Question
Licking sore
Tao my cat is about 9 years old, I have had him since he was 6 months old, and he is up to date with vaccinations. About 5 years ago we got our first dog, we now have 3. Shortly after Tao started licking excessively, to what I call "eating himself" raw! I took him to the vet, he gave him a shot (.5mil of a 20mg dose) of depomedrol and some Panalog (which is no longer available, so I use Theraderm or polysporin)to help with the healing of the wounds but didn't clear the problem. We also started him on the Hills z/d, not too long after he started "eating himself" again. Over the last five years we have tried the following:
1. hypoallergetic foods: Hills z/d wet & dry, Medi-cal wet/dry, Natural Balance venison & pea wet(current food) and I am slowly adding homemade food of chicken, chicken livers, oatmeal, no salt beans, and no salt stock with taurine supplement added.
2. prednislone (5mg) went from every other day to everyday dose, did nothing for him and it was difficult to administer. I have since bought a pill crusher!
3. Benadryl (25mg) he foamed at the mouth the first time I gave it to him, so I didn't even bother trying again
4. Hydrocortisone spray (Excel & HyLyt efa brands) he hates the spray bottle!
5. Bio Coat powder, did nothing for him!
6. Skin & Itch by HomeoPet, doesn't seen to work just started it a few weeks ago
7. Reactine (1/4 of an extra strength tablet) just started this 2 days ago, seems like he is licking a bit less but it is too soon to tell if this will work
8. I just purchased 2 air purifiers as well, too soon to tell if this will work
9. Depomedrol works but over the last 2 years his shots became more frequent, every three months...he was checked by blood sample from the ear to screen for diabetes last year (negative). But a couple months ago he was peeing excessively so I got more blood work & urine testing done...it came back positive to diabetes. I refuse to give him insulin injections because we travel on weekends during the summer and cannot stick to a regular schedule (I feel that would throw his levels off worse). A friend has suggested Quercetin (she gives it to her dog for allergies) I have looked around and the Sisu brand Ester-C 1000 seems to be a cure for both allergies & diabetes...I have yet to try this. I am open to anything at this point, including wondering if this is worth the quality of life he deserves...he has lost almost more double his weight (currently 5+ lbs), but he still eats (quite regular) the vet said it would be no harm if he put on some so I keep his dry food full, and give him a small can of wet a day. He prefers the wets food over the dry, but I keep him used to the dry for oral care, and while we are not home.
Please let me know if I have missed trying anything, I found this website from a picture on the net, the cat had the same sore as mine, but more severe...I read the Q&A but noticed that I could add more to the story as I have been dealing with this for a little while, perhaps there is another solution for this skin issue...
AnswerI just want to quote you on one small portion of your question to me and have you read it and think about it.
"About 5 years ago we got our first dog, we now have 3. Shortly after Tao started licking excessively, to what I call "eating himself" raw!"
What does this say to you? I read one of two things into this.
1. Your cat is still emotionally stressed about living with dogs.
and/or
2. Your cat is allergic to dogs. Don't laugh, it happens.
He looks like a cat with a very typical allergy. Some cats lick, some lick and develop raw spots as a result, some don't lick and still get raw spots.
It sounds like he has either miliary dermatitis or lick induced alopecia, which is also hormonal. I didn't see any type of hormone treatment in your list. Just the usual things, such as depomedrol and prednisone.
Using these drugs on the long term can cause not just diabetes but also Cushing's disease. As far as his diabetes is concerned, some cats can use the pills and not the injections but not all of them do well on them.
If he is truly diabetic and you don't give him insulin, no amount of other drugs you give are going to help him a whole lot. He won't last too long without proper care for his diabetes. I would try the Ester-C (I take that but have never heard that it cures diabetes) if you are seeing results that someone is getting on their pets.
Just be careful because too much Vit C will cause diarrhea in cats as it does in us.
Since I am not a vet Josee all I can do is suggest that you talk to your vet about supplementation and ask if your cat has been checked for miliary dermatitis or Cushing's. Unfortunately the treatment for the miliary dermatitis is about the same as what you have been doing- usually a short course of prednisone that is tapered off after a week or so.
Cushings is just the opposite, it's a problem of too much cortisone in the bloodstream and is commonly 'induced' or Iatrogenic, from the pet being given repeated doses of steroids.
You might want to isolate the cat for a month to see if this clears his skin up at all. Take him to a friends that have no dogs. Maybe he is just so stressed still (underlying stress like we get. Pets also get this and it causes chronic illness in them as well) from having 3 dogs around. Maybe it's hormomal and that hasn't been explored thoroughly.
Just some ideas for you. I hope that you can find a path that works for him. Please keep me up to date.
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