Cat dermatologist?

"Joy" wrote in message
...
Is there such a thing as a cat dermatologist? I think Nanki-Poo needs
one.

A couple of years ago, I noticed a bald spot on the back of his neck. It
was perfectly round, about the size of a penny. There were tiny blood
spots. My first thought was that a bird had pulled out a beakful of hair.
The spot bothered him, and he started digging at it. He ended up with a
nasty wound on the back of the neck, and it took quite a while to clear it
up. Even though I was using Frontline, TED was convinced it was a flea
allergy. She ignored my theory about the bird.

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed a similar spot on the back of his neck,
so I took him to TED right away. She found a similar spot on the side of
his neck. This time, neither spot bothered him, and he hasn't dug at them
at all. TED shaved around the spots and cleaned them. She also gave him
a steroid shot, and gave me some antibiotic pills to give him and told me
to come back in two weeks. She also gave (sold) me some very expensive
hypoallergenic food, because this time she had decided it was a food
allergy.

He wouldn't eat the food, although Lindy ate some of it. I finally went
back to their regular food. When we went back, the spots were pretty well
healed. However, they have become red and raw looking again.

I don't see how it could be a food allergy, since he gets pretty much the
same food all the time. He is an indoor-outdoor cat, and I suspect it
could be an allergy to something he encounters outdoors, but only
occasionally.

I'm going to have to take him back to the doctor on Monday, unless I can
come up with an alternative solution. She offered me a different kind of
hypoallergenic food last time, and I turned it down. She'll probably push
it this time. She is also likely to tell me to keep him in the house.
Unfortunately, Lindy can open the cat door if I lock it, and does as soon
as she finds it locked. That means the only way I could keep him in the
house would be to shut him in one room. I did that when he was really
sick soon after I got him, but doing it when he's perfectly healthy is
another thing. He would be miserable. Also, the only room that would
work is now filled with fernows (I'll put it here for now and figure out
what to do with it later), so he'd be really cramped.

Does anybody have any suggestions?

Did it clear up after the steroid shot? Our Sam had a 4" metal rod in a
back leg most all his life from an injury. Every spring as regular and the
sun, he got an allergic reaction on that leg. Started pulling out the fur
and chewing on it. Every spring he got one, and sometimes two steroid
shots, and it cleared up until the next spring.

The way my best allergist explained it to me, if you have things you are
allergic to and you are exposed to them, it is like stacking up blocks. Now
it doesn't much matter what each block is. And you won't have an allergic
reaction until the blocks get as high as your allergy threshold. Once
you're there, the next block will cause a reaction. Now to get rid of the
reaction, you've got to get rid of some blocks. Doesn't much matter which
ones. Just have to get rid of enough blocks to get you below the threshold.
Now some blocks are higher than others, like a shellfish allergy and have to
be avoided altogether.

That's one reason finding and treating food allergies is popular. Those are
easy blocks to remove. In my case I'm allergic to a lot of stuff, including
my dog and cats. I'm also allergic to housedust mites and lots of weed and
tree pollen. I have to watch it on the amount of some foods that have
things like wheat gluten. If I didn't have the cats and dog, the dust and
weeds wouldn't be so bad. But since I love them and need them in my life,
I'm extra careful about the other things I'm allergic to. I don't mow the
lawn (which I actually enjoy) and stay in on smoggy days. I'm careful about
dust in the house. Keep the dog out of our room. Only let the cats in at
night. Wash my hands faithfully if I've been petting the cats especially.
Keeps my hands away from my eyes so I won't transfer dander, etc. Even use
all unscented laundry stuff, and change my clothes if I've been playing with
Kayla a lot.

If Nanki Poo only has problems sporadically, I'd just watch for outbreaks
and get him a steroid shot. I'd be leery of super expensive RX pet foods,
especially since he won't eat them. But I'd watch out for the ingredients
in the pet food I did use. Avoid glutens, especially corn but wheat as
well. Lamb is supposed to be the least active meat for allergies.
Shellfish and fish might cause a problem. Egg could be a problem too.

The vets like the hypoallergenic foods in part because if the pet will eat
them, it can keep that allergy threshold down so other stuff won't bother
them. Plus its a great profit center.

I don't know if there are steroid creams you can use locally on a cat, but
you might want to find that out too. Neosporin is my standby treatment for
anything that breaks the skin.

