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Cat advice from any of you long term owners as this is my first cat, only had dogs until now...

Have a young cat, about 1.5 years old. He was a very shy rescue that was near death when we got him, but he mellowed and changed into a lovely friendly and happy cat.

Anyway, he started developing scabs about a year ago, mostly around his neck, that he itched and licked incessantly and he moulted loads and it all drove him a bit mad. His behavior changed a bit too, he'd sleep outside and not be very friendly. It coincided with getting back from a holiday and the start of the summer so it was hard to work out what was causing what tbh.

Anyway, he ended up having steroid jab from the vet as they said it was an allergy. He recovered OK, but he seems to get this thing every couple of months now, and ends up having steroid injection that clears it up. We're given him hypoallergenic food, hoovered the house, he gets de-flea stuff every month and that hasn't seemed to help, although obviously when he's out he hangs out in random gardens and eats fried chicken from the bins, so feels a bit pointless...

Most recently we got back from another trip to find he's got the same thing again, but worse, and he ended up needing steroids and antibiotics. This time though they only really worked for a week or so, and now he's got the scabs back. He's also just outside the whole time, only really coming in to eat, then he legs it out. If you grab him he'll settle for a quick cuddle but then jumps off you and runs away again. He refuses to go upstairs and he used to jump on the bed every morning to say hi and hang out a bit.

Any advice? Do cats go bonkers in the summer and really change their behavior that much? Could the behavior be connected to the allergy? Anything we can do? Vet seems to think he might need to be on low dose long term steroids.
 
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LynnDoyleCooper said:
View attachment 138320

Cat advice from any of you long term owners as this is my first cat, only had dogs until now...

Have a young cat, about 1.5 years old. He was a very shy rescue that was near death when we got him, but he mellowed and changed into a lovely friendly and happy cat.

Anyway, he started developing scabs about a year ago, mostly around his neck, that he itched and licked incessantly and he moulted loads and it all drove him a bit mad. His behavior changed a bit too, he'd sleep outside and not be very friendly. It coincided with getting back from a holiday and the start of the summer so it was hard to work out what was causing what tbh.

Anyway, he ended up having steroid jab from the vet as they said it was an allergy. He recovered OK, but he seems to get this thing every couple of months now, and ends up having steroid injection that clears it up. We're given him hypoallergenic food, hoovered the house, he gets de-flea stuff every month and that hasn't seemed to help, although obviously when he's out he hangs out in random gardens and eats fried chicken from the bins, so feels a bit pointless...

Most recently we got back from another trip to find he's got the same thing again, but worse, and he ended up needing steroids and antibiotics. This time though they only really worked for a week or so, and now he's got the scabs back. He's also just outside the whole time, only really coming in to eat, then he legs it out. If you grab him he'll settle for a quick cuddle but then jumps off you and runs away again. He refuses to go upstairs and he used to jump on the bed every morning to say hi and hang out a bit.

Any advice? Do cats go bonkers in the summer and really change their behavior that much? Could the behavior be connected to the allergy? Anything we can do? Vet seems to think he might need to be on low dose long term steroids.
Click to expand...

Our cat does change her behaviour with the weather though yours sounds quite extreme. Can the vet do any tests to try and establish the cause of the allergy?

The muggy weather is flea heaven and the majority live in carpets etc, not on your cat. As well as flea stuff on the cat, we use Acclaim spray within the house. It lasts a few months at a time and works an absolute treat. We hoover a room, spray, shut the door and move onto the next room. Changing your flea treatment may help too - ours is a bit sensitive to fleas so the vet gave us a spot on for cats which is a bit more powerful than frontline etc. We know if we have a flea problem as the cat bunny hops across the carpets and sits on hard furniture she’d never normally go near. He might not be coming upstairs because of that?

Could others be feeding him? Ours can’t have cereals but we noticed next door were giving her dreamiest which made her sick. We are terrible at confrontation so did the classic passive aggressive British thing of talking loudly about her allergy when we heard them in the garden but you could put a note through the door of neighbours just making them aware to not feed him?
 
purenarcotic said:
Our cat does change her behaviour with the weather though yours sounds quite extreme. Can the vet do any tests to try and establish the cause of the allergy?

The muggy weather is flea heaven and the majority live in carpets etc, not on your cat. As well as flea stuff on the cat, we use Acclaim spray within the house. It lasts a few months at a time and works an absolute treat. We hoover a room, spray, shut the door and move onto the next room. Changing your flea treatment may help too - ours is a bit sensitive to fleas so the vet gave us a spot on for cats which is a bit more powerful than frontline etc. We know if we have a flea problem as the cat bunny hops across the carpets and sits on hard furniture she’d never normally go near. He might not be coming upstairs because of that?

