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 Post subject: flea alergy??
PostPosted: Tue Sep 16, 2003 10:37 pm 
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Joined: Tue Sep 16, 2003 10:15 pm
Posts: 4
My daughter has a albino cat, after she moved to Bakersfield from Whidbey Island she started to scratch her neck. She has a 2" ring of scabs all around her neck, on the top of her head,and under her chin she scratches to the point of making them bleed. Her lower belly and inside of her legs are filled with small red, raw irritated bumps. She has licked most of the hair off of the back of her legs, the inside of her legs, and most of her stomach. When we flea comb her sometimes we will find one flea, never more. The vet takes her $175 dollars every few months, tells us he thinks its the fleas, gives us penicillin and gentamicin spray which helps for a month or two. A few weeks later the cycle is repeated. Can some one help us?
Poor and confused.


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PostPosted: Thu Sep 18, 2003 11:51 am 
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Joined: Sun Apr 06, 2003 10:59 am
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I guess the first thing to do is to eliminate fleas as a potential cause. If it were me, I would bathe the cat with a mild soap to remove fleas/eggs and then confine her indoors in a manageable area that you already have cleaned meticulously to be sure it is free of fleas/larvae/eggs. Then, if the sores allow it, I'd bathe the cat fairly often to eliminate any fleas/eggs on the her. If the sores are tender or open, I probably would start with a tearless baby shampoo, and then treat the sores with a soothing herbal treatment. Once/if you get the sores healed, you can move to a more aggressive shampoo and begin to use the flea comb more, but the combs are kind of a mess when there are a lot of lesions present. Elevate her nutrition if you can. If you can keep her flea-free for a long enough period to tell whether fleas are a/the cause, then you have a good foundation for managing the problem. Even if there is a different cause or are more than one cause, flea bites can't do any good in the situation. It is possible that you're encountering a flea specie (or maybe just fleas for the first time) that is different from what you encountered at Whidbey Island, so the recent onset doesn't necessarily rule out fleas. There is a lot of discussion/material on the Web and in newsgroups, such as Alt.med.veterinary, about feline skin conditons and homepathic/herbal treatments, so you probably will want to browse those; the material is too extensive to detail here. Also check the posts in this forum about indoor flea control.

Flea eggs can transmit tapeworms, so watch her for that. Even the spot-on treatments advise against their use when the animal exhibits open sores anywhere. If you absolutely physically can't do the hands-on management and you decide to use a one-time pharmaceutical flea treatment to get on top of the problem (which you still probably shouldn't do until you determine whether fleas are the problem), Advantage is the one I would choose. I would resist the temptation to use a prednisone injection to treat the itch unless that's a last resort. Of course, the animal's health is paramount. I wouldn't rule out the possibility that the relocation has exposed her to contact allergans that she never encountered at WI, so you should consider the non-flea angle (as if you haven't already). The first order of business is to clear up/heal the objective lesions, then you can begin the detective work in earnest. If I think of more specific herbal/homeopathic suggestions, I'll try to post them here. Good luck.

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In theory, theory and practice are the same; in practice, they aren't -- lament of the synthetic lifestyle.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Sep 18, 2003 2:27 pm 
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Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2003 12:41 pm
Posts: 92
Location: Austin
I'd suggest feeding the cat a mix of brewers yeast and liver -- I can't remember the name of the company that I buy it from, but if you want, I can look it up at home. That helps repel fleas and is good for her overall health at the same time. We have a cat that is pretty sensitive to fleas -- not as bad as what you're describing, but she gets raw sores and scabs pretty quickly -- and she always heals up well on that mix.

It may not be fleas at all, of course. Is your daughter using different cleaning chemicals in her new place? If the cat goes outside, it may be a plant allergy. Pure speculation on my part, but it's worth thinking about.

