at all?
Our stand-in vet gave Bob a shot of steroids, which triggered diabetes,
and all hell broke loose after that. Food allergies were not the main
problem from that point on...

Anyway, down the line he got digestive problems which the vet thought
was IBD, possibly related to food allergies. We put him on IVD-brand
food for allergic cats. It contains one novel protein (like duck or
rabbit) and one odd starch (like peas.) It does not have corn, beef,
wheat, or all of the other things that cats can be allergic to.

If obvious things are ruled out, you might talk to the vet about putting
your cat on a food allergy diet -- see what he/she thinks about that.

Hope you can find out what's happening.

Rhonda

catmandoug wrote:
Yes, sorry but I wrote roundworm where I should have put ringworm. They took
a skin sample and sent it to a lab.

The Prednisone seems to be calming the licking and biting but the diarrhea is
10 times worse. My guess is that's from the antibiotics because they always
mess up my tummy too. He could have gotten bit by just about anything when
he was in the wild and we still have spyders and those nasty aisian beatles
in the house even though it's winter. If it were mites or fleas wouldn't they
move to another part of his body? Just in case I'm going to try a mild flea
dip using GSE as soon as he is healed enough so that it won't sting his
wounds. Thanks for your ideas!

--
Message posted via CatKB.com
http://www.catkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx...ealth/200612/1

Don't use a flea dip on him if he is sick. Do you know how to check
for fleas? They leave little black debris in the fur. Part the fur
and see if he has any. If not, there is no reason to expose him to
more chemicals in his weakened state.

catmandoug via CatKB.com wrote:
The Prednisone seems to be calming the licking and biting but the diarrhea is
10 times worse. My guess is that's from the antibiotics because they always
mess up my tummy too. He could have gotten bit by just about anything when
he was in the wild and we still have spyders and those nasty aisian beatles
in the house even though it's winter. If it were mites or fleas wouldn't they
move to another part of his body? Just in case I'm going to try a mild flea
dip using GSE as soon as he is healed enough so that it won't sting his
wounds. Thanks for your ideas!

--
Message posted via CatKB.com
http://www.catkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx...ealth/200612/1

What I've used is a white plastic flea comb. That really helps show any
little specks of flea dirt.

Rhonda

Buddy's Mom wrote:
Don't use a flea dip on him if he is sick. Do you know how to check
for fleas? They leave little black debris in the fur. Part the fur
and see if he has any. If not, there is no reason to expose him to
more chemicals in his weakened state.

catmandoug via CatKB.com wrote:

The Prednisone seems to be calming the licking and biting but the diarrhea is
10 times worse. My guess is that's from the antibiotics because they always
mess up my tummy too. He could have gotten bit by just about anything when
he was in the wild and we still have spyders and those nasty aisian beatles
in the house even though it's winter. If it were mites or fleas wouldn't they
move to another part of his body? Just in case I'm going to try a mild flea
dip using GSE as soon as he is healed enough so that it won't sting his
wounds. Thanks for your ideas!

--
Message posted via CatKB.com
http://www.catkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx...ealth/200612/1

A very good point. I was going to use the grapefruit seed extract solution as
a dip but I have to wait till the sores heal. It's not supposed to have any
side effects except you can't get it near the eyes because it will burn. I
don't suspect fleas because I would probably have been bitten or one of the
other cats would be scratching by now. I still do suspect a parasite that you
can't see with your eyes. That solution is supposed to kill those too. The
way he quickly bites at himself is similar to how a dog would bite at ticks
or fleas.

I did test the GSE solution on an open cut I had to see if it has much sting
to it. If mixed as they say to do it you can't detect any sting. I suspect
it's not the miracle cure they sell it to be, but some of the uses they list
for it have merit.

--
Message posted via CatKB.com
http://www.catkb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx...ealth/200612/1

Amber has had a raw bald spot on her left side for about two months. I
took her to the vet today and he gave her a cortisone shot. He said it
was an auto-immune problem possibly related to stress and should clear
up quickly after the shot but may re-occur again in a few months. I
waited to take her because the vet that I trust left the practice where
he had been and just opened up his own practice. He had treated Amber
for the same condition last summer.


---MIKE---
In the White Mountains of New Hampshire
(44° 15' N - Elevation 1580')