Could others be feeding him? Ours can’t have cereals but we noticed next door were giving her dreamiest which made her sick. We are terrible at confrontation so did the classic passive aggressive British thing of talking loudly about her allergy when we heard them in the garden but you could put a note through the door of neighbours just making them aware to not feed him?
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. Yeah, have sprayed the house as well, but not for a while, might do that again today. Not noticed any fleas in the house though. The vet says they can do a blood test for allergies and they might consider that now as it seems to be coming back more frequently.

As for other people feeding him, we live in a really packed inner city area with loads of cats. It'd be a fruitless exercise trying to stop anyone else feeding him. My feeling is that isn't the issue really. He's quite wary of other people, can't imagine he'd go into people's house, if he's eating anything it'll be from the bins the minging beast.
 
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Problems with Molly. :( For some reason she's back to peeing and poopin on the bed. No idea why she would start that again. Things have been fine re Toby. Maybe it's because of the diabetes. No idea. But I'm not happy. And not because of having to change the duvet and bedding all the time.
But because I hate that something is distressing her enough to start doing it again.
She has a follow up vet appointment this week. Will have to mention it. :(:(:(
 
LynnDoyleCooper said:
View attachment 138320

Cat advice from any of you long term owners as this is my first cat, only had dogs until now...

Have a young cat, about 1.5 years old. He was a very shy rescue that was near death when we got him, but he mellowed and changed into a lovely friendly and happy cat.

Anyway, he started developing scabs about a year ago, mostly around his neck, that he itched and licked incessantly and he moulted loads and it all drove him a bit mad. His behavior changed a bit too, he'd sleep outside and not be very friendly. It coincided with getting back from a holiday and the start of the summer so it was hard to work out what was causing what tbh.

Anyway, he ended up having steroid jab from the vet as they said it was an allergy. He recovered OK, but he seems to get this thing every couple of months now, and ends up having steroid injection that clears it up. We're given him hypoallergenic food, hoovered the house, he gets de-flea stuff every month and that hasn't seemed to help, although obviously when he's out he hangs out in random gardens and eats fried chicken from the bins, so feels a bit pointless...

Most recently we got back from another trip to find he's got the same thing again, but worse, and he ended up needing steroids and antibiotics. This time though they only really worked for a week or so, and now he's got the scabs back. He's also just outside the whole time, only really coming in to eat, then he legs it out. If you grab him he'll settle for a quick cuddle but then jumps off you and runs away again. He refuses to go upstairs and he used to jump on the bed every morning to say hi and hang out a bit.

Any advice? Do cats go bonkers in the summer and really change their behavior that much? Could the behavior be connected to the allergy? Anything we can do? Vet seems to think he might need to be on low dose long term steroids.
Click to expand...

Just to say that he is an extremely handsome cat...lovely colouring...and gorgeous eyes.

:)
 
Even crushing it and sprinkling it over some mackerel is not enough to get Missy to eat her worming pill. I've put her treat bowl away as it is, and will get it out later in the hope that she forgets that she rejected it earlier.
 
LynnDoyleCooper said:
View attachment 138320

Cat advice from any of you long term owners as this is my first cat, only had dogs until now...

Have a young cat, about 1.5 years old. He was a very shy rescue that was near death when we got him, but he mellowed and changed into a lovely friendly and happy cat.

Anyway, he started developing scabs about a year ago, mostly around his neck, that he itched and licked incessantly and he moulted loads and it all drove him a bit mad. His behavior changed a bit too, he'd sleep outside and not be very friendly. It coincided with getting back from a holiday and the start of the summer so it was hard to work out what was causing what tbh.

Anyway, he ended up having steroid jab from the vet as they said it was an allergy. He recovered OK, but he seems to get this thing every couple of months now, and ends up having steroid injection that clears it up. We're given him hypoallergenic food, hoovered the house, he gets de-flea stuff every month and that hasn't seemed to help, although obviously when he's out he hangs out in random gardens and eats fried chicken from the bins, so feels a bit pointless...

Most recently we got back from another trip to find he's got the same thing again, but worse, and he ended up needing steroids and antibiotics. This time though they only really worked for a week or so, and now he's got the scabs back. He's also just outside the whole time, only really coming in to eat, then he legs it out. If you grab him he'll settle for a quick cuddle but then jumps off you and runs away again. He refuses to go upstairs and he used to jump on the bed every morning to say hi and hang out a bit.