Jo

"Joy" wrote in message
...
"Magic Mood Jeep" wrote in message
...
"Joy" wrote in message
...
Is there such a thing as a cat dermatologist? I think Nanki-Poo needs
one.

A couple of years ago, I noticed a bald spot on the back of his neck.
It was perfectly round, about the size of a penny. There were tiny
blood spots. My first thought was that a bird had pulled out a beakful
of hair. The spot bothered him, and he started digging at it. He ended
up with a nasty wound on the back of the neck, and it took quite a while
to clear it up. Even though I was using Frontline, TED was convinced it
was a flea allergy. She ignored my theory about the bird.

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed a similar spot on the back of his neck,
so I took him to TED right away. She found a similar spot on the side
of his neck. This time, neither spot bothered him, and he hasn't dug at
them at all. TED shaved around the spots and cleaned them. She also
gave him a steroid shot, and gave me some antibiotic pills to give him
and told me to come back in two weeks. She also gave (sold) me some
very expensive hypoallergenic food, because this time she had decided it
was a food allergy.

He wouldn't eat the food, although Lindy ate some of it. I finally went
back to their regular food. When we went back, the spots were pretty
well healed. However, they have become red and raw looking again.

I don't see how it could be a food allergy, since he gets pretty much
the same food all the time. He is an indoor-outdoor cat, and I suspect
it could be an allergy to something he encounters outdoors, but only
occasionally.

I'm going to have to take him back to the doctor on Monday, unless I can
come up with an alternative solution. She offered me a different kind
of hypoallergenic food last time, and I turned it down. She'll probably
push it this time. She is also likely to tell me to keep him in the
house. Unfortunately, Lindy can open the cat door if I lock it, and
does as soon as she finds it locked. That means the only way I could
keep him in the house would be to shut him in one room. I did that when
he was really sick soon after I got him, but doing it when he's
perfectly healthy is another thing. He would be miserable. Also, the
only room that would work is now filled with fernows (I'll put it here
for now and figure out what to do with it later), so he'd be really
cramped.

Does anybody have any suggestions?


Bam-Bam gets similar, mostly on the front and sides of his neck,
occasionally on a cheek. We noticed the first one after he picked a
fight with Barney. And there was a tuft of white fur on the floor near
where the skirmish broke out. No such marks on Barney. Seems that
Bam-Bam is a bully - just not much of a fighter (more of a lover,
actually)! Seems he gets the worst out of the fights he picks - no
matter who the oponnent is!

--
http://www.firstgiving.com/nalee1131964
About my charity:
Monroe County Humane Association
Established in 1956, the MCHA is the longest standing animal welfare
organization in Monroe County. The MCHA is dedicated to "Leading,
Advocating and Educating for Animal Welfare."
Find out more at www.monroehumane.org.

Lindy and Nanki-Poo don't fight, but there are other cats in the
neighborhood. However, it seems strange that all three of the sores have
started out being almost perfectly round.

Joy



Bam-Bam's aren't round, for the most part. They're odd shapes - the shape
of whatever chunk of fur the other cat got hold of!

--
http://www.firstgiving.com/nalee1131964
About my charity:
Monroe County Humane Association
Established in 1956, the MCHA is the longest standing animal welfare
organization in Monroe County. The MCHA is dedicated to "Leading, Advocating
and Educating for Animal Welfare."
Find out more at www.monroehumane.org.

Karen wrote:

You might see if you can get some grainless wet foods and
feed just that for a while. Wellness has some (look for the little
triangle symbol on the label) and there are a few Fancy Feast flavors
that do not have grains in them (you just have to read the labels:
chicken gourmet feast and tender beef are two that are grain free.)

It surprises people to hear it, I know, but studies have shown that the
most common food allergens for cats are fish, beef and dairy products.
Even chicken is higher on the list than any of the grains.

Here's a good page from the Merck Veterinary Manual describing how to do
an elimination diet:
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/in...m/bc/70400.htm
--

Wayne M.

On 2007-08-18 19:31:39 -0500, "Joy" said:

"Karen" wrote in message
news:2007081818380816807-kchuplis@alltelnet...
On 2007-08-18 16:58:38 -0500, "Joy" said:

Is there such a thing as a cat dermatologist? I think Nanki-Poo needs one.

