Feline Pruritus

Here we go with Shamrock going into Spring and another heartbreaking
episode of pruritus with lesions (sometimes bloody) flare-up. I
already know what he's allergic to, but all attempts so far to try to
control reaction either fail, eventually fail, or cause upset
stomach. And the never-ending worry of side-effects. Eliminating the
allergen is just impossible. I wanted to see if it would be safe
(relatively) for him to have a steroid shot on top of cyclosporine
treatment. Last year Depo shots basically stopped working for him.

Found this interesting article about his issues, and I know from
reading her for this long that he is not alone.

http://www.utskinvet.org/ce/felinepruri04.pdf



--
Cheryl

On Thu 05 Apr 2007 08:54:19p, Cheryl wrote in
rec.pets.cats.health+behav :




Sorry to bore you all with Shamrock's never ending allergy problems
but I hope something can help someone down the road. I just want to
add that sometimes a quick relief can come from those pet
hydrocortisone sprays for "hot spots" but I never had any luck using
them because it is stressful for the cat to be sprayed, and they just
lick it off. I've found a way to apply it that reduces stress,
reduces the awful wet feeling they hate, but applies it concentrated
right to the spot. I spray it on a gauze "sponge" and hold it on his
skin while stroking his face and neck, and softly talking to him. It
doesn't leave him "dripping" and he doesn't immediately go lick it
off. Works with the cleanser liquid I got from the vets, too.

--
Cheryl

on Fri, 06 Apr 2007 01:04:52 GMT, Cheryl
wrote:

Sorry to bore you all with Shamrock's never ending allergy problems
but I hope something can help someone down the road. I just want to
add that sometimes a quick relief can come from those pet
hydrocortisone sprays for "hot spots" but I never had any luck using
them because it is stressful for the cat to be sprayed, and they just
lick it off. I've found a way to apply it that reduces stress,
reduces the awful wet feeling they hate, but applies it concentrated
right to the spot. I spray it on a gauze "sponge" and hold it on his
skin while stroking his face and neck, and softly talking to him. It
doesn't leave him "dripping" and he doesn't immediately go lick it
off. Works with the cleanser liquid I got from the vets, too.

I appreciate it when people post their results here to be archived. I
always read them thinking, "I sure hope I never need this information,
but thank goodness it's here in case I need it or someone else needs
it." So no, you're not boring anyone. I have a special affinity for
Shamrock, you know, so I hope you can find the right combination of meds
for him so he can get some relief.

FWIW, one of my long-ago boys had terrible flea allergies. This was in
the days before Frontline or any other topical flea treatment (except
those for horses), so preventing bites was near-impossible. And all it
took was one bite to set his allergies off and it was horrible for him.
During flea season he got prednisone, the lowest effective dose (found
through experimentation). He wasn't on it year round, which made me feel
better, and we never saw any long term problems. It definitely gave him
relief, but it would of course have been very risky if he had needed
surgery while he was on it. I'd definitely consider prednisone if you
have exhausted all of your other options. Quality of life is at least as
important as quantity of life.

--
Lynne

On 6 Apr, 02:41, Cheryl wrote:
On Thu 05 Apr 2007 09:29:00p, Lynne wrote in
rec.pets.cats.health+behav
om:

FWIW, one of my long-ago boys had terrible flea allergies. This
was in the days before Frontline or any other topical flea
treatment (except those for horses), so preventing bites was
near-impossible. And all it took was one bite to set his
allergies off and it was horrible for him. During flea season
he got prednisone, the lowest effective dose (found through
experimentation). He wasn't on it year round, which made me
feel better, and we never saw any long term problems. It
definitely gave him relief, but it would of course have been
very risky if he had needed surgery while he was on it. I'd
definitely consider prednisone if you have exhausted all of your
other options. Quality of life is at least as important as
quantity of life.

Interesting enough, the allergy tests he was given didn't indicate
flea allergy for him -- it was certain pollens (including a couple
of trees which is high now; some grasses which will be high in a
couple of months), mold spores, dust and dust mites, cat dander.
Cats exhibit allergy symptoms to these mostly in their skin where
humans would get the sniffles and runny eyes. I treated for flea
allergy for about 6 months before ruling that out even before he
was tested. Depo Medrol used to work for him. That's why I had to
seek another relief. I believe in quality of life, too. He might
have a shortened life trying to keep him comfortable. He's
miserable without aggressive treatment. My current vet is new for
him and I wrote her his whole history and I even wrote that at one
time I considered euthanisia because nothing would help him. After
thousands of dollars of tests and trial treatments. I hate thinking
that, but you'd have to see him tearing his skin off when it used
to get so bad. I had to put my foot down and demand treatment that
might be risky just to keep him comfortable. We went through the
tests. We knew what it was.

--
Cheryl

Reading your story really does break my heart. I am sorry that you &
your cat (Shamrock?) have been through so much. It doesn't seem
fair...

I will continue to search to see if I can find any further
information that might be of some use to you, though somehow I doubt
that I will find anything that you haven't already found and tried..
but there is always hope & please don't feel defeated.
Collectively, sometimes things can be made easier.....
I certainly hope so.
Your are in my thoughts & please give Shamrock a nuzzles from us all?
S;o)