Question:
We adopted our cat Aimee about a year ago from people who were to do a lot of traveling. She is now 14 years old and is fine except for a skin allergy that, her veterinarian tells us, she had before we got her. Because of this allergy, she pulls her fur out and has bare patches all over.Her doctor first gave her a cortisone shot, which worked very well for about four weeks. After that she was getting prednisone once a day for a week and thereafter every other day, but this did no good. We repeated this cortisone/prednisone process again with the same results. The vet said the cortisone shots were low dosage but he didn't want to give her any more. He suggested we try a medicated bath to ease the skin irritation. This was done at his office, but when we got home it seemed that her skin was bothering her more than ever. She would stop, wash, scratch and pull fur out by the handful.I'm wondering if you have any ideas on how to help our cat. Could it be something other than an allergy? She eats both dry cat food
D. & P.B., Springfield, Mo Oct 15, 2006
Answer:
Poor Aimee deserves to see another veterinarian -- how she has suffered! The long-term use of prednisone and repeated injections of cortisone borders on malpractice. To give the cat a medicated bath is adding insult to injury if no skin infection was diagnosed.Aimee's symptoms call for some diagnostic tests, the first to check her thyroid function. Cats with a hyperactive thyroid often become hair-pullers. Second, check for possible food allergies, especially corn (cornstarch, meal and gluten). There are other possible reasons for Aimee's self-mutilation, and a feline veterinary specialist may get to the bottom of the problem if a regular veterinarian is unable to do so.
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