Any advice? Do cats go bonkers in the summer and really change their behavior that much? Could the behavior be connected to the allergy? Anything we can do? Vet seems to think he might need to be on low dose long term steroids.
Click to expand...

yes, does sound like an allergy - possibly to flea bites

has he been 'done'? neutered cats can need a bit of help (hence the steroids) in growing fur back after any sort of problem, as their hormone levels can not be up to it.

yes, cats will wander more in summer. to some extent, it's what cats do.

according to some sources, domestic cats' habit of seeking out other sources of dinner is pretty much natural feline behaviour in the wild, where felines grasped sustainability before humans did, and they will often seek out other sources of food rather than hunt one particular pack of prey to extinction.

the behaviour thing is hard to pin down - could be a sign of a physical health thing, could be that something unpleasant has happened in one of the other places he visits. have you mentioned this to the vet?

:(
 
Puddy_Tat said:
yes, does sound like an allergy - possibly to flea bites

has he been 'done'? neutered cats can need a bit of help (hence the steroids) in growing fur back after any sort of problem, as their hormone levels can not be up to it.

yes, cats will wander more in summer. to some extent, it's what cats do.

according to some sources, domestic cats' habit of seeking out other sources of dinner is pretty much natural feline behaviour in the wild, where felines grasped sustainability before humans did, and they will often seek out other sources of food rather than hunt one particular pack of prey to extinction.

the behaviour thing is hard to pin down - could be a sign of a physical health thing, could be that something unpleasant has happened in one of the other places he visits. have you mentioned this to the vet?

:(
Click to expand...

Yeah, my guess is fleas from the loads of other cats about, and yes, he had the chop early on. Have mentioned all this behavior stuff to the vet, they just said cats do go a bit feral in the summer and didn't have much more to say. He's currently sleeping in a minging pile of wood in the garden opposite rather than where he used to in this house. He seems relaxed there though, went over and he just stretched out and yawned, so not convinced he's that traumatized by anything!
 
LynnDoyleCooper

Has your vet said anything about storage mites?

A friend told me, and when I mentioned it to the vet she said 8 was news to her.

My cat had a very scabby chin and was so itchy and twitchy that I thought he must be hyperthyroid.

But I reckon it was storage mites in the dried food. So small as to be invisible so I never saw them. I now make sure the food is stored in an airtight box, wash the bowl out far more often than I did before, and only top up the bowl when it’s empty (much to his contempt). He’s still an itcher and scratcher, but he always was from kittenhood, but the scabs and sores are all gone now, and he's a lot less twitchy.

A neighbour's cat became bald and mangy looking and it turned out to be caused by an allergy to newsprint. The cat really liked sitting on newspapers so they’d lined several boxes with newspapers for him, he was delighted of course, but it did him no good. He still likes to,sit on newspapers but his boxes are now newsprint free zones.
 
SheilaNaGig said:
LynnDoyleCooper

Has your vet said anything about storage mites?

A friend told me, and when I mentioned it to the vet she said 8 was news to her.

My cat had a very scabby chin and was so itchy and twitchy that I thought he must be hyperthyroid.

But I reckon it was storage mites in the dried food. So small as to be invisible so I never saw them. I now make sure the food is stored in an airtight box, wash the bowl out far more often than I did before, and only top up the bowl when it’s empty (much to his contempt). He’s still an itcher and scratcher, but he always was from kittenhood, but the scabs and sores are all gone now, and he's a lot less twitchy.

A neighbour's cat became bald and mangy looking and it turned out to be caused by an allergy to newsprint. The cat really liked sitting on newspapers so they’d lined several boxes with newspapers for him, he was delighted of course, but it did him no good. He still likes to,sit on newspapers but his boxes are now newsprint free zones.
Click to expand...

Yeah, we store his hypo-allergenic food in the freezer after being advised to by the vet, and take a small amount out at a time and keep that in an airtight box. And yeah wash his bowls out every day.

FFS, I have a cat that is more weird with food 'sensitivities' than my worst hippie friend. :facepalm:
 
LynnDoyleCooper said:
Yeah, we store his hypo-allergenic food in the freezer after being advised to by the vet, and take a small amount out at a time and keep that in an airtight box. And yeah wash his bowls out every day.

FFS, I have a cat that is more weird with food 'sensitivities' than my worst hippie friend. :facepalm:
Click to expand...


:D

Poor fella. I suppose his immune system might have been thrashed and trashed when he was a stray kitten.
 
LynnDoyleCooper said:
View attachment 138320

Cat advice from any of you long term owners as this is my first cat, only had dogs until now...

Have a young cat, about 1.5 years old. He was a very shy rescue that was near death when we got him, but he mellowed and changed into a lovely friendly and happy cat.

Anyway, he started developing scabs about a year ago, mostly around his neck, that he itched and licked incessantly and he moulted loads and it all drove him a bit mad. His behavior changed a bit too, he'd sleep outside and not be very friendly. It coincided with getting back from a holiday and the start of the summer so it was hard to work out what was causing what tbh.

