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  #1  
Old November 9th, 2001, 07:58 PM
undineswave undineswave is offline
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Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Tampa, Florida
Posts: 4
Unhappy Unusual Skin Problem

Hello everyone! I've just joined the forum, so please bear with me if I'm asking or describing a question or problem that's "old hat" to non-newbies! I went through a good deal of previous threads, but couldn't find any that handled our cats' specific condition.

First, a little background info--so again, please bear with me. I have 2 cats--a 12 year old Abyssinian and a 2 year old domestic shorthair. I moved from Ohio to Florida just over a year ago to be with my fiancee, who has 2 cats as well--2 five year old domestic shorthairs. All four cats had their spats in the beginning, but all of them are now relatively well-adjusted to their new surroundings and fellow litterbox-mates.

Our problem is, one of my fiancee's cats developed what we call a "lick spot" about six months ago. It began when we noticed that Sterling would obsessively lick anything--himself, another cat, our hands, or simply the air, occasionally ever biting what was able to be bit in his path whenever he was petted along either side of his tailbone.

At first the "lick spot" was an oddity, but then we began to notice that Sterling had begun to lose hair in the two affected areas. He never appeared to try and lick or bother at the actual areas themselves when they were inspected, but instead continued to obsessively lick whatever was closest at the time. We have never noticed any overt scabs over the areas, though at one point they were scaly, a little dry and slightly red. The irritation responded to a moisturising salve, but the hair loss remains, and in addition, the "lick spot" not only remains, but has begun to spread to other areas of Sterling's body.

To top it all off, my fiancee's 2nd cat, Griffin, has begun to develop a "lick spot" and dry patches in the same area, and while my own 2 cats haven't had any noticeable patches, one of them has developed the initial "lick spot" reaction of licking things when the area is touched.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this before? We haven't changed our cats' diet at all, they've never been diagnosed with allergies, have always been healthy, and as far as we know, none of them has come into contact with any pests or parasites that they wouldn't have prior to their coming into contact with the others.

Any thoughts, ideas or information would be very helpful, and would be welcome and more than appreciated!

Thanks Very Much!
Lia
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  #2  
Old December 8th, 2001, 09:20 PM
Celeste Celeste is offline
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Posts: 3
Thumbs down Yucky Back Problem

Hello there! I am new to this site, and have a large skin problem with my menow. Only recently he has developed this problem. He is currently always doing the licking the air thing when his back is scratched, and although it has since stopped, there used to be liquid that was coming from this area on his back. It hasn't spread too much, and seems to has stopped altogether, however, I am now finding that he has other little lumps on his back (2), that the hair is just being pulled out of..

Can someone help me? I would just like to know if there is someother remedy I can do for him before I run out and pump him full of medications. I am willing to bring him to the doc's, but would like to try other avenue's first if possible!!!!


PLEASE HELP MY KITTY!!!!

C
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  #3  
Old December 11th, 2001, 07:33 PM
undineswave undineswave is offline
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Location: Tampa, Florida
Posts: 4
Smile Re: Yucky Back Problem

Celeste,

We're still pretty clueless about our cats' skin problem, but we're taking Griffin in to the vet this Saturday--he's the one suffering from it most, so we're figuring if we can get one in and find out what's wrong, we can get started on some sort of treatment for them all.

Since it sounds like your kitty is suffering from something similar, I'll be sure to post back to you on Saturday with whatever our vet determines.

Hang in there!
Lia
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  #4  
Old December 12th, 2001, 03:04 PM
Celeste Celeste is offline
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Join Date: Dec 2001
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Lia,

Thanks for responding! I think it's spreading around, and we don't really have the funds to run to the vet, so I was hoping that we could solve it before having to go that far... However, I also read somewhere that you could use baby shampoo to try to wash the skin clean..I haven't tried that yet, but it's still an option at this point. It doesn't seem to be getting worse, and the colour distortion seems to be going down, but I don't know for sure!!

Thanks, and hope your kitty gets better!
take care
Celeste
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  #5  
Old December 12th, 2001, 07:21 PM
undineswave undineswave is offline
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Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Tampa, Florida
Posts: 4
Cool Re: Yucky back Problem

Celeste,

Thanks for your well-wishes! Three out of our four kits have the skin problem to different degrees, but at the vet cost of $45 a beastie just to be *seen,* and then whatever it'llcost for treatment, that'd be a whopping mess! Granted, the cats are about the only things we wouldn't bat a lash at going intodebt over, but we'd *like* tokeep the cost to a minimum!

Baby shampers might work for some cats, but I know these little brats would *never* stand a bath from a mere human!

Best of luck with your kitty too--as I said, I'll post you whatever the vet tells us, and hopefully the cure for *everyone's* cats will be simple, successful *and* inexpensive.

I'll be getting back with you Saturday!

Lia
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  #6  
Old December 15th, 2001, 08:41 PM
undineswave undineswave is offline
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Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: Tampa, Florida
Posts: 4
Smile Re: Yucky back Problem

Celeste,

Well, it looks like our problem, plain and simple, is fleas--apparently 3 out of 4 of our cats have "flea allergy dermatitis," which means they're allergic to the saliva fleas inject into a cat when it bites. The flea does this so the cat's blood doesn't congeal quickly, but in some cats--like the way some humans are allergic to cats' saliva--the cats are simply allergic to the buggers.

Having lived in Ohio for so long, I was used to fleas dying off during the drier, winter months, but here in Florida, fleas are more of a year 'round problem. Add to that the fact here and not in Ohio, fleas don't just come in on the animals themselves, they just *come in.* Our cats are all indoor cats, so we never thought fleas would be a problem, but apparently you have tobe much more proactive in this part of the country.

At any rate, our vet's given us Advantage, which is the recommended treatment for getting rid of the pesky fleas on the cats themselves, and we're told borax powder sprinkled around outside the perimeter of the house should keep them from coming indoors.

So, my best advice is to get a flea comb and see if you can see any "flea dirt" or actual adult fleas on your kitty. If so, then you'll havea pretty good idea that it might be the same pesky critters affecting your household too.

Best of luck!
Lia
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  #7  
Old December 19th, 2001, 10:33 AM
Celeste Celeste is offline
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Join Date: Dec 2001
Posts: 3
Lia,

Thanks for the advice! The only problem is that my Noosh (kitty's name) has had fleas. The thing is that I think he's one of those really sensative kitties that is allergic to all of the meds that we tried. We used a spray on him, and being a cat, the first thing he did was start to clean himself. Well, he started to foam at the mouth and I thought that I had really hurt him. He stopped so that saved us an emergancy run to the vet. However, it looks like the yuckie stuff has stopped, but the skin colour on his back is anything but normal. It looks better than it has in the past months but, it still looks crummy. I've resulted to just washing him in the tub (my cat is so trusting!!!) and trying to wash away as much flea dirt as I could. This seemed to help slow the itchiness for him a bit.....

Thanks for all your help! All the best in the holidays to your family and kitties !

Celeste
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