I'm not talking about peanuts. I'm talking about my cat, Olin. He either has allergies or he's nuts. *sigh*
For the last couple years he's been chewing his fur off his belly and the insides of his back legs and under this tail. It's somewhat seasonal, less in the fall and winter, and it used to be he'd just chew a little patch. Lately it's the worst it's ever been. His formerly gloriously fluffy tail is skinny, his little pink belly looks so sad.
I've had my vet look at him. He says it doesn't look like flea allergies (Olin is on flea-preventatives anyway), doesn't look like a food allergy, so it's either an inhalent-allergy (like pollens, same as people get) or he's nuts. He was on an anti-anxiety drug for a while last year around this time, maybe a little later in the year, and it didn't make any difference. So I don't think he's nuts. But my poor little guy, he's itchy! Arg. In desperation, searching the internet, I've found some information about cats developing an allergy to plastic. Well, his food bowl is plastic, and his favorite place to sleep is a box full of bubble wrap and plastic bags in the spare room... I'm going to buy him a different food bowl tomorrow, and I've put the box-of-bags away so he can't sleep in it. My poor boy, I really want him to stop chewing his fur off and be a normal fluffy cat again.
Oh, I set the first batch of eggs in the incubator today. A pathetic 19 eggs. Let's hope for significantly increased egg production in the next 6 weeks!
We had animals allergic to pecan trees that reacted the same way your cat is. Can't the vet give a shot that will help?
ReplyDeleteOur chickens are not laying eggs right now and we have company coming. I am going to have to buy eggs at the store and that is a horrible thought.
An old housemate of mine had a cat that was allergic to a boston fern (which, of course, it would eat). It lost lots of weight and it fur started to fall out, so yeah, could be...
ReplyDeleteHow were you able to determine specifically what the animals were allergic to? He goes outside, so there could be a zillion outdoor things causing it. Indoors, there's nothing new, and nothing that changes seasonally, so I'm stumped. If he get to the point where he's chewing himself raw then he'll have to go on antihistamines or something. Luckily he's not damaging his skin (yet) just chewing the hair off. I'm tempted to give him a bath, anything to stop him from itching!
ReplyDeleteMy family's friend actually has a rescued cat with OCD (at least that's what they say) and he will compulsively lick hair off his sides just because. He wears tiny cat t-shirts, which look hilarious, but seem to get his mind off of licking. Does that qualify as nuts? I think allergies are more likely- my dog is allergic to fleas!
ReplyDelete-ALS
Yeah, we put him on anti-anxiety stuff last year for a month when he was doing a lot of chewing, and it didn't change the behavior at all. To watch him, he's clearly itchy. Not a flea on him, but he'll be sitting quietly and suddenly start chewing, then be quiet and suddenly chew something else. It's as though something is biting him, but nothing is. Now, since those flea-preventatives only kill fleas AFTER the flea bites, it's quite possible he's still getting bites outside and getting residually itchy, but isn't carrying around his own population of fleas. It's kinda been my thought all along that it is a flea allergy, but I looked at all the pics in the vet's book and agree with him that it doesn't match the pattern of hair loss. It LOOKS like an inhalent allergy.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, and when I say "nuts" that's my vet's technical term. Really. As in, "well, your cat might just be nuts. I've seen some whackos."
ReplyDeleteI think you should get Olin some of those kitty t-shirts... The other cats would just be soooo jealous! ;-)
ReplyDeleteI say try the t-shirt too!
ReplyDeleteCan you keep him inside for a week? Or confined outside to a small area? Could be fleas too --they like to live in grass.
Oh, and my parents still have a vet come out for Jasper's feet - so I know you could get someone to come out to your place.