Anyway, he ended up having steroid jab from the vet as they said it was an allergy. He recovered OK, but he seems to get this thing every couple of months now, and ends up having steroid injection that clears it up. We're given him hypoallergenic food, hoovered the house, he gets de-flea stuff every month and that hasn't seemed to help, although obviously when he's out he hangs out in random gardens and eats fried chicken from the bins, so feels a bit pointless...

Most recently we got back from another trip to find he's got the same thing again, but worse, and he ended up needing steroids and antibiotics. This time though they only really worked for a week or so, and now he's got the scabs back. He's also just outside the whole time, only really coming in to eat, then he legs it out. If you grab him he'll settle for a quick cuddle but then jumps off you and runs away again. He refuses to go upstairs and he used to jump on the bed every morning to say hi and hang out a bit.

Any advice? Do cats go bonkers in the summer and really change their behavior that much? Could the behavior be connected to the allergy? Anything we can do? Vet seems to think he might need to be on low dose long term steroids.
Click to expand...

Re the skin complaints we had a not dissimilar thing with our Paddy, who needed a steroid injection - luckily just the one seemed to work.

As puddy_tat says the scabs thing sounds like it could be flea allergy dermatitis, and as purenarcotic says changing flea treatment may help - also some flea treatments are ineffective and need changing. We had to change from Frontline to Advantage, on the vet's advice.

We had some behavioural problems with Paddy, who's also a rescue cat but much older than yours. He howled at night a lot and vomited a lot, and over-groomed. It's taken a year and a half of dietary changes and Feliway for these things to more or less go away. Other than that he's adorable - well-behaved and loving. He had clearly been a pet.

I've had quite a few cats but never a rescue cat before and they do seem more fragile, physically and mentally, than cats you pick up as kittens from another loving home. Hope you can sort him out.
 
was stroking bella this evening when I felt something under her neck. not sure why there is exposed skin and how this came about :confused:
will make an appointment with vet.

 
Aww Bella. Vet's visit won't harm but to me that looks like a bit of mild overgrooming - do you think she might have done it when stressed at the cattery? or was she fine after coming back home? Anyway, worth having a check to see it's not an allergenic thing.
 
wrt cats and allergies - it can be incredibly difficult to work out what a cat is allergic to.

Although vets can do intra-dermal tests on cats to try to work out the source of allergies, they are not very reliable in animals with a loose skin - in humans our skin is anchored by our body fat and a whole load of allergens can be tested for in a relatively small space (certainly compared to our overall surface area) and the doctor can see which small areas react or not - that is not possible in animals with skin that is loose. Also in a cat an allergy test like that requires pretty much half their body to be shaved, and that plus multiple injection sites with allergens requires a general anaesthetic (always a risk) - just to test whatever allergens they think are most likely - and if they react to more than 1 of those, it can be quite nasty.

I'm not saying don't investigate the possibility of allergy tests, just be aware that it can be quite nasty and not very accurate in cats, and isn't just a case of pop them off at the vets and get a handy list of what they are allergic to with no sedation and aftercare required - weigh up whether the issue is serious enough to make it potentially worth it.
 
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My one-eyed cat on patrol.

I’ve said this before: this is the easiest patrol he’s ever had responsibility for. He can sit there and see all comers from all sides almost without turning his head. Which is just as well seeing as he’s only got one eye and he’s half deaf too.

But he’s very strict about who can pass over the communal Back-Gate highway, which happens to be on his territory, often causing a backlog of cats waiting for permission to pass at tea time. He takes his sweet time grooming and then he’ll let them through one at a time.

55901DEC-55C8-4D5C-A0F1-7B9EB98AFEAF.jpeg
 
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trabuquera said:
Aww Bella. Vet's visit won't harm but to me that looks like a bit of mild overgrooming - do you think she might have done it when stressed at the cattery? or was she fine after coming back home? Anyway, worth having a check to see it's not an allergenic thing.
Click to expand...

could be over grooming. she was fine when back from cattery. Seems fine enough, but you never know with cats...
 
donkyboy said:
was stroking bella this evening when I felt something under her neck. not sure why there is exposed skin and how this came about :confused:
will make an appointment with vet.

Click to expand...

You know what, the exact same thing happened to Jakey the other week. It was really grazed and rough under his chin for a few days, but it was clean and healed up ok.

What caused it? My best guess was wrestling with Sonic - looked like what happens when cats are tussling and a back foot tries to push them off and takes a clump of fur out.

It wasn't serious and fur is growing back now. And he and Sonic still love one another. They still sometimes disagree about who "owns" various places around the house though - they're cats.
 
Off to the vets with Charlie later noticed a tiny white lump on her ear yesterday. Today there are many more. Anybody had any experience of this with their kittys.
Not the best pic as she won't stay still.
DSC_0390.JPG
 
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