A couple of years ago, I noticed a bald spot on the back of his neck.
It was perfectly round, about the size of a penny. There were tiny
blood spots. My first thought was that a bird had pulled out a beakful
of hair. The spot bothered him, and he started digging at it. He ended
up with a nasty wound on the back of the neck, and it took quite a
while to clear it up. Even though I was using Frontline, TED was
convinced it was a flea allergy. She ignored my theory about the bird.

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed a similar spot on the back of his
neck, so I took him to TED right away. She found a similar spot on
the side of his neck. This time, neither spot bothered him, and he
hasn't dug at them at all. TED shaved around the spots and cleaned
them. She also gave him a steroid shot, and gave me some antibiotic
pills to give him and told me to come back in two weeks. She also gave
(sold) me some very expensive hypoallergenic food, because this time
she had decided it was a food allergy.

He wouldn't eat the food, although Lindy ate some of it. I finally
went back to their regular food. When we went back, the spots were
pretty well healed. However, they have become red and raw looking
again.

I don't see how it could be a food allergy, since he gets pretty much
the same food all the time. He is an indoor-outdoor cat, and I suspect
it could be an allergy to something he encounters outdoors, but only
occasionally.

I'm going to have to take him back to the doctor on Monday, unless I
can come up with an alternative solution. She offered me a different
kind of hypoallergenic food last time, and I turned it down. She'll
probably push it this time. She is also likely to tell me to keep him
in the house. Unfortunately, Lindy can open the cat door if I lock it,
and does as soon as she finds it locked. That means the only way I
could keep him in the house would be to shut him in one room. I did
that when he was really sick soon after I got him, but doing it when
he's perfectly healthy is another thing. He would be miserable. Also,
the only room that would work is now filled with fernows (I'll put it
here for now and figure out what to do with it later), so he'd be
really cramped.

Does anybody have any suggestions?

It really could be a food allergy. It's the most common reason besides
flea allergy I believe. Currently Pearl has a bald spot on her neck but
it is not irritated at all, so I think she grabbed a chunk of hair out
with her toe. But "hot spots" seem to be related to food and they *can*
become allergic (as we can) to anything at any time. Very often, it can
be to grains. You might see if you can get some grainless wet foods and
feed just that for a while. Wellness has some (look for the little
triangle symbol on the label) and there are a few Fancy Feast flavors
that do not have grains in them (you just have to read the labels:
chicken gourmet feast and tender beef are two that are grain free.)
Many cats with bad allergies have turned around on a raw diet, but that
is a tricky proposition to make raw food at home and switch them.
Allergies just suck all the way around.

I suppose it could be a food allergy. However, my vet is adamant that
a little wet food is okay, but they should have mostly dry food. I've
noticed that both sores look a little better than they did when I
posted.

Joy

Yes, well, most vets don't understand feline nutrition one bit. Here is
the only vet I trust on this issue:

www.catinfo.org

She and Elizabeth Hodgkins know what they are doing. Elizabeth Hodgkins
actually formulated food for Hills, but is not happy about them.

Dry food is the base of *many* illnesses and certainly a contributing
factor to allergies, diabetes, CRF, crystals and other urinary
problems. It may not be the sole cause, but it is definitely a
contributing factor. When Grant had crystals and blockage, after I got
him on all wet food, he never had a problem again. I see cat after cat
come on the diabetes board, get on insulin and off dry food and then
off insulin. Not all wet food is equal, but there are plenty out there
that are just fine and not full of fillers like dry food. The vet
community is slowly picking that up, but the big food companies are
about the sole info provider they get on nutrition at vet school and
many people don't want to deal with wet, or think it is expensive.
Well, its more expensive yet to have to treat various diseases. Trust
me, I know this.

On Sat, 18 Aug 2007 14:58:38 -0700, Joy wrote:

Is there such a thing as a cat dermatologist? I think Nanki-Poo needs
one.

A couple of years ago, I noticed a bald spot on the back of his neck. It
was perfectly round, about the size of a penny. There were tiny blood
spots. My first thought was that a bird had pulled out a beakful of hair.
The spot bothered him, and he started digging at it. He ended up with a
nasty wound on the back of the neck, and it took quite a while to clear it
up. Even though I was using Frontline, TED was convinced it was a flea
allergy. She ignored my theory about the bird.

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed a similar spot on the back of his neck,
so I took him to TED right away. She found a similar spot on the side of
his neck. This time, neither spot bothered him, and he hasn't dug at them
at all. TED shaved around the spots and cleaned them. She also gave him
a steroid shot, and gave me some antibiotic pills to give him and told me
to come back in two weeks. She also gave (sold) me some very expensive
hypoallergenic food, because this time she had decided it was a food
allergy.

