"Allergic" sores

[Patiod]

My Little has had a sore on her face for 2 weeks. When it was the size of a pencil eraser, we took her to the vet, and he said it was just allergies, and determining the cause wouldn't help much (makes sense - I got a list of allergies for myself, and a lot of good it did me -- grass and dust headed the list). We've taken her off fish and beef, and are sticking to natural cat food (Merrick)

All he did was give me antibiotic ointment for her eye, also irritated by allergy, which he was afraid had become infected from her fussing at it.

Well, the sore is beginning to take over the whole side of her face. It's open, red, weeping skin and looks horrible. She is spending a lot of time rubbing it against stuff. Any ideas? Anyone else ever see this?

[Suziq]

1. My Moe . . .

has suffered with allergic sores for many years. He would scratch them until he bled. He used to get so many, but over the years, they have subsided. He still gets an occasional sore now and then.

The vet gave us Nolvasan solution to clean the sores. Once the solution was applied (only if he was in the mood and felt like cooperating), the sores would go away.

It is a non-prescription product that you can get at most pet sites on the internets.

Hope this helps.

[Patiod]

2. Thanks! I'll look for Nalvasan

I just feel like we have to do something. The ones on her mouth aren't nearly as disturbing as this one on her face

Did you ever figure out what was causing his sores? (what kind of a cat is Moe?)

[Suziq]

6. Moe is an Abyssinian

We were told Moe, as well as his sister Maggie, have allergies. They were young when we found out. They are now 11.

Moe used to get a ton of scabby lesions. He scratched so hard that he pulled off the scab along with his fur. Then they would bleed. We were lucky that Maggie only got an occasional lesion.

The Nalvasan solution is great! It heals the lesions quickly and seems to also relieve the itch.

I am happy to report that Maggie no longer gets any lesions and Moe gets one rarely.

[IndyOp]

5. Moe is a beautiful cat --

What IS he thinking in this pic?

:shrug:

[Suziq]

7. Thanks!

Moe loves to "give me face".

He is such a mushy little boy.

[IndyOp]

3. If Little were a dog it would be called a 'hot spot' -

an allergic spot that has become infected and nasty.

You might take her back to the vet at this point.

When my dog, Ben, had a hot spot earlier this year, he had 4 prescriptions - an antihistamine to stop itching; a steroid to reduce swelling; and two antibiotics (one topical and one pill). I always try to go with as little medication as possible, but hot spots grow fast and make them sooooo miserable that we pulled out the big guns.

[Patiod]

4. Thanks - I just called the vet

She's been in twice in the past month - once for shots & Revolution & a look at her irritated eye, and once for the sore & irritated eye. I'm hoping the good vet will be willing to Rx something without seeing her AGAIN.

[Suziq]

8. Good Idea, Patiod

We took Moe every time he had a bad outbreak. She would clean the sores and he would be fine for a while. There was really nothing else she could do as far as prevention. :-(

If your kitty is experiencing the same problem as Moe, the sores might come back sporadically.

[kestrel91316]

9. Is this a cat??

If it's a dog, please disregard the following:

Was kitty being fed any food containing any kind of fish whatsoever in the past 2 months? Are you using any flea control? Does the cat go outside? Has kitty been sneezing at all? Regarding the eye problem, did your vet seem to think it could be Feline Herpesvirus (the most common cause of eye problems in my patients)?

We can figure this out, I bet. I just have to think to ask the right question.

[Patiod]

10. Yes to the fish (and yes, she's 100% kitty)

We had fish-based wet food around and gave it to a local shelter when the sores started three weeks ago. But we weren't thinking this weekend, and acceeded to her demand that we hand over some of our shrimp cocktail. And checking the contents of her expensive, organic, locally-made dry food - it contains fish meal. Damn - even the cat treats are tuna. Sounds like some tough love and a complete purge of the kitchen is in order.

She's mostly indoors, but goes outside about 2 hours a day (she lays in front of the door and wails for hours if we don't let her out). She sneezes a little.

She got dosed with Revolution about 3 weeks back, and there is no sign of fleas.

The vet at first thought the eye was part of the allergies, but I insisted he give it a second look, he seemed surprised at how inflamed it was, and Rxed erythromycin ointment BID. It seems to have helped, but she's still squinting a little.

Last night, we picked up a steroid cream and Elizabethan collar. She tolerated the cream, but had the collar off in under 15 seconds.

She thanks you so much for your concern and advice. Here's her little face without the sores.

[Suziq]

11. Awwwwww

Love the pic. - she is just the cutest thing! Hope I was able to help with the Novalsan.

[Patiod]

13. Thanks for the suggestion!

And cute is relative - not so cute 2 inches from your eyeball at 3:30 in the morning, swatting your nose for attention.

[kestrel91316]

12. Betcha the fish has A LOT to do with the skin problem.

Tuna is by far the worst offender, but some cats get into trouble with the tiniest amounts of any kind of fish (I own one of these). It can take up to two months for all the skin lesions to resolve completely after withdrawing fish from the diet.

I do not recommend topical steroids in itchy/scratchy cats. I use oral prednisolone for temporary relief in these cases. The cats will work overtime to remove the cream from their skin, and this can make the sores worse. E collars just make them angry and frustrated, lol.

Some cats with eye inflammation have a herpesvirus problem and benefit from the new oral gel containing l-lysine. It is called Enisyl-F; your vet can get it. But I bet the irritated eye is just from all the rubbing at the face??

Good luck!

[Patiod]

14. Well, then that's it - a fish purge.

Will print out your advice, and ask about Enisyl-F if the eye problem recur.

(ashamed to admit the e-collar did provide about 15 seconds of sadistic amusement, but not enough that we made any attempt to put it back on her)

Thanks you so much for the advice.