Cat Health & Behaviour > Health & Behaviour General

Itchy cat!

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Ela:
Only yesterday I had to take a cat to the vets who had been  on low dose  steroids for a year he said  is not good unless as you know for sure they are making the condition better. Steroids are not good  for the liver and kidneys. If steroids are the only option then I suppose it  a choice a well cat for perhaps a shorter time or a suffering act  for  who knows how long. Then again that is no choice is it, a well cat would or should win every time.

I know a Multi millionaire who cats was perscribed steroids for over a year. It became very ill and she had it referred to a top animal hospital who advised her that it was long term use of steroids that had caused the cat to have diabetes, and other problems. The cat now is under the wing of one of our countries top vet in a private practice hiundreds of miles from her home. She has been as far as America to find out all about the effects of steroids to try to help her cat.

Linda (Bengalbabe):
Thanks for posting.  I have been very concerned about the duration that Stitch has been on steroids Ela and challenge the vets everytime we have to take her back (in summer months when weather was warm it was every 4 weeks bang on the dot, now its cooler around 6 weeks).  We have changed her food, she is now on a prescription diet and has been for 4 months.

The vet does think it started with a flea bite but I'm not totally convinced thats all it is.  Its like there is something in either her internal or external environment thats not quite right - the problem is it could range from my stair carpet to the grass outside!!!!!  The vet has said to me I have 2 choices (a) to continue Stitch on steroids and have a happy cat who albeit due to continued steroid use could live a bit shorter (no one really knows) or (b) a cat who will get ill through mass infection if we do not find an alternative way to stop her clawing her skin til it bleeeds.  Stitch gets very depressed by her condition and we only want to act in her interests.

We do love her to bits and only want whats best for her - at the moment like it or not that involves the use of steroids.  I can actually feel when she is getting ready to start the clawing, her whole body heats up!!!!  In the past 12 months we have spent in the region of 800 quid (out of our own pocket) treating Stitch for her skin disorder.  Unfortunately not insurable as we took her from the CP knowing full well the condition had already been identified.

Janeyk:
It's true Ela, I once watched This Morning where they discussed the effects of smoke on a particular cat.? The owner smoked in a little flat and the cat was so badly affected (breathing wise) the vet told her to stop smoking eventually the cat died it was awful. :(

Ela:
Talking of cigarette smoke:- Passive smoking and its devastating effects have been highlighted in recent years in humans, but also spare a thought for our pets that are exposed to cigarette smoke too.
Research has shown that dogs and cats suffer from the effects of tobacco smoke.
Lymphoma is the most common cancer in cats. Only feline leukaemia virus and feline immunodeficiency virus were known to play a role in causing the disease.

"The reason Lymphoma was looked at was because that it is so common, and the ability to treat it is just not very good," Dr. Moore said. "Twenty-five percent of cats that have it, live no more than a year with chemotherapy."

The researchers tested a number of possible cancer risks, including diet, spay and neuter status, age, sex, breed, grooming, home characteristics, and the use of flea control products, shampoos, and oral medications. Only one factor, smoking, was associated with the cancer, in a significant manner
Cats that spend a lot of time indoors in a smoking household not only inhale cigarette smoke but also ingest it as toxic chemicals from the smoke accumulate in the fur and are more likely to develop malignant lymphoma which can kill within a year.
Dogs are more likely to develop serious conditions such as asthma, bronchitis, nasal and sinus cancer as well as lung cancer if they are living with smokers.

CurlyCatz:
stitch may be slightly atopic (generalised multiple allergys) and long term steriods often at a very low dose is common for life long duration and doesnt really affect the long term length of life for the animal, having said that atopy is far more common in dogs than cats but not exclusive.

As for the vit e , yes its very good but personally i would spend a wee bit extra and get the stuff from the vets that not only has vit e but other ingrediants aswell which make the formulations far more effective IE Gammalac oil OR better still VIACTUAN OIL? superb stuff !!!

I dare say there are newer products that i dont know about but viacutan is still a popular product and is very effective.

Interestingly one of the most common animal allergys is cigarette smoke, grass pollens etc? but where was originally described round head & tail base i'd bet my bottom dollar this was started by a flea bite so hopefully wont be a long term problem if its treated appropraitely now.

You can spend an arm and leg seeing a certified skin specialist vet who can carry out intradermal patch skin testing for all the allergys you can think of and which ever comes back positive a special lab i guess (dont know whre it is) makes up a specific anti allergy skin vaccine formulated for your pets allergys and these get injected into the skin once every so often (done in block courses)? these tests and vaccine are very expensive and ive not known anyone take up this route of treatment wtih a cat but a few with dogs (if they had insurance !)? and it made some if not good response in quite a few but not all cases.

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