He wouldn't eat the food, although Lindy ate some of it. I finally went
back to their regular food. When we went back, the spots were pretty well
healed. However, they have become red and raw looking again.

I don't see how it could be a food allergy, since he gets pretty much the
same food all the time. He is an indoor-outdoor cat, and I suspect it
could be an allergy to something he encounters outdoors, but only
occasionally.

I'm going to have to take him back to the doctor on Monday, unless I can
come up with an alternative solution. She offered me a different kind of
hypoallergenic food last time, and I turned it down. She'll probably push
it this time. She is also likely to tell me to keep him in the house.
Unfortunately, Lindy can open the cat door if I lock it, and does as soon
as she finds it locked. That means the only way I could keep him in the
house would be to shut him in one room. I did that when he was really
sick soon after I got him, but doing it when he's perfectly healthy is
another thing. He would be miserable. Also, the only room that would
work is now filled with fernows (I'll put it here for now and figure out
what to do with it later), so he'd be really cramped.

Does anybody have any suggestions?



Yes. Tell me what a fernow is. MLB

"mlbriggs" wrote in message
news
On Sat, 18 Aug 2007 14:58:38 -0700, Joy wrote:

Is there such a thing as a cat dermatologist? I think Nanki-Poo needs
one.

A couple of years ago, I noticed a bald spot on the back of his neck. It
was perfectly round, about the size of a penny. There were tiny blood
spots. My first thought was that a bird had pulled out a beakful of
hair.
The spot bothered him, and he started digging at it. He ended up with a
nasty wound on the back of the neck, and it took quite a while to clear
it
up. Even though I was using Frontline, TED was convinced it was a flea
allergy. She ignored my theory about the bird.

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed a similar spot on the back of his neck,
so I took him to TED right away. She found a similar spot on the side
of
his neck. This time, neither spot bothered him, and he hasn't dug at
them
at all. TED shaved around the spots and cleaned them. She also gave him
a steroid shot, and gave me some antibiotic pills to give him and told me
to come back in two weeks. She also gave (sold) me some very expensive
hypoallergenic food, because this time she had decided it was a food
allergy.

He wouldn't eat the food, although Lindy ate some of it. I finally went
back to their regular food. When we went back, the spots were pretty
well
healed. However, they have become red and raw looking again.

I don't see how it could be a food allergy, since he gets pretty much the
same food all the time. He is an indoor-outdoor cat, and I suspect it
could be an allergy to something he encounters outdoors, but only
occasionally.

I'm going to have to take him back to the doctor on Monday, unless I can
come up with an alternative solution. She offered me a different kind of
hypoallergenic food last time, and I turned it down. She'll probably
push
it this time. She is also likely to tell me to keep him in the house.
Unfortunately, Lindy can open the cat door if I lock it, and does as
soon
as she finds it locked. That means the only way I could keep him in the
house would be to shut him in one room. I did that when he was really
sick soon after I got him, but doing it when he's perfectly healthy is
another thing. He would be miserable. Also, the only room that would
work is now filled with fernows (I'll put it here for now and figure out
what to do with it later), so he'd be really cramped.

Does anybody have any suggestions?



Yes. Tell me what a fernow is. MLB



She did - the sentence in parenthesis. "I'll put it there FOR NOW and figure
out what to do with it later". My entire house is filled with them
(including 12 cats and a dog - I still haven't figured out what to do with
THOSE )

--
http://www.firstgiving.com/nalee1131964
About my charity:
Monroe County Humane Association
Established in 1956, the MCHA is the longest standing animal welfare
organization in Monroe County. The MCHA is dedicated to "Leading, Advocating
and Educating for Animal Welfare."
Find out more at www.monroehumane.org.

"Joy" wrote in
:

Is there such a thing as a cat dermatologist? I think Nanki-Poo needs
one.

A couple of years ago, I noticed a bald spot on the back of his neck.
It was perfectly round, about the size of a penny. There were tiny
blood spots. My first thought was that a bird had pulled out a
beakful of hair. The spot bothered him, and he started digging at it.
He ended up with a nasty wound on the back of the neck, and it took
quite a while to clear it up. Even though I was using Frontline, TED
was convinced it was a flea allergy. She ignored my theory about the
bird.

snip

Does anybody have any suggestions?