Judith


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sun Sep 21, 2003 2:59 pm 
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Joined: Tue Sep 16, 2003 10:15 pm
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Thank you both for your help. If we feed her brewers yeast and liver, is this the same as available at supermarkets, are you talking about beef liver or something in a pill or powder form? She is an inside cat anyway and she has confined herself to my closet only coming out to eat and use the box, for the 3rd day we have found no fleas on her but the sores and scabs just wont go away . She is eating the same food out of the same dishes as before, the big difference is Whidby is cool and here it reaches 100's. Well I'm off to try to bathe the "White Devil" as she is refered around here. We gave her that name when she moved in and will have nothing to do with our 2 dogs or cat, come to think of it she doesn't like people either.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Sep 22, 2003 11:36 am 
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Location: Austin
I buy a powdered mix of yeast and liver; I bet fresh liver would be even better for her.

Have you considered food allergies?


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Sep 22, 2003 3:19 pm 
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All she has had a for her entire life is Kitten Chow, then Cat Chow. Can she develope food alergies all of a sudden?


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PostPosted: Tue Sep 23, 2003 9:15 am 
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Joined: Mon Apr 21, 2003 12:41 pm
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Location: Austin
If she's had the same food, it's probably not an allergy. Still, it may be that she's having trouble dealing with the preservatives and junk that is in most commercial pet food. You might try one of the more natural options, like Solid Gold or Flint River Ranch. They're more expensive, but cheaper than vet bills.

If it were my cat, I'd try the liver/brewers yeast first -- not too expensive, and easy to just add to their normal food. If that didn't work, I'd try the new cat foods. If you have time, a raw food diet is even better. But that takes some planning and time, which for most of us is in short supply :)

Judith


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Sep 23, 2003 7:58 pm 
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We will try the brewers yeast and see what happens. The bath didn't go to well I don't know who was traumatized the most me or her and we finally settled for Advantage.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Oct 20, 2003 4:27 pm 
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If none of that works to your satisfaction, you might consider the possibility that the issue is not, or is not only, fleas and that she is allergic to something in the environment in the new location. Look for signs of contact allergies and also of airborne allergies. The heat, dryness, and the probable air pollution (do you mean Bakersfield, CA?) could be setting off a complex of skin reactions. If it's practical, you might be able to test the airborne allergen idea by confining the cat in small room and running a good room HEPA air filter in the room for a long test period. I'd rather not do it except as a last resort, but if things reach a crisis stage and you know fleas are not an issue, then she may need a prednisone shot to stabilize the situation until you can enlist a more longterm prevention and treatment. It could be that all of the possibilities that have been mentioned are working in concert to contribute to the conditon. :(

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In theory, theory and practice are the same; in practice, they aren't -- lament of the synthetic lifestyle.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Jan 05, 2004 6:58 pm 
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Have you read about the use of corn meal juice to aid in the healing of skin rashes, sores, etc.? Just add water to some corn meal and let set for about an hour and then strain out the corn meal. You can use old pantyhose. I would then bathe the cat in this or maybe even better apply to spots with a cotton ball. Howard Garrett talks bout how great this is for people, so I don't know why it would not work with pets. Also, I would not put any shampoo on an animal with this kind of rash. No wonder she has been named the "White Devil". I don't think this is fleas. My cat once had an allergy to grass in the summer or so I thought until I realized it was the toxic fertilizer I was using. Since I've been organic, I've had no problems---Has your cat been exposed to any chemicals? Carpet cleaner?
Just some suggestions--I love cats too and yours has got to be miserable.
Good Luck!


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 Post subject: Aloe
PostPosted: Wed Feb 11, 2004 2:32 pm 
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Joined: Thu Nov 13, 2003 3:04 pm
Posts: 38
Location: Abbott, Texas 76621
I put aloe juice, specifically George's Aloe, in my dog's water dish. I have never had any problems with fleas or scratching. A friend of mine has a dog that used to scrath really bad and had sores and she started giving her dog aloe also. Her dog has already had results of her sores healing. I strongly recommend the aloe juice. It takes like water, so your dog/cat can't tell a difference. If you need more information on the product, I would be glad to get it for you. I wish you the best with the cat.


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 Post subject: cat with flea alergy
PostPosted: Fri Jul 23, 2004 9:17 pm 
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Joined: Fri Jul 23, 2004 9:10 pm
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Location: Indiana
I would like psloma to know you are not along with the hairless, scabby, itchy cat who hates a bath. Every spring thru summer is a stuggle to keep the hair, but after reading everyones suggestions this may be the last season.


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