Cats and dry skin - Help?
Gail
the canned food will help. Do not feed tuna consistently as it is not good for
cats as a steady diet.
Gail
Gee...@webtv.net wrote:
> Hi All,
>
> I just found your wonderful group. I hope it's OK for me to post a
> question here. I, along with a couple of my neighbors, feed and sort of
> take care of a gang of outdoor, mostly feral cats, but one of them has
> decided to adopt me, and has moved inside. She's gotten fat, and never
> goes outside since she's been living with me. This calico, Gloria, was
> caught, spayed, and generally inspected by a vet when she was very
> young, but hasn't been to a doctor since that time. She's about four
> years old now, I guess. Lately she seems to have a problem with very
> dry skin on her back, near her tail. She seems to always itch in that
> spot, and I do see some flakes there, like dandruff. She won't exactly
> let me pet her for any period of time (though I'm permitted to scratch
> an itch) but I did feel the skin there and it's not bumpy or
> anything...just dry. She will not tolerate being put into a carrier
> (attacked me both times I've tried) so I can't get her to a
> veterinarian. Does anyone know of a dietary or safe topical treatment
> that might help with the dry skin? On the phone, the local vet
> suggested "dry food only," but other people have suggested oily foods
> like canned tuna. I just don't want her skin to get any worse. Any
> ideas out there?
>
> Thanks Very Much!
> Matt
> p.s.
> Gloria was feelng a little blurry today.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> [Image]
Phil P.
<Gee...@webtv.net> wrote in message
news:28493-3E...@storefull-2277.public.lawson.webtv.net...
> Hi All,
>
> I just found your wonderful group. I hope it's OK for me to post a
> question here. I, along with a couple of my neighbors, feed and sort of
> take care of a gang of outdoor, mostly feral cats, but one of them has
> decided to adopt me, and has moved inside. She's gotten fat, and never
> goes outside since she's been living with me. This calico, Gloria, was
> caught, spayed, and generally inspected by a vet when she was very
> young, but hasn't been to a doctor since that time. She's about four
> years old now, I guess. Lately she seems to have a problem with very
> dry skin on her back, near her tail. She seems to always itch in that
> spot, and I do see some flakes there, like dandruff.
Might be Cheyletiella -- a/k/a "walking dandruff" - its a mite.
Press a piece of transparent scotch tape over the "flakes" and drop it off
at your vet's office. S/he'll let you know in about 5 secs under a mic if
its Cheyletiella or any other mite -- s/heprobably won't even charge you.
If it is a mite, s/he can give you a *safe* med while you're there and
probably only charge you for the med.
Check around your cat's ears and head, too. When the cat curl up - mites
on the tail area can migrate to the head. This is also why ear mites are so
difficult to treat... mites migrate to the tail and reininfect the ears when
the cat curls up.
If its not a mite, you should bring your cat in for an exam.
She won't exactly
> let me pet her for any period of time (though I'm permitted to scratch
> an itch) but I did feel the skin there and it's not bumpy or
> anything...just dry. She will not tolerate being put into a carrier
> (attacked me both times I've tried) so I can't get her to a
> veterinarian.
She's gotta see a vet at least once a year. So you've gotta come up with a
plan....
Everybody here has been raving about Feliway - so I tried it with a few of
our fractious residents... it worked on more cats than it didn't. Spray
some Feliway on a pair of oven mittens (or if she has the disposition of a
dino felis, on welder's gloves ) - don't spray the cat! Spray the towel or
blanket inside the carrier, too. And don't forget to bring the mittens and
Feliway with you... otherwise, you may not get her back in the carrier.
If that doesn't work, sterilize a children's toothbrush and lightly brush
the affected area of the skin and put the toothbrush in a srerilized jar or
tube for your vet. If you're lucky, s/he should get a decent skin sample
for examination from the brush and maybe even a sample for culturing simply
by pressing the bristles into a culture medium.
But you're *still* going to have to come up with a plan for getting her to
the vet! She's already long overdue for blood and urine work.
Does anyone know of a dietary or safe topical treatment
> that might help with the dry skin? On the phone, the local vet
> suggested "dry food only," but other people have suggested oily foods
> like canned tuna. I just don't want her skin to get any worse. Any
> ideas out there?
Before you can devise a treatment, you've gotta find out what it is,
first... I strongly advise against over-the-counter medications. Many of
those meds are older, harsher formulas that have been replaced by newer and
safer formulas. Many OTC remedies don't fall under FDA control because
they're considered insectcides.. some contain some real nasty stuff.
Try as hard as you can to get her to a vet as soon as possible, OK?
Good luck.
Phil