I'm inclined to think it's ringworm or something similar.

Dee

On Sun, 19 Aug 2007 07:33:16 -0400, Magic Mood Jeep wrote:

"mlbriggs" wrote in message
news
On Sat, 18 Aug 2007 14:58:38 -0700, Joy wrote:

Is there such a thing as a cat dermatologist? I think Nanki-Poo needs
one.

A couple of years ago, I noticed a bald spot on the back of his neck.
It was perfectly round, about the size of a penny. There were tiny
blood spots. My first thought was that a bird had pulled out a beakful
of hair.
The spot bothered him, and he started digging at it. He ended up with
a nasty wound on the back of the neck, and it took quite a while to
clear it
up. Even though I was using Frontline, TED was convinced it was a flea
allergy. She ignored my theory about the bird.

A couple of weeks ago, I noticed a similar spot on the back of his
neck, so I took him to TED right away. She found a similar spot on
the side of
his neck. This time, neither spot bothered him, and he hasn't dug at
them
at all. TED shaved around the spots and cleaned them. She also gave
him a steroid shot, and gave me some antibiotic pills to give him and
told me to come back in two weeks. She also gave (sold) me some very
expensive hypoallergenic food, because this time she had decided it was
a food allergy.

He wouldn't eat the food, although Lindy ate some of it. I finally
went back to their regular food. When we went back, the spots were
pretty well
healed. However, they have become red and raw looking again.

I don't see how it could be a food allergy, since he gets pretty much
the same food all the time. He is an indoor-outdoor cat, and I suspect
it could be an allergy to something he encounters outdoors, but only
occasionally.

I'm going to have to take him back to the doctor on Monday, unless I
can come up with an alternative solution. She offered me a different
kind of hypoallergenic food last time, and I turned it down. She'll
probably push
it this time. She is also likely to tell me to keep him in the house.
Unfortunately, Lindy can open the cat door if I lock it, and does as
soon
as she finds it locked. That means the only way I could keep him in
the house would be to shut him in one room. I did that when he was
really sick soon after I got him, but doing it when he's perfectly
healthy is another thing. He would be miserable. Also, the only room
that would work is now filled with fernows (I'll put it here for now
and figure out what to do with it later), so he'd be really cramped.

Does anybody have any suggestions?



Yes. Tell me what a fernow is. MLB



She did - the sentence in parenthesis. "I'll put it there FOR NOW and
figure out what to do with it later". My entire house is filled with them
(including 12 cats and a dog - I still haven't figured out what to do with
THOSE )


I guess I wasn't too swift on that one. Thanks. MLB

"Dee" wrote in message
om...
"Joy" wrote in
:

Is there such a thing as a cat dermatologist? I think Nanki-Poo needs
one.

A couple of years ago, I noticed a bald spot on the back of his neck.
It was perfectly round, about the size of a penny. There were tiny
blood spots. My first thought was that a bird had pulled out a
beakful of hair. The spot bothered him, and he started digging at it.
He ended up with a nasty wound on the back of the neck, and it took
quite a while to clear it up. Even though I was using Frontline, TED
was convinced it was a flea allergy. She ignored my theory about the
bird.

snip

Does anybody have any suggestions?

I'm inclined to think it's ringworm or something similar.

Dee


No that the vet would have been able to diagnose. At least mine always
does a quick test on any dermatology thing to be sure before he looks for
other causes.

Jo

"Dee" wrote in message
om...
"Joy" wrote in
:

Is there such a thing as a cat dermatologist? I think Nanki-Poo needs
one.

A couple of years ago, I noticed a bald spot on the back of his neck.
It was perfectly round, about the size of a penny. There were tiny
blood spots. My first thought was that a bird had pulled out a
beakful of hair. The spot bothered him, and he started digging at it.
He ended up with a nasty wound on the back of the neck, and it took
quite a while to clear it up. Even though I was using Frontline, TED
was convinced it was a flea allergy. She ignored my theory about the
bird.

snip

Does anybody have any suggestions?

I'm inclined to think it's ringworm or something similar.

Dee

I couldn't help wondering about that, although it doesn't look like the case
of ringworm my daughter got from the neighbor's cat when she was small. The
doctor said she didn't think that was what it was so she was going to test
for it. I'll see what she says when we go back.

Joy